Inside the Hokage Tower.
A ninja from the Utatane Clan burst in, visibly anxious. He found Koharu and exclaimed, "Koharu-sama! Why did the Anbu take my son away?!"
Koharu recognized the man—he was one of the more accomplished shinobi of the Utatane Clan, a Special Jōnin no less.
But his words made her frown deeply.
"The Anbu took your son?" Koharu asked, puzzled. "Did they say anything?"
—"He said it was by the Hokage's order!"
The Hokage…
Hiruzen?!
Koharu's expression turned suspicious. Wasn't Hiruzen currently with Uchiha Keizumi?
Koharu suddenly felt a sense of unease.
Her brows furrowed even more tightly as she asked again, "Did the Anbu who took your son leave in the direction of the Uchiha compound?"
The man froze, racking his brain, then quickly replied in a panic, "I think… yes, that's the direction he went!"
Koharu's confusion only deepened.
Hiruzen… what exactly are you doing?
…
The Anbu operated with impressive efficiency. Uchiha Keizumi hadn't waited long before the three trembling brats were brought in.
It was the first time in their lives they'd been forcibly taken by the Anbu.
Their minds had already conjured up countless terrifying images of interrogation and torture.
Then they realized they'd been brought to the Uchiha compound—surrounded not only by the intimidating Uchiha Police Force, but also by numerous masked Anbu agents.
And then…
They saw the Hokage himself!
"Don't be afraid." Hiruzen smiled kindly at the three terrified kids, his face gentle and grandfatherly. He spoke in a soft, reassuring voice: "We've only brought you here to ask a few questions about a special case. Once we're done, you'll all be able to go home."
After the comforting words, Hiruzen turned toward Uchiha Keizumi, about to say something—
—when he suddenly noticed Keizumi was staring intently at one of them.
And in that instant, Hiruzen felt it clearly. Keizumi's gaze was ice cold—like he was looking at a corpse.
The feeling made Hiruzen's heart skip a beat.
He followed Keizumi's line of sight… and saw the boy he was staring at.
Suspect No. 3 on the list—a child from the Utatane Clan. If he recalled correctly, his name was…
Utatane Ryūji.
But Hiruzen wasn't the only one who noticed Keizumi's focus.
Tachibana Jirō and Izumi also caught on.
Even Uchiha Fugaku, who had been standing quietly in the background with barely any presence, was now watching.
And Naruto, sensing that something wasn't right, looked between the Hokage and Keizumi… then followed their gazes toward the visibly anxious Utatane Ryūji.
"Keizumi…"
Hiruzen's throat felt dry, his voice hoarse without meaning to. "Are you… certain there's no mistake? He's… still just a child."
Behind him, the Anbu began eyeing the boy from the Utatane Clan with unconcealed suspicion and hostility.
"Third Hokage… [Absolute Justice] allows for no doubt."
Keizumi's voice was cold and firm.
In his vision, a glowing crimson frame hovered unmistakably above Utatane Ryūji's head.
Inside it, line after line of red text listed the boy's crimes in stark detail.
"Meow… just as expected," said the calmest voice at the scene—second only to Keizumi's—Tachibana Jirō.
Izumi took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. She leaned closer and whispered to the seemingly unshaken cat, "Tachibana-senpai… are there really that many criminals this young?"
"Plenty, meow," Tachibana replied. "That Uchiha Itachi who's been hiding for days—wasn't he the same kind of monster?"
Izumi fell silent.
Of course.
Uchiha Itachi… he was only two years older than this brat. And yet, in just a year, he would massacre the entire Uchiha Clan. One boy had already committed a family extermination; the other was destined to slaughter hundreds—maybe even thousands.
Izumi was left dazed, unsure of how to process any of it.
Has the shinobi world truly become this twisted and sick? If the world wasn't diseased, why were so many so young already plunging into darkness?
She couldn't make sense of it anymore.
Naruto had overheard every whispered word exchanged between Tachibana Jirō and Izumi.
His eyes widened. Pointing at the anxious, trembling Utatane Ryūji, he cried out in disbelief, "He killed that whole family? This guy… he's the murderer we're looking for?!"
Already terrified and barely able to stand, Utatane Ryūji jolted as if struck by lightning. His hair bristled, and panic exploded across his face.
"I–I don't know what you're talking about!" he shouted, his voice cracking. "Murderer? What murderer?! I didn't do anything! Why did you bring me here?! I didn't do anything wrong last night! I was at home the whole time—ask anyone in my clan! They can vouch for me!"
