Naruto : Cruel Rebirth

After Danzo's suggestion, Naruto pinched his chin and thought: "That sounds like a good idea..."

Danzo's expression shifted: "That's right! If we join forces, Konohagakure will dominate the entire ninja world, no problem!"

Naruto lowered his hand from his chin, his gaze becoming deep: "You think that's enough, just making Konohagakure rule the ninja world?"

"Oh?" Danzo raised an eyebrow: "Could it be that you have a more far-reaching plan?"

Naruto stated bluntly: "Of course, but you wouldn't understand, because both your vision and abilities are lacking…"

Danzo darkly remarked: "We can leave abilities aside. What do you mean my vision is lacking?"

Naruto countered: "Let me ask you, where were you and ROOT when Pain attacked the village?"

Danzo defended himself: "For the future of the ninja world, sometimes patience and hiding are necessary. ROOT had to step into the spotlight at the right time. With Tsunade's slug jutsu, the village wouldn't have been completely wiped out. Those sacrifices were temporary. Once I become Hokage, Konohagakure will rise to new prosperity."

He quickly shifted gears: "By the way, why did the Pain disturbance even happen? Wasn't it Jiraiya's naivety and Tsunade's indulgence? If I had been in charge, Pain would never have emerged, and the Akatsuki would never have risen!"

"Eliminating risks that could harm the village's future development is the style of ROOT! So tell me, where is my vision lacking?"

Naruto said in a low voice: "Along with the risks, hope has also been crushed."

Danzo chuckled lightly: "Hope? You want me to stake the future on something so intangible?"

Naruto replied coldly: "Calling it intangible is your narrow-mindedness. A flower will wither in soil without hope. Even if it barely survives, it will be covered in thorns."

"Danzo, you always say you won't let Pain be born, that you won't let the Akatsuki rise, but in the beginning, the Akatsuki was a group full of justice. It was because of your secret interference that Nagato lost his faith, turned into Pain, and twisted the ideals of the Akatsuki..."

"That's right, the real cause of the village's destruction wasn't Jiraiya-sensei, nor Tsunade, but you, with your so-called dark root principles."

"To put it bluntly, you use the excuse of thinking of the village to satisfy your own ambitions!"

"Danzo, you are not fit to be Hokage!"

Danzo clenched his hand tightly, his old face filled with coldness: "So, you refuse to accept my proposal?"

Naruto sneered: "Stupid~ With such a wide path ahead, why would I choose to walk into a dead end?"

Danzo said darkly: "Then leave your Nine-Tails and the Rinnegan, and become a stepping stone for me to move forward!!"

Taking advantage of their earlier conversation, Danzo gathered an unprecedented amount of chakra, preparing to use a technique he hadn't shown even in his battle with Sasuke! After forming the hand seals, he pressed his hands together in front of his chest.

—Wood Release: Birth of the World Tree!!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Trees shot up from the ground, breaking free from the soil's grasp, rapidly growing into towering trees in just seconds...

"Senju Hashirama, the First Hokage, used his Wood Release to suppress the Nine-Tails and pacify the chaotic world! Uzumaki Naruto, bow down before this power!!"

"Ahhhhhhh...!!" Danzo's forehead bulged with veins as his trembling hands held tight, pouring chakra into the trees, directing them to crush Naruto!

Watching from the side, Orochimaru muttered: "Using both Izanagi and Wood Release at the same time, the chakra consumption will exceed expectations. It seems Danzo is certain that ordinary ninjutsu won't be enough against Naruto now, so after the negotiations failed, he's decided to gamble everything. Now, Naruto, what will you do?"

The Tree World Chaos shook the ground!

"Wood Release, huh? Perfect, there's a jutsu I've been wanting to try..."

Naruto smirked, forming hand seals in front of his chest, taking a deep breath.

—Sage Art: Fire Style—Great Fire Annihilation! Boom! A thin pillar of fire shot out from Naruto's mouth, and after extending ten meters, it exploded into a massive inferno, completely blocking the advance of the trees. The heat even dried up the snow in the air!

