After listening to Danzō's proposal, Naruto rubbed his thoughtfully and said, "That does sound like a good idea..."

  Danzō's expression shifted slightly. "Exactly! As long as we join forces, making Konn supreme over the entire ninja world will be within rasp!"

  Naruto lowered his hand from his , his gaze being deeper. "Making Konn supreme over the ninja world... Do you think that's enough?"

  "Oh?" Danzō raised an eyebrow. "Could it be that you have an even grander pn?"

  Naruto replied bluntly, "Of course I do. But you wouldn't uand because your vision and abilities are far too limited..."

  Danzō's tone grew darker. "Abilities aside, why do you cim my vision is g?"

  Naruto tered, "Let me ask you this—where were you and the Root when Pain attacked the vilge?"

  Danzō defended himself, "For the future of the ninja world, proper patiend cealment are necessary. For Root to step into the light, it requires the right opportunity. With Tsunade's Slug Teiques, the vilge wouldn't have been pletely destroyed. Those sacrifices were temporary. Oake the position of Hokage, Konoha will enter a new era of prosperity."

  He then shifted the topic. "Speaking of which, why did the Pain i happen in the first pce? Isn't it because of Jiraiya's y and Tsunade's indulgence? If I had been in power, Pain would never have been born, and the Akatsuki would never have risen!"

  "Root's way is to nip all risks to the vilge's development in the bud! Tell me, where exactly is my vision g?"

  Naruto said solemnly, "Along with the risks you eliminate, you also kill hope."

  Danzō chuckled. "Hope? You wao pce the future in something as intangible as that?"

  Naruto replied coldly, "Calling it intangible is exactly where your narrow-mindedness lies. Flowers wither in soil devoid of hope. Even if they mao survive, they grow covered in poisonous thorns..."

  "Danzō, you keep g that Pain wouldn't have been born and the Akatsuki wouldn't have risen under your watch. But the early Akatsuki was a righteous anization. It was your secret interferehat caused Nagato to lose his faith, turning him into Pain and twisting the Akatsuki's ideals..."

  "That's right. The oruly responsible for the vilge's destru isn't Jiraiya-sensei or Tsunade-baa-. It's your so-called 'dark Root doe.'"

  "In the end, you're just using the pretense of proteg the vilge to satisfy your own ambitions!"

  "Danzō, you are unworthy of being Hokage!"

  Danzō ched his fist tightly, his aged face filled with cold fury. "So, you're refusing my proposal?"

  Naruto smirked. "Baka~. With so many paths ahead, why would I choose a dead end?"

  Danzō's voice dropped dangerously low. "Then leave behind your ails and Rinnegan, and bee the stepping stone for my ast!"

  During their versation, Danzō had been gathering an unpreted amount of chakra, preparing to unleash a move even more powerful than the ones he used against Sasuke.

  After f a series of hand seals, Danzō suddenly csped his hands tightly in front of his chest.

  —*Wood Release: Nativity of a World of Trees!*

  Boom! Boom! Boom!

  Saplings broke through the earth's surface, growing into t trees within seds...

  "The Wood Release of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju—the power that ehe Warring States Era and even suppressed the ails! Uzumaki Naruto, bow before this power!!"

  "Ughhhhhh...!!" Danzō's forehead bulged with veins as his csped hands trembled violently. He poured all his chakra into the trees, driving them tle Naruto!

  from the sidelines, Orochimaru murmured to himself, "Using both Izanagi and Wood Release simultaneously... the chakra ption is unimagi seems Danzō has cluded that ordinary ninjutsu won't suffice against the current Naruto. After failing to iate, he's decided to stake everything on this gamble. Now then, Naruto, how will you respond?"

  The forest erupted into chaos, shaking the earth as it advanced!

  "Wood Release, huh? Perfect. There's a teique I've been wanting to try..."

  Naruto's lips curled into a smile as he formed hand seals in front of his chest, taking a deep breath.

  —*Sage Art: Fire Release: Great Bze Annihition!*

  Whoosh!

  A thin pilr of fire shot from Naruto's mouth, extending teers before erupting into a massive inferno that blocked the advang forest. The heat was so inte evaporated the snow in the air!

