"Hanzo—your end comes today!"
Shimura Danzō's eyes were filled with ruthless intent as he pressed forward with his katana.
The sheer force he exerted caused both his blade and Hanzo of the Salamander's scythe to tremble violently as they clashed.
Although Danzō was now the only one left attacking Hanzo—
Hanzo had also lost the use of one arm.
For a shinobi, losing an arm meant they could no longer perform two-handed hand seals, reducing their combat effectiveness by more than half.
For Hanzo, the impact was even greater.
His unique weapon style required both hands to reach its full power.
Without one arm, his strength had fallen significantly.
Danzō was confident he would claim the final victory in this battle.
"Don't speak so confidently. One hand is enough to kill you."
Hanzo snorted coldly.
With a sudden vibration of his arm, he knocked Danzō's katana aside and retreated.
"Don't think about escaping!"
Danzō immediately gave chase, his katana swinging rapidly until it became a blur of afterimages, refusing to give Hanzo even the slightest chance to catch his breath.
Hanzo fought while retreating, repeatedly swinging his scythe to block every one of Danzō's attacks.
Danzō frowned slightly.
Something felt wrong.
Someone like Hanzo—once injured—should have become like a wounded beast, launching even more ferocious attacks at his opponent.
Not simply defending like this.
Originally, Danzō had already prepared to switch to defense and wait for Hanzo to exhaust his stamina.
But now the situation seemed reversed.
Something was off.
There had to be a trap.
Though his offensive did not slow, Danzō secretly heightened his vigilance, splitting part of his attention to watch the surrounding battlefield.
Soon, he noticed something alarming.
The Root shinobi he had sent to kill Ibuse still had not completed their mission.
And judging from the situation there, Ibuse had not suffered any serious injuries.
Defeating it in a short amount of time was practically impossible.
So Hanzo was deliberately stalling for time?
"Useless trash!"
Danzō cursed angrily as he intensified his assault on Hanzo.
If Ibuse managed to release another Poison Mist, the battle would likely swing back in Hanzo's favor.
There was only one path left—
He had to kill Hanzo before that happened.
But in truth, the Root shinobi could hardly be blamed.
Ibuse was immensely powerful.
Back in the past, it had once suppressed the summoning beasts of the Three Great Summoning Regions all by itself.
Even without its Poison Mist, its elusive burrowing ability made it nearly impossible for the Root shinobi to defeat it quickly.
In fact, by the end of the fight—
it was still uncertain who would end up killing whom.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere!"
Danzō forced Hanzo back with a slash before rapidly forming hand seals, preparing to unleash another ninjutsu.
But at that critical moment—
his body suddenly stiffened.
His movements slowed for just half a beat.
"Iaijutsu Slash!"
Hanzo seized the opportunity instantly.
His figure flashed forward as the scythe in his hand slashed toward Danzō.
Danzō's pupils shrank.
Even though he tried to dodge with all his strength, the arm holding his katana was still cut open, leaving a wound so deep that the bone was visible.
Danzō's expression turned extremely grim.
After quickly retreating, he transferred the katana to his left hand—
and without hesitation, cut off his own right arm.
He had already experienced the poison coating Hanzo's scythe.
If he didn't do this—
he would certainly die.
And yet…
Feeling the numbness slowly spreading through his body, Danzō stared at Hanzo and asked grimly,
"When did you poison me?"
"Oh? You're already starting to feel the paralysis?"
Hanzo grinned viciously and did not bother hiding the truth.
"My blood carries a toxin even more lethal than the poison inside Ibuse."
"The amount may be small, but once the poison in my blood evaporates into the air, it's enough to paralyze your body and rob you of the ability to move."
Danzō's face darkened to the extreme.
It seemed that his long absence from the battlefield had dulled his combat instincts.
He had overlooked such a critical factor.
Today—
he might truly be doomed.
"Poison Mist!"
Misfortune rarely came alone.
At that very moment, Ibuse had finally finished accumulating enough toxin and unleashed another Poison Mist attack.
A massive cloud of purple poison rapidly spread outward, expanding across the battlefield.
"Be careful! Get away from there!"
The Root shinobi who had been surrounding Ibuse immediately retreated when they realized the situation was hopeless, rushing back toward Danzō.
"Lord Danzō, we must withdraw! You cannot fall here!"
The few remaining Root operatives stood in front of him, attempting to cover his retreat.
"Stop struggling."
"None of you will leave alive today."
Hanzo looked at the battered survivors before him and shook his head coldly.
Among the remaining Root shinobi, the strongest were only two Special Jōnin.
The rest were merely chūnin.
They were nowhere near enough to stop him.
Danzō understood this clearly as well.
If they scattered and fled, the other Root shinobi might still have a chance to survive.
But as Hanzo's primary target—
he himself would certainly die.
Since that was the case…
It would be better to make a final stand and drag Hanzo down with him.
A resolute light flashed in Danzō's eyes.
He still had one final trump card left—
a technique capable of taking the enemy down with him.
"You all—go hold him back! Buy me some time—"
"Hm?!"
Danzō had just begun ordering the remaining Root shinobi to stall Hanzo so he could prepare the Reverse Four Symbols Sealing Technique.
But before he could finish—
Hanzo suddenly looked up into the distance, as if he had sensed something.
Danzō followed his gaze but saw nothing.
He was not a sensory-type shinobi, and his perception abilities were limited.
However, one of the Root shinobi with sensory abilities suddenly spoke.
"Lord Danzō, there's fighting happening in that direction!"
"Based on the chakra fluctuations… it should be the two kids who escaped earlier!"
A flash of light appeared in Danzō's eyes.
Looking toward Hanzo, he said with a dangerous tone:
"Lord Hanzo… it seems the children you were protecting have run into trouble."
"So?"
"Are you really going to keep wasting time here with me?"
"Even though we're at a disadvantage… we're still confident that we can take you down with us before we die."
Danzō's voice carried obvious menace—
but inside, he was extremely nervous.
This was his last chance.
After all—
if survival was possible, who would willingly choose death?
Hanzo's gaze turned icy.
Through the torn sleeve of Danzō's severed arm, he saw faint black sealing patterns appearing across Danzō's chest.
"…You're lucky."
Hanzo did not hesitate for long.
After leaving those words behind, his figure vanished instantly.
Danzō finally let out a long breath.
The tension in his body collapsed, and his aura noticeably weakened.
"Move out."
"We're heading to the Konoha main camp."
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