Fleeing hundreds of meters away, Danzo heard the sound of shattering glass and realized things were going terribly wrong.
His premonition was right!
He ran fast, but Whitebeard's attack was faster.
The range of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit was beyond his imagination.
The sense of impending doom almost suffocated Danzo!
"Earth Release: Super Hardening Technique!!!"
Danzo didn't realize he was using a technique similar to one Sarutobi Hiruzen had used in the past.
His skin started to take on a stone-like texture.
It's as hard as iron.
The stone texture spread from his head downward.
But when it reached his waist…
The vibrations hit!
In the next instant, Danzo felt everything around him turning upside down.
His body spun uncontrollably.
The tremendous force sent him flying, blood spraying uncontrollably from his mouth and nose, his teeth shattering and embedding in his mouth.
His Root uniform was torn apart.
The bandages on his body unraveled, revealing a bizarre arm.
An arm that hadn't fully integrated Hashirama's cells!
And a dull Sharingan embedded in it.
A wasted Izanagi.
"Ahhhh!!!"
Danzo screamed in agony, realizing his "Super Hardening Technique" was too late; chakra hadn't reached his lower body.
He could only watch as his legs exploded, turning into a bloody mist that sprayed everywhere.
"My legs!!!"
Danzo barely managed to shout these words.
The unparalleled vibrations…
Swept through his entire body.
His brain felt like it was being crushed, and his consciousness blanked out. His body, like a broken ragdoll, was sent flying.
His half-body flew out a kilometer, tumbling hundreds of times.
Finally, it is embedded in a crack in the ground.
Stopping the tumbling.
Danzo's head drooped.
His life force was fading!
In his last moment of consciousness, he had one thought: This was the terror Hiruzen faced! What happened to Whitebeard being sick?
Meanwhile.
Not far away.
Moving quickly through the forest, a late-arriving support team of nine Root ninjas saw the distant town.
In the next second.
They froze.
Seeing the area ahead transformed like a natural disaster. The atmospheric cracks were visible even from their distance.
They exchanged looks.
Rescue Danzo—though unspoken, this was their first thought.
They rushed into the devastated area.
One Root ninja summoned a ninja hound.
"Find this scent!"
The ninja gave the dog a pen with Danzo's scent.
The dog sniffed the pen.
Then the air.
"Woof woof woof!"
It ran in a direction.
"Follow it!" The Root ninja ordered emotionlessly.
They followed the dog for several minutes.
Then stopped.
Because the dog stopped.
"There!" A Root jonin pointed east at a crack with someone stuck.
The person was barely clothed, with hair like a beggar.
But the Root ninjas recognized Danzo!
They rushed over.
Some guarded Danzo's sides.
Others stayed alert.
A Root jonin checked Danzo's pulse, then ordered: "Danzo-sama isn't dead. Get him out and start treatment!"
Two chunin held Danzo's arms.
As they pulled, something felt off.
The Root ninjas stared.
At Danzo's lower half.
"Danzo-sama's legs… and his genitalia… are gone." The ninja holding Danzo's left arm spoke with an unusual tone.
A tone even he couldn't understand.
He quickly snapped out of it.
"Stop the bleeding!!!"
"Save Danzo-sama!!!"
Danzo's upper body hung lifeless.
Blood oozing from his seven orifices, his mouth full of teeth fragments.
Without Hashirama's cells, he'd be dead.
…
After everything settled.
"It's really shocking!" Kakashi walked through the ruined town, his gaze wandering: "This town is a quarter the size of Konoha, and it's like this in a blink."
"Danzo's summon was turned into a bloody mist. How strong is Whitebeard? Can the Third Hokage and Danzo together match him?"
Kakashi stopped, crouching.
A civilian body lay before him.
"It's from Root's poison gas bombs." Kakashi saw the blackened lips.
He sighed.
Covering the face with a cloth.
"Root is extreme…" Even Kakashi had shadows in his eyes: "Will the village tolerate this agency?"
Nearby.
Kushina used her limited medical ninjutsu on Shisui.
Once forced to be a medical tool in Grass Village, Kushina had learned some medical ninjutsu.
Though basic.
She was the only medic here.
"Karin, see my chakra flow?" Sweating, Kushina taught: "This is a C-rank medical jutsu. If you learn it, you'll be an entry-level medic."
Kushina wanted to help Whitebeard's crew.
She felt the crew needed medics.
Maybe she and her daughter could be the ship's medics.
Their Uzumaki blood was special.
Even basic medical jutsu and their blood could heal.
"Mom, like this?" Karin tried, then yelped in pain.
"That's wrong, don't rush!" Kushina smiled warmly. "I believe you can learn it, Karin."
"Okay!" Karin nodded firmly. "I want to eat a lot of meat like Naruto and learn ninjutsu with Mom and Kakashi-san!"
Clearly, both Karin and Naruto saw Kakashi as their ninja teacher.
A teacher without tuition fees.
"Dad… why are so many ninjas like this?" Naruto looked at Kushina, treating Shisui.
At just five years old, Naruto's beliefs had been challenged.
"Hmm?" Whitebeard glanced at Naruto.
"Hokage Grandpa always said ninjas protect the village, comrades, and civilians." Naruto looked at the ruins and at Kakashi crouching by a corpse. "But since I left the village, many ninjas aren't like that."
"The Grass ninjas treated their comrades like tools. They bit Sister's arms and legs, and wanted to turn Karin into a tool."
