"Stop! Put down Elder Danzo—NOW!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen was the first to arrive, clad in black battle armor.
Right behind him were masked ANBU agents, followed closely by clan ninjas and even common civilians drawn by the chaos.
The area was packed—an estimated 80% of all Leaf Village shinobi had gathered here.
They surrounded the battlefield in a wide circle.
And at its very center... stood Lucan, holding a bloodied Danzo aloft with one hand.
Just then, Uchiha Fugaku arrived with a squad of Uchiha clansmen.
Their eyes instantly locked onto the grotesque sight before them:
Danzo's face swollen like a pig's head, his chest a blood-drenched mess, still being dangled like a ragdoll by a towering brute.
Everyone was stunned.
Even the Konoha shinobi could barely believe their eyes.
Danzo, head of Root, the "shadow of the Leaf"... was reduced to this?
Once the initial shock faded, the Uchiha's expressions turned to joy and catharsis.
After all, Danzo was the leading force behind the plan to exterminate their clan.
The more miserable Danzo looked, the better they felt.
If anything, they wished they were the ones holding him like that!
This was too satisfying.
The Uchiha now looked at Lucan with a newfound respect—even admiration.
Even Fugaku, ever composed, found Lucan far more agreeable at this moment.
Yet deep inside, worry gnawed at him.
Danzo had been crippled, yes.
But now... the Third Hokage had arrived.
The entire village was encircling them.
How will you handle this now?
Fugaku's sharp gaze fixed on Lucan.
Meanwhile—
The expressions on the Konoha ninjas were... not so joyful.
Though many disliked Danzo, he was still one of the village's top leaders.
Watching him being brutalized by an outsider stirred fury.
This was outrageous—beyond arrogant!
If not for the fact Danzo was still a hostage—and the Third had not yet given the order—they would've attacked already.
"Hahaha! My reinforcements are here! Boy—let me go now, if you know what's good for you!"
Danzo, seeing Sarutobi and the army arrive, regained his confidence and sneered at Lucan.
Surely, with almost the entire Leaf's shinobi corps present, this maniac wouldn't dare kill him.
"Still playing it cool? Won't help you!"
Danzo snarled.
"Let me go immediately! I'm critically wounded—if I die, you'll follow me to the grave!"
SLAP!!
"Shut up. You're too damn noisy."
Lucan backhanded him without hesitation.
"Y-You dare hit me?! Even now?! Are you insane?!"
Danzo trembled with rage.
Surrounded, clearly overpowered... and this guy still had the gall to hit him?
Worse—in front of the entire village.
The humiliation was unbearable.
"Fine! Fine! You just sealed your fate! Even if you let me go now, there's no way you're leaving this village with both hands attached!"
"You're not walking out of here in one piece!"
Danzo screamed, blood vessels bulging in his one good eye.
"Didn't I tell you to shut up?"
Lucan's expression darkened. Then—SLAP SLAP SLAP SLAP!!
Another brutal barrage of palm strikes.
Danzo's already disfigured head ballooned even further.
This time, he finally stopped yelling, only glaring hatefully, panting with rage and bleeding from the chest.
Everyone watched in stunned silence.
Even now—surrounded by nearly twenty thousand Konoha ninjas—this man was still slapping a village elder around like a child.
It was madness.
It was lawless.
It was defiance personified.
"Enough!! Stand down, you bastard!!"
The Third Hokage's voice boomed across the field, face dark with anger.
Even if he and Danzo had their differences—even if Danzo always coveted the Hokage's seat—they had grown up together.
Seeing him beaten so thoroughly in public, his anger flared.
And more than that—he didn't understand:
How did this happen?
This was supposed to be the Uchiha purge, not... whatever this was.
This intruder—was he the Uchiha's secret trump card?
Lucan casually scanned the crowd, calm and unbothered.
At his level, numbers were meaningless.
Aside from a few top-tier fighters, the rest were just larger insects.
He looked at the Third with disinterest and asked:
"Sorry, what was that? Mind repeating yourself?"
"I said—LET HIM GO!" Hiruzen growled, his tone edged with killing intent.
"Oh? And if I don't?"
Lucan's tone was casual, as if asking about the weather.
"You fool! Do you think you can stand against twenty thousand elite ninjas?"
"You're surrounded. There's no escape."
"If Elder Danzo dies here today, the Leaf will be your grave!"
But then—
Hiruzen's tone softened.
"Still... if you release him now, we may have room to negotiate. There's no need to escalate things further."
He glanced subtly at Fugaku.
"Perhaps you've been misled... drawn into something not your concern."
"We have no quarrel with you."
"This is a Leaf matter. You shouldn't have interfered."
He paused, sighed, and continued:
"Fine. I'll guarantee your safe departure—no one will stop you afterward."
"We've been through much—after the Third Shinobi War, after the Nine-Tails' attack, and the tragic death of the Fourth Hokage."
"The village has suffered. We don't need more enemies."
"If I said anything offensive earlier, I apologize."
He even bowed his head slightly.
It all sounded so sincere.
As if everything would be forgiven the moment Lucan let go.
Fugaku narrowed his eyes.
What a sly old fox.
Even from the sidelines, he could tell this entire speech was nonsense.
Just an act—to get Danzo out safely.
There was no way Sarutobi would let a man like Lucan walk after what he'd done.
But would Lucan fall for it?
Hiruzen thought so.
With that hulking build and brute-force style, he assumed Lucan was just another musclehead.
A few sweet words might be enough.
"Really? Just let go, and you'll let me walk away safely?"
Lucan's face lit up like a gullible child.
"I was only hired. I have no desire to go to war with Konoha."
"If this will settle things, I'll let him go right now!"
Hiruzen was stunned for a moment—then overjoyed.
The idiot actually bought it!
He really believed that crap?!
As expected—pure muscle, no brain.
But with a straight face, Hiruzen said:
"Of course. I swear it on my title as Hokage. Release him, and you may go in peace."
"Deal!"
Lucan nodded, then casually grabbed Danzo's left arm with his free hand—
Twist—RIP!
"AAAAAHHHHH!!!"
Blood sprayed like a fountain as Danzo's arm was torn clean off.
Splat!
Lucan flung the severed, dripping limb directly at Hiruzen's feet.