"Completely unscathed!"
Not far away, Kakashi stared at Uchiha Keizumi as he emerged from the inferno, his eyes filled with shock.
"And he even managed to save seven of his neighbors at the same time… Oh, right—he also saved those two kids beforehand."
He was genuinely stunned. He had expected that an assassination attempt like this wouldn't take Keizumi down easily.
But still—he figured that, at the very least, Keizumi would be gravely injured.
Was this what someone gravely injured was supposed to look like?!
His clothes were barely even singed—just a little dirt on the hem, maybe!
"But… those vines—where did they come from? Was that Keizumi's doing?!"
A word suddenly flashed through Kakashi's mind, so shocking he almost startled himself.
—Wood Release Kekkei Genkai!!
The thought surfaced—and he immediately dismissed it.
No matter how he looked at it, it was impossible. An Uchiha shinobi using the First Hokage's Wood Release? That made no sense. The Uchiha had never intermarried with the Senju. There was no way Uchiha Keizumi could possess the First Hokage's bloodline.
Besides, Keizumi was already an exceedingly rare shinobi with two Kekkei Genkai.
How could he possibly have a third?
And yet…
Kakashi suddenly thought of Shimura Danzō, who had once experimented with Wood Release cells.
He found himself deep in thought.
"Three Kekkei Genkai…"
"Could that even be real?!"
...
"Keizumi-senpai!"
"Keizumi-sama!"
Uchiha Izumi and Tachibana Jirō—one human, one cat—had finally arrived.
The moment they saw that Keizumi was completely unharmed, they both let out a sigh of relief.
But when their eyes landed on the ruined houses behind him, their expressions turned grim.
It really was Keizumi-senpai's house that was attacked—the thought struck both Izumi and Tachibana at the same time.
"Sen—"
Izumi had barely spoken a single syllable when Keizumi's cold voice cut her off.
"Have all the scum on the list been executed?"
Izumi quickly replied, "Yes! Tachibana-senpai and I eliminated every last one of them—no survivors! And Tachibana-senpai also sent our ninja cats to notify the Yamanaka Clan to retrieve the corpses."
At that moment, Naruto and Sasuke also walked over.
"Keizumi-sama, were you…?" Tachibana asked cautiously.
Uchiha Keizumi replied calmly, "An assassination attempt. They planted at least a hundred explosive tags. Fortunately, they clustered all the tags together in one place to ensure my death. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been just a few houses destroyed—
the entire street would've been leveled."
Everyone: "!!"
Tachibana sucked in a sharp breath, then quickly asked, "Keizumi-sama, do you have any leads?"
"No. But someone will."
Keizumi's gaze suddenly shifted, locking midair with Kakashi's, whose eyes held a complicated expression from not far away.
Kakashi: "…"
With no choice, Kakashi stepped forward.
"I assume you wouldn't protect those who endanger innocent civilians, would you, Hatake Kakashi?"
Keizumi's tone was slow and heavy.
Kakashi had the feeling that if he tried to hide anything, he might just end up tortured for answers.
Of all the people in Konoha, the one he least wanted to make an enemy of—was Uchiha Keizumi.
And besides—
There was still the matter with Obito.
He owed Keizumi for that.
Though… someone like Keizumi probably didn't care for debts or favors to begin with.
Suppressing the turmoil in his eyes, Kakashi responded, "The Shimura Clan."
Keizumi followed up immediately: "Which way did they go?"
Kakashi answered, "West. Toward the Shimura Clan compound."
"That damned old mutt Danzō again!"
Tachibana spat the words without hesitation.
"He's already dead, and yet his clan's leftovers are still a pain in the tail."
While still cursing under his breath, Tachibana noticed that Uchiha Keizumi was already walking west, alone.
"Keizumi-sama, I—"
"Watch over those two brats. Check on the civilians—make sure none of them are injured."
Keizumi interrupted coolly without even turning around.
Tachibana, who had just been about to follow, could only stop in frustration.
"…Yes, Keizumi-sama."
Naruto blinked, stunned.
"What's Keizumi-sensei doing?"
Izumi took a deep breath and answered, "Keizumi-senpai…"
"...is carrying out [Absolute Justice]."
...
When Uchiha Fugaku arrived in haste with the police force shinobi, all he saw was Uchiha Izumi, Hatake Kakashi, and a few others.
But the moment his eyes landed on Uzumaki Naruto, his heart jolted. That vivid, flowing blood made his hair stand on end.
The Nine-Tails' jinchūriki…
He's injured!!!
Fugaku's immediate reaction was to carefully assess Naruto's mental state. Only after confirming that the jinchūriki hadn't lost control did he finally let out a slow breath. The heart that had been hanging in suspense finally settled.
