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  In an instant, the atmosphere shifted. The Root ninjas, despite their injuries, sprang into a with renewed ferocity. They uhemselves at the Anbu, ons drawn and jutsu at the ready. Even though Hawk was taken aback by their sudden aggression, he reacted swiftly thanks to instincts honed from years of bat.

  "Fire Style - Great Fireball jutsu!" One of the Root ninjas who rofit at ninjutsu unleashed a massive fireball, aiming to engulf the Anbu in fmes.

  Hawk tered by weaving hand signs and releasing a powerful gust of wind. "Wind Style - Great Breakthrough!" The wind bst met the fireball, causing an explosive collision that sent shockwaves through the chamber.

  Meanwhile, Anbu Tiger was already moving. He ehe other Root ninja in close-quarters bat, their movements invisible to the ordinary naked eye. The Root shinobi aimed a series of rapid strikes, but Tiger deflected each blow with perfect precisiohealiated with a swift, brutal ko the gut, followed by a spinning kick that sent the enemy crashing into a wall.

  Before the Root ninja could gather his bearings, several kunai riddled his body. He took his st breath and something close tret fshed in his eyes before they closed forever.

  The st Root ninja, uerred by the chaos, formed hand signs and called out, "Earth Style Earth Flow Spears!"

  Once again spikes of earth erupted from the ground, f Tiger to dodge and weave through the deadly terrain. Hawk saw the earth spikes ing and leaped into the air, barely avoiding them.

  The two Anbu nded and Hawk's eyes fshed with anger. He quickly formed hand signs for another jutsu. "Water Style - Water Dragon Bullet!"

  He spit out a rge amount of water and a massive water dragon was created. It surged forward and crashed through the earth spikes and barreled towards the Root ninja. The watery beast roared as it almost collided with the enemy.

  "Earth Style - Defense dome jutsu." The root ninja quickly gathered his chakra and created a powerful wall that protected him from the raging water dragon. Hawk focused his ninjutsu and had the water dragon crash into the earth wall several times until it finally broke.

  But just before he could deal the final blow, Hawk fell forward with ragged breath. "It looks like I'm at the end of my ropes." With those words he closed his eyes and fell unscious.

  Tiger k and pced a hand on his body. He examined his friend's vials and after a few seds let out a breath of relief. 'It's chakra exhaustion. Not surprising. He's been using several high iy jutsu sihe battle started.'

  "Rest Easy. I'll hahe rest." Tiger stood and spread out his senses. He quickly located the enemy and moved in.

  The final Root ninja, ered and desperate, unleashed a flurry of shuriken infused with explosive tags at the oning enemy. Tiger dodged the projectiles, but one exploded nearby, sending debris and smoke into the air. Through the haze, the Anbu saw the st Root ninja charging at them, a kunai aimed for their throat.

  With a swift motion, the Tiger-masked Anbu caught the ninja's wrist, twisting it with a siing crack. The kunai fell to the ground as the Root ninja gasped in pain. Tiger's eyes were cold aermined as he delivered a final strike to the ninja's chest, sending him crumpling to the floor.

  The chamber fell silent once more as the atmosphere was filled with the st of smoke and blood. The Root ninjas y on the ground, defeated and lifeless, their defia with the harsh reality of bat.

  Tiger stood amidst the aftermath, breathing heavily. His mask cealed his expressions, but his posture revealed the weight of what had transpired.

  Th lone Anbu looked all around him. He uood why the Hokage took a and knew Danzo o be stopped. But he was not happy.

  The Root ninjas were part of the vilge and he had hoped to avoid further bloodshed, but the loyalty aermination of Danzo's followers had left them with no choice.

  The battle was over, but Tiger khe sequences of this flict would resonate far beyond the walls of the Root base. He turned his head and gnced in Lord Hokage's dire.

  'It looks like that battle is almost over.'

  Hiruzen vs Danzo (Few Minutes ago)

  Amid the chaos, Hiruzen closed the distaween himself and Danzo.

  As the two veteran shinobi cshed Danzo spoke. "Hiruzen… Whether you win or I do… This will be the st battle between us. So you better not hold back."

