296. Electrifying the Entire Village

"He's too strong. After charging at him, our comrades were erased from this world as if wiped away by an eraser. We were no match for him at all."

This was the response of a Kumogakure prisoner during an interview after the brutal war.

—————

Returning to the present.

The once-ferocious and relentless tide of Kumogakure ninjas had now quietly subsided.

At the same time, the entire battlefield fell into an eerie silence.

The scene was simply too gruesome. Even the legendary depictions of hell might pale in comparison.

Danzo remained standing in place, his hand resting lightly on the hilt of the katana at his waist.

Before him, countless Kumogakure ninjas lay dismembered.

The stench of blood and flesh radiated outward from Danzo, spreading across a radius of at least a hundred meters.

In the blink of an eye, at least a thousand Kumogakure ninjas had been slaughtered by the dense barrage of slashes.

As for those who hadn’t yet reached Danzo’s attack range—

To be precise, those who had lost their courage to charge after witnessing their comrades turned into corpses—they now stood frozen, their minds completely shut down.

Seeing their companions dismembered in an instant, even the strongest among them couldn’t help but feel deep-seated fear.

It was an uncontrollable, genetically ingrained fear of overwhelming power.

Even after five, ten, or even twenty years,
the mere mention of Danzo’s name would likely still send shivers down their spines.

In truth, this reaction wasn’t unwarranted.

Even the Konoha ninjas behind Danzo, as well as the members of the Earth Branch squad, forgot to breathe when they witnessed this scene.

Slaughtering over a thousand ninjas in an instant…

Was this really something a human could achieve?

Perhaps, at this moment, some of the ninjas on the battlefield truly realized just how far they were from the pinnacle of this world.

Time seemed to stand still.

Until the man standing at the center of the battlefield moved slightly.

His calm gaze traversed the mountains of corpses and rivers of blood before him, settling on the few surviving ninjas.

"Do you still wish to fight?"

This short sentence seemed to make Danzo’s figure grow larger and larger,
until it loomed over the heavens and the earth, as if he could crush the ground beneath him with a single step.

No one spoke.

The scene was so quiet that it seemed as if everyone had forgotten how to breathe.

In the distance, the Fourth Raikage, who had witnessed all of this, silently clenched his fists.

As the son of the Third Raikage, he had inherited his father’s muscular build
and his fiery temperament!

But even this usually hot-tempered man remained silent in this situation.

Admittedly, a terrifying rage burned within him, one that was unimaginable to most.
The death of the Third Raikage, the deaths of so many Kumogakure ninjas…

These had pushed the Raikage to the brink of fury.

But he was not just the son of the Third Raikage, nor merely a comrade to the fallen ninjas.

He had an even more important identity: the Fourth Raikage!

He absolutely could not die here.

The two jinchūriki, Killer Bee and Yugito, also could not die here.

Otherwise, the entire Kumogakure would be doomed alongside them…

As if sensing the weight in his heart, Killer Bee gently patted his shoulder.

He wanted to say something to comfort his sworn brother, but in the end, he opened his mouth and said nothing.

"I know, Bee."
The Fourth Raikage stared at the scene before him, as if trying to etch it permanently into his memory.

Finally, he let out a deep breath.
"Let’s go."

With those words, the Fourth Raikage transformed into a bolt of lightning and disappeared into the forest.

Without hesitation, he abandoned all his troops and rushed back to the village with Killer Bee and Yugito at top speed.

"What a pity."

Seeing the A-B duo escape decisively, Danzo sighed softly.

The consecutive battles and frequent use of his ocular techniques had left his body exhausted, with almost no chakra remaining.

After all, he had just woken up from a coma before embarking on a thousand-mile journey to confront Kumogakure.

If it weren’t for the [Uzumaki Constitution] he had extracted from Kushina, he might have collapsed after defeating the Third Raikage.

Not to mention the thousand-mile dash to the frontlines…

Thus, Danzo simply didn’t have the energy to pursue the Raikage and his companions.

Sending the Earth Branch squad after them risked being kited by the Raikage’s speed advantage.

After careful consideration, Danzo decided to let the fleeing enemies go.

After all, he had already achieved his goals in this battle.

Slaying the Third Raikage and crushing Kumogakure’s main force—
Such achievements were surely enough to intimidate the other villages and buy Konoha enough time to rebuild.

Back on the battlefield.

After the Fourth Raikage fled with the two jinchūriki, abandoning his troops, the situation became straightforward.

The terrified Kumogakure ninjas, under Danzo’s gaze, didn’t dare to offer even the slightest resistance.

They could only obediently drop their weapons and await their fate.

Thus, when the Konoha ninjas arrived, they witnessed a remarkable scene.

Danzo, standing alone, had subdued over a thousand Kumogakure ninjas, who didn’t dare to lift their heads!

Truly, this was the legendary [Darkness of Shinobi].

In fact, the title [Darkness of Shinobi] no longer suited Danzo.

Now, he should be called the [God of Shinobi]!

Otherwise, it would be impossible to match his overwhelmingly terrifying achievements.

In any case, nearly every Konoha ninja looked at Danzo with reverence.

He was no longer just a hero of Konoha—he was a god!

Fueled by this excitement, the Konoha ninjas felt no fatigue from the war.

Instead, they were invigorated, swiftly shackling the Kumogakure prisoners
and preparing to escort them back to the village under Danzo’s command.

Soon, news of Danzo slaying the Third Raikage and annihilating thousands of Kumogakure ninjas in a single move reached the village.

When the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, who was handling paperwork in his office, saw the report, he slammed his fist on the table!

"Good, well done!!"
This sudden outburst startled Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was nearby.

Due to the busy reconstruction efforts in the village, the old man had been forced out of retirement to temporarily assist with administrative duties.

Seeing the usually composed Minato so excited, Hiruzen couldn’t help but entertain an unbelievable suspicion.

He quickly set aside the documents in front of him and rushed to Minato’s side to take a look.

"Slaying the Third Raikage and crushing Kumogakure’s main force?"

At first, Hiruzen found the report absurd, but soon his blood boiled, and his face turned red.

"We’ve won…"
"Danzo actually pulled it off!"

Even Hiruzen, who had never been particularly fond of Danzo, couldn’t help but feel exhilarated by this exaggerated, almost unbelievable feat.

He never expected that this extremely risky plan would actually succeed!

And it was all thanks to Danzo’s extreme individual heroism.

"Notify the entire village! We must notify the entire village immediately!" Minato exclaimed, but then he revised his order:

"No, notify the entire nation! Notify the entire shinobi world!!"