While Hiruzen waited anxiously for the ANBU squads to return, he was surprised to find that the first back was Jiraiya.
Jiraiya went straight to Hiruzen, face grave, and recounted everything that had happened that night in full detail.
By the end, even Hiruzen was left momentarily stunned.
"A disciple of Minato, Uchiha Obito, masquerading as Uchiha Madara? Keizumi possessing the Wood Release kekkei genkai? And those two Akatsuki members with Uchiha Obito also wielded Wood Release?"
Hiruzen was utterly stunned. The flood of information Jiraiya had brought back was almost too much to process.
So Minato's disciple had not died after all. He was still alive—and not only alive, but active in the shinobi world.
What's more…
He had even joined Akatsuki, that organization that stirred up conflicts everywhere.
But why would he appear outside Konoha? Could it be that he was plotting something against the village? And as for Keizumi—had he foreseen such a scheme in advance, and that was why he left the village in the middle of the night to intercept him?!
And another thing!
Why did so many people have the Wood Release kekkei genkai? Especially Keizumi—how could he possibly wield Wood Release?
He was of the Uchiha clan! There wasn't a trace of Senju blood in him. His late father and mother had both been pure-blooded Uchiha!
"Old man, I suspect Orochimaru has spread the First Hokage's Wood Release cells outside the village. He's done Wood Release research before—he must still have cell samples."
Jiraiya's heavy tone cut through Hiruzen's thoughts, dropping the blame squarely onto Orochimaru.
Hiruzen's brows furrowed tightly. "And what would Orochimaru's motive be in doing that?"
Jiraiya shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe he's using the Wood Release cells as a bargaining chip to join Akatsuki."
Hiruzen's expression grew grim.
"O-ro-chi-ma-ru!"
Defiling the body of a forebear, and leaking Wood Release cells—this had already pushed Hiruzen past his limit of tolerance.
"Jiraiya." Hiruzen's voice turned icy. "I know you've always wanted to capture Orochimaru and bring him back to the village. But sometimes… it doesn't have to be alive."
A chill ran through Jiraiya's heart.
The old man…
He was truly enraged.
…
"At last, those two brats are home safe." Mitarashi Anko slung an arm around Izumi's slender neck, draping her forearm across the girl's opposite shoulder. With a laugh, she said, "Today's worn me out. I'm treating you to a feast at the Akimichi clan's barbecue shop!"
"Let's call it a celebration too—for tonight in Konoha being so peaceful. After all, we combed the streets and didn't run into any dangerous criminals, just a few petty thieves at most. That's definitely worth celebrating for Justice, don't you think?"
Izumi thought for a moment, then nodded. "But I'll need to send a ninja cat home first, to tell my mother not to prepare dinner for me tonight."
Just as she summoned a ninja cat, she suddenly felt the atmosphere shift drastically.
Anko's face still showed nothing unusual.
But her movements carried a subtle stiffness—something hard to notice unless one paid close attention. If not for the observational training she had undergone under Keizumi-senpai recently, Izumi might not have caught such a detail.
Something's wrong!
Just as her chest tightened with alarm, Izumi suddenly saw Anko's eyes change.
From them she read shock, fury, and hatred.
"Orochimaru!!!"
The name burst from Anko's clenched teeth, and Izumi realized at once—she had fallen under a genjutsu.
Before Izumi could even react, Anko had slammed her to the ground. The instant Izumi flipped back to her feet, Anko had already drawn a kunai and drove it down hard.
[Clang—!]
A crisp metallic clash rang out as Izumi drew her ninjatō at the last moment, blocking Anko's kunai.
"Anko! Don't let yourself be deceived by genjutsu!"
Izumi snapped open her three-tomoe Sharingan.
Though she wasn't skilled in casting genjutsu with the Sharingan, she still possessed a three-tomoe. The instant her eyes locked onto Anko's rage- and hatred-filled gaze, Anko's movements suddenly faltered.
Two different genjutsu clashed within Anko's body. Though Izumi's fell on the weaker side, it was enough to offset the other technique, leaving Anko briefly dazed.
Izumi wasted no time, striking Anko hard across the neck with the back of her blade.
Anko let out a muffled groan—
—and collapsed unconscious.
But Izumi did not relax. She knew that what had ensnared Anko was Sharingan genjutsu! Her gaze darted rapidly in all directions, scanning for any trace of the enemy, until her eyes fell upon a utility pole not far away. There she froze.
Perched atop the pole was a figure in an ANBU mask, perfectly overlapped with the round moon hanging behind him. And within that mask glowed a pair of scarlet Sharingan, blazing vividly under the moonlight.
Even at such an angle, with the view obscured, Izumi's face tightened as she forced out a name.
"Uchiha Itachi!!!"
And at that very instant of absolute focus, she saw it—white words floating above Itachi's head, more lines emerging in bold, stark clarity.
[Collaborating with Uchiha Obito, Black Zetsu, and Tobi, intending within one month to assassinate Uchiha Keizumi. Collaborating with Uchiha Obito, intending within two months to annihilate the Uchiha clan.]
Izumi: "!!!"
Her chest clenched, her grip tightening on the hilt of her ninjatō. 'This… this is Uchiha Itachi's future evil! And it's within just two months! He truly made this choice… he's really set foot on this path of no return!'
Cold sweat seeped into her palms, but her pale face hardened with sudden resolve.
She glanced once at the unconscious Anko, then stepped forward to stand before her, cutting off the line between Anko and Uchiha Itachi, adopting a stance of full vigilance.
"Izumi, your sacrifice is worthwhile."
