Chapter 167: My lava
For some reason, Fugaku felt uneasy tonight.
He sat at the dinner table, watching his incorrigible second son, Sasuke, who was wolfing down his food. He looked at his wife, Mikoto, who was eating her dinner in a leisurely manner. Finally, his gaze settled on the empty seat beside Sasuke.
Mikoto, ever perceptive, noticed her husband's strange expression.
She followed his gaze to the vacant chair.
Mikoto was silent for a moment. After taking a sip of cool water, she spoke to Fugaku. "You must know that when Itachi learned of the prophecy from Ikeizumi and publicly declared that one day he would do as the prophecy foretold, it became very difficult for him to return openly to the Uchiha compound. And even harder for him to sit at this table and have dinner with his family."
"This was a choice he made for himself, and afterward you said that no matter what misguided path he chose, you would be proud of it. Because the kind of resolve Itachi displayed was something you admired."
"And under these circumstances, you're starting to miss him again. Fugaku… in the ninja world, no one can have it both ways."
"Even Ikeizumi, for the sake of her Absolute Justice, had to turn her blade of justice against her only blood relative and sever all ties of kinship."
Fugaku took a deep breath. He moved his gaze from the empty chair and looked at his wife.
"Every time you mention Itachi… you always bring up Ikeizumi."
Fugaku's face was stern. "If an outsider didn't know better, they'd think your relationship with him was very good. Even better than your relationship with your eldest son, or even with your husband."
Mikoto frowned slightly.
Before she could say anything, Fugaku offered an explanation. "I just have a bad feeling. I feel like something is going to happen tonight, and it's likely related to Itachi, and likely related to the Uchiha clan."
Mikoto was startled.
Beside them, Sasuke's eating slowed down, his ears perked up as he listened in.
"Wasn't Uchiha Setsuna already killed by Ikeizumi?" Mikoto said. "The radical faction of the Uchiha clan has been in decline since that blow. They haven't caused any trouble these past few days, nor have they made any radical moves or extreme remarks."
"In that case, Itachi should have no reason to attack the Uchiha clan. Because without the radicals to stir up trouble, the Uchiha clan poses no threat to the Leaf."
She continued, "He can't possibly be making that choice when the Uchiha clan isn't threatening the Leaf right now, can he?"
Mikoto thought that while her eldest son had become so extreme she barely recognized him, he surely wasn't pathologically so.
She still had a faint bias for Itachi. After all, he was her own flesh and blood. You could break the bones, but the sinews would still be connected.
"I don't know either," Fugaku exhaled heavily. "Lord Hokage also knows about Ikeizumi's prophecy. I don't think he would want to see the entire Uchiha clan wiped out. Otherwise, he wouldn't have tried to use the Uchiha clan before. The Uchiha clan is still a usable tool in his eyes."
"So, he should try to advise Itachi. Although Itachi doesn't listen to his father or mother, he should listen to the Hokage's orders and restrain himself accordingly."
As he said these words, Fugaku's voice lacked confidence.
A normal person might act as he described.
But...
Was Uchiha Itachi a normal person?
"Uchiha Itachi, your twisted, pathological, and hopeless ideology is beyond the scope of any normal person in the ninja world. Not even the most heinous villains have a mind as warped as yours."
"While those villains are unforgivable, at least their minds are normal. But your mind shows no signs of normalcy. I have given you countless chances, and I have tolerated you countless times."
"But each time, you disregard the opportunities and the patience that justice has given you. You are so far gone that you've never once considered that your beliefs are wrong."
Uchiha Ikeizumi walked step by step toward Uchiha Itachi.
As his cold, indifferent words fell, the ambient temperature visibly rose. It was so hot that some of the sights in Uchiha Itachi's vision became distorted.
A faint smell of sulfur permeated the air, and the tender green buds on some of the surrounding trees visibly turned yellow. The edges of some dead leaves on the ground also showed faint sparks, as if spontaneously combusting.
The high temperature made Uchiha Itachi's face feel dry. His lungs burned with every breath.
"It seems that in your eyes, Absolute Justice is a threat to the Leaf, and you can't wait to wipe Absolute Justice out completely." Uchiha Ikeizumi stopped, only ten meters away from Uchiha Itachi. They stared at each other from a distance.
"Because that's the truth," Uchiha Itachi took a deep breath of the hot, sulfur-scented air. He felt the discomfort in his lungs. The confident expression he had when facing Ikeizumi had now turned into one of solemn caution.
He subtly shifted back half a step to create a little more distance from Ikeizumi and prevent a sudden sneak attack. Then he stared at Uchiha Ikeizumi and said, "Uchiha Ikeizumi, you don't understand how much damage you've done to the Leaf. As you swing your blade and kill countless ninja, the Leaf's strength is being eroded by your slaughter."
"Today's Leaf is not even a third of what it was at its peak, and this is all thanks to your Absolute Justice. Can you honestly say that the Leaf's decline has nothing to do with your Absolute Justice?"
