After Danzō's proposal, Naruto stroked his chin thoughtfully. "That sounds like a good idea..."

Danzō's expression shifted. "Exactly! If we join forces, Konoha can dominate the entire ninja world!"

Naruto lowered his hand, his gaze deepening. "You think dominating the ninja world is enough?"

"Oh?" Danzō raised an eyebrow. "Do you have grander plans?"

Naruto replied bluntly, "Of course, but you wouldn't understand. Your vision and abilities are far too limited."

Danzō's face darkened. "Let's leave abilities aside for now. Why is my vision insufficient?"

Naruto questioned, "Where were you and Root when Pain attacked the village?"

Danzō defended, "For the future of the ninja world, some patience and concealment are necessary. Root needed a catalyst to come to the forefront. With Tsunade's Slug Technique, the village wouldn't be completely destroyed. Those sacrifices were temporary. Once I became Hokage, Konoha would enter a new era of prosperity."

He continued, "Speaking of which, why did the Pain incident happen? It was due to Jiraiya's naivety and Tsunade's leniency. If I were in charge, Pain wouldn't have existed, and Akatsuki wouldn't have risen!"

"Root's way is to eliminate any risks to the village's development at the source! Tell me, how is my vision lacking?"

Naruto said solemnly, "Along with the risks, you also eliminate hope."

Danzō chuckled. "Hope? You want me to place the future on something so intangible?"

Naruto coldly replied, "Calling it intangible shows your narrow-mindedness. Flowers wither in soil without hope. Even if they survive, they grow thorns."

"Danzō, you claim you wouldn't have let Pain or Akatsuki rise, but early Akatsuki was a righteous organization. It was your interference that caused Nagato to lose faith and become Pain, twisting Akatsuki's ideals."

"Yes, the one responsible for the village's destruction isn't Jiraiya-sensei or Tsunade, but your so-called dark Root principles."

"In short, you're just using the village's welfare as a pretext to satisfy your ambition!"

"Danzō, you're unfit to be Hokage!"

Danzō clenched his fist, his aged face filled with coldness. "So, you refuse my proposal?"

Naruto smirked. "Baka~. With such a wide path, why would I choose a dead end?"

Danzō said darkly, "Then leave your Nine-Tails and Rinnegan behind as stepping stones for my advancement!!"

Using the conversation to gather unprecedented chakra, Danzō prepared to unleash a technique he hadn't shown even in his battle with Sasuke!

He formed seals and clasped his hands to his chest.

—Wood Release: Advent of a World of Flowering Trees!!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Saplings broke through the ground, growing into large trees within seconds...

"The Wood Release power of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, could even suppress the Nine-Tails! Uzumaki Naruto, bow before this power!!"

"Ugh...!!" Danzō's forehead bulged with veins, his clasped hands trembling as he poured chakra into the trees, driving them to crush Naruto!!

Watching from the sidelines, Orochimaru murmured, "Using Izanagi and Wood Release simultaneously will consume an unimaginable amount of chakra. It seems Danzō has decided that ordinary ninjutsu can't deal with the current Naruto, so after negotiations failed, he chose to go all out. Now, Naruto, what will you do?"

The forest raged, shaking the ground!

"Wood Release, huh? Perfect, there's a technique I've been wanting to try..."

Naruto's lips curled up, forming seals with his hands and taking a deep breath.

—Sage Art: Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!

Boom!

A thin column of fire erupted from Naruto's mouth, extending ten meters before exploding into a massive sea of flames, completely halting the advancing forest. The heat even evaporated the falling snow!

Danzō was incredulous. "What a joke! He used Fire Release to suppress my Wood Release!?"

Naruto thought: I've seen Wood Release ten times stronger than this. If you want to surprise me, at least use 'Flowering Tree World'!

Boom!

In a puff of white smoke, Naruto's shadow clone appeared above the boundary of fire and wood... Buzz! The clone's hand spun with wind blades, hurling it down!

—Sage Art: Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!

Boom!

The storm of wind and fire completely overwhelmed the forest, the approaching flames making Danzō's heart race!

"He even has the energy to use a shadow clone while performing such a Fire Release? But after this attack, his Sage Mode will end!"

Sizzle!

Sure enough, the orange eye shadow slowly faded, and Naruto's Sage Mode deactivated.

Danzō looked at his right arm, seeing three Sharingan still open!

"No time to waste, now's the chance..."

He took out a vial of his own blood, using it to perform a summoning jutsu.

Boom!

With a burst of white smoke, the Baku appeared, swallowing the raging fire in front of it and disappearing with a scream!

Sizzle!

Using the gap created by sacrificing his summoning beast, Danzō spun shuriken on his fingertips, infusing them with Wind Release chakra, and threw them forward!

Using this as a feint, Danzō charged at Naruto.

With the Rinnegan, Naruto's visual perception far surpassed before. He clearly tracked all the Wind Release shuriken's trajectories, dodging skillfully. For those he couldn't avoid, he used kunai to deflect them through the shuriken's holes!

In short... he didn't use Shinra Tensei!

As long as he kept this technique in reserve, Danzō couldn't risk getting close to take his eye!

Seeing his trick fail again, Danzō frowned and formed seals.

—Wind Release: Vacuum Wave!

Whoosh!

He exhaled a powerful wind blade, sweeping across.

Naruto jumped, his body horizontal in mid-air, the wind blade skimming his back!

Danzō's eyes hardened, slamming his right hand to the ground.

—Wood Release: Cutting Technique!

Boom!

Sharp wooden spikes erupted from the ground beneath Naruto!

"!" Naruto was slightly surprised.

Boom! Using the Substitution Jutsu, the spikes pierced the wooden substitute, and Naruto landed safely five meters away.

Boom! Simultaneously, the second shadow clone storing Sage Chakra dispelled, allowing Naruto to maintain Sage Mode!

"Tch! What a troublesome brat, but by my calculations, my right eye's dōjutsu should be recovering soon..."

(Note: In the original timeline, Danzō used Kotoamatsukami twice before fighting Sasuke, once on the Fire Daimyō and once on Mifune. In this timeline, he didn't use it on the Fire Daimyō, so the cooldown is shorter.)

Danzō calculated internally, looking at his right arm to check Izanagi's duration.

But he found three eyes still open!

"Impossible, it was three just now, how is it still three!?"

Hiss!

Danzō gasped, realizing a catastrophic reality.

Could it be... Izanagi didn't activate!?

In this battle, he had used Wood Release beyond his capacity, unknowingly depleting his chakra below Izanagi's activation threshold!

Naruto's eyes flashed, his lips curling up.

Danzō was alarmed. "No!!"

Whoosh!

In the next instant, Naruto followed the Flying Thunder God mark on Danzō, flashing in front of him, his left hand tracing a graceful arc.

Slash! With a spray of blood, Danzō's right eye was gouged out...!!

"Ugh...!!"

Danzō screamed, clutching his bleeding right eye and retreating!

Slash, slash, slash!!

To make matters worse, his right arm, implanted with Hashirama's cells, went out of control...

Orochimaru sighed. "Danzō is finished. The difference in power is clear. Naruto-kun now surpasses the level of a Hokage..."