Inside Konohagakure Prison.
Hyūga Hiashi gazed at the droplets of water condensing on the ceiling of the cell due to leakage, watching as they continuously dripped down and formed a small puddle on the damp floor.
The puddle could barely reflect his weary face.
Although he had been imprisoned in Konohagakure Prison for less than a month, a vague sense of confusion was already brewing in Hiashi's heart.
Perhaps it was because he had nothing to do here every day, causing his mind to dwell endlessly on thoughts.
Hyūga Hiashi began to wonder—had the actions of the Hyūga main family all these years truly been wrong?
He lowered his head to look at the puddle on the ground. The reflection of his face within appeared somewhat blurred and distorted, and for a moment, he hallucinated the visage of Hyūga Hizashi, which made Hiashi's pupils contract slightly.
Back then.
Had there really been no pressure placed upon Hyūga Hizashi within the clan?
Had he, Hyūga Hiashi, truly not been cowardly and afraid of death?
Was it really necessary for the Hyūga clan to yield to the pressure exerted by Kumogakure? Clearly, even the Hokage at that time had already hinted to the Hyūga clan that Konoha would take a hardline stance against Kumogakure in this matter.
Yet in the end, the Hyūga clan still knelt, and Hizashi still died in his stead.
And what had he done before that?
—Nothing!
—Indifference to everything!
"Hah…" Hyūga Hiashi exhaled a heavy breath, his expression complex.
It seemed that he had come to understand many things.
All that indifference…
It stemmed from his own weakness, from his fear of death.
If his own life could have truly averted that looming conflict between Konoha and Kumogakure back then—had he acted decisively and simply chosen to take his own life—then none of those ensuing events would have happened. Hizashi would not have died in his place, and the conflict would have been resolved.
"So that's it…"
"So this is the foundation of my character—this is my true inner self," Hyūga Hiashi murmured blankly to himself.
After truly seeing himself clearly, the intense guilt and shame made his face burn.
He fell silent—into a deep silence.
…
In another cell not far from where Hyūga Hiashi was imprisoned.
Utatane Koharu had already learned from a Root ninja what had been happening in the village.
She remained silent for a long time before finally sighing helplessly, "Sigh… In the end, Hiruzen has paid a painful price for his indecisiveness and excessive indulgence."
She had long since warned Sarutobi Hiruzen not to continue indulging Uchiha Keizumi.
Even if it meant paying an extremely heavy price—even if it risked mutual destruction—Uchiha Keizumi, that calamity, had to be eliminated.
Otherwise, his Absolute Justice would inevitably turn against Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Hokage himself.
After all, those two could never stand on the same side.
The fact that neither had struck first before had merely been because their conflict had not yet escalated to its deepest level.
Now that it had reached that point, trying to restrain Uchiha Keizumi's Absolute Justice was already too late!
Far too late!
Although Utatane Koharu felt quite dissatisfied with some of Sarutobi Hiruzen's recent actions, after all their years of shared understanding, she could not help but feel a sense of sorrow and empathy—like a rabbit mourning the death of a fellow rabbit.
"Sarutobi Hiruzen has probably truly realized by now that Uchiha Keizumi has already become a threat to everything within the village. That person has even extended his reach to the very foundations upon which Konoha was built."
Utatane Koharu gritted her teeth. "Once everything that we Konoha high-ranking officials have built up over so many years is destroyed by him, this Konohagakure will no longer bear the name of Senju, nor of Sarutobi. This Konohagakure will become nothing more than the private garden of the entire Uchiha clan!"
"The Uchiha—those mentally unstable shinobi with extreme personalities—will become the true overlords of the village. They'll ride atop everyone's heads, wielding the whip of so-called justice to enslave all!"
Utatane Koharu continued to imagine Absolute Justice in the worst possible light.
That also made her realize that the situation within the village had already reached a critical point—it could no longer go on like this.
Something had to be done.
Even if it meant risking everything, even if it meant paying with her life—as long as the goal could be achieved, as long as Konoha could be preserved, as long as that wicked Uchiha brat could be stopped—would it not all be worth it?
"Someone, come!"
Although she was inside Konohagakure Prison, Root had already secretly planted many operatives within it.
The moment Utatane Koharu uttered those two words, three Root shinobi instantly appeared outside her cell.
"Koharu-sama." ×3
With her aged face clouded in gloom, Utatane Koharu said slowly, "Open the cell door and release me."
The three Root shinobi were momentarily stunned.
"Now!"
At Koharu's sharp command, they hesitated no further—immediately opening the cell door and letting her out.
"Pass down the order—have all Root shinobi assemble at Root Headquarters immediately!"
Utatane Koharu said coldly.
"Yes, Koharu-sama!"
