Atop the ruins of the altar.
The utterly frenzied Danzo’s overwhelming ecstasy, which had erupted from the depths of his heart, froze the instant the chakra supply was cut off.
The Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan in his eye sockets, which had been evolving and was only one step away from becoming the Rinnegan—a power capable of blurring the boundary between life and death—reluctantly halted its evolution at that final step!
The concentric ripples of the Rinnegan that had already appeared in his pupils instantly regressed into the previous black gear-like pattern. The background color of his eyes, which had been undergoing its transformation, darkened once more, returning to the Sharingan’s signature blood-red hue!
All his efforts had come to nothing at the final step!
An evolving state was neither stable nor capable of being maintained for long.
Therefore, unless the eyes could evolve into the stable state of the Rinnegan in one fell swoop, no matter how far their evolution had progressed—even if they were only a single step away—they would ultimately regress to the stable state of the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.
Back when Shisui underwent the Hashirama cell transplantation surgery, Kagami’s pair of Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan had experienced the same thing. After failing to evolve into the Rinnegan, they had also regressed to the stable state of the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.
Even so, an Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan that had attempted to evolve into the Rinnegan would possess ocular power far surpassing that of an ordinary Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. Eyes in such a state could no longer be regarded as ordinary Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.
Time seemed to stand still at that moment. Even the two Susanoo that had been locked in a contest of strength came to a halt simultaneously.
"Phew..."
Kagami let out a soft sigh of relief. Beneath his flame-patterned mask, his expression finally relaxed.
Although he had no idea what had happened to the chakra transmission array outside to cause the chakra supply to stop so abruptly, forcing the Bloodline Fusion Ritual to be interrupted, it was certainly not a bad thing for him.
"That was close!"
Noticing that the eyes in Danzo’s sockets had already reverted to the appearance of the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, Kagami couldn’t help but feel a lingering sense of fear.
Just a tiny bit more, and that madman Danzo would have obtained a pair of Rinnegan!
At that moment, Orochimaru, who was hiding in the distance, chuckled.
"Oh my, what a pity! We were so close to witnessing a higher level of the Sharingan!"
Orochimaru’s mocking remark snapped Danzo out of his daze atop the ruined altar.
He swept his hollow gaze over Orochimaru before his entire being descended into an inexplicable frenzy.
He roared hysterically, "It’s all because of you bastards getting in my way! Why?! Why can’t you just obediently kneel before me?! Why can’t you just obediently go die?!"
Following this roar, the chakra within Danzo’s body surged once again.
Unlike before, while the ritual was still underway, Danzo had needed to maintain sufficient chakra reserves to support the fusion of chakra natures within his body.
Now that the ritual had been interrupted, however, he no longer had any such burden.
ROAR...
Danzo’s frenzy caused the dark-red Susanoo projected from his body to go berserk as well, unleashing a demonic roar!
At the same time, the blood mist surrounding the dark-red Susanoo intensified dramatically, filling the entire volcanic cavern in the blink of an eye.
Hiss...
Hiss...
The violent sounds of corrosion echoed continuously throughout the cavern!
"Ahhh..."
"Save us..."
"My arm..."
The Root shinobi who had failed to escape the volcanic cavern could only watch helplessly as their bodies gradually dissolved in the blood mist, like snowmen melting beneath the blazing sun.
Protected by his own Susanoo, Kagami’s body had yet to suffer any corrosion from the blood mist.
However, he knew just how sinister the blood mist surrounding Danzo’s Susanoo was. Even his golden flames, which could burn chakra, could barely fight the blood mist to a standstill.
Therefore, he didn’t dare linger near the ruins of the altar. With a flicker of his figure, he appeared beside Orochimaru.
Kagami said irritably, "Hey, you’re the one who created this mess! You’d better figure out a way to clean it up!"
If Orochimaru hadn’t interfered, Danzo would have been long dead by now, and none of this trouble would have occurred.
Orochimaru’s current situation wasn’t particularly good either.
The giant snake protecting him was also unable to withstand the blood mist’s corrosion. Its flesh and skin had already begun dissolving, leaving it in a miserable state.
However, Orochimaru didn’t seem particularly concerned. A faint, almost imperceptible smile still lingered at the corners of his mouth.
Pointing toward the rampaging Danzo in the distance, he said, "I believe we can both agree that a madman like him should die here, can’t we?"
Kagami glanced at Orochimaru.
"Whatever backup plan you have, hurry up and use it! If you keep hiding your cards, you might not even get the chance to use them later!"
The fact that Orochimaru still hadn’t fled, even at this point, could only mean one thing.
He still had a backup plan he hadn’t revealed, and he was still coveting Danzo’s body.
Under these circumstances, Kagami obviously wasn’t going to fight Danzo until both sides were severely weakened, only to let Orochimaru reap the benefits.
Knowing that Kagami wouldn’t allow him to sit back and profit from their struggle, Orochimaru wasted no more words.
He immediately formed hand seals with both hands, slammed his palm against the ground, and shouted:
"Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation!"
Rumble...
In an instant, two coffins, respectively engraved with the characters ’First’ and ’Second,’ rose from the ground!
Kagami furrowed his brows.
"This is your backup plan?!"
Although the reincarnations of the First and Second Hokage were by no means weak, they still hadn’t surpassed the boundaries of Kage-level strength.
Meanwhile, Danzo, who now possessed the Power of All Creation and seven Kekkei Genkai, including the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, had clearly surpassed the Kage level.
He was a monster even more terrifying than Hiruko!
The reanimated First and Second Hokage obviously wouldn’t be able to suppress the current Danzo.
Orochimaru merely smiled without answering.
Clatter... Clatter...
At that moment, the lids of the two coffins fell to the ground, and two figures stepped out from within.
In that instant, the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan in Kagami’s eye sockets reacted as though they had encountered their natural enemy. His pupils contracted slightly, displaying an instinctive stress response.
"Orochimaru... You bastard..."
Sensing the fierce chakra fluctuations emanating from the reanimated bodies of the First and Second Hokage, Kagami finally realized why Orochimaru had been so confident.
It was because Orochimaru hadn’t imposed any restraints whatsoever on the reanimated First and Second Hokage, unlike before!
Furthermore, judging by the suffocatingly enormous amount of chakra emanating from the two reanimated bodies, the living sacrifices Orochimaru had prepared this time were apparently far from ordinary.
The reanimated First Hokage, clad in red armor styled after the Warring States Period, muttered to himself:
"This technique again?"
Meanwhile, the reanimated Second Hokage, dressed in blue armor with a head of white hair, looked toward Danzo in the distance, whose body had regained its youth through the modification surgery.
With a puzzled expression, he asked:
"Danzo?! Is that you?"