I, who just wanted to be lazy, was forced to become the Hokage.

Chapter 377 Third Generation Lord, the task of cleaning up the mess is now in your hands!

A pungent, bloody odor lingered in the air at the root base.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes were bloodshot as he futilely stretched out his right hand toward the mass of shattered corpses, a torrent of complex emotions surging within him.

Anger? Pain? Sorrow? Or perhaps a combination of all of these?

After all the emotions had been released, all that remained in Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart was emptiness.

Danzo... just like that, he died...

Tsunade, who had personally executed Danzo Shimura, was quite pale at this moment, and her body swayed slightly.

But she managed to stand still, unlike before when she was terrified and powerless at the sight of blood.

Killing Shimura Danzo seemed to have greatly improved Tsunade's hemophobia.

But at this moment, a sudden change occurred.

puff--

The dripping blood mixed with the broken wood chips suddenly transformed into a strange, dark color under the influence of chakra, and then sprayed outwards like a fountain.

Tsunade, who was closest to the victim, was the first to be hit.

His body, weakened by the shadow of hemophobia, had lost the agility expected of a top-tier ninja.

It looked like Tsunade was about to be touched by this jet of black blood.

Nara Rinka fully utilized his agility and speed, instantly moving forward to pick up the limp Tsunade in his arms, and then used the Flying Thunder God Marks he had set up in advance to travel through space and time and leave.

Almost the instant Nara Rinka and Tsunade left their spot, the fountain of black blood suddenly stopped flowing in mid-air and instead transformed into four Bagua symbols, floating still in mid-air.

Streams of black chakra emerged from these four special symbols and connected with other sealing symbols, forming a black chakra sphere with a diameter of more than ten meters.

Whether it was the wood transformed by the [Birth of the Tree World], the hand formed by the "All Cloth Bag Technique", or even the original soil clods at the root base, everything was encompassed by this black chakra sphere.

A faint sound of devouring and crushing emanated from the sphere, sending chills down one's spine.

Danzo Shimura's final masterpiece—the Reverse Four Symbols Sealing Technique!

Nara Rinka, who had dodged to the side while holding Tsunade, immediately recognized the powerful S-rank sealing technique.

"If things had progressed normally according to the timeline, Shimura Danzo's [Reverse Four Symbols Sealing Technique] would have sealed off one—no, half a stone bridge. As things stand now… well, not too far off!"

Orochimaru, whose ability to survive is unparalleled.

Danzo Shimura's methods of self-preservation were only at a standard level, especially since he had not yet acquired a sufficient number of Sharingan.

After witnessing the eruption of the [Four Symbols Sealing Technique], Nara Rinkei became certain of one fact—

Danzo Shimura was indeed "sent" to the Pure Land by Tsunade using Wood Release!

Taking down that old codger so easily is really too good for him...

Nara Rinka put Tsunade down from his arms and patted her back to comfort the still-shaken fat sheep.

"Nara, what's that?"

"The Inner Four Symbols Sealing Technique, hmm, a sealing technique that can be activated upon death."

Nara Rinka looked up at the enormous black chakra sphere.

It's unclear whether it's because Danzo Shimura's chakra reserves weren't significantly reduced.

The scale and duration of the opponent's [Inner Four Symbols Sealing Technique] were much stronger than he had imagined.

But no matter how strong it is, it has only swallowed more mud and wood.

Under the watchful eyes of Nara Rinka, Tsunade, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and Minato Namikaze, the jet-black chakra ball gradually dissipated, leaving behind only a unique hemispherical crater.

The corpse of Shimura Danzo, which was no longer recognizable as human, lay quietly at the bottom of the pit, completely still.

Nara Rinkazu shifted his gaze to the sorrowful-looking Hiruzen Sarutobi, and after a moment's thought, he took the initiative to offer a reminder.

"Third Hokage, Shimura Danzo is dead, but the remaining Root ninja were only attacked by pollen from the [Descent of the Flowering Tree World], and there were no other casualties... The follow-up work of appeasement will need to be handled by the Third Hokage..."

Nara Rinkachi knew that his words were not very good.

It's like a group of thugs who, after forcibly eliminating another group of thugs, then yell at the authorities, "Sir, come out and clean up the mess—"...

Anyway, I just beat up Hiruzen Sarutobi as well.

Nara Rinka was too lazy to care about those boastful words at this point.

Upon hearing Nara Rinka's words, Hiruzen Sarutobi turned his gaze over, his heart filled with complex emotions.

If it were up to him, he would be eager to immediately capture and imprison this Nara ninja who did not belong to the Hokage's faction and who forcibly killed Shimura Danzo in front of him, and then execute him.

But alas... if you can't beat them, you can't beat them.

Even Hiruzen Sarutobi secretly rejoiced that Nara Rinkei had indeed, as he had said before, focused his hatred solely on Danzo Shimura.

Otherwise.

If Nara Rinkei wanted to send Hiruzen Sarutobi's old bones to keep Danzo company right in front of Danzo's corpse...

Even Hiruzen Sarutobi was worried that he wouldn't be able to stop the other side's actions.

Moreover.

Due to Nara's involvement in the war, Konoha's losses in the Third Shinobi World War were far lower than the normal timeline, and they even managed to reclaim several tailed beasts.

Nara Ranka's personal reputation in Konoha was at its zenith.

It was virtually impossible for Hiruzen Sarutobi to deal with Nara Rinkachi, both theoretically and practically.

The situation is better than people.

Weaker than others.

Hiruzen Sarutobi could only pretend that nothing had happened.

Seeing that the old man remained silent for a long time and then deliberately looked away, Tsunade secretly shook her head.

Given her understanding of the old man, his reaction was largely as she expected.

Even if Shimura Danzo had only a one in ten thousand chance of survival, the old man would do his best to rescue his old comrade-in-arms.

But what if Shimura Danzo really died...?

The old man wouldn't take any radical measures.

"The old man is indeed... old in body, old in heart too..."

Thinking of this, Tsunade lowered her eyes and began to make plans.

Danzo Shimura is dead.

For the next period of time, we'll have to focus our energy on the election for the Fourth Hokage...

Hmm, isn't this a bit too cruel to the old man?

The atmosphere inside the Nara Rinka Kenne base was heavy and stagnant. Since he had nothing else to say to Hiruzen Sarutobi, he simply nodded to Minato Namikaze and then led Tsunade away directly from there using the Flying Thunder God Technique.

There's nothing left to worry about at the base...

Nara Rinka and Tsunade departed.

Minato Namikaze looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi.

He still had some questions he wanted to ask the Third Hokage.

His student—Uchiha Obito.

(End of this chapter)