Naruto: God Reborn

Chapter 41: The Final Gambit 

Danzo slammed into the tree with bone-rattling force but twisted in midair, landing lightly on his feet. His gaze flickered to the grotesque, radiant form of Aizen, wings of energy pulsing faintly with each of his movements. The Hōgyoku's influence was apparent in the purple aura trailing behind him as he advanced, his presence heavier than ever before. 

Danzo grimaced, rolling his shoulder as he assessed the situation. "You've transformed into a monster, Uzumaki. But even monsters can bleed." 

Aizen didn't reply. He vanished in a flash of Shunpo, reappearing inches from Danzo's face. Danzo barely had time to react, ducking as Aizen's palm shot out, a blast of kinetic force narrowly missing his head. The blow struck the ground behind him, creating a crater that sent dust and debris flying. 

---

A Dance of Techniques 

Danzo lunged backward, coating his kunai with wind "Wind Release: Vacuum Blade!" 

He slashed upward, aiming for Aizen's chest. Aizen sidestepped, his movements impossibly fast, then countered with a precise palm strike. Danzo deflected with his wind blade, the clash sending shockwaves through the air. 

Using the momentum, Danzo flipped backward and landed with a single hand seal. "Earth Release: Earth Flow Spear!" he roared, slamming his palm into the ground. Jagged spears of stone erupted from the earth, shooting toward Aizen. 

Aizen moved with effortless grace, weaving through the spears. He reappeared above Danzo, thrusting his hand downward. "Hadō #88: Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō!" 

A beam of concentrated energy shot toward Danzo, obliterating the earth where he stood. The explosion was deafening, sending shockwaves rippling across the battlefield. 

From the dust, Danzo emerged, bloodied but alive, thanks to the activation of another Izanagi. The glow of a newly sealed Sharingan faded from his arm as he glared at Aizen. 

---

Danzo wasted no time, forming another series of seals. "Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves!" He exhaled a barrage of wind blades, each one slicing through the air with deadly precision. 

Aizen flicked his hand, countering with a wave of Kido energy that disrupted the projectiles. But Danzo was already in motion, appearing behind him with Shunshin no Jutsu. His wind-coated kunai slashed downward, but Aizen blocked it with his bare hand, the blade screeching against his hardened skin. 

"You're persistent," Aizen said coldly, twisting his body and delivering a spinning kick to Danzo's ribs. The impact sent him hurtling across the clearing, crashing into the ground with a thud. 

Danzo coughed up blood, but the glow of another Sharingan's activation surrounded him. He stood again, his injuries gone. 

---

Danzo raised his right arm, and the earth trembled as wooden tendrils erupted from the ground. "Wood Release: Great Forest Technique!" The tendrils surged toward Aizen, twisting and coiling like serpents. 

Aizen used Shunpo to evade, but the wood moved unnaturally, adjusting its trajectory to follow him. One tendril wrapped around his leg, yanking him downward. Another shot toward his chest, intending to skewer him. 

Aizen reacted swiftly, slamming his palm against the wooden tendril and releasing a blast of Kido energy that shattered it. He tore free of the other tendrils with brute strength, his purple wings flaring as he rose into the air. 

Danzo followed up with another attack, slamming his hand into the ground. "Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!" The battlefield transformed as massive trees erupted from the earth, their roots twisting and intertwining to create a dense, living forest. 

Aizen's movements slowed as the roots closed in, their relentless advance attempting to crush him. He retaliated with a massive Kido blast, leveling a portion of the forest, but Danzo remained unfazed, hidden within the thick canopy. 

---

From the shadows, Danzo struck again and again. Each time, his attacks grew more vicious, utilizing every element at his disposal. He launched torrents of water to obscure Aizen's vision, combined with razor-sharp wind blades that cut through the air. He manipulated the terrain with earth techniques, creating pitfalls and walls to trap Aizen. 

But Aizen countered each assault with overwhelming power. He deflected wind attacks with his wings, shattered earth constructs with Hakuda, and burned through water techniques with raw spiritual energy. 

Each time Danzo died, another Sharingan closed, his body reappearing elsewhere, unscathed. Aizen's patience wore thin, his strikes becoming more aggressive as he sought to end the cycle. 

"How many more times will you cling to life?" Aizen demanded, his voice cold. 

Danzo smirked, blood dripping from his lips. "Enough to see you fall." 

