Chapter 920 : The Unending Mystery of Danzo’s Death!

The doubts Tsunade had in her heart dissipated the moment Danzo was reanimated. It wasn't another scheme. Danzo was truly dead. His defeated sigh made everyone realize how thoroughly he got outplayed.

Hiruzen sighed as well and asked, “What happened to you? Why did you leave the village secretly? How did you die?”

The last question troubled Hiruzen. It was why he hadn't hesitated in using the Edo Tensei jutsu. Others may not consider Danzo formidable any more due to his feeble appearance, but Hiruzen knew the terrifying cards his old comrade possessed. If he wasn't aware of all of Danzo's cards, even someone like him at his prime would have struggled against Danzo. For someone like that to die so quickly after leaving Konoha alarmed Hiruzen greatly.

Danzo sighed again, “My soul was extracted from my body. I was afraid he had ways to seal my soul and prevent reanimation. Luckily, he seems unaware of Edo Tensei…”

Hiruzen frowned, “He?”

Danzo didn't answer immediately and instead asked, “How long has it been since I left the village and when did you learn about my death?”

Tsunade answered, “You left the village slightly over 6 hours ago. We learnt of your death a few minutes ago.”

Danzo fell in deep thought. Others didn't disturb him, wondering what he was analyzing. A few seconds later, Danzo muttered softly, as if speaking to himself, “The timings don't add up. My soul should have been pulled out approximately half an hour ago. He has ways to sustain my soul without my body for so long. However, why did he do so?”

Losing his patience slightly, Hiruzen asked, “How long will you keep us in the dark?”

Danzo finally answered, “I received news of a Lightning Crystal Vein's existence within the borders of our country from Shirabe and Higure and decided to seek it out. I'm sure you understand my thoughts.”

Danzo's words surprised the four ninjas in the hidden base. Tsunade realized, ‘A crystal vein? No wonder he left in such a hurry. If he gained control over it, he could reclaim his seat on the council. However…’

Hiruzen and the rest wondered the same thing as Tsunade, ‘However, how did this expedition end up in his death?’

Danzo continued, “Unfortunately, when I reached there, Shirabe and Higure were already dead. Akuro sat next to their corpse and right above the crystal vein…”

“Akuro?” Shizune exclaimed in surprise.
Kakashi narrowed his eye, “The self-proclaimed ancient ninja who has fought against Kumogakure's Darui several times.”
Tsunade added, “And also the one who you suspect to have attacked the Root's headquarters in the past. However, this is strange. How did he find the vein so quickly after Root did? And, why did he kill them?”

Hiruzen analyzed, ‘Akuro… Was he the one who destroyed Root headquarters after all? Danzo hasn't left the village since then, but he ran into Akuro the very first time he did. Is it just a coincidence, or was he waiting for this opportunity?
However, I don't understand how he learnt of Danzo's departure from the village so quickly. Does he have an informant in the village? But who?
No, that doesn't make sense either. Even though we didn't broadcast Danzo's departure, the clan leaders, most Anbu and some veteran ninjas learnt about it due to our movements. However, none of them knew Danzo's destination since we didn't. How could they inform Akuro about the vein?’

The more Hiruzen analyzed, the more it felt like it was nothing but a coincidence. However, his instincts said otherwise. He could smell a conspiracy, but had no clue about what it could be. He wasn't the only one. Tsunade, Kakashi and even Shizune felt the same.

Hiruzen said, “Tell me everything that happened. From you receiving the intel to the moment your soul was extracted!”

Since he was already dead, Danzo didn't see any point in keeping secrets anymore. All his schemes, his ambitions, his dreams, his desires had ended with his life. The only thing he still wanted was Konoha's security and prosperity. He narrated the entire encounter, down to the smallest detail, for Hiruzen.

His words surprised the Konoha ninjas for varied reasons. As a precaution, Hiruzen had informed Jiraiya and Tsunade about Danzo's hidden cards. However, Shizune and Kakashi were nearly clueless. Both were shocked to learn how many trump cards he possessed.

Kakashi couldn't help but think, ‘Shisui's eye, Izanagi, Lord First's cells, Wood Release… To think Elder Danzo held such formidable cards. And yet, Akuro wasn't phased by any of them. We underestimated his strength since he failed to kill Darui…’

Akuro's strength had shocked and alarmed all of them equally. Ever since he appeared, Akuro's mysterious nature had attracted the attention of all major forces. Though he mainly targeted Kumogakure, Konoha held a stake as well since Akuro was suspected of the attack on Root headquarters. As such, they paid careful attention to every minute detail about him.

Konoha had initially pegged his strength as mid-level rank S ninja, i.e., somewhere from Sasori's and Kakuzu's level to someone who could give Tsunade a difficult time. Hiruzen believed that Jiraiya, in his Sage mode, and Fujin, due to his elemental advantage, could defeat Akuro in a head-on confrontation and force him to retreat. However, this battle had proved their calculations completely incorrect.

Kakashi analyzed, ‘He may not be any weaker than the Fourth Raikage. If this is his strength when he's still recovering his powers, how scary will he be at his full strength?’

The base stayed silent for a while as everyone processed the information. Danzo was the same too. Even though he was involved in the battle, there were still plenty of aspects that confused him.

Due to the fast nature of the battle, Danzo didn't get any time to analyze the events of his fight. While the battle lasted for nearly 15 minutes, Danzo was dead for more than 60% of the time. The rest was spread across him probing Akuro with Fire-Wind Dragons and Shisui's Genjutsu when he didn't have much information, a high-speed clash of Lightning Chakra Mode and Wind Vacuum technique where he couldn't afford to be distracted for even a fraction of a second, and analyzing whether he could form an alliance with Akuro and take advantage of him. It was only now that he had any time to analyze.

After a few minutes, Shizune broke the silence, “I don't understand. You had reached an agreement. Why did he suddenly change his mind and kill you?”

Danzo frowned, “I don't understand it either. Our talks were progressing properly and he seemed happy with my proposals. It was why I didn't predict his sudden attack and was caught off guard despite having my guard up…”

He paused for a bit before adding, “Perhaps at some point during our battle, he decided to acquire my right eye. Maybe his proposal was nothing but a ruse to lower my guard so that he could steal my eye.”

Danzo could understand Akuro's greed towards Shisui's eye. It wasn't too long ago that Danzo swiped it off Shisui. Kakashi asked, “Why couldn't you use Izanagi the last time? Was it just reluctance towards wasting Shisui's eye or were there other factors involved?”

Danzo shook his head, “I wasn't reluctant. I can understand very well what is more important between the eye and my life. I was influenced by two separate forces. The entire ground was covered in seals that were hidden carefully. I couldn't sense them, but my instincts warned me of them while we were negotiating. However, I expected them to be explosive seals that he would use if I didn't submit to him.

A few of those seals activated at the same moment he moved. They were restrictive seals, slowing me momentarily. In addition, I also sensed an external chakra in me. I'm not sure how he managed to do it, but he used it to place me under Genjutsu. Neither of those could restrain me, but they provided him with just enough time to steal my eye.”

Danzo's words disturbed both Tsunade and Hiruzen. A ninja of Danzo's stature failed to detect the presence of an external chakra until the last moment despite possessing Shisui's Mangekyou Sharingan and being highly alert. Worse, Danzo was outschemed by Akuro.

While Danzo's fighting strength was nothing to scoff at, his real strength was in scheming. Yet, he had failed to scheme against Akuro and became the prey. Though the two of them weren't completely onboard with Akuro being an ancient ninja, this aspect made them rethink their beliefs. They didn't expect the mystery of Danzo's death wouldn't be completely resolved even after reanimating him!