Naruto: Born Gifted in Konoha

"No, no!" Beside him, Danzo, who had just been resurrected, saw the black flames igniting around Saitama and his expression turned hysterically grim.

He hurried to Saitama's side, staring at those black flames and at Saitama himself, who remained emotionless even while being burned.

"Lord Danzo, sorry for troubling you further!"

As he burned, Saitama became aware of someone standing beside him—unaware yet that it might mean his end. He squinted slightly and recognized Danzo.

Though every cell in his body was screaming in agony, he still managed to display a smile—a clearly delighted one, dripping with mockery.

Looking into Saitama's sharp, flame-lit eyes, Danzo realized there was no way he'd be taking them now. His face darkened.

This operation could only be called a failure. Not only had he already lost a pair of Sharingan, but now it seemed he wouldn't be able to take Saitama's eyes either.

Those flames were unquenchable. Even if he sacrificed his life and forcibly removed Saitama's eyes, the fire would continue burning.

"Hmph! Truly impressive!" Danzo waved his hand and turned away. The Stone Shinobi were already near the barrier; if he didn't escape now, he'd run out of time!

As the Shadow Lord of the Shinobi World, Danzo was decisively ruthless. Knowing things had reached this point, obtaining Saitama's eyes was no longer possible, so he immediately chose to retreat.

He always knew exactly what he wanted. To achieve his goals, any means were acceptable—but once he determined an effort became futile, he would cut his losses decisively and without hesitation.

[Earth Release – Stone Collapse Technique]

Following Danzo's silent signal, Root Ninja behind him launched a Ninjutsu toward the fallen Saitama.

From where Saitama lay as its epicenter, the ground began cracking apart, then suddenly inverted, trapping him beneath layers of collapsing earth and countless rocks piled atop.

"Let's go!"

Danzo's expression looked worse than usual. Although he naturally possessed a gloomy demeanor, his face today turned icy cold, his eyes suppressing boundless fury.

He had lost two Sharingan eyes without gaining Saitama's—a bitter pill to swallow! Especially when Saitama clearly preferred self-destruction rather than allow Danzo success—his teeth nearly shattered from clenching them.

"Yes! Lord Danzo, you should leave first. We'll hold them off and give you time to escape!"

Meanwhile, the Stone Shinobi had already appeared outside the barrier. Kitsuchi recognized Danzo through the purple barrier.

A strange glint flickered in his eyes as he pondered why Danzo would appear here.

"Fine. Then I'll head to the camp first—you all try your best to catch up!"

Danzo once again wrapped his arm and left eye with bandages. He glanced briefly at the enemy ninja forces beyond the barrier before turning his gaze toward the place where Saitama had been buried.

Fsh! Danzo snatched Saitama's blade from the ground and strode away. As his subordinates suggested, staying here any longer was unwise.

He needed to leave quickly. With eight Root ninja holding back the enemy, he could now retreat safely.

Crack! The moment Danzo reached the edge of the boundary, the violet barrier dissolved on its own.

Without hesitation, Fsh! Danzo's figure bent forward, then stretched straight again, heading toward Konoha.

Kitsuchi watched as Danzo left without attempting to stop him.

After all, Danzo was an established Kage-level expert. Kitsuchi's side simply didn't have enough strength to detain him.

Even for himself, he wasn't entirely confident about stopping Danzo.

Moreover, there were eight other ninja standing before him, who looked quite formidable.

"Not one of you is leaving!"

Kitsuchi glared at the ninja blocking his path, eyes burning with bloodlust.

His already massive frame grew even more imposing in the next instant, and his exposed skin darkened significantly—it was obvious he had activated a ninjutsu.

"Kill them!" Kitsuchi stomped his foot and lunged toward those Root ninja while simultaneously ordering his subordinates to attack.

The Root ninja nodded silently and did not retreat. Various ninjutsu began forming in their hands before being unleashed.

...

Danzo walked grim-faced toward Konoha's encampment, holding onto Saitama's sword.

The mission had not been worth the cost. He'd suffered huge losses—two Sharingan eyes lost, and the balance of [Yin-Yang Release] within his body was clearly disrupted again. Chakra from his right arm surged violently, as though it would burst forth from his body at any moment.