Itachi's voice drifted faintly into her ears.
"The future peace of Konoha will be built upon the tombstones of you and Uchiha Keizumi's Absolute Justice. When that time comes, Sasuke will understand that Absolute Justice cannot make him stronger—it will only push him into the abyss of death."
As the words fell, Itachi's scarlet Sharingan burst forth with murderous intent.
Once a close friend, in his eyes she was now nothing more than a lamb awaiting slaughter.
He had already cast aside the last traces of reluctance born from friendship.
In an instant—
Uchiha Itachi's body dissolved into a flurry of crows.
Within Izumi's sight, countless crows swooped down upon her. She knew clearly it was genjutsu. Among those dozens of crows, only one was the true Itachi.
But her eyes could see the "Future Evil" hanging above his head!
Clenching her teeth, Izumi raised her blade in haste.
[Clang—!]
She staggered back half a step, her forearm straining as she met Uchiha Itachi's slightly astonished gaze.
"Izumi, you've improved again."
'This isn't my own achievement. It's thanks to the Mangekyō dōjutsu Keizumi-senpai implanted within me.'
Muttering inwardly, Izumi kept her hands moving, her expression grave as she clashed fiercely with Uchiha Itachi in a flurry of ninjatō strikes. In just seconds, they had exchanged more than a dozen blows, sparks bursting out with each collision.
"It's useless. You're not my match."
Itachi locked her blade aside and suddenly lashed out, his foot driving upward toward Izumi's chin.
His speed was so great that although Izumi's three-tomoe Sharingan caught the trajectory, her body had no time to react.
Damn!
If that kick landed on her chin…
She would be knocked unconscious for sure!
[Whoosh—!]
Suddenly—
A plain black kunai whistled through the air from the side. Itachi caught the motion with the corner of his three-tomoe Sharingan, his kick instantly halting as he twisted his body back and withdrew his leg.
[Rip!]
The kunai grazed past his calf, tearing open his trouser leg before thudding heavily into a nearby tree.
"Uchiha Itachi."
Beneath the dim moonlight, a voice colder than ice drifted on the wind, laced with the faint tang of sulfur. It made Itachi's chest tighten, and his eyes snapped toward the source.
"You have already crossed the bottom line of Absolute Justice."
"Tonight, Absolute Justice will deliver its final judgment upon you."
"The verdict is…"
"Execution without mercy!"
...
For some reason, that evening Uchiha Fugaku felt restless.
He sat at the dinner table, watching his useless younger son Sasuke wolfing down his food, watching his wife Mikoto eating slowly and gracefully, and finally turning his gaze toward the empty seat beside Sasuke.
Uchiha Mikoto keenly noticed her husband's strange expression.
She followed Fugaku's gaze to that empty chair.
After a moment of silence, Mikoto took a light sip of cold water and said to Fugaku: "You should know—when Itachi learned the prophecy of the future from Keizumi, and when he declared publicly that one day he would act according to that prophecy… from that moment on, it became nearly impossible for him to return openly to the Uchiha compound. And even harder for him to sit at this table, sharing a meal with his family."
"This was a choice he made for himself. And afterward, you even said that no matter what misguided path Itachi chose, you would still feel proud of his decision. Because the breadth of spirit he showed was something you admired."
"And in this situation, you've started to miss him again. Fugaku… in the shinobi world, no one can have it both ways."
"Even Keizumi—for the sake of his Absolute Justice—had to turn the blade of justice in his hand against his only blood relative, cutting off every last tie of kinship."
Fugaku drew in a deep breath and shifted his gaze away from the empty chair, looking instead at his wife.
"Whenever Itachi is mentioned… you always bring up Keizumi."
With a stern face, Fugaku said coldly: "If outsiders didn't know better, they might think you had an especially close relationship with him. Closer even than with your eldest son. Closer even than with your own husband."
Mikoto's brow furrowed slightly.
Before she could speak, Fugaku hurried to explain: "I only have a bad feeling. I keep thinking something is going to happen tonight. Most likely it has to do with Itachi. And most likely, it concerns the Uchiha clan."
Mikoto froze.
At the side, Sasuke's pace slowed as he chewed, his ears pricked up to listen.
"Didn't Uchiha Setsuna already get killed by Keizumi?"
Mikoto said: "The radicals of the Uchiha clan, after that blow, have been left utterly broken. These past few days they haven't stirred up trouble, haven't taken any extreme actions, haven't even spoken any extreme words."
"In such a situation, Itachi should have no reason to strike at the clan. Without the radicals fanning emotions, the Uchiha pose no threat to Konoha."
She went on: "Surely Itachi wouldn't choose that path while the clan poses no immediate threat to Konoha, would he?"
To Mikoto, her eldest son had become so extreme she barely recognized him—but not so extreme as to be outright pathological.
After all, she still viewed Itachi through the faint filter of a mother.
He was her own flesh and blood. Even if the bones were broken, the tendons still bound them together.
"I don't know either." Fugaku let out a heavy breath. "The Hokage also knows of Keizumi's prophecy. I don't think the Hokage would want to see the Uchiha clan wiped out. Otherwise, he wouldn't have sought to make use of us earlier. In his eyes, the Uchiha clan is still a blade he can wield."
"So, he should try to persuade Itachi. Itachi might not listen to his father or mother, but he would obey the Hokage's orders. That should be enough to restrain him."
Even as he spoke, Fugaku's voice carried a hint of uncertainty.
A normal person… might indeed react just as he described.
But…
Was Uchiha Itachi a normal person?
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