"Meow, this brat's got spirit!"
Tachibana Jirō commented, then turned to tease Izumi beside him: "Much easier than you were back then when it comes to accepting Keizumi-sama's Absolute Justice! I remember it clearly—you needed a few whole days to fully accept it."
Izumi's pale, delicate face flushed with embarrassment.
Tachibana Jirō rubbed his furry chin and muttered, "Come to think of it... maybe the younger the kid, the easier it is for them to accept Keizumi-sama's Absolute Justice? If that's true, then maybe we could…"
He cast a sneaky glance at Sarutobi Hiruzen a few meters away.
But the muttering stopped there—because the idea he was about to voice would likely send the Third Hokage straight into shock.
"Naruto..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen had no idea what the ninja cat was thinking. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out.
He could see it—he could see what Naruto was feeling now.
—The deep desire to be acknowledged by the people of the village.
—The rage at the evil he had witnessed today.
—The shame over even thinking about forgiveness.
—The guilt over all the trouble his past pranks had caused.
—The respect he felt toward Keizumi's Justice.
All these feelings had fused into a single outburst from Naruto.
An outburst that had completely entangled him in the web of Keizumi's righteous ideology.
At the very moment Naruto shouted his feelings—
If Sarutobi Hiruzen were to speak now and try to refute him...
If he tried to stop Naruto from walking down the very path he had just defined for himself...
He feared it would only deepen Naruto's resistance.
And it might even destabilize the already-volatile Nine-Tails chakra within Naruto, pushing it toward even more unpredictable extremes.
Sarutobi Hiruzen realized—
He had no choice but to remain silent.
Saying another word would be pointless.
The consequence of arriving just a few minutes late was already hard enough for Sarutobi Hiruzen to accept.
Was Keizumi's justice really that appealing?!
And yet Uchiha Keizumi's justice was anything but realistic. Any ordinary person could see that it was far too extreme—far too idealistic.
Why?
Why did it turn out like this?
Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't make sense of it.
Behind him, Uchiha Fugaku—whose presence had already faded into the background—couldn't help but show a trace of concern in his eyes.
In the end… the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki had still been swayed by Keizumi's extreme ideology of justice.
In this situation, would the Hokage begin to suspect the Uchiha clan again?
Hmm… probably not, right?
After all, back in the morgue, hadn't the Hokage already acknowledged Fugaku's actions?
Uchiha Keizumi, meanwhile, was watching Naruto, who remained bowed deeply before him.
An unsettling silence hung over the scene.
The only sound left was the faint gurgle of blood still seeping from the headless corpse.
"After you've finished cleaning the streets each day, come find me," Uchiha Keizumi said to Naruto.
"!!!"
Naruto's uneasy little face instantly lit up with joy. He quickly straightened up, then bowed again—this time even deeper than before.
"Uzumaki Naruto! Please take care of me!"
He shouted with excitement.
…
While the others stood in silence, watching this all unfold, they suddenly saw a group of Root shinobi burst into the Uchiha district once again—this time led by none other than Utatane Koharu, who had supposedly already left.
The way they barged in without even pretending to care about the Uchiha's position or opinion immediately provoked angry glares from the surrounding Uchiha shinobi.
Some of the more impulsive among them had already reached for the hilts of their swords.
Fugaku's heart clenched. He stepped forward just in time, positioning himself between his clansmen and the intruders. Then he addressed Koharu directly: "Koharu-sama, what brings you back to the Uchiha district again?"
"I have business," she replied coldly, and immediately turned to Sarutobi Hiruzen: "Hiruzen, I heard your Anbu brought a child from the Utatane clan here to the Uchiha compound. What exactly is going on? Where is he now?"
Yes—
After learning that a member of her clan had been taken by the Anbu, Koharu had been unable to shake a growing sense of unease.
Besides, she also wanted to take the opportunity to check on Naruto—to see what exactly Uchiha Keizumi was up to.
Sarutobi Hiruzen: "…"
His silence—coming from an old friend—only made Koharu's sense of dread grow stronger. She no longer had the patience to check the condition of the compound first. Just as she was about to press further, her eyes happened to fall on a patch of crimson on the ground not far ahead—
A headless corpse was lying there.