Luckily, he still had an injection that Orochimaru had previously given him—one capable of temporarily suppressing the Senju cells.

Even with the medication Orochimaru provided, however, he wasn't out of trouble yet. Waves of pain kept crashing over him relentlessly.

Danzo decided to go first to Konoha's encampment to wait for his subordinates' return before heading back to Konoha itself.

He had obtained The Third's permission to leave the village. Officially, it was for a mission; secretly, only he knew his real goal.

Thus, he felt no fear about being suspected upon arriving at the encampment—after all, the mission scroll written in The Third's own hand remained safely tucked away on him.

...

"Retreat! I'll cover you!" one Root ninja said to the others. Because he wore a mask, his expression couldn't be seen, but his tone clearly indicated he wasn't devoid of emotion.

Another ninja glanced around, noticing several comrades lying motionless on the ground—their lifeless gazes fixed and faces dark purple from poisoning.

"There's no way you can hold them off alone!"

Planting his foot firmly, he dodged an attack from a Stone shinobi while speaking to the other ninja.

"I'm going to use that technique. Try your best to buy everyone time!"

A swarm of insects surrounded this Root ninja. Many corpses already lay beneath his feet, their faces dark purple from the poison.

Hearing these words, the remaining Root ninja nodded silently. Without hesitating sentimentally, they immediately shot backward to retreat.

As the Stone shinobi tried chasing after those fleeing ninja, countless insects blocked their way, momentarily preventing them from pursuing.

The insect controller surveyed the dense ranks of approaching Stone shinobi ahead. Behind his mask, his pupils gleamed with bloodlust.

"Farewell, this busy and dark world devoid of light!"

[Secret Art — Insect Swarm Explosion]

"Fall back! Fall back!"

Kitsuchi had slain several ninja in succession, and even he was beginning to feel drained. However, his sharp vision remained—he was the first to detect something amiss. Immediately, he called out for his subordinates to withdraw. Yet many had charged too recklessly forward to be stopped now.

Crawling sounds echoed across the battlefield as...

Those Stone shinobi who had earlier been killed by this insect-using Root ninja now saw palm-sized bugs emerging all over their bodies.

As the insects began to swell, the corpses seemed to lose all nourishment, slowly withering into mummies—every bit of flesh becoming sustenance for the bugs.

Within mere seconds, the insects exploded under the control of this Aburame clan ninja!

At the same time, he spat out blood, his body swaying as if struck by a heavy blow. Blood dripped from the lower edge of his mask onto the ground.

Every enemy caught in the blast radius either perished instantly or was drenched in a strange green liquid. Their expressions twisted before they collapsed, convulsing uncontrollably on the ground.

After completing this act, the Root ninja dropped to his knees with a thud, supporting himself on both hands, while red blood continuously streamed from his mask and splattered onto the ground.

This ninjutsu was his own creation, based on various Secret Arts treasured by Root, but it still wasn't fully perfected.

The technique held immense power, but couldn't be used as a standard weapon—each explosive insect shared a mental link with his own body. Therefore, every explosion sent violent shocks through his mind.

Mild cases required months to recover; severe ones left him as good as brain-dead—his thoughts shattered, consciousness slipping away entirely.

Through the gaps, he spotted Stone shinobi outside the blast radius cautiously advancing toward him, but the dizziness clouding his mind gave him no time to think clearly.

Boom! The moment enemies approached him, another explosion erupted.

This time, it was his own ninja body that detonated. Several nearby Stone shinobi were directly caught in the blast. They hadn't expected their enemy to be so ruthless toward himself—choosing self-destruction!

The man called Kitsuchi stood far away, his expression grim. The few enemies who escaped had already vanished from sight, and the losses suffered by this pursuit team were substantial.

He glanced around—more than thirty Stone shinobi lay dead on the ground, while many others twitched weakly, their faces purpled and eyes glazing over.

"Leave some people behind to clean up the battlefield. The rest should take the wounded back to camp!"

Waving his hand, Kitsuchi turned and headed toward Iwagakure's Main Camp, completely abandoning the mission objectives he had originally set out to fulfill today.

Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that he had seen their current mission target killed by Danzo. Weren't they all supposed to be Konoha ninja?

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