Sarutobi Hiruzen stood silently, his brows tightly furrowed as he puffed sharply on his pipe, staring at the now-empty office doorway. Just as he was mulling over how to rein in the Uchiha clan and force them into behaving—at least for a little while—
An unexpected figure appeared before him.
"…Asuma?!"
Hiruzen blinked in surprise. "Weren't you in the capital of the Land of Fire just recently?"
Asuma stepped inside, closed the door, and leaned against the wall as he spoke.
"Old man. I told the Daimyō everything."
Hiruzen's hand froze mid-motion. But instead of scolding Asuma, he simply asked two questions: "What was the Daimyō's reaction? Did he say anything?"
"He was furious," Asuma replied. "The Daimyō wants the one who killed his son to pay the price."
Hiruzen slowly shook his head. "If I were to target Keizumi because of this, Konoha would descend into chaos. If the Daimyō sent you here to pressure me into acting, I'll just pretend I didn't hear it. Asuma, don't underestimate Keizumi. He absolutely has the power to plunge Konoha into a crisis greater than anything we've ever seen—on par with the destruction of the Nine-Tails' rampage."
Did Sarutobi Hiruzen ever consider killing Uchiha Keizumi?
Of course he did. As Hokage, there was no bold scenario he hadn't mentally explored—he'd even contemplated what would happen if he suddenly took his own life.
It was precisely because he had imagined, simulated, and analyzed those possibilities that he had decisively refused to engage Keizumi in open conflict within Konoha.
The cost of such a clash was something the village simply couldn't afford.
It was just like in the old days—despite the severe ideological rift between the First Hokage and Uchiha Madara, they ultimately chose to settle things at the Valley of the End, not inside the village.
Upon hearing this answer, Asuma's eyes flickered with a flash of disappointment—one he quickly masked.
He pulled out a cigarette and held it between his teeth, though he didn't light it.
"Old man, you misunderstood. The Daimyō didn't ask you to kill Uchiha Keizumi. Maybe he even understands your reasons. He's not going to force you—nor does he have the right to force the Hokage."
With one hand in his pocket, his face emotionless, Asuma said flatly, "I'm just here to offer a suggestion."
"If Keizumi's causing you so much trouble within the village—so much stress and helplessness—then maybe it's time to release that terrifying tiger from its cage. Send him out of the village. Let him take on missions out there."
Sarutobi Hiruzen froze for a moment.
Asuma continued calmly, "He's a member of the Uchiha Police Force, yes—but he's also a shinobi of Konoha. And a shinobi of Konoha must accept missions issued by the Hokage, right?"
"I know the reason you kept that tiger caged inside the village was to intimidate certain people. But your goal has already been achieved, hasn't it? Those people have been cowed into submission, haven't they?"
"Or perhaps…"
Asuma narrowed his eyes. "Maybe most of them have already died at Uchiha Keizumi's hands, right, old man?"
"If your goal has already been met, then why not let him out? If Uchiha Keizumi carries out justice outside the village but still within the Land of Fire, that has nothing to do with you as Hokage."
"That way, you won't have to keep stressing over him—because the ones who'll be stressed will be the nobles, the bureaucrats, and the Daimyō himself."
Sarutobi Hiruzen's furrowed brow did not relax.
"Asuma, what are you trying to do?" Hiruzen asked a single, pointed question.
Asuma replied, "The Daimyō wants Uchiha Keizumi dead, but he also knows he doesn't have the strength to do it himself. What he wants is for Keizumi to make enough enemies across the Land of Fire that eventually, someone else will kill him."
He pulled a document from his robes and tossed it to Sarutobi Hiruzen, who caught it with one hand.
Unfolding it, Hiruzen immediately recognized the Daimyō's handwriting.
"Old man, the Daimyō isn't asking you to deal with Uchiha Keizumi yourself. He's just asking you to let him out, to let him enact his [Absolute Justice] across the Land of Fire."
"In return, the Daimyō has decided to increase Konoha's funding by 30% next year. With that kind of offer… surely you can agree to it, can't you?"
Hiruzen remained silent for several seconds.
"A naive scheme," he said at last. "To make this work would require too many coincidences. It's basically a fantasy—another one of the Daimyō's unrealistic delusions. Even if I do allow Keizumi to leave the village temporarily, it's extremely unlikely that the Daimyō will get the result he wants."
He paused, then asked in a low voice, "But is that really all there is to this, Asuma?"
Asuma shot back, "Old man, don't you trust me? Even though… I don't always agree with how you do things, have I ever lied to you before?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen took a deep breath.
"…Alright."