Danzo, shocked: "What is this nonsense? He used Fire Release to suppress my Wood Release!?"

Naruto thought: I've seen Wood Release ten times stronger than this, and if I really want to surprise him, I should at least use the 'Flower Tree World'!

Boom! In the white smoke, Naruto's shadow clone appeared above the boundary between the fire and trees... Whirr, whirr, whirr! The clone spun a wind blade in its hand and hurled it down!

—Sage Art: Wind Style—Rasenshuriken!

Boom! The storm answered the flames, completely overpowering the tree world. The approaching flames made Danzo's heart race! "He even has enough strength left to use a shadow clone while casting such a powerful Fire Release? But after this attack, his Sage Mode will be over!"

Zzz! As expected, Naruto's orange eye shadow slowly faded, and his Sage Mode was released.

Danzo looked down at his right arm, where three Sharingan eyes were still open!

"It's time to act..."

He took out a bottle containing his own blood, dipped it in, and performed the summoning jutsu.

Boom! With a huge puff of smoke, the Dream Eater appeared, swallowing the raging fire in front of it in a suicidal manner, disappearing with a scream!

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle! Using the brief moment of space created by sacrificing his summoned beast, Danzo began spinning the shuriken in his fingers, infusing it with wind chakra, and throwing it forward continuously!

Using this as a feint, Danzo charged toward Naruto.

After Naruto gained the Rinnegan, his visual perception was far beyond what it used to be. He could clearly track all the wind-style shurikens, dodging them with ease. If he couldn't dodge one, he cleverly used a kunai to deflect it by sliding it through the gaps between the shurikens!

In short… he didn't need to use Shinra Tensei! As long as he kept that technique, Danzo couldn't carelessly get close to steal his eye! Seeing that his deception failed, Danzo frowned and immediately began forming hand seals again.

—Wind Style: Vacuum Wave!

Whoosh! A powerful gust of wind, like Itachi's wind breath, swept out from his mouth.

Naruto jumped, his body hanging in mid-air, with the gust of wind brushing closely against his back. Danzo's gaze hardened, and his right hand slammed onto the ground.

—Wood Style: Violent Spear Technique!

Boom! Sharp tree trunks shot up from the ground directly beneath Naruto! "!" Naruto was momentarily surprised.

Bang! The substitution technique activated, and the violent spears pierced through the wooden substitute. Naruto landed safely five meters away, a little startled but unharmed.

Boom! At the same time, the second shadow clone holding Sage Mode chakra was dispelled, allowing Naruto to maintain his Sage Mode!

"Tch! This brat is really troublesome, but calculating the time, my right eye's power should be about to recover…!"

[Note: Before Danzo's battle with Sasuke, he used the Izanagi technique twice—once on the Land of Fire's Daimyo and once on Mifune. In this timeline, Danzo didn't use it on the Daimyo, so the cooldown for Izanagi was shortened.]

Danzo was deep in thought, lowering his head to check his right arm, as usual, to confirm the time for Izanagi's activation.

But to his shock, he saw three eyes still open!

"It's impossible! Why are there still three eyes?!" 

Hiss! Danzo sharply inhaled, realizing a disastrous truth.

Could it be… that Izanagi didn't activate?! In this battle, he had been frequently using Wood Style techniques beyond his own capacity, and his chakra had unknowingly dropped below the activation threshold for Izanagi! Naruto's eyes flickered, and a smirk appeared on his face.

Danzo's face froze in shock. "Not good!!"

Whoosh! In the next moment, Naruto, following the Flying Thunder God mark left on Danzo, flashed in front of him, and his left hand drew a beautiful arc through the air.

Swoosh! With a spray of blood, Danzo's right eye was violently ripped from its socket…!!

"Ugh…!!"

Danzo screamed in pain, clutching his bleeding right eye as he staggered backward!

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!!

Trouble didn't stop there—his arm, implanted with Hashirama's cells, went out of control…

Orochimaru sighed: "Danzo is useless. The difference in strength is already very clear. Naruto-kun is now at a level that surpasses that of a Hokage..."

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