Hiruzen drew in a long, heavy breath.
From the boy's frantic expression and rambling protest, he had heard the one answer he least wanted to hear.
He fell silent, memories returning of the many times Uchiha Keizumi had said those words—"The shinobi world is already sick."
Could it be… that he's right? That the shinobi world really is diseased?
The Third Shinobi World War had long since ended. Even the Nine-Tails incident was already years in the past. Things should've started to improve. The violence in people's hearts should've eased, even if just a little.
And yet here—here in Konohagakure, the village he had ruled and protected—a brutal killer had emerged from among the children.
At that moment, Hiruzen desperately wished it were true that the world itself was sick… rather than face the possibility that the Will of Fire had failed. That it couldn't even raise a single Ninja Academy student into someone who loved the village and protected his comrades.
At the same time…
Hiruzen turned his worried gaze toward Naruto.
This was Naruto's first true encounter with the "evil of the shinobi world." And it was something so horrifying, even the Hokage himself found it hard to accept.
How would Naruto—still just a boy—process this? What would he come to believe about the Will of Fire? About Absolute Justice?
Or rather…
What kind of choice would Naruto ultimately make?
…
Uchiha Fugaku glanced at Uchiha Keizumi's back, then at the small, terrified figure of Utatane Ryūji.
In that moment, he thought of his own son—Uchiha Itachi.
That day… Keizumi had looked at Itachi just like this, hadn't he? And seen right through his future evil.
The only difference now was this: Itachi had been judged for what he would do. This boy was being judged for what he already had done.
Well—no, there was one more difference.
The difference in resolve.
When Itachi learned of his future sins, he had remained calm. He accepted what was to come with a quiet strength.
But this boy—Utatane Ryūji—didn't even possess a fraction of Itachi's composure.
What a pity.
A child as extraordinary as Itachi… had chosen a path completely at odds with Fugaku's own.
Itachi wanted to save Konoha.
But Fugaku—he had always wanted to save the Uchiha Clan.
...
"Why… why are you all looking at me like that?!"
Utatane Ryūji, panic flooding his face, took two steps back instinctively.
He felt the weight of every single gaze in the room falling squarely on him. Even the two other kids who'd been brought in alongside him were now staring.
The sheer pressure of those eyes was unbearable. Fear surged like never before, and his heart was pounding wildly. Cold sweat soaked his skin, clinging to his body until he felt sticky all over.
This… this can't be happening! I got lucky last night—I'm sure I destroyed all the evidence!
No way… There's no way! How could they possibly have found out?!
Ryūji's mind screamed in denial, but the more he spiraled, the more his panic became obvious.
"Utatane Ryūji."
Suddenly, someone spoke his name.
He jerked his head up in terror. It was a young man in a Konoha Police Force uniform, and his voice was cold—so cold it felt suffocating.
"Motivated by jealousy and a warped inferiority complex, you murdered a fellow student's entire family—because you couldn't stand the thought of him surpassing you."
Izumi stood frozen beside him, completely stunned.
A Ninja Academy student… killed an entire family, just because of jealousy?
That's not just cruel. That's madness.
"This kid's just as twisted as Uchiha Itachi…" Tachibana Jirō muttered under his breath. "No wait—something tells me Itachi's still the crazier one, meow."
Naruto's sky-blue eyes had gone wide with shock.
He couldn't wrap his head around it.
He killed… because he was jealous?
Naruto got jealous too sometimes—of kids in the Academy who were stronger, smarter, faster than him. But not once had he thought about hurting someone.
At worst, he just found them cocky or annoying.
Now he could only stare at Utatane Ryūji like he wasn't human—like he was a monster in the shape of a boy.
"Jealousy… just because of jealousy…"
Hiruzen felt a dull throb behind his temples.
Why… why were so many of the village's children becoming so extreme?
He's just a kid at the Academy…
And not just any kid. He was from one of Konoha's main clans. The Utatane weren't some minor ninja family.
That meant this boy had started life far ahead of the average villager—he'd been born into privilege.
He probably never went without food. Never lacked clothes or comfort. His every need was met.
So where had it gone wrong?
Was it the Ninja Academy's educational approach?
Was it a failure of parenting?
Or… was it something rotten in Konoha itself?
Surely—it couldn't be the Hokage's fault… right?
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