At this moment, Danzo no longer cared about the lives of his subordinates. The overwhelming killing intent emanating from Kawakaze was focused entirely on him.
Abandoning any attempt to defend himself, Danzo threw down a smoke bomb and fled without hesitation.
When the smoke cleared, he was already tens of meters away.
"Such petty tricks, and you dare flaunt them in front of me?" Kawakaze sneered coldly. With a single step, he vanished, instantly closing the gap.
Danzo had to die today.
Meanwhile, the Samurai of the Hatake Clan continued their battle with the Uchiha. Remarkably, not a single casualty or injury had occurred, a testament to the precise control exercised during the skirmish. The drill had been an unquestionable success.
As for the Root Ninjas, they had scattered. Under the relentless assault of Sakumo and his wife, their forces were completely routed.
Danzo's sole focus now was on reaching the village. If he could make it to the Hokage Building—or even the vicinity of the Anbu—he might have a chance to survive.
He pushed himself to his absolute limit, but no matter how fast he ran, he couldn't shake Kawakaze off his trail. The distance between them was rapidly shrinking.
"Kawakaze Hatake, why are you chasing me so relentlessly?" Danzo called out, his voice strained. "I'll stop interfering with your hospital! Just let me go!"
Danzo's words were bitter, his tone dripping with hatred, but there was no mistaking the panic in his eyes. His feet darted nimbly between the trees, but he showed no signs of slowing down.
"You said the same thing last time at my house," Kawakaze replied, his voice icy. "And I will make sure you never have the chance to do it again."
With that, Kawakaze's chakra erupted, lightning crackling around him as his speed surged dramatically. In an instant, he closed the distance, appearing directly behind Danzo.
It was then Danzo realized this was nothing more than a cruel game of cat and mouse—and he was the mouse.
Kawakaze's sword struck like a flash of white lightning, aiming directly for Danzo's neck. Feeling the cold blade mere inches from his skin, Danzo bit his finger and pressed it against a tree trunk.
"Summoning Technique!"
A puff of smoke erupted as Danzo formed two swift hand seals. "Wind Release: Vacuum Wave!"
A massive creature materialized between them—a summoning beast with a powerful build, an elephant-like trunk, and long, curved tusks: the Baku.
Kawakaze's sword struck without hesitation, severing the creature's trunk in a single strike. The beast bellowed in pain before inhaling sharply, unleashing a powerful suction force that pulled Kawakaze toward its gaping maw.
Simultaneously, Danzo's Wind Release attack surged forward, aiming to catch Kawakaze in a deadly combination strike.
"Good teamwork. You're not completely useless after all," Kawakaze sneered, his tone laced with mockery as he taunted Danzo.
Rather than showing any tension, Kawakaze maintained an air of calm, his Eight-Sided Han Sword shimmering as chakra flowed along its blade. The lightning attribute chakra surged to the tip, extending the sword's range far beyond its physical length.
With a decisive motion, Kawakaze raised the sword high and brought it down in a single, devastating strike.
The Baku let out a wretched scream as the blade cleaved through it. Danzo's Wind Release attack, combined with the summoning beast, was obliterated in an instant. The Baku dissipated into smoke, its fate unknown.
Realizing he stood no chance, Danzo had no choice but to flee once again.
He pushed himself harder, his desperation driving him forward. Relief flickered in his eyes when the Hokage Building came into view.
But just as hope began to bloom, a cold voice echoed behind him, freezing him in place.
"Goodbye, Danzo. Don't oppose me in your next life."
Before Danzo could react, a sharp pain pierced through his back. The icy blade of Kawakaze's sword had run him through, delivering a fatal blow.
Danzo collapsed to the ground, his face twisted with unwillingness and resentment. His eyes remained locked on Kawakaze, burning with hatred even as the light in them faded.
With a resounding thud, the life of a notorious conspirator came to an end before his ambitions could fully take shape.
Kawakaze stood expressionless, flicking his sword to scatter the blood before the weapon vanished completely. He approached Danzo's lifeless body and carefully checked to ensure there was no sign of life.
