met free Chapter 270 The Death of Danzo
Chapter 270 The Death of Danzo
Chapter 270 The Death of Danzo
The 65-meter-tall Five-Tails Kokuoh is still in its best running form; one of its small steps is equivalent to the distance an ordinary Jonin can cover in a single teleportation.
Now he gallops at full speed, kicking up mud and trees that make it impossible for anyone to get close.
All the Konoha ninja present were somewhat stunned. They really hadn't expected that Iwagakure's sneak attack would come so suddenly, and even their escape would be so decisive.
Han even went so far as to transform into a fully-formed tailed beast in order to speed up his escape.
"Taiyi-kun, shouldn't we pursue them?"
A voice rang in his ears. Tai turned his head and saw a ninja covered in blood, with one hand hanging limply and two dark circles under his eyes.
"You are—Commander Mimura Yomaki?"
Taiyi was incredulous and almost didn't recognize him. "You look terrible! You have more than ten wounds all over your body, big and small."
"Sigh, I'm not the commander anymore. The current commander is Lord Danzo," Mimura Yoru said with a hint of helplessness.
"What Danzo? He's just a coward who deserted in the face of battle. Look around and see how many Root ninjas are left."
From the moment Taiyi arrived, he noticed that although many of the ninjas on the battlefield had been hit by a Tailed Beast Ball, quite a few had survived. However, some of these ninjas had quietly retreated from the battlefield.
Taiichi didn't even need to look closely to tell that these people must be members of Root. Only they would obey Danzo's orders and run away alone, disregarding the lives of their other comrades in Konoha.
To put it bluntly, Danzo wanted to use the lives of other Konoha ninjas to delay Iwagakure's advance and buy time for his own and Root members' evacuation.
Mimura Yoru and the surviving ninjas around her then realized what was happening. They searched around, but couldn't find a single Root ninja.
This immediately stirred up public outrage.
They could die in battle, and even accept being left behind to die, but only if they were aware of it. What is this now? It is blatant betrayal, something they cannot accept under any circumstances.
"We trusted him so much, and he just ran away without a word!"
"Does he even have the responsibility of a commander anymore?!"
"If we'd known the roots were bad, why would they use us as scapegoats!"
Looking at the indignant Konoha ninjas around him, Taichi knew that the desired effect had been achieved, but it was far from safe to do so.
"Jonin Mimura, the situation is urgent, and you have no choice but to continue as commander and lead everyone in the next step of the operation."
Although Iwagakure has just retreated, I believe they will surely return soon. The current state of the camp cannot withstand a major battle. Commander Mimura, please issue the order as soon as possible.
"Yes, Jonin Mimura, please lead us." The surrounding ninjas nodded in agreement.
It wasn't that Taiichi himself couldn't take on the command, but firstly, he wasn't a ninja from the Western Front, so his position wasn't legitimate; secondly, he was indeed too young, and although everyone admired him, they all had some reservations about him taking on the command.
"Alright, since that's the case, then I won't refuse anymore." The dejection on Mimura Yoshimaki's face vanished, and he rallied his spirits, issuing orders one after another.
"Hikaru Inuzuka, organize four squads to go out and scout, and make sure the camp is not attacked again."
"Hideo Yamanaka, lead the men to inventory the camp's supplies and collect all the salvageable items. We will be leaving the camp soon."
"Suzuki, organize a search and rescue operation for the wounded. Find all the dead and injured."
After explaining all this, Mimura Yoru turned to Taiichi: "Taiichi-kun, I've heard that your medical ninjutsu is outstanding. I would like to ask you to assist the medical team in treating those injured ninjas."
"No problem, Commander Mimura, it's what I should do." Taichi answered without hesitation, fully demonstrating the spirit of a Konoha person, a Konoha soul, and a heart full of the Will of Fire.
After saying that, he didn't take credit and simply vanished from the spot in a flash.
Mimura Yoru couldn't help but sigh, "As expected of Tsunade's disciple, her spirit is truly admirable—decisive and efficient, she gets things done as soon as she says she'll do it."
Mimura Yomi thought Taiichi was going to the medical camp using the Flying Thunder God Technique, but in reality, Taiichi appeared in the sky more than ten kilometers away from the Konoha camp.
Of course, his shadow clones were still stationed at the medical camp. The casualties in this battle were too great, and no amount of medical ninjas could meet the demand.
The scene then shifts to Danzo's side.
Faced with the Tailed Beast Ball flying at such close range, Danzo was terrified. He cursed Iwagakure for being reckless and dodged to the side without giving any orders.
Although this was just a small, hastily produced Tailed Beast Ball, it was still a Tailed Beast Ball, and its power was not to be underestimated. The violent explosion directly blew away all the creatures nearby.
Those Konoha ninja who gathered because of Danzo's order suffered heavy casualties.
Danzo was naturally one of them, but he managed to escape the epicenter of the explosion in time, thus saving his life.
