<p>The progressive failure of granite under dynamic disturbance is essential for understanding the evolution of dynamically induced rockbursts in deep excavations. However, the role of stress-path dependency has not been systematically investigated. In this study, true triaxial cyclic loading and unloading tests were conducted on extremely hard granite with dynamic disturbances applied in both the <i>σ</i>₁ and <i>σ</i>₃ directions, combined with acoustic emission (AE) monitoring to examine fracture and damage evolution. The results show that dynamic disturbance (<i>A</i> = 1.5 MPa, <i>f</i> = 20 Hz) facilitates failure but exhibits significant stress dependency, with its effects governed by the cyclic loading path. The path-dependent behavior introduced by dynamic disturbance more accurately captures in situ failure characteristics than conventional modes controlled solely by confining pressure. During cyclic loading, unloading at high principal stress tends to induce shear-dominated failure, whereas at lower principal stress, the failure mode gradually transitions to a mixed tensile–shear mechanism. The evolution of damage under dynamic disturbance and cyclic paths was quantitatively characterized using the equivalent crack strain. Finally, analysis of rockburst events in the main powerhouse cavern of the Shuangjiangkou Hydropower Station reveals a stress-path-dependent mechanism of chain rockbursts, in which dynamic disturbances repeatedly trigger localized energy release, leading to time-delayed instability accumulation. These findings provide new theoretical insight into the evolution mechanisms of chain and delayed rockbursts in deep rock engineering.</p>