"Uchiha Itachi! The ninja killed by Ikeizumi-senpai were just parasites inside the Leaf!" Izumi could no longer hold back.
Clutching her ninja blade, she glared at Uchiha Itachi. "Those parasites were constantly hollowing out the Leaf's foundation! Danzo Shimura! For the sake of his research, he preyed on the Leaf's bloodline-wielding ninja and the Leaf's war orphans. How many Leaf ninja and civilians did he harm? Did you see that?!"
"Sarutobi Shinnosuke! As the Third Hokage's eldest son, he maintained a secret research base, and without the Hokage's knowledge, he conducted many inhumane human experiments. He claimed it was for the good of the Leaf, but it was just an excuse for his evil! People like him will only drag the Leaf into the abyss!"
"Sarutobi Asuma! He colluded with outsiders and tried to assassinate a ninja from his own village. As the Hokage's second son, he sided with the Land of Fire's daimyo. A person like that claims to love the Leaf, but in reality, he's the one who loves the village the least!"
"And besides them, there are so many other parasites! But in your mouth, these wicked Leaf parasites have become victims of 'Absolute Justice'!"
"In your eyes, Absolute Justice has become the evil of the Leaf!"
"I have never seen anyone so ridiculous. Today, Uchiha Itachi, you have truly opened my eyes! Ikeizumi-senpai was right, your ideology and even your mind are seriously flawed!"
In Izumi's eyes, everything Ikeizumi-senpai did was to make the Leaf and the ninja world a better place. But Uchiha Itachi had been constantly misinterpreting her senpai's Absolute Justice.
Uchiha Itachi glanced at her. "Izumi, you've been brainwashed by his extreme justice. What the Leaf needs is not his Absolute Justice, what the Leaf needs is the true Will of Fire."
With that, Uchiha Itachi deliberately shifted his gaze away from Uchiha Ikzumi's eyes, so as not to be affected by the other's strange Sharingan jutsu.
Then he spoke to Uchiha Ikeizumi. "Since you want to kill me, there's no need for me to…"
Before he could finish his sentence, Uchiha Itachi's pupils constricted.
His Sharingan clearly captured Uchiha Ikeizumi's movement.
The ten-meter distance was closed in an instant. Uchiha Itachi watched as the other ninja instantly drew the blade from his waist. The sharp ninja blade came chopping down on his head. If he didn't dodge, he would be split in half from top to bottom!
Uchiha Itachi quickly leaned back. The blade's tip sliced past his ANBU mask, which instantly split in two.
This revealed his young, yet solemn face.
Having dodged the blow, Uchiha Itachi flicked his hand and shot out a dozen shuriken.
He quickly retreated backward while sheathing his ninja blade, clapping his hands together to form six hand signs in one second.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique — Crimson Claw!"
The dozen shuriken he had shot at Uchiha Ikeizumi were engulfed in flames, shining like a dozen brilliant, fiery meteors.
Puff puff puff puff puff—
The fiery shuriken flew directly into Uchiha Ikeizumi's body and came out from behind him. What was astonishing was that these shuriken stopped their backward momentum less than half a meter away and turned into puddles of molten iron, which fell to the ground.
At this moment, Uchiha Itachi had just retreated to the railing by the Leaf River. He wasn't surprised by Uchiha Ikeizumi's elementalization ability, which made him impervious to Fire Style and shuriken.
"Water Style: Water Fang Bullet!"
Suddenly, several streams of water, thicker than a barrel, flew out of the river behind him and rushed toward Uchiha Ikeizumi from several different directions.
Uchiha Itachi was not only proficient in Fire Style, but also in Water Style, though not as skilled as he was with the former.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" A sudden voice rang out from behind Uchiha Ikeizumi. A shadow clone of Uchiha Itachi had appeared behind him at some point.
Immediately! A ferocious giant dragon made of water rushed toward Uchiha Ikeizumi.
"I've made many pre-battle plans for fighting you."
Uchiha Itachi's face was as calm as water. He spoke indifferently, "Lava cools rapidly when it comes into contact with water, solidifying into volcanic rock like obsidian or basalt. Plus, I've seen a few of your battles before. When someone uses Water Style on you, you always dodge or block it, which means that Water Style is indeed one of your weaknesses!"
BOOM!!!
The streams of water and the Water Dragon Jutsu all hit the spot where Uchiha Ikeizumi was standing. At that moment, Uchiha Itachi heard the sharp sizzling sound of lava.
It was a direct hit!
No… Uchiha Itachi's face showed worry instead of joy, because he felt that Uchiha Ikeizumi couldn't be defeated so easily.
If the other party knew that Water Style was his weakness, he must have a countermeasure for it.
In the next instant.
Uchiha Itachi had a bad feeling, and his premonition came true in the blink of an eye. He suddenly saw a cloud of white steam explode in front of him. The scalding steam rushed toward him like a shockwave from an explosion. Uchiha Itachi's face was instantly scalded.
