Chapter 97: Danzo's Downfall [1]
The moment Naruto returned home, darkness had already fallen.
Looking at his messy bedroom, Naruto, utterly exhausted, collapsed face-first onto his bed.
He remained in a somewhat dazed state even now.
After lying on the bed for an unknown period, he finally sat up again, pulling up his shirt to gaze at his unremarkable stomach.
"Inside me—there's a Nine-Tailed Fox—"
Naruto poked his belly, feeling nothing out of the ordinary.
Logically.
Upon learning that a terrifying Nine-Tailed Fox was sealed within him, he should be in utter panic.
But for some reason, Naruto felt no alarm, almost a strange sense of security.
This sense of security didn't come from Hokage Grandpa, but from that terrifying man—a man who dared to confront Hokage Grandpa alone in front of many people, and the only man in Konoha Village who wielded [Absolute Justice]. Perhaps such a terrifying man was even more formidable than the demon fox within him?
"I think his name was Uchiha Ikeizumi?!"
"...Absolute Justice, huh!"
Naruto looked up blankly at a crack in the ceiling. He didn't know why he had impulsively shouted those words.
It was as if, having gained someone's recognition, he desperately wanted to cater to them, not wanting to disappoint the approval he had received.
Moreover, what he had shouted earlier were indeed his true feelings.
There was no falsehood in them.
Naruto also recalled the words Hokage Grandpa had spoken to him after escorting him home.
"Naruto, Ikeizumi's justice is, in essence, quite rigid and unyielding, very inflexible and difficult to reason with. Furthermore, it deviates somewhat from Konoha's Will of Fire. Everyone's concept of justice is different; you cannot simply copy and forcefully imitate Ikeizumi's [Absolute Justice]."
"If you truly decide to make [Justice] and [Hokage] your future ninja way, Hokage Grandpa advises you to have more of your own independent thoughts in the future. Perhaps, you could try to combine the Will of Fire and justice."
"Only justice that has a positive effect on Konoha Village is truly the kind of justice that can earn everyone's recognition. Stern justice like Ikeizumi's is difficult for many to accept; otherwise, he wouldn't always be alone."
"Ahem! Old man actually didn't mean to badmouth him; I'm just saying that good justice cannot be separated from the Will of Fire. The two shouldn't be in opposition, right?"
"Ah! It's so complicated, believe it!!!"
Seven-year-old Naruto cradled his small head, giving up on thinking.
He just felt that the world of adults was beyond his comprehension.
Anyway, from now on, he just needed to wake up early every day to clean the streets, then rush to the Ninja Academy, and after school, he could go find Uchiha Ikeizumi, right?
Ah! What about his free time?!
Naruto finally realized.
Under the night sky.
Uchiha Izumi submerged herself in the bathtub, half of her beautiful face submerged in the hot water, with "gurgling" bubbles constantly rising.
Izumi always felt her strength was still too weak.
When Ikeizumi-senpai confronted Clan Head Fugaku, Hokage-sama, Advisor Koharu Utatane, and others, even though she stood firmly by her senpai, glaring angrily at them, not a single one of those important figures even glanced at her.
If she were stronger, they definitely wouldn't ignore her, right? They would surely realize that Ikeizumi-senpai wasn't alone, and that [Absolute Justice] had its followers, right?
Now—
Uzumaki Naruto, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, under the senpai's influence, seemed to also be embracing the arms of Absolute Justice.
Although Uzumaki Naruto was very young, his status was too special, making his presence still stronger than hers.
Izumi sighed softly, a large bubble rising from the bathtub.
But just then, she suddenly noticed a small black shadow reflected in the surface of the bathwater, startling her into quickly covering herself.
Looking up swiftly, she saw a white ninja cat squatting on the slightly open bathroom window.
"Rookie, Ikeizumi-sama wants you to gather. Tonight, we're doing something big, something that concerns you."
The white ninja cat calmly stated, "Don't be nervous, I'm a female cat."