  Danzō was stunned. "You've got to be kidding me! He used Fire Release to suppress my Wood Release!?"

  Naruto thought to himself, "I've seen Wood Release ten times strohan this. If you wao surprise me, you should've at least used 'Flower Tree World.'"

  Poof!

  In a puff of white smoke, Naruto's shadow e appeared in midair at the boundary between fire and wood. The e's hand buzzed with spinning wind bdes as it hurled them downward!

  —*Sage Art: Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!*

  Boom!

  The violent winds merged with the bzing fmes, pletely ing the forest. The approag wave of fire sent Danzō into a panic!

  "He even has the energy to use shadow es and such a powerful Fire Release at the same time? But after this attack, his Sage Mode should run out!"

  Sizzle!

  Sure enough, the e markings around Naruto's eyes gradually faded as his Sage Mode dissipated.

  Danzō g his right arm, where three Sharingan remained open.

  "There's no time to waste. Now's my ce..."

  He pulled out a vial of his own blood and used it to perform a summoning jutsu.

  Poof!

  Amid a cloud of smoke, the Baku appeared. It opes massive mouth, sug in the raging fmes at the cost of its own life, and vanished with a scream!

  Sssshhh!

  Using the opening created by sacrifig his summoned beast, Danzō infused wind chakra into his shuriken and hurled them forward in rapid succession, using them as a diversion while charging at Naruto.

  With his Rinnegan, Naruto's visual perception had far surpassed his former self. He easily tracked the trajectory of every Wind Release shuriken, dodging them nimbly. For those he couldn't avoid, he skillfully used kunai to deflect them through the holes in the shuriken.

  Most importantly, he refrained from using *Shinra Tensei!* As long as he kept that teique in reserve, Danzō wouldn't dare approach recklessly to steal his eyes!

  Frustrated by his failed attempts to bait Naruto into using his teiques, Danzō frowned and formed another set of seals.

  —*Wind Release: Vacuum Wave!*

  Whoosh!

  A powerful gust of wind, sharp as a sickle, shot from Danzō's mouth, sweeping across the battlefield.

  Naruto leaped into the air, his body horizontal as the wind narrowly grazed his back!

  Danzō's eyes hardened as he smmed his right hand onto the ground.

  —*Wood Release: Violent Spear Teique!*

  Boom!

  Sharp wooden spikes erupted from the ground directly beh Naruto!

  "!" Naruto's eyes widened in surprise.

  Poof! A substitution jutsu activated, and the wooden spikes pierced a log instead. Naruto nded safely five meters away.

  At the same time, his sed shadow e, which had been st Sage Chakra, dispelled itself, allowing Naruto to re-enter Sage Mode!

  "Tch! What a troublesome brat. But if I calcute correctly, my right eye's ability should be ready to activate by now..."

  [Note: In this timeline, Danzō didn't use Kotoamatsukami on the Daimyō of the Land of Fire, so its cooldown time has been shortened.]

  Danzō calcuted in his mind as he g his right arm to check the remaining time for Izanagi.

  To his shock, he saw that the number of open Sharingan hadn't ged—it was still three!

  "Impossible! It was three just now, so why is it still three!?"

  Hiss!

  Danzō drew a sharp breath, realizing a catastrophic truth.

  Could it be... that Izanagi hadn't activated!?

  Unbeknownst to him, his excessive use of Wood Release beyond his capacity had drained his chakra to the point where it fell below the threshold required to activate Izanagi!

  Naruto's eyes gleamed as a smirk spread across his face.

  Danzō panicked. "No!"

  Swish!

  In the instant, Naruto teleported directly in front of Danzō using the Flying Raijin mark he'd left on him earlier. His left hand traced a swift arc.

  Ssh! Apanied by a spray of blood, Danzō's right eye was forcibly gouged from its socket...!!

  "Ughhhhhh...!!" Danzō screamed in agony, clutg his bleeding eye as he staggered backward!

  Crack! Crack! Crack!!

  To make matters worse, the arm impnted with Hashirama's cells began to lose trol...

  Orochimaru sighed. "Danzō is fihe gap in strength is now painfully clear. At this point, Naruto-kun has already surpassed the level of a Hokage..."