  Hiruzen scoffed as he dodged a ssh. "I never had any iions of restraining myself from the start of this fight. I'll show the courtesy of fighting you with all my strength. After all, it's the least I could do… For an old friend."

  Adamaaff met two kunai enhanced with strong wind chakra nature. The two elders exged blows with lethal precision while dodging strikes that would have killed them. Their skills were a testament to their decades of experience as a shinobi.

  Hiruzen's staff, Enma, transformed into its adamantine form and swung with deadly force. Danzo tered with swift, fast strikes, parrying the blows to bleed off the opposing force even as blood tio drip from his shoulder wound.

  "Earth Style - Earth Dragon Bullet!" Hiruzen summoned a dragon-shaped torrent of earth, which surged towards Danzo with destructive force.

  Danzo, uerred, performed a single seal. "Wind Style - Vacuum Bullets!" pressed air bullets shot out, shattering the earthen dragon and sending debris flying.

  As they cshed, Hiruzen found an opening. With a swift, decisive movement, he thrust Enma forward, aiming for Danzo's chest.

  Danzo twisted to the side and avoided a fatal blow but received a deep gash across his torso. He staggered bad was breathing heavily as tiredness creeped through his body. But his eyes still bzed with defiance.

  "You're weakening, Danzo. Surrender now." Hiruzen demanded with a stern voice.

  "Never!" Danzo roared. He formed another series of seals, preparing a final attack.

  "Wind Style - Vacuum Great Sphere!" A massive sphere of wind chakra formed, its power immense despite Danzo's near depleted state.

  Hiruzen braced himself and quickly gathered his chakra. "Earth Style - Mud Wall!" A thick barrier of earth rose, abs the brunt of the attack, but the force of Danzo's attack sent Hiruzen skidding back.

  The battlefield was a se of devastation as the fight raged on around them. Root and Anbu operatives fought fiercely, but it was clear that Anbu ninjas had the advantage.

  Summoning more of his strength, Hiruzen pressed forward. Danzo was equally unwilling to give up to his rival. Even with bleeding wounds he rushed forward and attacked with a rare ferocity.

  The two veteran ninjas cshed again. Hiruzen's staff met Danzo's kunai in a flurry of strikes. The bde in Danzo's hands hummed with a sharp, cutting aura, capable of slig through nearly anything.

  But the Third Hokage's experiend versatility began to show, his attacks being more precise aless. Enma, in his adamaaff form, was unyielding as he parried and blocked the wind-chakra-infused kunai.

  The sound of wind chakra enhanced metal g with the hardeaff echoed through the corridor in a strange rhythm like the symphony of a deadly battle. Sparks flew as the two former rades engaged in an inteaijutsu bout, each move recise dispy of power and teique.

  'To think he could still fight like this. It's no wonder he thought he could challenge my positioher I've gotten too weak in my old age or Danzo has gotten a lot strohan before. I suppose I have to attribute some of that strength to Lord Hashirama's cells in him… It seems his battle senses are sharpening. Guess those memories of long ago are ing back huh old friend?' Hiruzen didn't show aions on his face but he was impressed with the man.

  What he didn't know was that Danzo was feeling a simir se.

  'I never expected you to be so cautious and calg. Especially at this time. To un attae even during such a tumultuous time… Then again if I was in your position I would have dohe same. It looks like you've reached your breaking point with me huh. Perhaps if you had suerves years ago we could have avoided all this.' Despite the situation Danzo had begrudging respect for his rival.

  Danzo khat if he was the Hokage he wouldn't have allowed another forside the vilge to go unchecked for so long.

  Despite their ihoughts and feelings they didn't relent or back down even for a moment, as they both believed that their methods were the right ones.

  The battle raged on and Danzo's strikes were fierd relentless, but Hiruzen, with his calm posure, skillfully tered eae. Using Enma's versatility, he extehe staff to force Danzo back, theracted it to deliver swift, precise blows.

  Danzo was forced several steps bad Hiruzen immediately used a single seal. "Shadow e Jutsu!" 'I'm running out of chakra. I won't be able to use e jutsu for much longer. I have to end this fast.'

  The old kage created two es, each wielding an Enma staff. They surrounded Danzo and began attag from all sides. Danzo, already weakened, struggled to fend off the barrage. He struggled but finally destroyed the es while taking several injuries.

