The Fifth Hokage

Shintaro's sudden approach made Danzo feel an inexplicable panic, and he instinctively wanted to retreat.

All Danzo could see was Shintaro's wild white hair blowing in the wind, and his already handsome face looked even more sinister now, with an uncontrollable smile lingering at the corner of his mouth.

"Finally... finally, I don't have to put up with you anymore, old man! Hahahahahaha!"

Danzo's eyes widened as he witnessed the scene before him in disbelief. He never imagined the other party could explode with such incredible speed!

Seeing Shintaro charging towards him, Danzo hurriedly tried to evade, but his movements were still too slow, and the other's fist struck his chest like a meteor.

"Poof!"

Danzo spat out a mouthful of blood, and his body flew backward uncontrollably, crashing hard against the solid wall behind him.

There was a loud bang, dust flew, and the entire room seemed to tremble.

The scene suddenly became silent, as if time had stopped. But moments later, a strong wind roared from the dust, sending it swirling into the sky.

Immediately after, several crescent-shaped wind blades suddenly pierced through the dust, flying directly toward Shintaro with unmatched power!

Faced with this sudden attack, Shintaro showed no intention of dodging or avoiding. He continued walking forward with slow yet firm steps.

At this moment, Danzo's Wind Element jutsu, like a sharp sword, fiercely hit Shintaro head-on.

Strangely, this powerful ninjutsu seemed to collide with an invisible wall and stopped abruptly.

As a result, it was as if a massive, razor-sharp sword had effortlessly sliced through a large portion of the concrete buildings at the root organization's base. For a while, stones flew everywhere, and dust filled the air.

Consequently, a thick cloud of sand and dust rose behind Shintaro, forming a spectacular sight.

As the dust in the field gradually dissipated, Danzo's embarrassed figure finally appeared.

He was half-kneeling on the ground, struggling to support his body with trembling hands, gasping for air, with bright red blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.

"How... how could he be so strong?" Danzo muttered to himself, eyes wide in disbelief.

His voice was full of shock and fear, as if he had just seen something beyond imagination.

Upon hearing these words, Shintaro slightly raised the corner of his mouth and gave a faint smile: "Thank you for the compliment, Danzo-sama."

His tone was calm and confident, but it carried an undeniable aura that no one could ignore.

Facing such a formidable opponent, Danzo couldn't help but feel a wave of complicated emotions within his heart. On one hand, he was terrified of Shintaro's displayed power; on the other, he was intrigued by Shintaro's immense strength, a greedy gleam shining in his eyes.

"With power like that, if I can make him my subordinate and have him follow my orders, I could dominate the entire ninja world!" Danzo thought to himself, growing more excited. He clenched his fists tightly, his eyes filled with strong desire.

As Shintaro approached, Danzo knew he had to act. He took a deep breath, removed the bandage from his right eye, and raised his head, ready to use his trump card, Kotoamatsukami.

However, as he stared into Shintaro's clear eyes, he saw a pair of pale blue Mangekyo Sharingan.

"Is this your trump card? Just a pair of Sharingan?" Shintaro said coldly, with a hint of disdain on his face.

Immediately after, he activated Ame-no-Minakanushi. Instantly, a surge of powerful chakra spread throughout his body.

At this moment, he became completely immune to Kotoamatsukami's control. In a panic, Danzo pulled out a kunai from who knows where and fiercely stabbed it at Shintaro. But this foolish attack was effortlessly blocked by Shintaro using [Infinity].

Danzo's face turned dark and ugly as he witnessed this.

Before he could think further, within seconds, he had the idea to escape, but how could Shintaro allow that?

Shintaro moved in an instant, activating Kunitokotachi, and Danzo suddenly felt weightless, as if he had lost all gravity. While he was disoriented, Shintaro quickly extended his hand and easily removed his right eye.

Danzo had always preached that "ninjas must not fear sacrifice" and treated this as his belief.