---

After eight deaths, Danzo's Sharingan-arm was barren, the last eye closed as he activated his final Izanagi. He appeared behind Aizen, his hand glowing with sealing energy. 

"Reverse Four Symbols Sealing!" he roared, slamming his hand into his own chest. 

Black symbols spread across his body, converging on his chest.

"This will ensure your end," Danzo muttered, his voice resolute.

"How quaint," Aizen said, his voice echoing with power. "Let's see if your resolve matches your ambition."

---

As Danzo's Reverse Four Symbols Sealing activated, the dark markings began to expand outward from his body, their ominous glow illuminating the clearing. The surrounding air grew heavier with the oppressive presence of sealing energy, crackling with raw intent to annihilate everything within its reach. 

"You'll die with me," Danzo declared, his voice resolute. 

The seals suddenly erupted, forming four towering walls of energy that began to converge inward toward Aizen, pulling him into the vortex of destruction. The forest around them disintegrated, trees reduced to ash as the sealing energy expanded in its final act of devastation. 

---

Just as the walls of the Reverse Four Symbols Sealing closed in, Aizen raised his hand, fingers splayed wide. A surge of reiatsu exploded from his body in a brilliant purple wave, clashing against the encroaching sealing energy. The collision sent shockwaves rippling through the ground, tearing the earth apart beneath them. 

Danzo's Sharingan darted wildly, trying to comprehend the sheer force of Aizen's power. Despite the overwhelming energy, the seals pressed forward, the pull toward annihilation unrelenting. 

Aizen extended his other hand, his voice calm but filled with authority. "You underestimate me Danzo." 

With a subtle motion, he brought his hands together, condensing his reiatsu into a pulsating sphere between his palms. The sphere expanded rapidly, its glow intensifying until it detonated with cataclysmic force. The explosion tore through the sealing energy, shredding the array of symbols and scattering their remnants like fragments of a broken mirror. 

Danzo shielded himself with his arm, barely standing against the pressure of the blast. The sealing energy dissipated, leaving behind a devastated landscape marked by deep craters and scorched earth. 

---

Danzo stumbled backward, his body showing signs of strain as his remaining Sharingan flickered. He activated Izanagi once again, his form vanishing for a brief moment before reappearing a few meters away, fully healed. 

"You can't keep this up forever," Aizen said, his voice carrying a sense of finality. He raised a finger, pointing it toward Danzo. A faint purple light began to gather at the tip. 

Danzo knew he was running out of time. He no longer had any Sharingan left.

Danzo charged forward.

Aizen caught the kunai mid-swing, the blade halting an inch from his neck. With a flick of his wrist, he disarmed Danzo, sending the weapon spiraling into the distance. Danzo followed up with a palm strike aimed at Aizen's chest, but Aizen didn't even flinch as the attack landed. 

"You've failed to understand," Aizen said, his voice dripping with disdain. "Physical attacks are meaningless against me." 

---

Aizen raised his glowing hand, placing it against Danzo's chest. The older shinobi froze, he quickly used the substitution technique.

When Danzo reappeared behind him, ready to strike, Aizen turned his head slightly, his piercing gaze locking onto Danzo's. A burst of reiatsu erupted from Aizen's body, immobilizing Danzo mid-motion. 

"You've exhausted your tricks," Aizen said calmly. His reiatsu grew denser, pressing down on Danzo with suffocating force. "And now, you'll die." 

Aizen extended his finger towards the sky, unleashing a Kido spell without incantation. "Hadō #90: Kurohitsugi." 

A massive black coffin formed around Danzo, its edges adorned with intricate purple markings. The coffin began to compress, spikes forming inside and driving inward from all directions. Danzo's expression turned grim as the overwhelming force crushed him within the confines of the spell. 

---

As the Kido dissipated, the battlefield grew eerily silent. Danzo's body was nowhere to be seen, his presence erased entirely. Aizen lowered his hand, the purple glow of his Hōgyoku form fading slightly as he reverted to his more humanoid state. 

He surveyed the destruction, his expression indifferent. "A man bound by his own limitations… how tragic." 

Turning away from the ruined battlefield, Aizen began walking, his reiatsu diminishing as he left the area. The barrier surrounding the clearing dissolved, leaving behind the echoes of the battle that would soon be whispered throughout the shinobi world. 

This was the undeniable power of a god. 

Tbc