After watching the three Root shinobi swiftly depart, Utatane Koharu walked along the corridor of Konohagakure Prison, attempting to head outside. Yet just then, she stopped and turned her head toward another cell.
Through the iron bars, she could clearly see the person sitting inside—it was a familiar face.
"Hiashi…"
Turning fully to face the imprisoned Hyūga Hiashi, Utatane Koharu spoke.
"Do you have any interest in standing on my side? Your Hyūga Main Family has been tormented enough by Uchiha Keizumi, hasn't it? Don't you feel any anger within you?"
"As far as I know, the Hyūga Branch Family is already preparing to select a new main family to replace yours. When that time comes, you members of the Hyūga Main Family will be outcasts on both sides."
Utatane Koharu said faintly.
"Hiashi, some of your Hyūga Main Family members only need to spend a few months in Konohagakure Prison before they can get out, don't they? Do you want them to walk free only to find themselves reduced to the lowest rank within the Hyūga Clan, despised and discriminated against?"
"Do you want them to be branded with the Caged Bird Curse Mark by the Branch Family and bear that curse of the Hyūga Clan as well?"
"Hiashi, I can release you, and I can also release all members of your Hyūga Main Family. As long as you support me, I will naturally see to it that your Hyūga Main Family is given justice."
When Utatane Koharu's throat grew dry from speaking so much, she finally saw Hyūga Hiashi, who had been silently bowing his head, slowly lift it.
Upon seeing his utterly haggard face, Utatane Koharu was nearly startled out of her wits.
Hyūga Hiashi now looked as though he had aged more than ten years.
"So… in Koharu-sama's eyes, the Caged Bird of the Hyūga Clan is also a curse, huh… I see. Hah, so that's how it is. Now I understand—finally, I understand."
Utatane Koharu heard Hyūga Hiashi utter those hoarse words.
Utatane Koharu: "???"
Wait.
What exactly do you understand?
Utatane Koharu realized that Hyūga Hiashi now seemed difficult to communicate with. He showed no intention whatsoever of agreeing to stand on her side.
—This guy has probably been driven insane by Uchiha Keizumi! If she herself had been locked up for that long, she might have ended up as mentally unstable as Hyūga Hiashi too!
After giving Hiashi a long, deep look, Utatane Koharu said nothing more.
She turned around and left directly.
…
"It seems the Hokage's Anbu aren't much after all. After Keizumi-sama put a bit of pressure on the Hokage, he didn't even dare let out a fart and just let us take away the criminal Anbu ninjas."
"Heh, next, we'll have to interrogate those Anbu ninjas. Of course, we'll need the Yamanaka Clan's ninjas to come check their memories first."
Inside the Police Force, one of the Police Force ninjas crossed his arms, his face brimming with excitement and exhilaration.
How long had it been?
How long had it been since the Uchiha Clan could hold their heads high like this?
In the past, when facing the Hokage of Konoha, the Uchiha Clan had been forced to retreat step by step—so far that they had already been pushed to the very edges of the village.
If they retreated any further…
They might have been expelled from Konoha entirely!
But now—
The Uchiha Clan had finally struck back. They had rendered the Hokage speechless and forced him to back down. They had even made those "high and mighty" Anbu ninjas understand that the Uchiha Clan, who now upheld Absolute Justice, were not to be trifled with!
At the side, a Police Force ninja with a senbon in his mouth reminded sternly, "Don't get too carried away. Don't take out any personal grudges on those Anbu ninjas. Everything must follow official procedures—otherwise, it becomes committing evil in the name of justice. That kind of act is far worse than pure evil itself."
Hearing his reminder, the overly excited Police Force ninja took a deep breath and calmed down a little.
"Understood."
Suppressing the thrill in his chest, he nodded.
Clearly, he knew very well why the Uchiha Clan could finally hold their heads high again.
[Absolute Justice] was the Uchiha Clan's foundation.
Only by upholding [Justice] and believing in it one hundred percent—without the slightest wavering—could the Uchiha Clan continue to stand on the moral high ground.
"Ah… finally, I've arrived."
Just then, an out-of-place voice rang out, and a man stepped into the Police Force headquarters.
The ninjas in the main hall immediately turned their wary gazes toward him.
His uncovered face and the conspicuous large sword he carried made the Police Force ninjas instantly recognize who he was.
"The Seven Ninja Swordsmen…"
"Biwa Jūzō?!"
Feeling the weight of countless Sharingan eyes upon him, Biwa Jūzō—who had entered alone into the very heart of the Uchiha Clan—could not help feeling a slight twinge of nervousness within.
However, Biwa Jūzō forcibly maintained his composure, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly as he said calmly, "No need to be so on guard. I'm not here to cause trouble—otherwise, I wouldn't have walked in so openly."
"Heh… I'm quite familiar with Uchiha Keizumi. I came here specifically to find him. So, may I ask where he is?"