Then he couldn't help but look at Sasuke—battered, bruised all over, and in a disheveled state. The sight made Fugaku furrow his brows deeply.
If Sasuke were Itachi, there's no way he would be this pitiful. They're blood brothers, yet the gap between them is this wide—
That was the first thought to flash across Fugaku's mind.
Upon seeing Sasuke in this condition, his first instinct wasn't even concern. Instead, he reflexively compared him to Uchiha Itachi.
And the several destroyed houses up ahead, along with the disheveled, panicked expressions of the surrounding Uchiha clansmen—
They ignited a nameless fury in Fugaku's chest.
Taking a deep breath, he turned to Izumi and demanded, "Izumi, where is Keizumi?!"
Uchiha Izumi pulled out a clean handkerchief, first wiping the blood off Naruto's face. Then she pressed the cloth against his wound while responding coldly, her pretty face expressionless, "Keizumi-senpai is currently enacting [Absolute Justice], Clan Head Fugaku. I suggest you don't interfere."
After a short pause, she added with certainty, "Keizumi-senpai will soon execute those villains who dared to challenge [Absolute Justice]. Evil shall never be allowed to run rampant under [Absolute Justice]."
With that, she no longer bothered with the clan head who, frankly, wasn't of much use.
After letting Naruto hold the handkerchief to his wound, she rummaged through her belongings and pulled out a pack of disinfectant wipes.
"Sasuke-kun, let me treat your scrapes," she said.
Sasuke froze for a moment. He first looked up at his stern father.
Seeing that his father was deep in thought, not even glancing his way, he pressed his lips together and silently walked over to Izumi.
The fact that his father cared less for him than an outsider like Uchiha Izumi…
That made Sasuke feel deeply wronged inside.
Fugaku, indeed, had no time to worry about his younger son. From Izumi's words, he had already gathered that Uchiha Keizumi had not been successfully assassinated. It seemed Uchiha Setsuna's schemes had been all for nothing.
Once again, Fugaku let out a quiet sigh of relief.
But… just who exactly was Keizumi going after in the name of "justice"? Was it Uchiha Setsuna? Or was it that "shinobi clan" Setsuna had mentioned?
Fugaku suddenly realized—he had forgotten to interrogate Setsuna about which shinobi clan he had meant!
Wait!
Fugaku turned to look at Kakashi. He recognized that shock of silver-white hair—Hatake Kakashi.
He said, "If Hokage-sama finds out that Uzumaki Naruto was injured, please explain to him on behalf of the Uchiha Clan—his injury has nothing to do with us."
Kakashi wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but it felt like Uchiha Fugaku's tone… might have had a hint of pleading in it?
Hmm…
Probably just my imagination.
Kakashi couldn't help but think to himself—
He's the head of the Uchiha Clan. Does he really have to lower himself like this, just to keep the Hokage from getting the wrong idea?
While that thought flashed across his mind, Kakashi maintained a calm expression and simply gave Fugaku a slight nod.
"I'll report the truth to Hokage-sama," he said.
Fugaku exhaled once more in relief.
At that moment, Fugaku's sharp eyes caught sight of two members of the police force suddenly turning and rushing off in a hurry.
His brows tightened.
But he didn't stop them.
…
"He's still alive… Hah!"
Uchiha Setsuna slowly closed his eyes. His face was calm, but the veins on his forehead pulsed wildly.
He had already revealed Uchiha Keizumi's most probable weakness to the Shimura Clan, who were all too eager to "blow up" alongside Uchiha Keizumi.
Yet, to think that this sorry remnant of the Shimura Clan—reduced to barely a handful—turned out to be even more useless than he had expected.
He had turned a blind eye and allowed them to plant explosive tags right in the heart of the Uchiha Clan's district.
He had made peace with the idea that, even if Keizumi didn't die, he would at least be gravely wounded.
If Keizumi had died tonight, that would have been ideal. If he was just seriously hurt, Setsuna already had people ready to finish the job.
But Keizumi hadn't died. And he wasn't even injured.
This…
This was a complete blind spot in Uchiha Setsuna's plan.
"Utter trash," Setsuna muttered, opening his eyes and grinding his words out between clenched teeth. "These so-called shinobi clans—just trash! Without us Uchiha, those pathetic worms wouldn't even be able to defend Konohagakure!"
"Hayata…"
The image of his grandson's face resurfaced in his mind—Uchiha Hayata, now reduced to nothing, his entire body vaporized in the searing lava.
And in contrast, Uchiha Keizumi, the one who had just survived a planned assassination without so much as a scratch.
Setsuna suddenly clutched at his chest.
His face flushed unnaturally, and his breath came short and fast.
By the time he finally calmed himself, his lips had turned pale.
"U! CHI! HA! KEI! ZU! MI!"
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