Chương 291: Grasping Darknesses

A/N: This chapter is a bit violent, so proceed with caution. Itachi looked at Shisui, who responded after a moment of hesitation.

"It was not an easy process. We had to refer to some of Root's own seal experts, though they didn't have the full picture because Danzo didn't even trust his own men completely. Thanks to your permission, Lord Hokage, we were able to commandeer a single seal grandmaster from his busy schedule, utilizing his expertise to neutralize all the seals on Danzo that might interfere with our interrogation." Fugaku's eyes stayed focused as he said, "As expected of the Shinobi of Darkness.

Getting information out of him, even from within his own village, was never going to be easy." Shisui nodded in agreement as he continued.

"Itachi and I had to use every trick in the book just to weaken his mental strength enough for genjutsu to start working. After a lot of exhausting effort, trial, and error, we were able to extract the information we shared with you earlier, Lord Hokage. However, as per your instructions, we continued digging. The information we found was mostly related to operations in the Land of Mist and the Land of Rain, but I believe we have everything now."

Itachi stepped forward and placed a small folder on his father's desk.

"It is not much, but I believe we have the full picture." Fugaku leaned back in his chair as he read through the files before raising his eyes.

"I knew Danzo was responsible for some atrocities, but this has been..." Fugaku stayed silent, unable to find the words. He looked toward the Hokage Monument, specifically at the face of the Third, before he asked softly, "Why did you let him go this far?" There was no answer. Fugaku simply shook his head before turning to Shisui and pulling several scrolls from a desk drawer.

"Go and start preparing for a series of long-term assignments. You leave immediately." Shisui kneeled and replied without hesitation, "As you wish, Lord Hokage." He stood up, patted Itachi's shoulder, and left. The door closed, leaving Itachi standing alone in front of his father's imposing figure. The sun was setting, and long shadows were drawn by the dying light entering through the large glass window. Fugaku stayed silent, waiting for his son to speak. Itachi noticed the silence.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. When he opened them, something inside him shifted. His gaze grew colder, his posture straightened, and his muscles primed in anticipation. As Fugaku saw the look in his son's eyes, he nodded.

"I'll grant you your request. Make sure to follow the plan." Itachi immediately bowed.

"Thank you, Father, for granting me this request." Fugaku nodded and waved for Itachi to leave. Itachi moved toward the door, his steps matching his father's purposeful and heavy rhythm. He was moving with intent, his hands curling in anticipation. He moved deeper into the building and into the ANBU headquarters. No one stopped him as he walked slowly toward an isolated and secluded cell. The moment he approached, two ANBU agents emerged from the shadows. Itachi spoke in a tone that left nothing to discuss.

"As per Lord Hokage's orders, it is time." The two agents nodded and flickered away, leaving the solitary cell unguarded. Itachi stood in front of the door and weaved through multiple hand signs before touching his palm to the surface and pulsing his chakra through it. Multiple seal formulas appeared on the door before fading. Itachi gently pushed the door open and walked in. The door closed hastily behind him without a sound. The room was completely empty.

Seals were drawn on the walls and floor, the black ink marred by blood, teeth, and human waste. The smell was horrid. There was an irregular sound that came at random, loud and unpredictable with shifting tones and pitch. A single light hung from the ceiling, searingly bright and emitting a stifling heat. Under its glare, Danzo Shimura sat bound to a tilting wooden chair that swayed with his every unstable movement. He was a shell of a man.

His head hung low, his features haunted by the deep, hollow shadows of total exhaustion. His frame had gone gaunt, his skin clinging to his bones like wet parchment as the heat and filth of the environment withered what was left of his strength. One of his eyes was gone, the eyelid sunken in with a trail of blood leaking from it. There had been a seal behind it, and the only way they could bypass the seal was by taking the whole eye.

He had multiple broken fingers, several torn nails, and his body was bruised and purple from blunt force trauma. Multiple stab wounds at his nerve endings were turning a sickening, infected color. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Itachi walked around the chair, observing the different blunt and slash wounds while noting the extremely tight restraints that dug deep into Danzo's skin. The ropes broke and tore into his flesh the more he moved.

Itachi walked to the edge of the room, took a chair from the shadow-covered corner, and set it directly in front of Danzo. The room was completely silent besides Itachi's steady breath and Danzo's weak, irregular, and wheezing ones. Itachi was unmoved by the scene. After all, he was responsible for most of it. After a while, Itachi spoke, his voice clear.

"That is enough pretending, Elder Danzo. We need to talk about how you can serve the village." Danzo's body stiffened. His shaking, ragged breath stabilized as he forced his head upward. His only functional eye was marred by a nasty incision made to drain the heavy swelling that had previously blinded him. A piece of medical tape stretched from his eyelid to his eyebrow, pinning the eye open in a permanent, forced stare. His cheeks were sunken and bruised.