Koharu's heart gave a jolt.
Her gaze was instantly drawn to Uchiha Keizumi, whose blade had yet to be sheathed. The blood still clinging to it was strikingly conspicuous.
This man had killed someone?!
That headless corpse must be his doing!
Just as expected...
There really weren't many normal people in the Uchiha clan.
Even Uchiha Keizumi—who preached Absolute Justice with every breath—was clearly just another one of those extreme lunatics who could kill in front of a crowd without blinking.
Wait!
Hold on!
Utatane Koharu suddenly noticed something strange about the headless corpse—its build wasn't quite right. It didn't look like an adult.
Her pupils trembled, and a horrifying thought flashed through her mind.
"Hiruzen… this body…"
"Koharu, your clansman made a mistake," Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed, speaking as gently as he could.
"This child—Utatane Ryūji—committed a mistake no one his age should have. His jealousy twisted his heart to the point where he brought about an irreversible tragedy."
He couldn't say, in front of Naruto, that Keizumi had done anything wrong.
Because Naruto had already accepted Keizumi's Justice.
If he now claimed that Keizumi killing Utatane Ryūji—enacting justice for the victims—was an excessive act… that would be no different from denying Naruto's own choice.
And given how Naruto had nearly lost control today…
Sarutobi Hiruzen knew he had to handle this carefully—
He had to go along with Naruto.
Under no circumstances could he provoke the child any further.
At least…
Not today.
Utatane Koharu: "!!!"
…
Meanwhile.
Outside the village of Konoha.
Sarutobi Asuma had no idea that Uchiha Keizumi had once again stirred up a storm within the village.
After traveling tirelessly for a full day and night—without so much as a break—he finally arrived in the capital city of the Land of Fire, over 1 000 kilometers from Konoha
As one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, Asuma held a prominent position even among that elite group.
Naturally, it wasn't difficult for him to obtain an audience with the daimyō of the Land of Fire.
"Asuma, I've already heard about what happened to your brother. I'm truly sorry for your loss."
The daimyō, draped in luxurious robes, sighed and said to Asuma, "If you're not in a good state of mind, I can grant you half a month of leave. There really was no need for you to rush back so soon."
"Oh, by the way—did you happen to run into Kyōsuke on the road? That boy was unusually eager this time, volunteering to take on the 'Daimyō's envoy' mission himself. I even asked Nauma to watch over him. I just hope he doesn't stir up any trouble along the way…"
"You know how it is. That boy's personality is so unruly. From the time he was a child, he's never given me a single day of peace."
Asuma fell silent.
From the daimyō of the Land of Fire's rambling chatter, it was clear that the events in Konoha had yet to reach him.
Logically speaking… the news shouldn't have taken this long to arrive.
After all, the shinobi world now had long-range communication equipment.
The fact that the daimyō hadn't received any information could only mean one thing—that the old man had deliberately chosen not to report it immediately. Most likely, he was thinking about things like political balance… reasons that Asuma found utterly repugnant.
It was precisely because he couldn't stand that kind of political atmosphere in Konoha that Asuma rarely stayed in the village at all.
Sorry, old man… I understand why you did it, but I don't agree that it was the right thing to do. Uchiha Keizumi has already become a threat to Konoha… someone like that, someone who endangers the village, should never have been allowed to remain there.
After that thought flashed through his mind, Asuma looked up.
He took a deep breath and cut in, his voice heavy: "Daimyō-sama… my condolences."
The daimyō, who had still been speaking, was suddenly taken aback.
A sharp chill shot through his heart. Asuma's heavy, somber expression made him realize that something was terribly wrong.
"Asuma… what do you mean by 'condolences'?"
The calm on the daimyō's face shattered. He immediately asked, "Did something happen to Kyōsuke?!"
"Daimyō-sama," Asuma said flatly, "Kyōsuke -sama… died in Konoha."
"He didn't die of illness. It wasn't an accident, either. He was killed—by a Konoha shinobi named Uchiha Keizumi."
"And that's not all."
"Nauma is dead too. Out of more than a dozen retainers, only one survived. But that man was so traumatized that he lost his mind. He couldn't even speak clearly—so it's likely he wasn't able to report back to you in time."
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