He hurriedly retreated further, until he landed on the surface of the Leaf River. He immediately submerged himself in the river to avoid being engulfed by the scalding white steam.
When he emerged from the water, he looked up in a state of distress.
He saw Uchiha Ikeizumi, his body flowing with lava, standing on the riverbank and looking down at him. "I told you to read more. Lava does cool down quickly when it comes into contact with a stream of water. However, it also causes a violent explosive reaction. The water is instantly vaporized, and the volume of the vapor expands rapidly to nearly two thousand times its original size. This creates a steam explosion that can cook a person."
Uchiha Itachi heard the sarcasm in the other's voice and saw the lava on the other's right arm rapidly expanding and surging.
"Great Eruption!"
As Uchiha Itachi's pupils constricted into needles, a gigantic lava fist plunged down and smashed toward his location!
Uchiha Itachi clapped his hands together.
"Crow Clone Jutsu!"
His body instantly turned into a flock of crows that scattered in all directions, while the gigantic lava fist had already slammed into the Leaf River.
RUMBLE!!!
The deafening sound shook the entire Leaf Village. The lava fist had blasted a monstrous splash of water several tens of meters high out of the Leaf River, revealing the riverbed at the very bottom.
This single punch…
Had completely cut the Leaf River in two and stopped its flow for several seconds!
On the other side, Sarutobi Hiruzen was walking back to the Sarutobi clan compound when he heard a commotion in the distance. He initially thought something had happened outside the village, but when he looked closer, he realized it was inside the Leaf Village!
"What's going on?!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen's heart sank. Was tonight destined for him to not have a moment of rest?
"Lord Hokage."
At that moment, an ANBU guard protecting the Hokage jumped down from the roof of a nearby building. The ANBU guard's voice was solemn as he reported, "It's most likely related to Uchiha Ikeizumi again, because I saw a light similar to Lava Style in that direction."
"Ikeizumi…"
Sarutobi Hiruzen was startled, and a possibility suddenly occurred to him. "Could it be that the Akatsuki members who were fighting Ikeizumi outside the village have now entered the village?!"
This possibility was unlikely, but not impossible. The Akatsuki organization even took in Orochimaru, so Sarutobi Hiruzen felt that organization was no good.
"You! Gather all the ANBU ninja! And notify all the jōnin in the village to head to that direction immediately!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen's face hardened, and he immediately issued a series of orders.
Then, he turned to the other ANBU guards. "The rest of you, come with me! Prepare to face enemies from other villages!"
"Yes! Lord Hokage!"
The deafening roar of the "Great Eruption" and the accompanying heatwave swept through the Leaf Village. Even the small soup bowls on the Uchiha dining table jumped, spilling a few drops of soup.
Fugaku stood up abruptly, his movement so forceful that it knocked over the chair behind him, making a harsh scraping sound in the silent room.
Sasuke, who was eating with his head down, was startled.
His bad feeling reached its peak. Fugaku, with a grim face, stepped onto the porch. He quickly pulled open the front door and instantly leapt onto the roof.
He saw a blinding, blazing light in a certain direction in the distance, under the deep night sky.
It was irregularly expanding, contracting, and pulsing, like a giant heart of molten rock. The light illuminated half the sky. Orange and bright yellow colors swirled together. Even from this distance, he could feel the destructive, scorching aura spreading outward, accompanied by an almost visible shockwave.
It was Lava Style…
It was Ikeizumi!
The bad feeling…
Had come true!
"…Ikeizumi… and… Itachi, something has happened, just as I suspected!"
Fugaku's voice was low and hoarse, with a tremor he didn't even notice. The ominous feeling in his heart, the concern and restlessness he felt for his eldest son, Uchiha Itachi, were now all focused on that swirling light of molten rock.
A voice deep inside Fugaku told him—this wasn't just about Ikeizumi; it was about Itachi too!
It was very likely that the thing he most dreaded had happened!
"Fugaku!" Mikoto also came outside.
But she only saw the back of her husband as he quickly blended into the dense night outside.
She could only hear Uchiha Fugaku's voice, carried on the wind: "It's Ikeizumi's Lava Style! I suspect that the person clashing with Ikeizumi in the village… might be Itachi! Stay home and watch over Sasuke. Don't let him come out. Don't let him know about this."
Uchiha Mikoto: "!!!"
"Mother, what's wrong?" Just then, Sasuke also came out. He saw that only his mother was outside.
Mikoto took a deep breath. She managed a difficult smile. "Something happened with the police force. Your father needs to go handle it."
She lied.
"I can help," Sasuke said with a serious look on his face. He believed her. "I learned a lot of useful things from Ikeizumi-sensei and Ikeizumi-senpai. I can assist Father."
Mikoto ruffled Sasuke's hair and said gently, "It's nothing complicated. Your father will be back soon."
I hope so…
The last three words only flashed through Uchiha Mikoto's mind.
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