After a brief, disorienting clash, every Root operative present lay dead at Ryūjin Uchiha's feet.
The gap in strength had been absolute. These shinobi never even managed to send a warning before their lives were cut short. It was not a battle so much as an execution.
Only two remained standing.
Fu Yamanaka and Muta Aburame.
Ryūjin had not spared them out of mercy. Mercy had nothing to do with it. They were still useful.
Danzo had stood at the pinnacle of Konoha's power structure, second only to the Hokage himself. His sudden death would send shockwaves throughout the Village. Investigations would follow. Every detail would be dug up and scrutinized.
More importantly, with Danzo dead, the cursed tongue-binding seal placed on every Root member would disappear. They would be free to speak. Free to confess. Free to accuse.
The real question was how deep their loyalty truly ran.
Some would gladly die before betraying Danzo. Others would hesitate the moment their chains vanished. Ryūjin knew this all too well. He remembered Sai from the original timeline, a man whose loyalty cracked the instant he was given a choice.
If word ever reached the Hokage that Danzo had schemed against Ryūjin, it would become an unnecessary complication. One Ryūjin had no interest in dealing with.
That was precisely why Fu and Muta were still breathing.
"Uchiha Ryūjin, if you're going to kill us, do it already!" Fu snarled, his eyes burning with hatred. "Don't think I'll thank you for sparing me. If I get the chance, I'll avenge Lord Danzo!"
The venom in Fu's gaze was intense, as if Ryūjin had slaughtered his own family.
"You really want to die for Danzo that badly?" Ryūjin muttered, rubbing his temple in irritation.
In the original timeline, Fu had died protecting Danzo on the way to the Five Kage Summit. Even now, without the tongue seal binding him, that devotion remained intact.
Beside him, Muta's expression was no better. His killing intent was barely restrained, his posture tense, ready to lunge at the slightest opening.
Danzo's brainwashing ran deep. Deeper than Ryūjin had hoped.
No matter. Arguing was pointless.
Ryūjin's Sharingan spun slowly as he met their eyes. A powerful genjutsu descended without warning, crushing their resistance and bending their wills effortlessly.
"From this moment on, you obey me," Ryūjin said coldly.
"Yes, Lord Ryūjin!" Fu and Muta replied in unison, their hostility erased as if it had never existed.
Ryūjin did not waste time.
"Danzo is dead. The tongue seals are gone, and Root is already in chaos. I want every Root member who knows anything about me gathered here tonight."
He continued calmly, his tone leaving no room for misunderstanding.
"Whether it's Danzo's attack within the Village or his cooperation with Orochimaru, I want all of them brought here. Quietly. Quickly."
His gaze hardened.
"If you alert the Village, you answer to me. If anyone refuses, eliminate them."
"Understood, Lord Ryūjin!"
The two vanished in a flash of movement.
The Yamanaka and Aburame clans were major pillars of Konoha. Fu and Muta were Danzo's most trusted captains, respected and feared within Root. There was no one better suited for the task.
They did not disappoint.
Before long, Fu returned with eight additional Root operatives. Ryūjin waited in silence, one by one dragging them into the same inescapable genjutsu. He stripped them of choice and sealed their tongues in a different way, forbidding them from ever speaking of him.
"Clean the site," Ryūjin said dismissively. "Then go back to your lives."
With that, he waved them off.
By the time the last trace of battle was erased, not even a footprint remained. Ryūjin returned home and slept soundly, as though the night had been completely uneventful.
By morning, Danzo's death struck Konoha like a thunderclap.
The Hokage, the two Councilors, the clan heads, every high-ranking shinobi stared in disbelief as the news spread. It felt unreal.
Most ordinary villagers took it calmly. Many had never even seen Danzo, let alone understood his importance.
The upper echelons of Konoha knew better.
Danzo had been the Village's undisputed second-in-command, a shadow that had loomed over every major decision. And now he was simply gone.
Worse still, no one knew how or where he had died.
If not for the sudden disappearance of the tongue-binding seals, they might never have realized he was dead at all. Amaterasu had reduced him to nothing, leaving behind no corpse, no evidence, no trail.
A man of such power erased without a sound.
The thought left the Hokage and the others unsettled, a quiet fear tightening their chests. Whoever had done this could just as easily come for them.
How did one defend against a shadow?
"Could it be him?" the Hokage murmured, his brow furrowing as a long-buried face surfaced in his memory.
That man possessed the strength. There was no doubt about that. But was he truly responsible?
After a long moment, the Hokage exhaled softly.
Enough.
If the truth had remained buried this long, it could stay buried. If he fell next, then the secret would die with him.
"There is something you all must know," he said, his voice grave as he addressed the inner circle gathered in his office.
"Konoha has long concealed the existence of a mysterious expert."
The room stilled.
"He first appeared when Shisui's squad returned from searching for Obito's body and encountered Han, the Five-Tails Jinchuriki. From the shadows, he sealed the partially transformed Tailed Beast. Minato and Kushina witnessed it themselves."
Murmurs spread, disbelief clear on every face.
"The second incident occurred half a year ago. During Ōnoki's surprise assault, an unseen force suppressed the Tsuchikage himself."
The room fell silent.
"And tonight marks his third intervention. I withheld this information before, but of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist who invaded Konoha, five were killed by that same hidden power."
Shock rippled through the office.
Sealing a rampaging Jinchuriki. Suppressing a Kage. Slaughtering five of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
Any one of those feats would be legendary. Together, they were terrifying.
Not even the Hokage himself could replicate such accomplishments.
Nor could Minato, the strongest shinobi Konoha had ever known.
"A shinobi of that level," Shikaku Nara said slowly, disbelief heavy in his voice, "hiding within the Village… and you still don't know who he is, Hokage-sama?"
The Hokage shook his head.
"Every time he acts, he leaves nothing behind. No chakra residue. No clues. Nothing at all."
The room remained silent, the weight of the unseen presence pressing down on every mind.
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