His lips were cracked and bleeding over a mouth where several teeth were missing, some jaggedly broken and others torn out. He looked Itachi directly in the eye, and Itachi did not flinch at the horrid scene. On the contrary, he seemed to be proud of it. Danzo saw that truth in Itachi's eyes and spoke, his voice cracked and dry from dehydration.

"I thought... you got... everything."

"We did," Itachi responded.

"Not by torture. You were trained to handle that, and far worse. But I had to do it for two reasons. The first was to lower your mental resistance, which worked with some assistance." Itachi's eyes turned from black to red, his three-tomoe Sharingan shining bright in the cell. Danzo's pupils shook in fear of a coming genjutsu, but Itachi didn't cast one. Instead, he continued speaking normally.

"I won't lie. I also did it for myself. I have been selfless my whole life. I decided that being selfish once is allowed." Danzo's eyes shook, but he immediately took control of his emotions, masking his anger.

"What you are doing here is proof that the Uchiha are not fit to rule or coexist with the rest of Konoha. You can't look ahead. Konoha needs someone like me. It always will, as long as the shinobi world remains the way it is." Itachi tilted his head as Danzo continued.

"I am an S-rank ninja. I am an Elder of Konoha. Losing someone like me would only weaken the village. Let me talk to the Hokage. I am sure we can reach an arrangement that would benefit both us and the village." Danzo's voice softened slightly.

"I know you care the most about the village. I am sure you can see the purpose of my actions or at least know that I desire nothing but for Konoha to be strong." Itachi leaned back.

"From what I see, reading your actual thoughts, I can tell that you only care for power. You wanted to hoard it. You wanted to be the Hokage. How does it feel to see an Uchiha in the Hokage seat instead of you, the people you undermined at every chance?" Danzo did not respond. Instead, he chuckled lightly before coughing violently, blood seeping from his mouth. After a moment, he spoke with a hoarse voice.

"If something happens to me, the other villages will know Konoha has weakened and is unable to strike from the shadows. I was keeping so many threats at bay. If you do anything to me, the doors of hell will open and the village will bur..." Before he could continue, a kunai appeared in Itachi's hand. He thrust it down with full strength, his chakra vibrating through the blade so fiercely that it turned red from the fire chakra being forced into the metal.

The blade pierced skin, bone, and muscle like butter, but the heat and pressure reached a breaking point. As it slammed into the floor, the steel fractured and exploded inside Danzo's frail leg. The limb nearly disintegrated from the internal blast and the strain of the powerful chakra, the charred remains barely held together by loose, scorched skin. Danzo's scream was guttural. He didn't have much energy left, but the wail was haunting, as if his very soul were being consumed.

His head began to drop, but Itachi reached out, grabbing his hair and yanking his face upward. In that moment of forced contact, Itachi activated a genjutsu. He did not use it to hide the reality, but to sharpen it, forcing Danzo to stay conscious and even intensifying the agony as Itachi stabbed the other leg. Danzo was unable to move. His face paled from the rapid loss of blood as his body shook violently against the restraints. Itachi's expression did not change as he simply intensified the genjutsu.

He then drove a kunai through Danzo's hand, which was tied firmly above his knee. The fire-augmented blade exploded on impact, nearly vaporizing both the hand and the joint in a single, violent burst. Danzo was at death's door when Itachi destroyed his other hand and knee with another fire-augmented kunai. This time, his body could not handle the strain. The hand and joint exploded from the internal pressure, sending blood and viscera across Itachi's face and body. Itachi did not move or flinch.

The hot blood felt cool on his skin as he reached out, pulling Danzo's face up. Danzo's eyes were almost gone, the light of life flickering out, but Itachi spoke very clearly to him, directly to his soul through the Sharingan.

"This is for my village. This is for my clan. This is for you going after my friend." A swift motion crossed from left to right, tearing through Danzo's throat with jagged force. Danzo's eyes widened as he started to choke on his own blood, while Itachi pulled the tilting head higher and higher, stretching the ruined flesh. Itachi observed the embers of life fading from Danzo's eyes and remained in that position for a long time. Eventually, he stood up calmly.

He used a storage seal to store Danzo's body, looking at the seal with an eerie, gleeful smile. He cleaned himself before walking slowly to the door. He stepped outside, closed the door, and slowly formed hand seals in a specific arrangement. The entire room ignited with flame, burning everything inside and leaving nothing but faded ash, embers, and history. A/N: The comments on this one should be explosive! First of all, yes, he is really dead. No monkey business.

Second, let me know what you thought of this monumental turn of events in the story and its implications!