Not good!!

The Kumogakure’s Jonin’s body hair stood on end as he instinctively roared, "Scatter!!"

And he himself had already leaped sideways with all his strength, yet he was still too slow.

The speed of that wind blade exceeded the limits of his visual perception; his body had only just left the ground when an icy sensation spread across his waist.

The next moment, his vision spun violently.

He saw his lower body still suspended in midair. He saw the horrified faces of twenty comrades behind him. He saw them as well being cut apart by that enormous extending wind blade...

One slash, and it’s all gone!

All twenty-one Kumogakure ninjas were killed instantly, their blood spraying out like ink, drawing a tragic arc under the moonlight.

"Haa..."

Having done all this, Danzo Shimura finally let out a soft breath, the white mist condensing into a ball in the cold night sky.

His gaze swept across the surroundings like lightning. At his feet lay dozens of corpses, their blood soaking the soil, but there were still thousands of people around!

Further away, even more dark figures were pouring out of the forest, densely packed, like a tide closing in from all directions, completely trapping him in the forest! 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

’Is this Darkness of the Shinobi really that strong?’

This thought arose in the minds of all the Village Hidden in the Cloud members present.

In just a few minutes of fighting, under the siege of thousands of them, this Darkness of the Shinobi of Konoha not only escaped unscathed, but also cost them dozens of lives!

"Keep attacking! Kill him!"

A commander shouted sharply.

The moment the words were spoken, a murderous intent surged into the sky!

Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!

First came a sky-covering barrage of kunai, shuriken, and senbon needles, pouring down like a violent storm and sealing off every possible direction of escape above, below, left, and right.

Immediately following that came another eruption of combined Lightning Style attacks, lightning snakes dancing wildly, lightning spears piercing the sky, lightning spheres rolling forward, electrical nets intertwining, transforming the entire forest into a pale purgatory of lightning.

Finally, taking advantage of the chaos and suppression created by the long-range assault, the elite Kumogakure ninjas skilled in swordsmanship and taijutsu charged forth like hunting wolves, directly toward that lone figure!

Yet Danzo Shimura seemed completely indifferent. His body twisted and moved amidst the hail of attacks. At the same time, the katana in his hand slashed like the wind, knocking aside incoming kunai, cutting apart lightning snakes crawling across the ground, his footwork so fast that only afterimages remained.

In the midst of this life-or-death struggle of dodging and counterattacking, his mind unexpectedly drifted off for a moment.

"Teacher, when you faced the elite troops led by Kinkaku and Ginkaku alone and were trapped in a desperate situation, what were you thinking?"

"Is it regret for the unfinished business? Is it relief that the students have safely retreated? Or... Were you simply calculating how many more enemies you could take down?"

The thought had barely crossed his mind when a sudden wave of panic washed over Danzo.

He made too many mistakes in his life.

To achieve one’s goals by any means necessary, to betray morality, to sacrifice the innocent, to walk in darkness, to stray too far from the light...

If I were to truly reunite with my teacher in the afterlife, how would he view me?

"Will the teacher be disappointed? Will he shake his head? Will he feel that this student is no longer worthy of being called the successor of the Will of Fire? Do I still have the right to see my teacher openly and honestly?"

A single thought can make all the difference in an instant.

Swish!

A kunai, piercing through the air under the cover of lightning, aimed straight at his face!

Danzo Shimura snapped back to his senses and dodged sharply to the side at the last second.

Rip!

The kunai grazed past the edge of his right eye, dragging out a streak of warm blood!

The instant the pain exploded, the vision in his right eye was completely dyed crimson, and then, like a curtain being drawn shut, it descended entirely into darkness.

He staggered half a step, his left hand instinctively covering his right eye as sticky blood continuously flowed through the gaps between his fingers.

...

At the same time, the inexplicable throbbing within the third Hokage’s heart became increasingly intense and turbulent, like some kind of omen.

It felt as though something extremely important was quietly slipping away, about to leave him forever.

What was it? His own life? Or... Something else?

"Hokage-sama!"

A Hyuga Jonin spoke in a deep voice, his ferocious Byakugan staring into the dark forest ahead.

"Two kilometers ahead, a Kumogakure squad has been detected. Thirty personnel total. Their formation is loose, and they appear to be carrying out patrol and guard duties."

The Hyuga Jonin report interrupted the third Hokage’s turbulent thoughts.

The third Hokage’s gaze sharpened, and all distracting thoughts were instantly suppressed. After thinking for a moment, he said, "End this quickly! We cannot let them send out any signal or call for reinforcements."

"Understood!"

The moment the order was given, the third Hokage’s figure shot out like lightning, transforming into a blurry black streak in the dense forest.

Behind them, eight hundred elite troops spread out silently like shadows, forming an invisible net that enveloped the Kumogakure squad, who were unaware of the impending doom.

The inexplicable tremor in the third Hokage’s heart did not dissipate; on the contrary, it became more pronounced with each heartbeat.

But he knew that whatever awaited him ahead, he had to keep moving forward.

In the mountains and forests, a fierce wind swept through, its howling force transforming into a murderous aura that soared to the heavens!

The wind and lightning intertwined into a net, the clanging of swords clashing was incessant, and the dense clouds, like a black tide, surged wave after wave toward the lone figure in the center.

Danzo moved like the wind, fighting and retreating within the encirclement, constantly moving around. Although he was determined to die, he was by no means a foolishly brave man.

He knew better than anyone that this battle was never about winning, but about delaying the inevitable.

The longer they hold out, the greater the chance that the kid, Shinichi, will escape.

Even so, the encirclement of the Village Hidden in the Cloud was visibly tightening, and the space he could move in was becoming narrower and narrower, making each dodge more and more dangerous.

"How much longer until Toroi-sama arrives?!" A Kumogakure commander stared at the figure on the battlefield with a livid face.

He was clearly surrounded, clearly alone, and clearly blind in his right eye with limited vision.

But that guy seemed to grow stronger and more ferocious with each battle, and in a short period of time, nearly a hundred of his colleagues fell under his blade.

"The signal was given three minutes ago!" The subordinate beside him quickly replied. "We just need to hold him off until Toroi-sama arrives!"

"Good!"

The commander nodded, refocusing his gaze on the field, his eyes flashing with a cold light: "Even if we can’t catch up with Shinichi Higashino today, we will let this Darkness of the Shinobi stay here forever!"

Pfft!

Inside the battlefield, Danzo Shimura dodged another attack by sidestepping and, with a backhand slash, pierced the attacker’s throat, warm, sticky blood splattering onto his cheek.

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