Yet, in the face of a life-and-death crisis, he became greedy for life and afraid of death, screaming in horror: "Don't kill me! As long as you spare my life, I'll give you anything you want!"

Shintaro burst out laughing at this, "Hahahaha, I want your life, but you don't have the right to decide whether to give it or not."

After saying that, he continued to walk forward. At this moment, Danzo, who was in a weightless state, couldn't touch the ground with his feet and had completely lost the ability to flee. He could only let Shintaro press him towards the wall with [Infinity].

"AHHHHH—"

Following Danzo's desperate scream for mercy, Shintaro took one more step.

Danzo was constantly squeezed between the wall and [Infinity], and eventually, he was reduced to a mess of blood and flesh.

After Danzo's death, the Hashirama cells in his arm suddenly lost control and began to wreak havoc. These cells devoured Danzo's flesh and blood at an astonishing speed and grew rapidly, forming a massive tree in the blink of an eye.

Danzo had always prided himself on being the root buried deep within the earth, but now he had truly become a large tree, firmly rooted in the ground of Konoha Village.

At this moment, Shisui led the elite Uchiha Clan members to successfully defeat and subdue all the remaining members of the Root Organization...

"Control everything for the upcoming trial."

Shintaro waved his hand, sealing the fate of the Root Organization ninja.

Danzo's evil was so despicable that, even though these ninjas were accomplices, they would never be easily forgiven.

However, with Danzo's death, despite him ultimately being unable to escape justice, it was still a relief for most of the Root Organization ninjas.

Yet, there was still a small group of Danzo's stubborn loyalists. Even though they were strongly suppressed by the Uchiha Clan ninjas, they continued to shout and provoke.

Facing this situation, the Uchiha Clan showed no mercy. They used illusion techniques one after another to retaliate and suppress them decisively.

At this point, the unrest in the Root Organization had temporarily subsided.

Shintaro returned the right eye that Danzo had taken to Shisui, helped him reattach it, and then used the [Reverse Cursed Technique] to heal his wounds.

Afterward, he soared into the sky like a bolt of lightning and reached the ground in the blink of an eye.

At this moment, the Village of Konoha was in chaos.

The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, quickly donned his armor and rushed with the ANBU members. However, they were blocked by Uchiha Clan members led by Tetsuo and Hamasu along the way.

More surprisingly, within the ANBU, Kakashi had betrayed Konoha Village and decisively sided with the Uchiha Clan.

When Hiruzen asked Kakashi why he acted this way, Kakashi replied with a determined gaze: "Because I finally learned the truth about my father's suicide, and the mastermind behind it all was Danzo! He must pay the price!"

Upon hearing this, Hiruzen's expression suddenly turned aware, but then he realized that Danzo was facing an unprecedented crisis—a strong backlash from the entire Uchiha Clan and even Konoha Village.

Faced with this situation, Hiruzen could no longer remain passive and decided to go directly to the Root Organization's headquarters.

Although Tetsuo and Hamasu tried to stop him, they couldn't prevent the formidable Hokage in battle. Without hesitation, Hiruzen rushed toward the Root Organization's headquarters alone.

Moreover, the responses from various ninja clans to this situation were quite different. Needless to say, the three clans of Ino-Shika-Cho took action, following the Hokage's lead.

The Hyuga Clan, after the return of Hyuga Hiashi, turned against their enemies and chose to side with the Uchiha Clan in joint action.

As for the other clans, most remained neutral, waiting to see what would happen. After all, the Uchiha Clan's only aim was to kill Danzo.

Danzo had always been infamous in Konoha Village. Not only that, but he also forced the major clans to send many of their young members to join the Root Organization. Because of this, these clans were even quietly anticipating Danzo's demise.

Among the coalition of the three Ino-Shika-Cho clans, the leader was none other than Nara Shikaku. At this moment, Shikaku was leading a group of ninjas under his command and encountered Uchiha Clan ninjas led by Fugaku on the streets of Konoha Village.