Izumi breathed a sigh of relief, while feeling a hint of confusion about what the white ninja cat had said—something big concerning her?
She racked her brain but couldn't come up with anything.
She could only hurriedly stand up, dry herself, and change into her attire.
Then she quickly left, closely following the white ninja cat. Before long—
Izumi found Ikeizumi-senpai in a rather dark alley corner.
"Check your ninja tools." Uchiha Ikeizumi glanced at Izumi, his gaze lingering for half a second on her still slightly damp long hair. He spoke, shocking her to the core: "Tonight, we kill Shimura Danzo. You will be the one to do it, to unearth this rare 'treasure of evil.'"
Izumi was suddenly startled: "!!!"
Kill Danzo!!!
She remembered Ikeizumi-senpai had said something similar to her before. She also recalled that whenever she personally killed an evildoer, as her senpai called them, she always felt a little stronger.
Her senpai had said this was [Absolute Justice]'s gift to its followers.
Which meant—Izumi's sparkling eyes widened. She felt as if she was subtly touching another of her senpai's secrets!
Of course.
Her senpai didn't seem to treat secrets as secrets, as he had indeed said similar things to her before.
With a hint of strange anticipation, Izumi frantically checked the ninja tools she carried, while unable to suppress her curiosity. So she boldly and quietly ventured, "Ikeizumi-senpai, do you know where Hokage-sama is hiding Shimura Danzo?"
"I have a faint sense."
Uchiha Ikeizumi said calmly, "My eye left an imprint on his soul; I can vaguely sense his general location. It's a bit strange, though, I sense two different locations. Perhaps his soul was split in two, as a way to avoid the soul-burning of the Heavenly Retribution Flames."
Izumi suddenly felt a bit sorry for the former Root leader.
After all that effort, even splitting his soul in two, just to barely escape her senpai's last "hunt."
Yet, now he was targeted by her senpai again.
But he deserved it. If he hadn't committed evil, why would he be judged by Absolute Justice?
"Meow, rookie, we've got a big job tonight. Maybe the Third Hokage has already arranged quite a few ANBU shinobi to protect that half-dead old dog Danzo." When Kijiro's voice rang out, Izumi felt her shoulder suddenly sag.
"Last night, Ikeizumi-sama angered the Third Hokage quite a bit; today he messed with the Third Hokage again; if he does it again tonight, I wonder if the Third Hokage will be so stimulated he'll have a heart attack."
Kijiro's tone held a hint of schadenfreude.
She forced her sagging shoulder up, helplessly saying, "Kijiro-senpai, why did you switch sides this time?"
Kijiro patted her shoulder with a paw, saying, "This is to prevent you from getting uneven shoulders, meow! I heard you human girls care a lot about that. How about it? Am I thoughtful, meow!"
Izumi: "..."
Too "thoughtful," she felt that after seeing Danzo, her shoulder would probably be aching before she even made a move.
Meanwhile.
ANBU Headquarters.
"Hah... hah..." Danzo, only half a body remaining, lay lifelessly on the cold metal bed, the constant bone-deep pain from the depths of his soul, impossible to eradicate by any means, almost driving him to mental collapse.
He could no longer scream; his voice had been hoarse for an unknown duration. Now, he could only gasp for air, his face contorted in a grimace.
Only one eye remained in his sockets—the other Sharingan had been removed by medical ninja "on Hokage-sama's orders," which had nearly made Danzo faint from anger at the time.
Because that Sharingan in his eye socket—
It was Shisui's Mangekyo Sharingan!
But having fallen to such a state, he was powerless to resist, becoming meat on the chopping block.
Intravenous tubes connected to his body allowed him to barely survive even without drinking or eating. This predicament—
It was even worse than just dying!
But!
The intense resentment and hatred in his heart made Danzo reluctant to end his own life. Moreover, ending his own life wouldn't bring him relief; that bone-gnawing soul pain would follow him to the ends of hell and never disappear!
