Danzo struggled for survival below, and Menma, intrigued, watched without intervening.
Crawling and coughing up blood, Danzo muttered incoherently. "Cough cough cough... For Konoha, for the shinobi world, I cannot die in a place like this!"
"No matter what it takes, I must live!"
"Because I am the only one who can reform this world of shinobi! The village and the world need me!"
Danzo's final words were practically roared from his throat. He looked around at the ninja from the four clans—faces frozen in terror, seemingly devoid of strength.
"So you must sacrifice yourselves for this!" he snarled. "All of you, go and block the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki! Use your lives, use everything you have to block him!"
Looking at Danzo, his expression twisted like a demon, the four clans' ninja finally found their strength. But they didn't move toward Menma.
They stumbled and fled in the opposite direction.
"I... I don't want to die!"
"First and Second Hokage, save me! I'm still useful to the village!"
"It's all Danzo's fault! He deceived and manipulated us! Kill him, don't kill me!"
Watching his hopes for survival turn and run, Danzo's face twisted in agony. Deep despair and resentment enveloped him, and he let out a shrill roar.
"Come back! All of you, come back!"
"After I escape, I will kill you all! I will kill you all!"
This scene of abandonment and betrayal made Menma clutch his stomach and burst into wild laughter.
"Hahaha, interesting, truly interesting! What an ugly, repulsive, hideous sight. Danzo, you old codger, you've successfully amused me."
"As a reward, I'll grant your wish. I'll let you watch them die—alive."
The golden-red giant raised its enormous hand toward the fleeing ninja. The next second, chakra spikes erupted with a piercing whoosh, skewering the twenty-odd figures in an instant.
Screams and pleas for mercy echoed all around. Menma ignored them. Instead, he controlled the spikes, carrying the impaled ninja back to Danzo's front.
"So, how do you want them to die?" Menma's voice whispered like a god in Danzo's ear. "Will their heads be severed in a flash? Or like before, with a sizzle and branches sprouting?"
Danzo's fingers dug bloody gashes into the ground, eyes filled with venomous hatred.
The four clans' ninja understood instantly. Danzo had wanted them dead while they ran, which was why Menma had impaled and captured them. They glared at him with pure hatred.
"You're about to die yourself! Why drag us down with you?"
"You're scum of the Shimura clan! The entire clan deserves to die!"
"We don't recognize him! He's not a member of the Shimura clan!"
"I'll be waiting for you down there, Danzo!"
Hearing these vicious curses, Danzo's mind flashed with countless images like a revolving lantern. He remembered his younger self—the boy who took the Will of Fire as his creed and wanted to become Hokage.
At some point, he'd lost his way. All that remained was the obsession with the hat.
"A ninja must sacrifice himself..."
Danzo lay on the ground and raised his head, a resolute expression on his blood-covered face. He twisted his body, aiming his head at Menma's position between the giant's brows. He stopped suppressing the Hashirama cells and chakra in his right arm.
The cells ran rampant, tree branches growing wildly. Fueled by them, Danzo launched himself toward the giant's brow.
"For Konoha! For the shinobi world!"
"Menma, I will not let you, this monster, live!"
Danzo roared, activating the Reverse Four Symbols Sealing on his body. Ink-black blood gushed forth, forming cursed seals in mid-air.
"Where Konoha dances, fire will burn. The fire's shadow will illuminate the village, and new leaves will sprout..."
"I, Danzo, though not the Hokage, am more like the Hokage than Hiruzen!"
Watching Danzo's heroic sacrifice, Menma sneered.
"Pfft. 'Sprout new leaves'? When it comes to being disgusting, you and Hiruzen Sarutobi have never disappointed."
The golden-red giant's hand swung out, firmly grasping Danzo, who had been carried by the tree trunk. Nine-Tails chakra, imbued with natural energy, enveloped Danzo completely.
Instantly, Danzo's bleeding stopped. The black cursed seals vanished.
"I'll let you live, so you live. I won't let you die, and you can't kill yourself."
"And since you won't choose, I'll choose for you."
The four clans' ninja strung together in the distance suddenly erupted with branch-like spikes. Blood splattered, and the screams stopped.
Menma retracted the chakra spikes, letting the corpses roll to the ground.
"Well, are you satisfied with their deaths?"
Unable to commit suicide and questioned by Menma, Danzo's expression twisted and crazed. He gnawed at the air, growling.
"You damned monster, I'll kill you! I'll definitely kill you!"
"Oh ho, it seems our Lord Danzo isn't satisfied yet."
The insulted Menma showed no displeasure. He controlled the golden-red giant to leap high into the air, landing in the center of the Shimura clan's territory behind them.
"Next, I'll use the Shimura clan to give you a satisfying performance."
The main battlefield hadn't been evacuated. The men, women, and children of the Shimura clan were huddled in their houses, trembling with fear.
"You monster! You dare touch my Shimura clan? The First and Second Hokage won't let you get away with this!"
"Is that so?" Menma looked troubled. Then he smiled, controlling the giant to grow four more arms. "I know what to do! Kill them all, and it won't count as an attack."
The five arms enveloped the Shimura clan's territory. Countless chakra spikes appeared like a volley of arrows, whistling downward.
Shrill screams echoed from all directions.
Danzo's face contorted with rage as he watched his clan die below. He finally broke down.
"You are a devil! A demon and a monster from hell! I should have ignored that idiot Hiruzen's attempts to stop me and killed you myself—killed you!"
The hatred on Danzo's face twisted to a nauseating degree. Menma laughed silently, his eyes filled with mockery as he watched the screaming, fleeing clan members below.
The sounds grew fainter. The cries and pleas for mercy dwindled.
Danzo's eyes were bloodshot and bulging. He raised his head again, staring at Menma like a vengeful ghost, then burst into maniacal laughter.
"Hahaha, well done, well done, Menma! We, the Shimura clan, will be waiting for you down there! After this bloody massacre, the entire village, including your master, Naruto Uzumaki, will no longer tolerate you!"
"I'll be waiting for you, waiting for you to die alone, abandoned and hated by everyone! Just like you did in your childhood, hahaha..."
Menma's chakra blade flicked. Danzo's limbs fell to the ground with an agonizing scream.
"No need to wait down there," Menma said, his voice chilling as he stared at Danzo. "Just stay up there with Hiruzen Sarutobi and keep an eye on things."