Maybe it was trust in his younger son, or maybe it was guilt over how rebellious Asuma had become.
Either way—he chose to believe in Asuma.
...
After watching his second son Asuma—who'd never really gotten along with him—walk away, Hiruzen lowered his gaze to the official document in his hands and muttered softly to himself, "Something about this doesn't feel quite right..."
Uchiha Keizumi had killed the daimyō's second son. Of course the daimyō would be furious—he'd want Keizumi dead. That was perfectly logical. Totally expected.
The daimyō didn't want to travel all the way to Konohagakure himself and instead sent Asuma to deliver the message—also reasonable.
But what didn't sit right with Hiruzen...
Was this very document from the daimyō. And the ridiculously naïve plan the daimyō had come up with, as relayed by Asuma.
To let Uchiha Keizumi leave the village, so that his Absolute Justice would offend even more people, eventually provoking someone else into killing him—this was essentially a revenge scheme with no realistic chance of success.
Hiruzen was convinced the daimyō himself must've known how low the odds were.
After all, who could guarantee someone would be brave—or stupid—enough to play the role of the blade striking down Keizumi?
And who could guarantee that once Keizumi left the village...
He wouldn't turn his sights on the high-and-mighty daimyō of the Land of Fire instead?
"There must be something else the daimyō is scheming," Hiruzen muttered, brows furrowing. "Asuma... he must know more than he's letting on. But he chose to cooperate with the daimyō and keep it from me. Hah... One headache after another. It never ends."
A deep fatigue settled over him.
At his age, handling so many crises one after another was far too much.
One major issue after another piled up in his mind, squeezing out his capacity to think. Even his thoughts had started to slow.
"Someone, come in," Hiruzen called.
A masked ANBU operative stepped into the room.
"Bring Keizumi to me," Hiruzen instructed.
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
"Wait…" Hiruzen suddenly stopped him and issued a new order: "Gather the ANBU first. Then summon him."
He didn't dare meet Keizumi alone.
The risk was far too high.
...
"Hey, hey, hey... Chiriku, where the hell is your Asuma? Why isn't he here yet?"
Outside the gates of Konohagakure.
Kazuma had a senbon between his lips, a kunai twirling around his index finger as he spoke with a sinister glint in his eyes.
"This isn't some trap, is it? Maybe all that talk about dealing with Uchiha Keizumi is just a front—and they're actually targeting me? Wait a few more minutes, and what—hundreds of Konoha shinobi come pouring out to surround us?"
As he spoke, Kazuma slowly rose to his feet, his gaze sharpening as he stared at Chiriku, one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja.
The five men standing behind Kazuma also stood up at once, instantly putting Chiriku's three comrades on high alert.
"What are you trying to pull, Kazuma?" one of them barked. "Don't forget our mission. Daimyō-sama sent us to eliminate Uchiha Keizumi—not to start an internal bloodbath!"
Kazuma gave a cold laugh. "Oh, is that so? Sure, Daimyō-sama won't do anything to me—he trusts me deeply, after all. But can I say the same for Asuma? How do we know he hasn't pulled the wool over the daimyō's eyes?"
Chiriku, expression calm, pressed his palms together and softly recited a Buddhist verse before opening his mouth to speak: "Asuma is not that kind of man."
But Chiriku's eyes remained locked firmly on Kazuma.
At the slightest provocation, he would strike without hesitation.
Just as tension reached its peak, a sudden sound broke the silence, drawing all ten people's attention.
"Kazuma... you really know how to stir things up."
Asuma took a drag from his cigarette and spoke coldly.
"Tch."
Kazuma continued to toy with his kunai, then demanded, "Asuma, you owe me a damn good reason for disappearing this long. It shouldn't take that long just to say a few words to the Hokage, should it?"
Asuma's expression was hard to read. He spoke in a low voice: "I stayed in the village a bit to gather some intel… about Uchiha Keizumi."
Kazuma raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you just return to the village a few days ago? And you already need to look into him again?"
Asuma fell silent for a moment.
He'd initially thought there was no need to investigate. But then, by pure chance, he noticed something strange: people in the village were talking. A lot.
They were all talking about Uchiha Keizumi.
Curious, he started asking around—
And what he learned had stunned him.
The assassination of Shimura Danzō. The execution of a black market drug dealer. The killing of fellow Uchiha. The extermination of the entire Shimura clan.
All of it had happened just days after he, Sarutobi Asuma, left the village.
And every single one of those major incidents—was caused by Uchiha Keizumi.
And that was just the part he'd been able to uncover. Asuma was sure there was more. Much more.
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