Without the Sharingan or the use of Izanagi, Danzo was beyond salvation.
Kawakaze had no intention of moving the body. This incident would inevitably come to light, and there was no reason to cover it up.
With a confident turn, he headed toward the hospital construction site.
By the time he arrived, the battlefield had already quieted. All of Danzo's Root forces had been eliminated.
Sakumo Hatake stood at the center, still exuding a murderous aura that sent chills down the spines of those nearby. His intent hadn't fully subsided, and even Nayuki and the Onimaru kept their distance.
The Uchiha and Hatake Clan samurai were clearly divided, each standing apart.
Tsunade was engaged in a conversation with the Uchiha Clan Head, with Koharu Utatane also present.
"For attempting to assassinate Adviser Koharu and undermining the authority of the Third Hokage, I have executed the traitor of Konoha, Danzo," Kawakaze declared coldly as he arrived.
With Danzo dead, Kawakaze decisively pinned all responsibility on him. Koharu, knowing a dead man could take the fall, had no choice but to tacitly support Kawakaze's statement.
The crowd's reactions varied.
Sakumo showed neither surprise nor joy. He had attempted to kill Danzo himself in the past but was ultimately thwarted.
Nayuki, indifferent to the politics, focused solely on comforting the still-shaken Onimaru.
Tsunade looked unsurprised, as if the outcome had been inevitable.
The Uchiha Clan Head, initially stunned, quickly composed himself. Though he had anticipated something drastic, he hadn't expected Kawakaze to act so decisively.
"You killed Danzo?"
Koharu was incredulous. Danzo was a ninja who had emerged from a war unscathed, and his strength was still at its peak.
Kawakaze didn't look the least bit disheveled after the battle, which spoke volumes about his power. More shocking was his audacity. Regardless of their differences, Danzo was still a fellow disciple of the Third Hokage, yet Kawakaze had killed him without hesitation.
At this moment, Koharu was filled with regret. If she had known things would turn out this way, she would never have involved herself with Tsunade. Now, she was indirectly bearing the blame for Kawakaze's actions.
"Yes. If the Third Hokage asks, there's no need to speak well of me," Kawakaze said casually. "Maintaining the peace and stability of the village is just part of the job."
He spoke magnanimously, perfectly embodying shamelessness.
If Koharu weren't painfully aware she couldn't beat him, she might have thrown something at him out of frustration. She was essentially being paid to shoulder someone else's blame, and now there was no way out of this mess.
"I'm going back to see the Third Hokage," Koharu declared firmly and left alone.
"Adviser Koharu, take care. We're officially opening the hospital soon, and I'd be grateful if you'd attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony," Kawakaze called out after her. Koharu, too drained to respond, pretended not to hear him.
"So this is why you were paying Koharu to serve as associate director?" Tsunade finally spoke, clearly impressed by his long-term planning.
"Do you think my money just falls out of the sky? Not everyone's like you. I can't wait for you to spend it!" Kawakaze replied, still in the mood to tease her.
"Sooner or later, you'll squander all of it," Tsunade snorted and fell silent.
"Kawakaze, this is goodbye," the Uchiha clan head said, seeing the situation had been settled. "I hope you don't forget what you promised me."
He didn't linger, leading his clan away. Deep down, he wondered if cooperating with this cunning man had been the right choice.
"Fugaku, I have high hopes for you," Kawakaze called out.
Fugaku glanced back but didn't respond. He felt as though Kawakaze was mocking him, the defeated subordinate.
But Kawakaze's thoughts had already moved far into the future.
The Uchiha clan bore a heavy curse: the greater their losses, the stronger their abilities became. Their fiercely individualistic nature made it difficult for them to align with Konoha's collective ideals. But was that truly a crime?
As a Transmigrator, Kawakaze found himself wondering—what would Konoha look like if the Uchiha fully integrated into the village?
Fugaku, Obito, Shisui, Itachi, Sasuke... A handful of Mangekyō Sharingan users alone might be enough to dominate the other clans.
For now, helping the "poor" Fugaku seemed like an entertaining prospect.