However, after he regained his footing and looked around, he was immediately filled with despair. The hundred or so Konoha ninjas who had gathered around him were either dead or wounded by this Tailed Beast Ball. Looking around the entire camp, he saw shouts of killing everywhere.
Not far away, Han, the Five-Tails Jinchuriki, had already regrouped, and the Iwagakure ninja behind him were also ready to attack. Danzo knew that this battle was over.
Now, the only option is to preserve Konoha's fighting strength as much as possible, and more importantly, the strength of Root. Otherwise, what awaits me is not just the simple stripping of my position, but taking full responsibility for this defeat.
"Terai, order the Root members to evacuate as soon as possible and regroup at the 8th outpost in the Land of Fire."
After saying that, Danzo left the Konoha camp without looking back.
In his view, the camp was no longer worth saving. The entire camp had been destroyed, and the enemy still had the Five-Tails Jinchuriki. The only thing to do now was to preserve as much of their own fighting force as possible.
Of course, the "friendly forces" here refers to the members of his Root organization. As for the ordinary Konoha ninjas, they can only be asked to make necessary sacrifices for Konoha, and the village will remember their contributions.
Danzo's escape was perfectly natural, without the slightest hesitation. Soon after, his confidant Terai also relayed the order and followed in his footsteps.
The two fled frantically through the forest, as if they were being pursued by an endless army.
Neither of the two frantically fleeing noticed that thousands of meters in the air, a figure was looking down at them, taking in their every move.
Until Taiyi's true form appeared, the shadow clone turned into white smoke and disappeared, leaving only a Flying Thunder God kunai in its place.
Taking the kunai from his hand, Taiichi looked at the two people still fleeing below and a smile of excitement appeared on his lips.
What does it mean to say that "Heaven's sins may be forgiven, but self-inflicted sins cannot be forgiven"?
What does it mean to "not do stupid things and you'll die"?
This refers to Danzo.
As the commander of the western front, Taiyi wouldn't be able to do anything to him even if he found an opportunity, since he was responsible for the fate of more than a thousand ninjas on the entire western front.
If anything were to happen to him, the entire western front might collapse. This is why, even though he murdered Uchiha Yohei, others could only silently swallow their anger and bear the bitter consequences.
But now look what's happened! They've become arrogant and conceited. A so-called victory has exposed all their weaknesses, and the Iwagakure's sneak attack has brought the entire western front to the brink of collapse.
He himself led the group to escape first, and at that moment, he completely threw away all the amulets.
You can't believe Taiichi would let such a perfect opportunity slip by.
With his chakra senses constantly monitoring the two, Taiichi accelerated and flew directly in front of them, adjusting his position to quietly hide in their path.
Within minutes, Danzo and his companion approached Taiichi's ambush point. At this moment, Taiichi held his breath and cleared his mind to prevent his killing intent from being sensed by the two.
After the two passed the large tree where Taiichi was hiding, Taiichi's aura solidified, and he instantly accelerated, pointing his short sword forward to strike Danzo's neck from behind.
Even if Danzo managed to dodge in a fraction of a second, he couldn't escape the subsequent changes brought about by Taiichi.
Just as the short sword was about to pierce Danzo's body, a figure suddenly appeared in front of Taiichi's short sword, using his own body to block Taiichi's attack.
It was Terai. Taiichi never expected that this Jonin would be so loyal to Danzo. He blocked the fatal blow with his own life.
Because of this delay, Danzo was able to recover.
He instantly appeared under a large tree, turned around and looked at Taiyi, who had already put on a mask and changed his appearance.
"A ninja from Iwagakure? When did Iwagakure ever have a swordsmanship ninja as skilled as you?"
Danzo wasn't too panicked at this point. After all, he was a top-tier ninja. He had only been ambushed. If it came to a direct confrontation, even if he couldn't win, he could still escape.
Taiichi twisted his short sword, extinguishing the last glimmer of life in the ninja beneath his blade. Then, without uttering a word, he drew his sword and charged straight at Danzo.
He knew all too well that villains die from talking too much. Although he wasn't a villain, he didn't want to leave any clues for the enemy to track him down.
Wind Release: Great Breakthrough.
Without needing to form hand seals, a violent hurricane, accompanied by countless wind blades, swept towards Danzo. He himself followed closely behind, keeping a close eye on every opening in Danzo's defenses.
Faced with the enemy's sudden ninjutsu, Danzo was no pushover. He clasped his hands together and with just three hand seals, he unleashed an equally violent hurricane.
Wind Release versus Wind Release.
The two gales, now in the middle, suddenly created an even more violent storm. Trees were uprooted and scattered wind blades flew aimlessly.
The fact that their ninjutsu clashes were evenly matched speaks volumes about Danzo's mastery of Wind Release.
Taiichi maintained his speed, his short sword scattering several incoming wind blades as he swiftly passed through the turbulent wind field and approached Danzo.