  But in that moment, with a final decisive strike Hiruzen disarmed Danzo, knog the kunai from his grasp and sending him sprawling to the ground. He stood over his former rade, breathing heavily but with a determined expression..

  "It's over, Danzo," Hiruzen said. His voice was filled with finality. "For the future of the vilge, you have to be stopped."

  Danzo gred up at Hiruzen. "You're not the only oh tricks up his sleeve."

  Hiruzen's eyes narrowed and then suddenly he felt an unnatural stiffness in his body. As Hiruzen stood over Danzo, ready to deliver a finishing blow, he felt his muscles lock. His body refused to move as an invisible force bound him in pce. A curse seal reading through his body.

  Danzo's lips curled into a cold smile as he rose to his feet. He brushed off the dust and took several deep breaths of air. "You uimated me, Hiruzen," he said, a glint of triumph in his eyes. 'Self-Binding Curse: Paralysis.'

  The moment Danzo coughed up a wad of blood ao one k took several moments for him to steady himself a back to both feet again. With blood dripping down his and torso, Danzo had a ferocious expression.

  Hiruzen gritted his teeth, realizing he had fallen into Danzo's trap. 'This is a Hexagram curse seal. The Paralysis teique that be pced on an oppo with tact. He must have pced it on me when we were fighting at cle.'

  The curse owerful teique, paralyzing ahin its range.

  As the Hokage struggled against the invisible bonds, Enma sehe danger. In a puff of smoke, he transformed bato his Monkey King form to help his summoner, but before he could react, Danzo was already upon him.

  eling wind chakra into his hand, Danzo's arm became a deadly on, sharp and cutting like a bde yet wielding the force of a sledge hammer. With a swift motioruma, sending the powerful summon crashing into the wall oher side of the chamber. The impact was forceful and Enma let out a grunt of pain as he fell to the ground, momentarily stunned.

  Danzo turned his attention back to Hiruzen who remained paralyzed. "For too long, you've held me back," Danzo snarled, his voice filled with years of pent-up rese. "But no more."

  Summoning the wind chakra to his hand once more, Danzo prepared to deliver a decisive blow. His hand glowed with a dangerous aura, ready to slice through flesh and bone. He moved with the io strike, but a sudden burst of smoke interrupted him.

  Enma, despite the earlier attack, had quickly recovered and was now interposing himself between Danzo and Hiruzen.

  "You will not touch Hiruzen," Enma growled, his eyes burning with protective fury. His arms exteurning into staff-like limbs as he blocked Danzo's wind-infused hand. The csh of wind chakra and Enma's adamarength created a shockwave, sending dust and debris swirling around them.

  Danzo staggered back, surprised by Enma's resiliehe momentary distra was enough for Hiruzen to muster his willpower and remaining chakra and push against the curse's effects. With a st surge of chakra, he broke free from the paralysis ahe invisible bonds snapping like fragile threads.

  Danzo's eyes widened in shock as Hiruzen, who was now free, moved with the speed and precision of a seasoned warriripping Enma in staff form once again, the Hokage smmed the adamaaff into the ground, creating a shockwave that destabilized the area and took away the enemy's footing.

  "Danzo, this is the end!" Hiruzen swung his on with all his might. The staff extended, catg Danzo off guard and it nded a solid blow to his midse. The old Root leader was sent flying, crashing into the far wall with a thunderous impact.

  The room fell silent for a moment, the echoes of the battle slowly fading. The Hokage stood tall, breathing heavily but his eyes fixed on the fallen Danzo. The Root leader y crumpled against the wall and struggled to move. His breath ragged and his visio bnk for a sed.

  Breathing heavily, Danzled to rise as he gred at Hiruzen with a mix of hatred and respect. "You always were stronger, Hiruzen," he muttered, coughing up blood.

  The Hokage looked down at his old rade with slight pity in his eyes. 'He doesn't have much chakra left. But then agaiher do I... What will you do now, Danzo? Will you surrender or will you fight to the bitter end? I'll let you end this on your own terms.'

  The Hokage waited for Danzo to make his choice.

  Author's Note:

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