"Swish—"
However—
Danzō, whose body had just been drenched in blood and whose right eye had supposedly been taken, suddenly vanished again like a wisp of smoke.
Even the splattered blood and the eyeball hanging from the vine disappeared along with him.
It was almost unbelievable.
"How can you possibly possess a Mangekyō Sharingan?!"
Danzō reappeared several meters away.
Having escaped death through Izanagi, he stared at Ren in disbelief.
More precisely, his eyes were fixed on the Mangekyō pattern glowing within Ren's eyes.
He could no longer remain calm.
"And my Kotoamatsukami didn't even work on you…"
Not only did Akira Ren possess a Mangekyō Sharingan—
even Danzō's ultimate trump card had been rendered ineffective.
The shock shook him completely.
For the first time, a deep sense of unease rose within him.
"You're not an Uchiha… so why do you have the Sharingan?"
Danzō gritted his teeth as he stared at Ren.
The fact that Ren could freely close his Mangekyō Sharingan meant he likely possessed Uchiha blood.
But Root had thoroughly investigated Ren's background.
At most, he was only a branch descendant of the Senju clan.
So what exactly was going on?
"Oh? You want to know?"
Seeing Danzō's shaken expression, Ren smiled calmly.
"Sorry. I have no obligation to let you die knowing everything."
There were many forbidden techniques in this world capable of summoning the dead back from the Pure Land.
Ren didn't particularly care if his abilities were eventually exposed—
but he certainly wouldn't foolishly reveal them to an enemy.
Outside the battlefield—
Standing atop a tall tree and observing from afar,
Tsunade watched Danzō repeatedly revive.
"That must be the Uchiha forbidden technique… Izanagi."
Even she couldn't help but feel shocked.
Looking at Danzō's grotesque arm covered with Sharingan,
she frowned.
"That bastard really turned himself into a monster."
But what shocked her even more—
was Ren's strength.
She knew very well that Ren hadn't even used his true trump cards yet.
He was basically treating Danzō as a training partner.
"Hmph."
Danzō's face darkened.
Without hesitation, he dashed forward.
His eyes burned with greed.
"Then I'll take your eyes myself!"
No matter how extraordinary Ren's abilities were—
he was still only an eight-year-old child.
Danzō refused to believe he couldn't defeat him.
"You should worry about yourself."
"You only have eight eyes left."
Ren mocked him calmly.
"Well… nine if you count Shisui's."
Before he finished speaking—
he flicked his arm.
Countless wooden spikes shot toward Danzō.
Nine eyes sounded like a lot—
but Mangekyō Sharingan were incredibly precious.
Danzō would never waste Shisui's eye on Izanagi unless absolutely necessary.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
Danzō's pupils shrank.
He retreated rapidly while forming hand seals.
"BOOM—"
A massive earth wall rose from the shattered ground.
It blocked the incoming wooden spikes.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Blade!"
Leaping onto the wall,
Danzō sprinted along its surface.
He held a kunai and poured Wind-Release chakra into it.
A sharp green chakra blade formed around the weapon.
Then he charged at Ren.
"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"
Ren's face remained expressionless.
In an instant—
countless sprouts burst from the ground.
They grew into towering trees at incredible speed.
Like living creatures,
they twisted and lunged toward Danzō.
"This is… the First Hokage's technique?!"
Danzō's eyes widened.
He leapt repeatedly to avoid the attacking vines.
Although he possessed Hashirama's cells and could technically use Wood Release—
his situation was very different from Ren's.
Ren had awakened Wood Release naturally.
Yamato (Tenzo) had fused diluted Hashirama cells and gained the bloodline.
But Danzō merely used the Yin chakra of the implanted Sharingan to stabilize Hashirama's cells.
Strictly speaking—
he did not truly possess Wood Release.
He could only use a few techniques through his arm.
That was why he rarely used Wood Release.
Moreover—
Hashirama's cells were extremely dangerous.
If Yin and Yang energies lost balance,
his arm could devour him completely.
"SWISH—!"
"CRACK!"
Danzō slashed rapidly with his wind-chakra blade.
Vines were cut down again and again—
but new ones immediately grew.
They attacked endlessly.
He couldn't even get close to Ren.
In fact—
he was almost caught himself.
"Ah!"
Suddenly—
several vines wrapped around his legs.
Danzō's face changed drastically.
Before he could cut them—
countless vines swarmed toward him.
Like predators smelling blood.
His chakra began draining rapidly.
Danzō's eyes hardened.
His right hand barely moved.
With the kunai—
he stabbed directly into his own heart.
"AAAH!"
Blood splattered.
But the next moment—
his body disappeared.
"Izanagi again."
Ren chuckled lightly.
"So ruthless—suicide just to escape."
He turned around as if he had eyes on his back.
Looking at Danzō who had reappeared behind him.
"Seven eyes left."
Danzō glanced at his arm.
His face grew darker.
"And my chakra consumption is enormous…"
"I can't drag this out any longer."
"I need to finish this quickly!"
"Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere!"
He formed seals rapidly.
Then unleashed a barrage of powerful wind bullets.
They tore through the air with terrifying penetration.
But Ren only smiled.
"Pointless."
A massive wooden shield erupted from the ground.
It blocked the powerful attack.
"BOOM! BOOM!"
Wood splinters flew everywhere.
The shield trembled violently under the impact—
its surface covered in deep craters.
But it still held.
Then—
Danzō pulled out several shuriken.
He infused them with Wind Release chakra and threw them.
The spinning blades cut through the air like invisible windmills.
They smashed through the already damaged wooden shield.
And flew straight toward Ren.
"Slash—"
Ren's body was cut cleanly in half.
But—
his body turned into a wooden statue.
No blood spilled.
"WHAT?!"
Danzō felt a chill down his spine.
Realizing something was wrong,
he tried to turn—
But a massive vine pierced straight through his body.
Ren appeared behind him.
Smiling calmly.
"Six left."
"Damn you…"
Danzō vanished again.
Reappearing behind Ren.
"Root Explosion Burial!"
"Die, brat!"
His right arm suddenly sprouted seedlings.
In the blink of an eye—
they expanded into a gigantic tree.
The technique erupted instantly.
Without giving Ren any chance to escape—
the massive tree swallowed both of them whole.
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