Chapter 45: Izanagi

In a corner where no one was paying attention, a small white snake slithered across the ground.

It moved toward Danzo, flicking its tongue in and out.

For such a tiny creature, it looked oddly adorable.

At this point, Danzo was barely breathing.

Give it half a minute, and he'd probably be dead.

But the little white snake moved with a peculiar intelligence.

Its ruby-red eyes, gleaming like precious gemstones, held a distinctly human emotion.

Mockery.

It was laughing at him.

The once mighty leader of Root, reduced to lying on the ground, waiting for death to take him.

How pitiful.

"Orochimaru…"

Danzo recognized the snake immediately—a summon belonging to Orochimaru.

And if the snake was here, then that meant…

Orochimaru was watching.

"S-Save… m—"

---

Danzo and Orochimaru had always worked together.

Orochimaru, in his pursuit of immortality, required human test subjects for his experiments—horrific, inhumane acts that couldn't be carried out within Konoha's laws.

And such research wasn't cheap.

Eventually, Danzo approached Orochimaru, seeing the potential in his skills.

Root was already Konoha's shadow, willing to do whatever was necessary.

The two struck a deal.

That was how their experiments began—

One of which involved researching Hashirama's cells.

Through those experiments, they even cloned a shinobi with Wood Release—Yamato.

But Yamato's abilities were a pale imitation of the First Hokage's legendary power.

And the arm embedded with multiple Sharingan, which Danzo wielded—

That, too, had been Orochimaru's creation.

---

The tiny white snake slithered up to Danzo's neck.

Far away, Orochimaru observed with a smile.

"Two Kage-level shinobi… the Fourth Hokage and the leader of the Uchiha Clan… I wouldn't dare interfere."

"But Danzo, if you were to simply die here, it would be quite… inconvenient for me."

"Then again—" Orochimaru's eyes gleamed, "if you're so desperate to die, at least let your death serve as my latest experiment!"

His latest Cursed Seal was infused with Senjutsu energy.

He needed a test subject.

And who better than a Kage-level shinobi on the brink of death?

Danzo and Orochimaru had been partners, yes.

But the moment it was convenient, either of them would have betrayed the other without hesitation.

It was a relationship of pure self-interest—

One where a knife in the back was always expected.

Orochimaru had long seen through Danzo's nature.

He knew that, sooner or later, Danzo would throw him under the bus to take the blame for their crimes.

So now, Orochimaru struck first.

There was no hesitation.

No mercy.

More than anything, he was curious—

He wanted data.

Would his newest creation work against a Kage-level opponent?

This was an opportunity too perfect to pass up.

---

The little white snake opened its mouth and sank its fangs deep into Danzo's neck.

Immediately, the power of the Cursed Seal began to spread through his body.

This was Senjutsu energy—

A force far beyond ordinary chakra.

Just as Danzo was about to die, his body reacted.

A sliver of strength returned to him.

With what little energy he had left, his hands formed a seal.

He only had one way to survive this.

A forbidden technique—

Izanagi.

---

Izanagi was the ultimate dojutsu of the Uchiha Clan.

By weaving the Boar → Ram → Snake hand seals, a Sharingan user could activate Izanagi.

This technique allowed the user to rewrite reality itself—

Turning any harm suffered during its duration into illusion,

While preserving only what was beneficial to them.

Even death could be undone.

However, there was a price.

Once activated, the Sharingan used for Izanagi would go permanently blind.

It was the ultimate trump card—but a dangerous one.

And now, in his desperation, Danzo had no choice but to use it.

Danzo's right arm had ten Sharingan implanted into it.

Each time he used one, he could activate Izanagi for one minute.

Which meant—

Danzo had ten minutes of invincibility.

---

During his battle with Sasuke, Danzo was killed multiple times by Susanoo.

But every time, he rewrote his own death with Izanagi, making it as if it never happened.

---

Something felt off.

Minato turned his head, staring at Danzo's corpse on the ground.

The lifeless body still had its hands formed into a seal, blood staining the ground beneath it.

Then—

A small snake suddenly darted out from the corpse, slithering away at high speed.

"Orochimaru?"

Minato's face darkened.

Something was very, very wrong.

"I didn't expect Orochimaru to make a move now."

Fugaku's brows furrowed as he stared at Danzo's corpse.

The Sharingan on its hand was slowly closing.

A sudden shock flickered through Fugaku's pupils—

He had finally realized what was wrong.

"Izanagi?"

The closing Sharingan.

The final hand seal.

The calm expression on Danzo's face before dying.

There was no pain at all.

There was no doubt in Fugaku's mind—

Danzo had used Izanagi.

Izanagi was a forbidden Uchiha technique.

A terrible jutsu that sacrificed a Sharingan to rewrite reality.

Most Uchiha only had two eyes.

Using Izanagi twice meant permanent blindness.

Even Fugaku himself—no matter how desperate the situation—

Would never use such a technique unless death was absolutely certain.

But now, he finally understood.

He understood why Danzo had so many Sharingan in his arm.

He understood why Danzo didn't implant them into his own eyes, but kept them on his arm instead.

Because to Danzo—

The Sharingan were disposable tools.

And that meant—

To him, the Uchiha Clan were nothing more than disposable tools as well.

---

"You must die, Danzo!"

Fugaku was not like his younger son, Sasuke.

He had been the Uchiha Clan Leader for over a decade.

He had access to every record in the clan.

He knew all of the secrets that had been hidden away.

And that was why he had kept the existence of his Mangekyō Sharingan a secret all this time.

But now—

This was different.

If Danzo was not killed here and now, then—

The Uchiha Clan would have no choice but to leave Konoha immediately.

Not for revenge.

But just to survive.

Because if they stayed, they would be exterminated.

Fugaku knew Danzo's nature.

He knew—there were no other options.

"Then let's test the power… of my other eye!"

Fugaku's Mangekyō Sharingan spun violently.

His pupils flashed—

Images of the future flooded his mind.

His Mangekyō had a unique ability.

It allowed him to see glimpses of what would happen next.

Though only briefly.

But it was enough.

"There!"

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

Fugaku's hands moved rapidly, forming seals.

A massive fireball erupted from his mouth, scorching across the battlefield before exploding in the distance.

From within the flames, a figure leapt out.

It was—

Danzo.

Aside from his clothes being slightly burned, he was completely unharmed.

Even the fatal wounds that Minato had inflicted earlier—

Were completely gone.

---

"Wind Style: Vacuum Serial Waves!"

"Wind Style: Vacuum Bullets!"

Danzo's hands flashed through a series of seals, inhaling deeply.

The first technique—Vacuum Serial Waves—

Unleashed multiple slicing wind blades, capable of cutting through both flesh and chakra.

The second technique—Vacuum Bullets—

Compressed wind into high-speed projectiles, firing them in rapid succession like a machine gun.

Both were B-rank jutsu.

Both were Danzo's signature moves.

And he wielded them with absolute mastery.

°°°

Hungry for more chaps? Then check out our pătreon!

Link: Påtreon.com/BaphometFiction

I post 20 advanced chapters of this fanfic there.