Chapter 19: Hard to Know Like Shadows

Naruto held the bloody, hot eyeball in his hand.

Orochimaru took out a bottle filled with nurturing fluid and tossed it to Naruto.

"Thanks~"

Naruto thanked him, then opened the bottle and placed Shisui's eye, which still had the optic nerve attached, inside before closing it again.

He thought: I heard that Danzo sealed this eye after his fight with Sasuke. Although I could remove the seal, it would take some effort. To be able to take the eye like this is perfect…

"Ughh…!!" 

With his power out of control, the trees growing from his right shoulder shot toward the sky.

"Not good, if this continues, I'll be consumed by the First Hokage's cells!!"

Crack!

He gritted his teeth and snapped off his right arm, collapsing to the ground, gasping for air.

Now, Danzo had become a true paper tiger, with no more dangerous claws to strike.

Rustling.

Paper butterflies fluttered into the air, coming together to form Konan's silhouette.

"Yo~" Naruto greeted with a smile.

Konan, cold as ever, said, "Looks like things are going smoothly."

"It's going alright, though I've spent nearly 20% of my chakra…" Naruto casually replied, then asked, "How's Sasuke doing?"

Konan replied, "I followed your instructions and held him off, but he's very persistent. He kept chasing after me, so I figured it was time to retreat…"

"I see." Naruto smiled, "Sounds like Sasuke's style."

"Hmm?" Suddenly, Naruto's Sage Mode sensed something, and he turned his gaze toward the end of the forest, saying, "So, it's finally here…"

Konan replied, "One of his subordinates is a girl who's very skilled at sensing."

Orochimaru said, "That should be Karin, one of my former subordinates. Naruto-kun, just like you, she is a descendant of the Uzumaki clan and has exceptional sensory abilities."

Naruto reminisced, "Ah, I know her..."

After a moment, the Hawk squad arrived and stopped a distance away from Naruto and his group.

Sasuke, with bloodstains near his left eye, scanned the chaotic battlefield. His gaze lingered on the damaged Danzo, then froze coldly on Naruto's figure from behind, wearing a cloak. A strange flicker appeared in his eyes before quickly being concealed.

He coldly asked, "Naruto, what's going on?"

"Sasuke, I took care of Danzo for you. As you can see, he's lost his strength and has become a useless man..." Naruto said, facing away from Sasuke. His voice was calm, but his thoughts were complicated, and he didn't immediately turn to face Sasuke.

Sasuke clenched his fists and shouted, "Who allowed you to interfere in this?!"

Naruto's back shifted slightly. "Wasn't your original plan to attack the Five Kage summit? Your current identity is sensitive. Doing that would only make your crimes worse. You don't want to become an enemy to the entire ninja world, do you?"

After speaking, Naruto raised his hand, removed his mask, and slowly turned around.

The blizzard in the air seemed to slow for a moment.

Sasuke was stunned, "What happened to your left eye?"

"It was left to me by Nagato, the man who once tried to destroy Konohagakure and fought me..." Naruto said internally, *You'll have it too, someday, Sasuke...*

Behind Sasuke, Jugo, who had turned back into a child, suddenly remembered. "I just realized, the person who attacked me by the river before... it was him!"

"Ha..." Sasuke closed his eyes. "Naruto, it seems like you've done a lot of things without me knowing, but right now, I don't have time to deal with you..."

With a rustling sound, Sasuke's cloak fluttered as he took large strides toward Danzo.

Naruto felt a pang in his heart: No matter what, you have to kill Danzo, don't you, Sasuke...?

Although Naruto didn't want Sasuke to take action, he knew that Sasuke, filled with hatred and encouraged by Obito at this point, would be very difficult to persuade.

If he didn't let Sasuke vent his hatred now, it might become even more troublesome later.

With that thought, Naruto stepped aside, giving Sasuke room.

Crack!

Lightning Release formed into a blade in Sasuke's hand as he glared at his enemy and coldly asked, "Danzo, I'm asking you, did you order Itachi to carry out the Uchiha clan's annihilation plan?"

"Ha... ha... ha..." Danzo gasped heavily, his left eye glancing at his broken right arm, still with three Sharingan on it.

Although he had lost his right arm, there were still some of Hashirama's cells remaining in his body, enough to activate Izanagi one more time.

Sasuke shouted, "I'm asking you!!"

Weakly but grimly, Danzo replied, "You already know the truth. It seems Itachi didn't keep his mouth shut..."

Sasuke's gaze turned icy. "So it's true..."

Danzo solemnly said, "Yes, it's true..."

Sasuke's eyes were cold. "I knew it..."

Danzo quickly reached out to the side, removed one of the Sharingan, and placed it in his right eye socket. The remaining Hashirama cells in his body activated, linking his optic nerve.

He formed a hand seal and, with a pale smile, said, "Izanagi... activate!" Then, disregarding everything, he quickly ran backward!

"Hmph!" Sasuke sneered, lifted his cloak, and chased after him. "Do you think you can get away?"

Sasuke's left eye locked onto Danzo's retreating form.

—Amaterasu!!

Boom! Black flames erupted and engulfed Danzo's body! "Aaaaah...!!"

Danzo screamed in agony, collapsing to the ground.

But immediately, the burning Danzo vanished, and his true body reappeared farther away, continuing to run.

Sasuke was shocked. 

"What happened!?" 

Naruto yelled. 

"Sasuke, Danzo used Izanagi. He's invincible right now! But the effect only lasts for less than a minute! Keep up the full attack, and we can kill him!!!"

"..." Sasuke's gaze flickered.

"Ha, ha, ha..." Danzo was desperately fleeing, but his nearly exhausted chakra made him feel hopeless. 

"Am I really going to die here?" 

Click! Suddenly, Sasuke stopped chasing. 

Everyone: 

"Sasuke... What are you doing?" 

"It doesn't matter. Let him live for today. A revenge completed by someone else's hand can't truly purify the Uchiha clan." 

Sasuke slowly turned around. His Mangekyo Sharingan glowed with a dark, unreadable emotion as he stared at Naruto. 

"Especially you, Naruto. You're the one I never wanted anyone else to handle..." 

In the snowstorm, Danzo's disheveled figure grew smaller and smaller, fading into the background.

"..." Naruto and Sasuke locked eyes. It was as if time had stopped.

Whoosh!! 

A strange whirlpool swirled as the masked Obito appeared... 

Farther away, at the entrance to the Land of Iron, a group from Konohagakure was running through the snow. 

Leading the way were Hinata and Sakura. 

"Naruto-kun..." 

"Sasuke-kun..." 

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