"Danzo, I've made up my mind. I won't betray you."
"..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression darkened immediately, his sharp eyes locking onto Uchiha Shin with an intensity that could break steel. He would rather die than allow himself to fight alongside Danzo.
Besides, he didn't believe for a second that Uchiha Shin was speaking the truth.
That little Uchiha bastard was probably just playing with them, laughing at the pathetic situation they were in!
Danzo, his one remaining eye staring lifelessly, cursed both Sarutobi Hiruzen and Uchiha Shin in his mind.
He wanted to kill them both!
But he knew the situation was dire. As much as he despised Hiruzen, their only chance of survival was to join forces.
Seeing Hiruzen refuse, Uchiha Shin sighed dramatically.
"How dull. You're just a coward."
But then his lips curled into a wicked grin, a smile so sinister it sent a chill up their spines.
"Well then, I'll just have to make you enjoy it in another way."
Neither of them knew what Uchiha Shin meant, but they both felt an overwhelming sense of dread.
"Danzo! Let's go!" Hiruzen growled, throwing off his Hokage robe, revealing his battle-worn shinobi attire beneath.
A lifetime of paperwork had not dulled his edge. He was still in his prime, his ambition burning strong.
Even when faced with Shin's massive wooden titan looming above them, he didn't flinch.
The size might be intimidating, but it had its disadvantages. The bigger the enemy, the easier to outmaneuver.
"Summoning Jutsu! Enma!"
With a puff of smoke, the Monkey King appeared, his tiger-print fur standing on end.
"Enma, don't breathe in the pollen! Transform, now!"
The moment he appeared, Enma inhaled a lungful of the airborne toxins. The paralysis took hold almost instantly, his body already weakening.
Before he collapsed, he forced himself to transform into the Adamantine Staff, flying into Hiruzen's grip.
Danzo and Hiruzen moved in unison, darting between the thick wooden tendrils spreading across the battlefield, aiming to scale the massive construct and strike down its master.
Uchiha Shin cocked his head, watching them scramble.
Did they think they had a chance?
Sarutobi Hiruzen was formidable, but Danzo?
How dare he!
Danzo, oblivious to Shin's disdain, continued his assault.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Blade!"
Instead of attacking Shin directly, he used the force of the technique to propel himself upward, launching toward Shin with alarming speed.
Shin blinked. How dare you.
How dare you.
How dare you!
Shin didn't even bother using a jutsu. He simply moved the massive wooden hand and swatted Danzo like a bug.
The colossal palm descended like a falling mountain, the pressure alone enough to make Danzo's bones creak.
"HIRUZEN!"
Danzo roared, forming another seal in desperation.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves!"
Sickle-like wind blades erupted from his mouth, aiming to cut the incoming palm apart.
The same technique had sliced through countless trees before. Surely, the wooden titan would be no different.
Hiruzen thought the same, launching his own attack.
"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"
"Lightning Release: Thunder Shockwave!"
The two attacks merged mid-air, forming a searing dragon wreathed in crackling lightning. It hurtled toward the wooden hand.
They expected to see the palm burned, shattered, reduced to ash.
Instead, the attacks left barely a scratch.
The surface bore some pits and scorch marks, but within seconds, the wood regrew, sealing the damage completely.
Danzo's eye widened in horror.
"Impossible…!"
A shadow swallowed him whole.
BOOM!
The impact of the wooden palm sent tremors through the battlefield. A massive crater formed beneath Danzo, but his body wasn't pulverized.
Uchiha Shin had been merciful.
Instead of crushing him, the wood wrapped around his body, draining his chakra and locking him in place.
Hiruzen felt a cold sweat drip down his spine. In one move, Danzo had been completely neutralized.
He had underestimated Shin.
"I can't fight him head-on," Hiruzen realized. "I have to take him down directly."
Switching tactics, he used the Body Flicker and Substitution Techniques in rapid succession, avoiding the ever-expanding wooden battlefield.
With the Adamantine Staff's ability to extend and retract freely, he moved like a blur, dodging vines and making his way toward Shin's head.
Shin smirked.
The wooden titan was powerful, but too cumbersome to deal with an agile old monkey like Hiruzen.
So he didn't bother controlling it anymore.
He would take Hiruzen down himself.
"Lightning Release: Chakra Mode."
A crackling explosion of energy surged around Shin, his body suddenly bathed in lightning.
But he wasn't done.
"Magnet Release: Electromagnetic Surge."
With a deafening boom, the air around him distorted, electromagnetic force twisting around his form.
By manipulating his own electric field, he amplified his physical abilities far beyond human limits.
The crackling lightning that enveloped him had now become a form of armor, surging with raw power.
It wasn't as impervious as the Earth Release: Earth Spear technique, but the sheer offensive boost more than made up for it.
Shin turned his gaze toward Hiruzen, who was nearly upon him.
He grinned.
"Come, old man."
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