The short sword was aimed at Danzo's heart and stabbed down fiercely. The wind-style chakra gathered on the sword extended the blade by more than ten centimeters.
Danzo was not to be outdone. The clash of ninjutsu had left several scratches on his body, and this attack made him realize that the newcomer's wind release was probably even stronger than his own.
But when it comes to close combat, he is equally formidable. He blows a breath onto the kunai in his hand, and the ordinary kunai immediately glows with a hazy blue light, with a finger-length blade extending from its surface.
The short sword and kunai clashed fiercely. Compared to the kunai, which is less than 30 centimeters long, the short sword had a clear advantage in close combat. However, after five moves, Danzo was suppressed by Taiichi and could only defend passively.
The chakra released from the clash of weapons transformed into wind blades, leaving the area around the two men riddled with holes.
Danzo realized that the Iwa ninja were too difficult to deal with, as his ninjutsu was inferior to theirs and he couldn't win in close combat.
Taking advantage of the moment when their weapons clashed, he suddenly exerted his strength and leaped backward to break free from Taiyi's entanglement. While still in mid-air, he bit his finger and began to form hand seals.
Hai—Xu—You—Shen—Wei, the art of spiritual communication.
A huge plume of white smoke rose, and the enormous summoning beast Dream Membrane appeared beneath Danzo's feet.
Without Danzo's instruction, the Dream Membrane opened its huge mouth and a powerful suction force came from it, sucking all the surrounding soil, gravel, broken branches and leaves into the Dream Membrane's mouth.
Taiyi, however, was dismissive of this. He did not dodge, but instead formed hand seals as he ran.
Earth Escape·Earthquake Core.
The ground beneath Mengmo's feet suddenly sank, sinking more than ten meters. Both Mengmo and Danzo, who was standing on its head, fell into the sinkhole.
Earth Release: Earth Flowing River
The land in front of Taiyi instantly turned into a river of mud, rushing madly into the sinkhole. In the blink of an eye, the sinkhole, which was more than ten meters deep, was filled.
Earth Release: Earth Rising Spear.
Within the earth, countless sharp rock spikes formed, not pointing upwards, but turning inwards, the dense rock spikes filling the mud pit with no gaps.
Taiyi heard a scream from above, and then the mud pit suddenly sank, indicating that the Baku had canceled the summoning.
From its appearance to its disappearance, Dream Membrane only appeared for a dozen seconds, and before it could even figure out what was going on, it was easily defeated by Taiyi.
Using his chakra perception, Taiichi sensed that Danzo was hidden underground as if he were dead. Without hesitation, Taiichi continued to form hand seals.
Earth Escape - Opening and Digging.
A volcano-like mound of earth rose up, followed by a large amount of mud and soil being spewed out, among which was Danzo, who was pretending to be dead.
When Danzo sensed the surging earth, he knew he couldn't hide any longer. In the instant he was spewed out, he endured the pain from the numerous wounds all over his body and completed the hand seals.
Wind Release: Vacuum Waves.
Danzo unleashed a series of air blades at Taiichi, who dared not take them. Danzo's Vacuum series of ninjutsu was incredibly powerful, capable of cutting through even Susanoo's armor.
He instantly teleported away from the ninjutsu's area of effect, then clapped his hands together, creating a series of wind blades out of thin air.
Although a single wave is not as powerful as a vacuum wave, it is continuous.
Danzo was now filled with fear. The Iwagakure ninja was far too powerful. Their Wind Release, Earth Release, and swordsmanship were all top-notch. Why didn't Iwagakure send out such strong ninja in the previous battles?
After dodging the wind blades in a sorry state, a sudden flash of inspiration struck Danzo. Exquisite swordsmanship, the same short swordsman, and proficient in various elemental ninjutsu—this couldn't be some Iwagakure ninja; this was clearly Matsushita Taichi.
"Matsushita Taichi! It's you! Do you want to betray the village? How dare you attack me?" Danzo was hysterical. He frantically swung his kunai to deflect a slicing wind blade and roared with bulging eyes in Taichi's direction.
Taiichi curled his lip in disdain, too lazy to even acknowledge him. He just didn't expect Danzo to recognize him in the end. But it didn't matter, he hadn't shown such powerful earth-escape techniques before.
With a swift movement, he dodged Danzo's kunai and, with a light twist of his short sword, sliced across Danzo's neck.
Danzo covered his wound with one hand, his eyes filled with anger and resentment. He reached out his other hand towards Taiichi, as if trying to grab him, and staggered towards Taiichi.
Seeing Danzo's actions, Taichi knew perfectly well that Danzo hadn't given up on plotting against him even in his death.
He formed a hand seal and slammed his hands onto the ground.
Earth Escape Technique: Mountain Earth Technique.
Two hemispherical rocks rose from either side of Danzo, heavily pressing the defenseless Danzo into the middle.
Taiyi heard the "smack" sound of the meat patty being added.