"Damn it!! What are you doing back here?!"
Danzō cursed furiously, utterly beside himself.
He regretted it!
Though over the past several decades, he had always liked keeping a stern face while telling Hiruzen:
"You'll regret this!"
But at this very moment, as Danzō stared at the back of the boy standing before him—he truly regretted it.
He regretted ever believing this brat would obediently retreat with the main force. Regretted insisting on rushing over here himself to cover the rear. And even more than that, regretted failing to realize that from beginning to end, this kid had never planned to obey anyone's orders in the first place!
Now look what happened. This entire trip had been for nothing.
Not only had he failed to drag this hotheaded fool back out of the firepit, he had ended up throwing himself in alongside him.
"Danzō-sama!"
"Danzō-sama!"
At that moment, thirty figures burst from the forests along the flanks at high speed. They were the Root members previously ordered to escort Shinichi away.
Two of them immediately rushed forward. One supported the barely-standing Danzō, while the other activated a green glow of medical ninjutsu in his palm and pressed it against the severed arm to stop the bleeding.
The remaining members instantly spread out, forming an iron wall around Danzō.
But Danzō suddenly flung his left arm violently, roughly shaking off their support. His remaining left eye locked onto the Root squad captain at the front. His voice had grown somewhat weak from blood loss, yet his tone remained as vicious as ever: "A bunch of useless trash! You couldn't even keep an eye on one person?!"
The Root squad captain dropped to one knee, lowered his head deeply, and said nothing.
"Elder Danzō, don't blame them."
At that moment, Shinichi, still facing away from him, finally spoke. His voice was calm enough to reveal no emotion at all.
"I came here of my own accord."
From the very beginning of this mission, it was not only Orochimaru who had his own hidden agenda.
Shinichi had one as well.
He could more or less guess what Orochimaru's little scheme was.
But Shinichi had never exposed it. Instead, he had simply followed along with Orochimaru's script and acted his part all the way through.
Otherwise, with his methods, after infiltrating Kumogakure a second time and turning the entire village upside down, he could have easily escaped alongside every member of the Shinichi Unit and departed in style long ago.
But that was not enough.
Far from enough.
What he wanted was not merely for every member of the Shinichi Unit to entrust their lives to him.
What he wanted was for the day to eventually come when—
even if he stood against the village itself, even if the Hokage personally ordered otherwise, these people would still stand behind him without hesitation, look at him, and say those words:
"You… are the true Hokage!"
Although Shinichi himself would almost certainly never reach that point.
Still, whether he intended to or not was irrelevant. The absolute loyalty that should belong to him—had to exist.
That was why he had carefully orchestrated this entire "lone rear guard" performance.
And the deeper move behind it all lay in this land itself—the Land of Lightning.
This place was simply too special.
Several decades ago, on that blood-soaked night, the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, had stood alone on this very land to cover the rear, sacrificing his own life in exchange for the survival of his six disciples.
That sacrifice had long since become an unhealed wound in the hearts of Konoha's upper echelon—a regret they had been unable to let go of for decades.
So Shinichi chose this place.
The same country. The same hopeless situation. The same choice. Similar identities.
Even the location of the final "rear guard stand" had been deliberately chosen within this forest, which according to his deductions was highly likely to be the very place where the Second Hokage had made his last stand all those years ago.
Decades ago, the Second Hokage had marched to his death here alone.
And now, decades later, he—Higashino Shinichi, the man many had already begun viewing as a "replacement for the Second Hokage"—had likewise stepped forward here in the same way.
So after this battle… just how great of a shock would it bring to those few people at the top of Konoha?
Shinichi understood all too clearly the terrifying power of a figure forever frozen in memory.
The Second Hokage's choice back then, after decades of remembrance and idealization, had already transformed into an unshakable symbol of faith within Konoha's leadership—a light within their memories that only grew brighter with time, yet could never again be reached.
And what Shinichi wanted—was to make them transfer all of that accumulated regret, nostalgia, obsession… even their faith itself—onto him.
He wanted to become that "living Tobirama."
The man who made the exact same choice in the exact same hopeless situation—yet ultimately returned alive as a miracle.
