Danzo was frantically searching for a way out when his eyes landed on a nearby Root shinobi also fleeing for his life.
Without hesitation, Danzo veered toward him.
The Root ninja noticed Danzo rushing his way and immediately felt that something was off. He tried to move away, but a cold, commanding voice stopped him in his tracks.
"You useless coward! Why the hell are you running?! Get back there and hold him off! Stall him for me!"
Damn it!
The Root ninja cursed silently. You're running just like I am, and you dare call me a coward?!
He wanted to keep running, but the searing pain on his tongue forced him to obey. The tongue curse mark compelled him to stop and follow Danzo's order—to stay behind and buy time.
As Rukawa charged straight at him, the Root shinobi's hands blurred into seals before he slammed them to the ground.
—Earth Style: Earth Wall!
A thick wall of stone surged up from the ground—but it lacked the signature dog face carving.
A roadblock, huh?
Unfortunately for him, to someone like Rukawa, it was no sturdier than a block of tofu.
Rukawa didn't even slow down.
BOOM!
CRACK!
The wall exploded into rubble on impact, and the Root shinobi behind it was instantly reduced to a mist of blood.
"Useless garbage."
Danzo spat in disgust.
Then he grabbed another unfortunate Root member, shoved an explosive tag onto him, and threw him backward like a piece of meat.
"Go! Buy me time!"
KABOOM!
The human bomb detonated, but Rukawa charged right through the smoke cloud, completely unfazed.
"Man, your guys really drew the short straw working for you, huh?"
Rukawa sneered and swung a heavy punch straight at Danzo's back.
Danzo's instincts screamed danger—he twisted his body around and braced his arms in front of him.
CRACK!!
The punch sent Danzo flying over ten meters, crashing through the wall of a nearby house.
"Shit… now I know firsthand—this guy's power is terrifying."
Danzo coughed as he got up, his arms numb and trembling.
"If I hadn't softened that blow… my arms would've snapped for sure."
As he staggered to his feet, hacking up dust and blood, a large hand suddenly entered his field of view.
"Oh, done running already, old man? You're pretty fast for someone your age!"
Rukawa's hand clamped tightly around Danzo's throat, lifting him off the ground.
"You bastard! You can't kill me! I'm a Konoha elder! A village leader!
If you kill me, you'll be declaring war on Konoha! The entire village will hunt you down! You'll be marked for death by the strongest shinobi village in the world!"
Rukawa grinned.
"Kill you? No, no... I wouldn't give you such an easy way out."
Danzo blinked.
Was this guy... backing off?
Rukawa's tone sounded casual. Could it be that he really feared becoming Konoha's enemy?
Danzo's face brightened with arrogant confidence. He barked:
"Hmph! Then put me down at once! If you release me now, I'll overlook everything you've done. I'll even guarantee your safe exit from Konoha!"
But Rukawa chuckled, slowly turning his head.
"You misunderstood."
"I mean killing you now would be too easy."
"I'm going to break your arms. Snap your legs. Let you live out your days in agony. You'll beg for death by the time I'm done."
Danzo's eyes narrowed.
"Heh. Is that so?"
"But can you… really pull it off?"
—Kotoamatsukami!
From behind his bandages, Danzo's right eye—the stolen Mangekyō Sharingan of Shisui—lit up in a sinister red glow, spinning rapidly into a shuriken-like pattern.
The ultimate genjutsu: Kotoamatsukami.
A surge of powerful, twisted chakra flooded into Rukawa's mind.
Kotoamatsukami… a jutsu so powerful it could alter someone's very thoughts, inserting false memories and rewriting their will.
It could even force a person to kill themselves, all while believing it was their own decision.
But power always has a price.
Kotoamatsukami's cooldown period was over a decade. Use it once, and you had to wait years to use it again—unless you had Hashirama cells to cheat the timer.
Still, it made sense.
If Kotoamatsukami had no limitations, Shisui would've been invincible.
...
Danzo grinned devilishly.
The "command" he implanted into Rukawa?
To turn him into a loyal, obedient dog—one that would serve Danzo unconditionally.
It was more than strategy—it was personal.
"Hmph! Drop me. Now, you mutt."
His tone was cold, commanding.
Rukawa slowly lowered his arm, but didn't release him abruptly—he was gentle, careful not to let Danzo fall roughly.
Danzo's eyes lit up in satisfaction.
He straightened his robes, suppressing the giddy excitement bubbling in his chest.
He couldn't hold it in anymore.
"HAHAHAHAHA!!"
"You brainless musclehead! I knew you'd fall for it!"
"All that talking I did? Just a distraction! And you totally bought it!"
"Now that you've been hit by my Kotoamatsukami, you're mine. Completely mine!"
To Danzo, this was perfect.
When he saw Rukawa's monstrous power, he'd instantly realized: this man could be the ultimate weapon.
Kotoamatsukami was the key.
With a single use, he could enslave a walking tank of destruction. He'd never have to fear any Hokage again.
There was only one concern—that he might get killed before he had the chance to cast the jutsu.
But now? He'd done it.
He had succeeded.