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Chapter 78N
🕑 Added 2025-06-30 15:03:01 +0000 UTCChapter 78N
A stack of explosive tags was slapped onto the wall.
Though the barrier here had been erected by experts from the Barrier Division, it was not something as formidable as the Four Violet Flames Formation. This was a multifunctional barrier primarily used to prevent infiltration via Earth Release and to serve as an early warning system. Naturally, it could not withstand the compounded destructive force of more than ten explosive tags.
Boom!!
With a thunderous explosion, the barrier was destroyed as expected.
The intruder didn’t immediately leap through the blasted hole but instead stood calmly in place, forming hand seals. Five Water Clones appeared beside him. Without any verbal command, the clones used the Transformation Jutsu on their own, then each took a set of pre-prepared explosive tags from the original and scattered in different directions to create disturbances and draw attention away from the main objective.
Then, the intruder looked down at the ninja dog beside his feet.
“Pakkun, I’m counting on you.”
“Kakashi, do you really know what you’re doing? You’re playing with fire.” Pakkun looked up at the man who was no longer a boy. His voice was filled with concern.
The intruder—Kakashi—nodded lightly. His voice was calm and natural. “I know. This is revenge. Even if it’s a bit late... I don’t think Father would blame me for being slow or hesitant. Maybe he’d blame me for taking unnecessary risks. Pakkun, Father was so kind. Why did they force him to die?”
Pakkun was silent.
He had no answer to that.
Even with intelligence rivaling that of humans, ninja dogs were in the end too different from humans to understand them. They didn’t understand human morality or emotions. The love, hatred, grudges, and complexities among humans were things they simply couldn’t grasp.
All it could do was help Kakashi fulfill his wish.
That was the contract between ninja and summoned beast. And more importantly, between a friend in need and asking for help.
“Follow me.”
Pakkun wasn’t a combat-type summon. With his small frame, his greatest strength was sensory tracking. His scent-tracking jutsu could detect even traces buried in soil. Using Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole, he dove underground, leading Kakashi beneath the surface. They expertly avoided guards coming from multiple directions. Though they took a longer route, they completely evaded pursuit.
By the time the Water Clones were causing distractions across the area,
Kakashi’s real body had already arrived silently outside the cell holding Shimura Danzō.
There were guards at the door.
But strangely, no Uchiha, no Hyūga—only two standard ANBU. That was what Kakashi observed with his Sharingan. He didn’t believe any jutsu could fool the perception of his three-tomoe Sharingan.
“Pakkun, anything?”
“No. Only three chakra signatures here. Unless there's a barrier blocking scent, that’s all.”
Hiding in the shadows, Kakashi hesitated for two seconds, then made up his mind.
Whether it was a trap or not, he had no choice but to press forward. At this point, there was no turning back.
“Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu!”
The attack came from underground.
Caught off guard, the two ANBU were dragged beneath the earth, leaving only their heads above ground. Before they could react, a pair of scarlet Sharingan appeared in their vision. The moment they realized what was happening, their consciousness was already slipping into darkness.
With the guards dealt with, there were no more obstacles.
Using Earth Release, Kakashi entered the cell and saw Shimura Danzō lying on a wooden cot—emaciated, with skin like a dried corpse. Though he resembled a corpse, Kakashi’s Sharingan could still see that there was chakra flowing within him.
Danzō was alive, even if he seemed on the verge of death.
But he was unmistakably alive—his body still had breath, his chakra still moved... though he was indeed at death’s door.
“Kakashi, he’s nearly dead already,”
Pakkun said. With his exceptional sense of smell, he had no trouble detecting the overwhelming stench of decay and impending death on Danzō.
“He’s been sentenced to death. Even if you don’t act, he won’t live long.”
“Shimura Danzō has already been condemned. Even if I don’t kill him, he’s done for.” Kakashi unsheathed a small tantō he’d brought specifically for this moment. It had been a gift from his father when he became a chūnin at age six. Sadly, his father’s short blade had been broken and lost during the Third Shinobi World War.
Otherwise, that blade would have been more fitting.
He wiped the rarely-used tantō on his sleeve. It had been specially commissioned by Sakumo Hatake—high-quality steel that gleamed like new despite the years. The sharp edge reflected Kakashi’s deep hatred and anger in his eyes.
“I know Danzō is going to die. I could even request to be his executioner. But that would be the village executing him. What I want—”
“—is revenge. Revenge for my father’s death!”
“And one Danzō isn’t enough.”
Kakashi narrowed his eyes. Fresh memories surfaced—documents he had discovered while searching Root’s base on ANBU orders. In a hidden chamber in Danzō’s office, he found records of things he had never heard before—including details about his own father.
His father had indeed taken his own life. But it hadn’t been out of guilt over a failed mission. He had been driven to suicide by a deliberate campaign of slander.
The most heartbreaking and infuriating part— Sarutobi Hiruzen’s signature was on the documents.
The very man Kakashi had once revered as a mentor and respected as the Third Hokage had approved and condoned Danzō’s persecution of his father.
As for the document’s authenticity—after nearly six years in ANBU, Kakashi could easily distinguish between genuine and forged records.
Pakkun closed his mouth.
His final attempts to dissuade Kakashi had failed.
He could only sit silently, watching as Kakashi approached step by step, standing before the wooden cot and slowly raising his blade.
A flash of cold steel—
A crisp sound of bone breaking—
Danzō’s head rolled off the bed, his aged, withered face still bearing an unresolvable numbness and a trace of unwilling defiance.
Moments later,
Blood sprayed like a fountain. Yet there wasn’t much—the dried-out body could barely bleed. Flecks of blood splashed onto Kakashi’s forehead and mask, tinting the killing intent in his eyes a stark crimson.
He wiped the blood from his blade with his sleeve.
“Let’s go, Pakkun. That was just an appetizer. The main course is still ahead.”
Pakkun sighed helplessly. At this point, there was no going back. He could only do his best to help Kakashi achieve his goal. As for what would come of all this...
That was beyond his control.
Kakashi was no longer the little boy he once was.
His life didn’t need a ninja dog to worry about it.
What mattered was that he would stay with him till the end.