This Mangekyo ability was so terrifying it had driven Danzo to despair.
Danzo placed all his hope on Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Assuming the Monkey realizes that the evil Uchiha brat's eye can threaten anyone in the village, including his so-called Konoha Hokage. Then, if the Monkey finds a way to kill Uchiha Ikeizumi, will the Mangekyo's special ability automatically be dispelled?!
After all, he stole this old man's Kotoamatsukami! Shouldn't he do his job and kill Uchiha Ikeizumi for this old man?
Holding onto this hope, Danzo didn't give up his will to live.
He still had a chance!
He hadn't lost yet!
How could he, Shimura Danzo, fall before he had completely eradicated the inherently evil Uchiha clan from the ninja world!
He was the one who inherited the final will left by Sensei Tobirama!
He was the one who was going to contend for the next Hokage position!
He was the one who was going to change the future of Konoha Village!
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
Faint sounds reached Danzo's ears, making his somewhat dazed consciousness shift his bloodshot, weary gaze to the left. He saw an old acquaintance—Homura Mitokado!
Homura Mitokado pulled up a chair and sat next to Danzo, adjusting the reading glasses on his nose.
He slowly began, "Danzo, Konoha's medical ninja have tried everything, and even Uchiha Itachi has done his utmost, but it's all useless. Perhaps, only Uchiha Ikeizumi has a way to dispel the Mangekyo Dojutsu he implanted in you."
Danzo's somewhat numb facial muscles twitched violently. He wanted to rage at the medical ninjas' incompetence, wanted to curse Uchiha Ikeizumi as a menace.
But at this moment, he couldn't utter a single word.
Homura Mitokado looked at his former colleague with a complicated expression.
He couldn't help but feel a sense of shared misfortune, like a fox grieving for a fallen rabbit.
"Danzo, even though you're lying there unable to move, it's probably best to tell you about the recent events. Uchiha Ikeizumi has been causing quite a stir in Konoha recently. And it even involved Lord Daimyo and the Jinchuriki."
Homura Mitokado slowly recounted the events of the past two days.
Danzo, tormented by pain, couldn't help but be momentarily stunned.
That inherently evil Uchiha brat seemed to be causing more and more trouble!
And no one seemed able to restrain him!
No! If the Monkey had truly set his mind to it, he could definitely restrain him, but the Monkey was too indecisive!
Just because he feared causing too many casualties, he ignored Uchiha Ikeizumi? This hesitation wouldn't solve the problem; it would only make things worse.
Danzo's few remaining teeth were almost ground to dust from hatred.
He raged at the Monkey's weakness!
"Danzo, there's no need to think so much before you recover. It's getting late, I should go." Just as Homura Mitokado stood up to leave, a sudden deafening roar and an exaggerated, earth-shattering tremor made Homura Mitokado's expression change drastically.
He hurriedly steadied himself and looked upwards.
He saw the ceiling above suddenly glow orange-red and bright.
Homura Mitokado's pupils constricted. An intense warning in his heart sent chills down his spine. He burst forth with astonishing speed, rapidly retreating!
It was also in that instant that the orange-red glowing ceiling instantly melted, and a terrifying torrent of lava plunged downwards, carving out a gigantic lava hole of unknown depth in the ground!
The lava splashing in all directions ignited many flammable objects, starting multiple fierce fires within the Root base.
The pervasive smell of lava filled Homura Mitokado with dread.
"Uchiha Ikeizumi!!!" he cried out the name in alarm.
At that very moment.
A rather young, yet somewhat familiar, voice coldly echoed: "So that's how it is. You relied on the Repear Death Seal, a forbidden jutsu, to cut the soul being consumed by Heavenly Retribution Flames into two halves, so the Heavenly Retribution Flames wouldn't affect the other half of the soul."
"The stereotyped image I had of you... was of someone who occasionally did foolish things; after all, you even tried to stab Susano'o with a kunai. Now it seems you do have a bit of cunning."
