The Masked Threat

"Giant Rasengan!" Jiraiya crashed the spiralling ball of destruction against the earth, throwing up slabs and grinding away at the gravel beneath as the Fourth Hokage's jutsu excavated any and everything standing in its way, except…

Danzo couldn't believe his eyes, he couldn't believe much of anything he was perceiving right now and not just from Genjutsu caution. As he'd demonstrated time and time again, the man in the yellow swirled mask, tall dark, purple lined cloak and gloved hands simply stood there unfazed and unmoving even with the Toad Sannin up in his face. His presence was as imposing as the name he laid claim to. 

Uchiha Madara is untouchable…! A fact the ROOT-nin sprawled and thrown across the forest clearing got to learn thoroughly. Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, Genjutsu wouldn't work on him, wouldn't even bring them closer to touching him. But Danzo was not a coward without options, there was a way, an unseen pattern or some kind of weakness he wasn't seeing. Something that allowed the First Hokage to fight and defeat the man so thoroughly he hasn't been seen since his last betrayal so many decades ago. 

"How? You should be even more decrepit than I am." Danzo stated, daring to step forward with a [Wind Blade] that would do nothing more than slip through the man like he wasn't stood there at all.

Jiraiya retreated away as the man lifted his hands in a shrug and said, "What is are the limits of true power?"

Jiraiya scoffed at him, a grin spreading across his face as he mocked, "A face only a mother could love, perhaps?" his mirth didn't reach his voice or his eyes, those were tidally locked in a tension of battle and suspicion since the Masked Man appeared in their midsts and politely advised the release of their prisoner from Amegakure.

A prisoner surely long gone now. Danzo thought through grinded teeth, "If you truly are Uchiha Madara, then why did you betray Konoha? Why did you betray Lord First?"

The single red through his mask turned and fixed Danzo with a glare of interest, "Ho? You remember enough to care about why? Hahaha, but not 'how' I see…not that it matters to you, Danzo but I stand outside and against Konoha for the very same reason I did that night."

"And what is that?" Danzo shifted, his fist clenched around his shimmering [Wind Blade]

The Masked Man threw his arms open and looked to the blue sky as he declared, "To see the world renewed of course! Hashirama didn't understand what he was doing was simply maintaining the status quo but in a different set of clothes and on an entirely different scale of destruction and death. The First Shinobi War should have been enough to snap us out of the error of our ways but it wasn't and so there was a Second and then a Third and there will undoubtedly be a Fourth!"

Danzo felt sweat drip down his neck as Madara's chakra boiled the air with unease, the spinning Sharingan behind that mask fell on him as Madara gestured, beckoning him closer, "Come, Danzo, perhaps your age will grant you the wisdom to understand that the shinobi world as is must be destroyed and a new, true world of peace and tranquil be built upon its ashes."

"No!" Jiraiya yelled, half-way considering another [Rasengan] by the look on his face, "A world of peace built on the corpses of innocents will never be restful! This cycle of hatred must be defeated with love an-"

"Love?" Madara menanced, his voice and quality of chakra deepened to dangerous depths. His partner rose from the ground as he spoke, blood stained on his white face, "As long as there is love Jiraiya, there will be hate. The human heart cannot withstand love without breaking something apart for it. Mmhahahah, how foolish of you to think that something so transitional as love would be enough. Is love the reason you invaded and slaughtered Amegakure shinobi? Was it the reason you captured the child that unfortunate nation has come to…love?"

While Jiraiya swallowed, momentarily stunned into silence, Danzo moved. His eyes locked onto the plant-like figure beside Madara, calculating with the precision of a seasoned assassin. If I can at least kill his ally…

Danzo vanished, flickering out of sight in a burst of speed so fast that his afterimage lingered for a heartbeat. The gleaming edge of his [Wind Blade] cleaved through the air, a deadly arc aimed straight for the plant man's exposed neck.

The blade connected with a sickening shlick, severing the creature cleanly. Dark green ichor sprayed as half its torso toppled to the ground, bisected diagonally. Danzo's mind raced even as his movements flowed into another strike, this time at Madara himself.

He aimed with precision, swiping at vital points in a flurry of attacks. His strikes were ruthless—slashes at the jugular, stabs aimed to pierce the heart, sweeping blows to carve through limbs.

But every attack passed through Madara's body like smoke. No resistance, no impact, just the empty sensation of hitting nothing. Danzo gritted his teeth, retreating to Jiraiya's side in a blur, his breathing steady but his mind roaring with frustration.

Madara stood as he had from the beginning, his cloak unruffled, his posture serene. The bisected plant man lay at his feet, its body limp and lifeless, but he shifted away with a casual step, as though it were no more than an inconvenience.

Madara shook his head, "Was that action inspired by love or hate or greed? In the world I'll build there will be no need to justify the sinful, they simply will not exist." His voice cut through the tense air like a blade, calm and menacing to every degree of the name he claimed. "The offer to join my revolution will always be open to you, Danzo, Jiraiya but you will experience true world peace regardless, as long as you keep out of the way."

Danzo's knuckles tightened around his [Wind Blade], his body tense like a coiled spring. Jiraiya, however, broke the moment with a laugh—a sudden, boisterous sound that echoed through the clearing. He wiped his nose, his lips curving into a wide grin that masked the storm in his eyes.

"Stay away?" Jiraiya's voice was low, his tone mocking. "So you can be stopped."

Danzo realized, what was the purpose of this conversation? He lifted his gaze and met the spiralling Sharingan with an unflinching resolve, "The Uchiha Madara I knew would never threaten this way, his actions spoke loudest and everyone who cared to stay on his good side did what was necessary to."

Jiraiya gave a sure nod and in his hands grew two whirring [Rasengan], "Konoha rejects your offer and your threats, you, whoever you are. We will stop y-!"

His words stuck down his throat as before their eyes the plant man Danzo cut down rose up from the free space beside its own corpse, a grin as wide and mad as the sight spread across his face as he cackled, "Konoha's first, as you said, Madara."

"What did you say?" Jiraiya demanded.

The Masked man chuckled, his sole red eye finding Danzo's once more, this time filled with disappointment more than anything, "It is as you said, Danzo. The world knew what was necessary to stay on mine and Hashirama's good side, at least until he went and died. But Konoha is about to be reminded what that mea-"

The ground where he stood exploded in a geyser of fallen rocks and debris as Jiraiya smashed into it. His jutsu failed once again to even leave a tear on the Masked Man's clothing. He glared daggers as frustration boiled over to rage, "What have you done!?"

Madara's chuckle deepened into something sinister. "Only what is necessary, Jiraiya. Consider this a warning. Your actions in Amegakure were reckless, and your village will pay for them. Continue down this path, and Konoha will suffer far more than she already does tonight."

Danzo's eyes widened behind his bandages. Without hesitation, he leapt toward Jiraiya, grabbing the Sannin by his arm and shoulder. "We have to leave. Now!"

"But—!"

"We can't touch him!" Danzo snapped, his voice sharp with urgency. "And the village needs us more than this fight!"

Jiraiya clenched his fists, his gaze burning with defiance, but he nodded, retreating with Danzo. Before he left, he cast one last look over his shoulder at the masked man who claimed to be Uchiha Madara.

The crimson Sharingan followed them as they vanished into the trees.