Shikaku could only sigh: "How did things come to this?"

Fugaku snorted coldly and replied, "Huh! If you want answers, you'll have to ask the higher-ups. Shikaku, with your intelligence, you should understand what the top executives have become."

Shikaku said with a firm gaze, "Even with things reaching this point, I will still remain loyal to Hokage-sama."

Before he finished speaking, he swiftly assumed a battle stance, preparing for the fierce battle ahead.

In an instant, both sides clashed, and the tension filled the air.

Fugaku displayed extraordinary power, capable of fighting the Ino-Shika-Cho clan patriarchs single-handedly. Moreover, in this fierce battle, he didn't even use his full strength but still managed to overpower his opponents.

At this moment, the Hyuga Clan also joined the battle. Their strong power gradually tipped the balance of victory in favor of the Uchiha Clan.

However, on another battlefield, many ninjas spontaneously came to assist in fighting against the Uchiha Clan.

After all, the Third Hokage's reign had been long and stable, and he enjoyed high prestige in the village. These ninjas didn't see the Uchiha Clan's demands as legitimate or reasonable but viewed it as a rebellion provoked by the Uchiha Clan.

Of course, there was someone dealing with these people—Itachi and Izumi.

Itachi and Izumi led a group of elite masters from the Uchiha Clan, stationed on a narrow street in the village.

Every time a ninja came to request reinforcements, they would personally defeat and subdue them to ensure the overall situation remained undisturbed.

At this moment, Itachi and Izumi had successfully activated their Mangekyo Sharingan, and their strength far surpassed that of ordinary ninjas.

As a result, when Hiruzen finally arrived in front of Shintaro, he could not find any allies by his side.

"Shintaro... Why did you choose to betray? You know, I trusted you so much..."

At this moment, the emotions Hiruzen displayed were undoubtedly the deepest sadness from his heart.

In fact, he had placed full trust in Shintaro and the entire Uchiha Clan.

However, one thing to note was that this so-called trust was actually quite limited.

On the one hand, Hiruzen did trust the Uchiha Clan, but on the other hand, he was heavily influenced by the "Uchiha Clan threat theory" promoted by the higher-ups and believed it deeply.

It was Hiruzen's indecisive nature that ultimately led to the current difficult situation.

Either the Uchiha Clan would be exterminated by the higher-ups, or the Uchiha Clan would stand up and fight, destroying the higher-ups.

However, Shintaro didn't immediately answer Hiruzen's question but confidently declared, "Hokage-sama, I am not only qualified for the position of Hokage, but I will do it better than you."

Hearing these words, Hiruzen was instantly stunned and couldn't recover for a long time.

His eyes became dull, and his whole body seemed to have aged more than ten years. He muttered to himself, "So, this is what you think?"

Then, as if suddenly recalling something, he asked with a hint of bitterness in his voice, "What about Orochimaru? He's clearly in the village, yet he stands still. Is it because he thinks what I've done is not good enough?"

Shintaro stared directly into Hiruzen's eyes without wavering and solemnly said, "Danzo is dead, and I truly don't want to see the village suffer any more unnecessary losses. So, Hokage-sama, it's time for you to step down."

"You can try me and see how this village will develop under my leadership." Shintaro's words were firm and powerful, revealing an unquestionable determination.

Finally, he added, "After all, Minato and Kushina's son is still young and needs someone to take good care of him. Normally, you're too busy with village affairs and have no time to look after him, but now you have the chance to spend more time with that poor child."

After saying that, he calmly looked at Hiruzen, waiting for his reaction.

Hiruzen finally understood Shintaro's true intentions and realized there was no reasoning with him if he didn't step down.

Danzo was dead, and Hiruzen would surely die too.

"Have the old ones of our time become a burden to Konoha?"

"Nidaime, you entrusted the position of Hokage to me, but I failed to fulfill it well..."

At this moment, Hiruzen raised his head and said, "Shintaro, you are now the Fifth Hokage."