"Too bad, the pain link between the two halves of the soul cannot be severed by the Reaper Death Seal. That's why you're lying on this bed like a cripple now."
"Your moment of cleverness didn't free you from endless pain; instead, it made your life even worse than death."
"Am I right, 'Lord' Shimura Danzo?"
Uchiha Ikeizumi had gone to two places tonight. One was the Uzumaki clan's Face Mask Temple within Konoha Village—at that time, he could clearly sense one half of Danzo's soul nearby.
At that moment, he realized what method Danzo had used.
And the second place he went to was this ANBU Headquarters!
And the moment his voice fell, Homura Mitokado, not far away, witnessed a figure standing amidst the rolling lava.
He stared at Uchiha Ikeizumi with wide eyes.
"What are you doing!?"
Homura Mitokado, while on high alert, urgently cried out, "Uchiha Ikeizumi, this is ANBU Headquarters! You've trespassed into ANBU Headquarters, even destroying the base's architecture! What do you intend to do?!"
Homura Mitokado watched as the swirling lava on the ground receded, all gathering within Uchiha Ikeizumi's body.
Then he saw the other party's cold gaze shift towards him.
Homura Mitokado flinched in horror. Before their confrontation could begin, he immediately averted his head.
Danzo's horrific state was a vivid memory. Homura Mitokado, like Hiruzen Sarutobi, was equally wary of Uchiha Ikeizumi's Mangekyo. "Eliminating the evil of the ninja world." Faced with Homura Mitokado's anxious questioning, Uchiha Ikeizumi's reply was concise.
Homura Mitokado's heart chilled.
Could it be! Was this guy still unwilling to let Danzo go?
More importantly, how did he know Danzo was hiding here?
Just then.
Homura Mitokado suddenly saw two figures leap down from the large hole blasted by lava above—a girl dressed in Uchiha Police Force attire, and an orange ninja cat.
"Meow, this is ANBU territory, right?" Kijiro narrowed his eyes, muttering, "These ANBU shinobi are really fast to react!"
Many ANBU shinobi were drawn by the commotion, and within seconds, seven or eight had gathered, standing behind Homura Mitokado.
It was precisely due to the appearance of these ANBU shinobi that Homura Mitokado, who had been sweating profusely from tension, finally felt a modicum of security.
The ANBU shinobi were also startled when they saw Uchiha Ikeizumi.
No one expected to meet him again so soon after parting.
And in such a peculiar way.
"Uchiha Ikeizumi, Danzo is no longer capable of committing evil. Konoha's Root is no longer under his command. Hiruzen has even stripped him of all his duties; he is no longer part of Konoha's leadership."
Homura Mitokado hid the shock on his face. He took a deep breath, but was choked by the pervasive, pungent smell of sulfur. After a few heavy coughs, he spoke in a complex, somber tone: "In this situation, do you truly need to go to such lengths, to the point of no return? Can't you show some restraint, for the sake of being from the same village?"
"If your justice were slightly more subtle, I imagine many people in the village would find your [Absolute Justice] much easier to accept."
The ANBU shinobi behind him showed surprised expressions; they roughly understood why Uchiha Ikeizumi was here.
He had been relentlessly hunting Shimura Danzo!!!
To have provoked Uchiha Ikeizumi, that Danzo fellow was truly miserable—
Uchiha Ikeizumi retorted, "When Shimura Danzo committed evil, did he ever consider showing restraint?"
That one sentence rendered Homura Mitokado speechless.
If Danzo knew how to show restraint, he wouldn't be Shimura Danzo!
"[Absolute Justice] is about to eradicate a massive tumor of evil from the ninja world." Uchiha Ikeizumi, alone with his blade, took a step forward, his sole body blocking the path of all the ANBU shinobi.
"Anyone who obstructs the execution of [Justice] will be regarded by me as an enemy of justice, an accomplice to evil."
"Tonight, this path is closed."
"Danzo must die."
.....
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