Don't use Kotoamatsukami—I will accept it!
Facing Xu Fan's onslaught, Danzo felt death looming over him for the first time in his life.
He had never imagined that such a young man could not only break through his genjutsu but also wield the Byakugan of the Hyuga Clan.
With monstrous strength, Xu Fan made it impossible for the Root ninjas Danzo had brought to even approach him.
Panicked, Danzo was forced to reveal another trump card.
Mokuton: Bakuryuuju!
Danzo swiftly raised his right arm and aimed at the approaching Xu Fan. The bandages wrapped around it unraveled, revealing the stolen cells of Hashirama Senju, and from his arm, a massive wooden spear burst forth.
A towering wooden structure surged toward Xu Fan, attempting to force him back.
Simultaneously, Danzo commanded his Root operatives to attack, desperately seeking an opening to escape.
At this point, securing victory was no longer his concern—survival was.
I can't die yet…
Konoha can only thrive under my rule!
Danzo clenched his teeth. His belief in his own destiny as Hokage fueled his resolve. No matter what, he had to escape.
The Root shinobi moved in unison, forming seals at rapid speed, launching a barrage of elemental jutsu to pin Xu Fan down, creating a chance for Danzo to retreat.
Danzo severed his own arm from the rapidly growing tree, grabbed a kunai, and prepared to break free.
"I underestimated you..."
Danzo gritted his teeth, seething with fury toward Xu Fan.
But even he knew he couldn't afford to stay any longer.
"You think you can run?"
Xu Fan roared, channeling chakra into his fists—unleashing the same monstrous strength as Tsunade—and shattered the incoming wooden spear with a single punch.
Despite possessing Hashirama's cells and gaining access to the legendary Mokuton, Danzo was still just a politician who had forcibly grafted strength onto himself.
He might have assembled a collection of power for himself, but in the end, he had merely built an illusion of strength.
Xu Fan scoffed at the desperate escape attempt. Planting his feet firmly, he unleashed a wave of chakra.
BOOM!
A shockwave erupted from his body, sending the Root operatives flying like broken kites. Their jutsu were rendered useless—they couldn't even graze Xu Fan's clothing.
"Impossible..."
Danzo had almost reached the exit when he felt an overwhelming, murderous intent flooding toward him.
Instinctively, he turned around, and what he saw was not a mere shinobi, but a demon—a nightmare given form, hellbent on his destruction.
"You… you monster!"
Danzo cursed and lunged forward, kunai in hand.
Xu Fan blinked in surprise.
After witnessing my power, he still thinks a kunai will work?
THWACK!
Amused yet irritated, Xu Fan caught Danzo's wrist mid-swing and crushed it, sending the kunai clattering to the ground.
Danzo had already been weakened—his chakra too depleted to even form a proper Wind Release: Vacuum Blade.
With a single, devastating kick to the gut, Xu Fan sent Danzo hurtling through the air.
SPLURT!
Danzo spat blood, feeling as if his insides had been obliterated.
His body crashed into the ground, skidding for several meters before coming to a stop.
Another mouthful of blood burst from his lips, staining his chest.
"Damn it…!"
Danzo cursed. Even during his darkest moments, when he had been hunted down in the Land of Lightning, he had never been so utterly humiliated.
And now, he was being torn apart by a mere boy.
His carefully laid plans, his ultimate weapons—useless.
Shisui's eye...
Xu Fan had no intention of letting Danzo recover. He had no sympathy for the man, whether he was a tragic hero or a selfish tyrant.
To Xu Fan, Danzo was simply an enemy who had repeatedly tried to kill him.
That alone was reason enough to eliminate him.
If one had tasted the light, they could never again embrace the darkness.
On the night of the Nine-Tails' rampage, Danzo had done nothing—choosing instead to wait in the shadows, hoping to take the Hokage seat.
When Orochimaru invaded Konoha, he employed the same tactics.
When Pain attacked, Danzo ordered his entire Root force to remain hidden underground, waiting for the opportunity to seize power once Tsunade failed.
He had always used tragedy as a stepping stone to advance his ambitions.
BOOM!
Xu Fan landed in front of Danzo, staring him down. He could see the fear in Danzo's eyes, the desperate backward crawl of a man who had finally lost everything.
"Kotoamatsukami!"
At the peak of his desperation, Danzo howled and tried to activate Shisui's ultimate genjutsu.
But it was futile. That eye had long entered its cooldown period—Danzo could do nothing but watch as Xu Fan closed in.
"No…!"
Danzo tried to stop Xu Fan with his trembling right hand.
But the difference in strength between them was insurmountable.
To Xu Fan, Danzo was nothing more than a failed experiment—a man who had forcefully transplanted Hashirama's cells yet failed to wield them properly.
In contrast, Xu Fan had mastered the power of Mokuton to perfection.
SLAP!
Xu Fan effortlessly knocked Danzo's hand aside and seized his right eye.
Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan!
"I'll take that."
"No! No! No! No!"
Danzo's mind shattered as the eye he had cherished—the key to his ambitions—was ripped away from him.
For years, he had clung to Shisui's eye as his ultimate weapon, his path to reshaping the ninja world under his rule.
And now, it was gone.
It was the final, crushing blow.
Danzo's body trembled. His vision blurred with rage and despair.
His dream—his destiny—could not be stolen like this!
CRACK!
In a final act of defiance, Danzo mustered every last ounce of chakra he had left, grabbing onto Xu Fan's wrist with an iron grip.
"If I die, you're coming with me!"
Mokuton: Roots of Burial!
Completely consumed by madness, Danzo channeled all his remaining chakra into his right arm. His fingers dug into Xu Fan's flesh, refusing to let go.
It was a gamble, but if he could not live to see his dream fulfilled, then neither would Xu Fan.
Before anyone could react, Danzo's arm grotesquely expanded, transforming into a massive wooden structure designed to engulf them both.
The battlefield was swallowed in a storm of splintering wood and raw, destructive force.