Danzo had planned to rendezvous with Hiruzen Sarutobi before confronting the musclebound monster. With the support of Konoha's elite shinobi, landing Kotoamatsukami on the enemy would've been foolproof.
But his underlings were so utterly useless that they couldn't even delay the target for a few minutes. They fell apart completely, leaving Danzo no time to regroup with the Third Hokage.
Cornered, he had to switch tactics—bluff, threaten, and buy just enough time to cast the genjutsu.
And it worked. Perfectly.
He had just acquired the ultimate enforcer: monstrously strong, absolutely loyal, and incapable of betrayal.
"With a rabid dog like you under my command, wiping out the Uchiha will be child's play. And as for the Hokage's seat… heh… it's as good as mine!"
"If old Sarutobi has a problem with that, I'll make sure he understands exactly what true power means! Hahahaha!!"
Drunk on future fantasies, Danzo couldn't help but gloat aloud.
Then he turned back to the mountain of muscle standing before him and barked:
"Why are you just standing there?! Kneel before your master, mutt!"
But Rukawa didn't respond. His face remained cold and unreadable.
Danzo frowned. What's going on? Could it be the genjutsu is still being resisted subconsciously?
He raised his voice, shouting:
"Are you deaf?! I said KNEEL!"
Rukawa's knees began to bend, and Danzo's scowl morphed into a satisfied grin.
"That's more like it!"
Just as he was about to revel in the sight of Rukawa kneeling to him—
SLAP!!
A massive palm struck him across the face, launching him like a spinning top.
"You really fell for that? What a joke."
Rukawa clapped the dust off his hands and sneered.
Danzo lay sprawled on the ground, dazed.
What the hell just hit me?
The sting on his face snapped him back to reality.
He turned to see Rukawa striding toward him.
"You… how?! Kotoamatsukami definitely hit you! Why aren't you under my control? Why didn't your memory change?!"
Danzo's expression twisted with disbelief, confusion, and panic.
Kotoamatsukami—the most powerful genjutsu in existence—had failed to control this brainless brute?!
Impossible. Utterly impossible!
He looked like a gambler who had bet everything and lost it all in one hand.
SLAP!!
Rukawa lifted him by the collar and delivered another backhand.
"Why didn't it work? You really wanna know?"
"I don't care if it was you or the eye's original owner, Shisui himself. Kotoamatsukami doesn't work on me."
Rukawa's voice dripped with pride and certainty.
And he wasn't just bragging.
Kotoamatsukami was a powerful genjutsu—sure. But it was still just a Mangekyō-level technique.
And Rukawa?
He had an Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan and a Rinnegan.
Eternal Mangekyō was a tier above the regular Mangekyō. Rinnegan was two full levels above that.
Trying to control him with a basic Mangekyō ability?
That was laughable.
If it had worked, the Sage of Six Paths himself would probably claw his way out of the grave just to call BS.
SLAP! SLAP! SLAP!
Rukawa landed a flurry of open-handed slaps.
"Still calling me a rabid dog, huh? You seemed pretty proud of that, didn't you?"
SLAP SLAP SLAP SLAP!
"AAARGHH! YOU BASTARD!"
Danzo roared, his face swollen and unrecognizable.
His single eye burned with hatred.
"I'm the head of the Root Division! I'm second only to the Hokage in this village! How DARE you humiliate me like this?!"
"I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU ALL!!"
Then Rukawa heard a faint hissing sound—like fuses being lit.
Boom.
Danzo exploded into a cloud of gore, blowing himself to pieces with a chain of explosive tags.
Rukawa narrowed his eyes and waved away the smoke.
He blew himself up?
Just because he couldn't handle a few slaps?
Danzo… really offed himself out of shame?
Rukawa smirked.
He didn't believe that for a second.
There was no way that paranoid old rat would kill himself just to save face.
—Susanoo: First Form!
Rukawa summoned two massive purple skeletal arms that swung outward like spinning fan blades.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
Nearby buildings crumbled into rubble, swept aside by the whirling skeletal limbs.
Within moments, he had cleared an entire city block.
He then dispelled his Susanoo, crossed his arms, and stood silently in place.
Time passed.
And then—at his 3 o'clock—a figure materialized out of thin air.
Rukawa smiled.
"There you are, old man."
Danzo stared around in disbelief at the flattened surroundings.
"You… how did you know I used Izanagi?!"
His right Sharingan was now lifeless—gray and dull—a sign it had been sacrificed to rewrite reality.
Rukawa snorted.
"Come on. You? Committing suicide just because of a few slaps? Please."
"And yeah, I knew that eye of yours could use Izanagi. You think I don't know how scum like you operate?"
"You really thought you could fake your death and slip away? Too bad, Danzo. You're dealing with someone two steps ahead."
Danzo clenched his fists, his face twisted in rage—but deep down, his fear was growing.
Rukawa wasn't just strong.
He was smart.
And he wasn't letting him get away this time.