"Tell me—who are you? Did you kill the innkeeper?" Kaito grabbed the impostor's neck with one hand, his voice ice-cold.

Exposed, the fake boss realized.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

One after another, masked shinobi in ANBU-style animal masks appeared around Kaito, weapons drawn, surrounding him with hostile intent.

Kaito released the imposter and narrowed his eyes. That aura—they were familiar.

He'd destroyed a base filled with these exact kinds of chakra signatures once before.

"Tch. It's him again," Kaito thought grimly. Danzo... You never stay buried for long.

In that alternate world, he'd killed Danzo. Now, in this timeline, the old rat was crawling back. The entanglement between them was far from over.

"Cough, cough." The fake hotel owner recovered, dispelling his Transformation Jutsu and reverting to his true appearance. He bowed deeply.

"As expected of you, masked ninja—the one who defeated the Third Tsuchikage and the Four-Tails and Five-Tails. We are Root operatives of the Fire Nation, under the command of Danzo Sama. I am one of his field captains."

He straightened his back and added, "Danzo Sama has something important he wishes to discuss with you."

"Danzo?" Kaito scoffed inwardly. That bottom-feeding sewer rat? He wants to negotiate with me?

He had no respect for Danzo—never had, never would. Had it not been for concerns about the timeline, he'd have already wiped him out again.

Suddenly, metal hissed.

The Root shinobi moved without hesitation, drawing their weapons and lunging at Kaito in coordinated silence.

For them, Danzo-sama was a god. To insult him was unforgivable.

Kaito's eyes narrowed under his mask.

Good, he thought. I was hoping you'd try.

Lightning crackled around his hands. His body flickered, vanishing into streaks of light. In the next breath, Kaito's silhouette reappeared behind the Root captain.

He didn't even realize what had happened.

The captain glanced at his team—none of them had a scratch. He sighed in relief.

It seems the masked man was merciful. Maybe he still respects Danzo's authority...

"Thank you for showing mercy," he said respectfully.

Kaito turned slightly. "Mercy? Are you blind?" he said flatly. "Check if they're still breathing."

The captain's eyes twitched. He bent down, placing his fingers near one of the operatives' necks. But before he could finish, the Root operative collapsed like a puppet with cut strings.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

One after another, the rest followed—dropping like dominoes.

Silently. Lifelessly.

The man's pupils shrank. He was stunned.

These weren't random shinobi. Each of them was at least elite Chūnin-level—some even Jōnin. And this man had eliminated them in an instant.

Was this the true power of the masked man?

He trembled, pulling a sealed envelope from his cloak. "T-This is a letter from Lord Danzo," he stammered, offering it with both hands.

Kaito didn't even glance at it. His mind flashed to what Danzo had done to Hinata and Ino in the previous timeline.

That alone made his blood boil.

"Go back and tell that bastard he's nothing more than a coward who crawls underground like a mole," Kaito said coldly. "He's not worthy of negotiating with me."

Before the man could reply, Kaito grabbed his neck and flung him aside like trash.

"Scram. Don't ever show your face in front of me again."

Then Kaito turned toward the shadows. "Come out. I know you're there."

Footsteps echoed.

Out from the darkness came Danzo—wrapped in bandages, his expression unreadable. He didn't even glance at the corpses of his subordinates. Instead, he offered a thin smile.

"I don't recall offending you so deeply. Why do you bear such hatred toward me?"

Kaito sneered. "You want to know? Fine."

He took a step forward.

"I despise you, Hiruzen, and your entire decrepit council of so-called elders."

"You manipulated the Senju Clan until only Tsunade was left standing. You drove White Fang to commit suicide through your politics. You vultures watched the Land of Whirlpool burn and did nothing—just waited to scavenge their sealing techniques."

"You're monsters who hide behind power. And if the timeline didn't matter, I'd have burned Konoha to the ground already."

Danzo's smile froze.

"I mean, look at yourselves," Kaito continued. "The First and Second Hokage built this village with strength and will. And now? It's just four old men playing with people's lives from behind a curtain."

His words struck like lightning. With every sentence, Danzo's expression darkened.

But what truly shook him was what came next.

Kaito's accusations weren't vague guesses. They were specific.

He spoke of missions, betrayals, secrets—things that only four people in Konoha should've known.

Danzo's gaze sharpened. How... how does he know all this?

A murderous glint flashed in his eyes.

Kaito noticed.

"What? Planning to kill me?" he said, crossing his arms. "Go ahead. But be sure you understand the cost."

Danzo inhaled slowly, suppressing his emotions. "...I have matters to attend to. I won't waste time here."

He turned on his heel and disappeared in a blur, no longer calm, but deeply unsettled.

"Hmph. Coward." Kaito spat in disgust.

Returning to his room, he changed clothes, picked up a few spare masks, and headed out.

Danzo's presence had tainted this place. He wasn't about to stay another minute.

Without hesitation, he vanished toward the borders of the Land of Wind, aiming to meet Tsunade—and find a new place to continue breaking through the seventh gate.

---

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