He wanted those few people at the top, whenever they looked at him, to no longer think of a cold gravestone and a regret-filled past—but instead of a living, breathing successor who had perfectly inherited their teacher's will, someone worthy of entrusting the future to—a new light.
Besides, the one staying behind alone to cover the rear was Isshin, the clone. What did that have to do with Higashino Shinichi himself?
If anything really went wrong, he could always just use a Summoning Technique and run.
Still, the plan had ended up deviating slightly from expectations.
Shinichi had never imagined that Danzō would actually come here himself—risking his own life for Shinichi and venturing deep into the heart of the Land of Lightning alone.
That had been completely beyond his expectations.
Originally, Shinichi had thought he might as well simply go along with things and leave.
After all, Danzō was the textbook definition of a troublemaker. No one could ever predict what kind of absurd thing he might do under the banners of "for Konoha's sake" or "for your own good"—only to dump the blame onto someone else afterward.
But at that moment, one of the shadow clones he had stationed at the border for reconnaissance discovered an unexpected force.
An elite rescue squad personally led by the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, secretly infiltrating the Land of Lightning.
And it was precisely the appearance of that squad that changed his mind.
That night, aside from Danzō—
did Hiruzen, Koharu, Homura… also carry regrets in their hearts?
Over all these years, had they too repeatedly questioned themselves in the depths of sleepless nights?
"Back then… why didn't I stay behind and die alongside sensei?"
Shinichi thought—they definitely had.
And so, Shinichi came back.
He did not merely want to become the "living Tobirama" in the hearts of Konoha's upper echelon.
He also wanted to become, in their hearts, the version of themselves they had imagined countless times in dreams, memories, and endless self-reproach—the younger self who had finally turned around, stayed behind, and fought side by side with their teacher unto death.
That was why he came.
To save the people who needed saving.
To finish the performance that needed finishing.
To become the light they would never be able to erase from their hearts.
"So what?"
Danzō violently shoved aside the subordinates trying to support him and strode several steps forward until he stood beside Shinichi, shouting harshly: "And what difference does your return make? With these thirty equally disobedient idiots, are the thirty-two of us supposed to die here together?!"
As he spoke, his gaze swept toward the enemy lines ahead. The smoke and dust were slowly settling, while the black mass of Kumogakure shinobi had already regrouped, their killing intent colder and denser than before.
"Elder Danzō."
Shinichi did not turn around. He merely stared quietly at the enemy formation ahead.
"Who said there are only thirty-two of us?"
At that, Shinichi slightly turned his head to look at Shimura Danzō.
"To be exact…"
"There are three hundred and sixty-six."
"What…?"
Danzō's eyes filled with suspicion, but in the very next instant, a sudden commotion erupted from deep within the forest behind them!
"Kill!!!"
"Reinforce the captain!!!"
The roar thundered through the night mist!
Danzō abruptly turned around, only to see countless figures bursting from the moonlit forest like a flood breaking through a collapsed dam!
"So, Elder Danzō."
The boy turned back once more. Meeting Danzō's stunned gaze, he smiled faintly.
"Now you understand why I came back, don't you?"
"My squad members were willing to throw away even their own lives and charge back here just to save me, the captain who chose to stay behind and cover the rear."
"So as their captain…"
"How could I possibly abandon another person who chose to stay behind for my sake?"
"Wouldn't you agree, Elder Danzō?"
Shinichi could roughly understand what Danzō was thinking at that moment.
Nothing more than finally completing the regret left unfinished all those years ago. Completing a redemption that had arrived decades late, then going peacefully and openly to meet his teacher.
And as far as Shinichi was concerned—
Self-redemption?
Fine!
But peacefully going to meet his teacher?
Absolutely not!
For the rest of your life, you're going to obediently keep working for me!
Danzō said nothing.
He merely stood there blankly, staring at the battered and wounded members of the Shinichi Unit, whose eyes still burned brightly with determination.
Those more than three hundred shinobi who should have already retreated far away from this battlefield of death—not a single one was missing.
Every last one of them had returned.
And now, all of them were charging toward this battlefield at full speed.
Then, slowly, Danzō shifted his gaze back onto the boy's still-smiling face.
After a long silence, Danzō suddenly let out a relieved laugh.
"Good!"
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