"The Konoha ninjas didn't protect civilians when hunting someone. They killed many people."
Naruto bit his lip.
Clenched his fists.
"This isn't what Hokage Grandpa told me. It's not the kind of ninja I want to be."
Naruto felt lost, not knowing what he was saying or understanding his words.
He just said what he felt.
"Dad, should I not want to be the Hokage... Ah! That hurts!!!"
Thwack!!!
Whitebeard's "loving flick" sent Naruto crying.
"Idiot son!" Whitebeard's cold eyes stared at Naruto. "Have you forgotten what you told me?"
Naruto froze.
"A man of the sea doesn't give up on dreams so easily." Whitebeard snorted. "They are them, you are you. You are Uzumaki Naruto. You want to be Hokage! You want to be neither Root nor a Grass ninja!"
Whitebeard didn't preach but made Naruto's eyes brighten.
Naruto wiped his tears. "I get it, Dad!"
"Gurararara!"
Whitebeard laughed. "Idiot son, what do you understand? What do you want to do now?"
Naruto's confusion cleared.
He spoke firmly, "I want to be the Hokage I imagined! Now, I want to do what a Hokage should do!"
Naruto looked at the ruined town.
He paused, then continued, "I also want to do what the captain of Whitebeard's first division should do! Dad, I want to protect this town in Whitebeard Pirates' name! That way, we can claim territory and help them rebuild their homes."
"Rebuild their homes?" Whitebeard raised an eyebrow.
"Yes!" Naruto nodded. "If I were the Hokage, I couldn't ignore this devastation."
"Idiot son, where will you get the money to rebuild their homes?" Whitebeard laughed. "It's not something you can do with empty promises."
"Uh…"
Naruto's new resolve was doused.
He scratched his head.
Struggling to think.
The shipbuilding money couldn't be touched, and his allowance wasn't enough.
"Gurararara! Idiot son! You have the resolve of a Hokage but lack the resolve of a pirate!"
Whitebeard flicked Naruto's swollen forehead, making him yelp.
"Come! Follow me!"
…
Elsewhere in the town.
"The town is in ruins…" Some surviving civilians emerged, trembling.
They found their familiar surroundings changed.
The ground cracked everywhere, walls split, roadside trees toppled, and nothing was intact.
Power lines were snapped, plunging the town into darkness.
This remote town rarely saw ninjas.
Today's events…
Were beyond their understanding.
"It's like a monster attack!" One man leaned against a wall, shivering. "What kind of disaster happened here?"
"Look! All the houses over there collapsed! Our side might be relatively intact."
"Was it an earthquake?"
"Not just an earthquake! I think there was a typhoon too, strong enough to blow people away."
"What's going on?"
…
The town's leader, a small noble of the Land of Fire, emerged with his retainers.
Stunned by the devastation.
The noble swallowed hard, cold sweat on his forehead.
"Sir, it might have been a ninja battle in town." One of the samurai spoke, trembling. "That giant creature near the coast could be related to ninjas."
The creature was Danzo's summon.
Such a giant summon in a town couldn't go unnoticed.
The retainers and samurai, more knowledgeable than the civilians, realized
it was related to ninjas.
Not a natural disaster.
"Obvious, isn't it?" The noble rolled his eyes. "That giant creature was clear to see."
"Sir… the town is severely damaged. We might have to fund the rebuilding."
A retainer wiped his sweat. "Initial estimates suggest at least 40 million ryo."
"What? 40 million ryo!?"
The noble's eyes widened, voice rising several octaves.
Forty million Ryo was too much!
"Their houses collapsed, they got hurt, not my problem!" He declared.
A retainer timidly reminded, "Sir, you have political authority and responsibility. If you don't fund the rebuild, the civilians might revolt."
"Hmph! Why do I pay you? Drive them away! If needed, hire Konoha ninjas to suppress them. A few tens of thousands of ryo should be enough for some chunin."
As he continued, he noticed something wrong.
His guards and retainers were staring behind him as if they'd seen a ghost.
He turned mechanically.
"Hiss—"
He gasped.
Whitebeard's imposing figure was a shocking sight in this remote area.
Whitebeard's aura invoked deep fear.
The noble, stepping back, cold sweat dripping.
Fear and shock on his face.
"Little noble, you manage this place?" Whitebeard spoke first.
He had seen nobles in the ninja world.
They were easy to recognize, wearing ugly clothes.
Reminded him of the Land of Wano.
Similar styles.
"Yes…" The noble dared not play tricks.
"Gurararara!" Whitebeard laughed. "Little noble, I'm a pirate, the captain of the Whitebeard Pirates! Do you know what a town's manager should do when the Whitebeard Pirates appear?"
Organize resistance?
Seek ninja aid?
The noble thought but didn't dare say.
Fearing death.
Whitebeard's naginata quashed his resistance, and he stammered, "Offer treasure?"
Disasters struck the town, followed by a giant pirate; he felt unlucky.
Offering treasure, a few million ryo, seemed easier than spending 40 million ryo on civilians.
"Gurararara! You're half right."
Whitebeard laughed. "The answer is to ally the town with the Whitebeard Pirates! From today, this town belongs to the Whitebeard Pirates!"
Boom!!!
Whitebeard's naginata hit the ground.
The impact shook the earth, cracking it like a spiderweb.
Wind blew his cloak.
"Idiot son."
Whitebeard spoke to Naruto without turning. "Don't forget, you're a pirate! A pirate's way to make money? Just take it!"
"Gurararara!!!"