Chapter 98: Danzo's Downfall [2]
Izumi stood behind him, watching Ikeizumi-senpai's solitary back. She felt utterly ashamed.
Her senpai's purpose in this mission was for her to personally kill Shimura Danzo. Now, he was blocking all the ANBU shinobi for her. The root of all this stemmed from her own weakness, Uchiha Izumi.
Kijiro also spoke, "Rookie, just accept the trial Ikeizumi-sama has given you. There's no need to be so hesitant. Ikeizumi-sama despises those with twisted personalities."
"If you truly understand Ikeizumi-sama's painstaking efforts, you should execute his orders without hesitation."
Izumi heavily "hmmed," biting her teeth and forcing her gaze to a secret room with an open door nearby.
She could clearly see the half-bodied Danzo lying there, and also see Danzo glaring at them with furious, bloodshot eyes.
Izumi drew her ninja blade and, under everyone's gaze, walked into the secret room.
"Hey! Wait a moment!" An ANBU shinobi panicked. He couldn't imagine how the Hokage-sama would react if he learned that the protected Danzo had suddenly been killed.
At that point, Hokage-sama would likely blame all of them.
Because it truly was a lapse in ANBU's duty.
Just as he was about to step forward to block Izumi, he suddenly heard the sound of lava dripping onto the ground! He could also distinctly feel the temperature inside the ANBU base rapidly rising.
A copious amount of sweat broke out on his body, whether from fear or heat, he didn't know.
The ANBU shinobi's body stiffened, and he quickly looked at Uchiha Ikeizumi.
"This path is closed."
"Whoever comes, dies."
Uchiha Ikeizumi was calmly repeating the same two sentences.
ANBU shinobi: "..."
Homura Mitokado: "..."
Inside the secret room.
Danzo, lying on the iron bed, his eyes filled with ferocity and murderous intent, never expected Uchiha Ikeizumi to find him here, nor did he expect the other party to be so utterly ruthless!
Truly worthy of being that inherently evil Uchiha brat, isn't he?
At this moment.
The Uchiha girl, holding a ninja blade, entered Danzo's field of vision, making Danzo suddenly realize this was the person meant to kill him!
Damn it!
He had already been hunted down to this extent, yet that bastard Uchiha Ikeizumi wouldn't personally do the deed, instead sending some unknown "sidekick" to execute him, Shimura Danzo?!
What did he mean by this?
Was he looking down on him?
Was he worried about getting his hands dirty?
Was he disdaining to do it himself?
"..." Danzo, his throat long since hoarse from screaming, tried to say something, his face contorted in a grimace, but he couldn't utter a single word. He stared intently at the Uchiha girl who was slowly approaching.
He could see the nervous expression in the Uchiha girl's eyes, but within that nervousness, there seemed to be a hint of decisive resolve!
In the past, Danzo could have killed such an Uchiha brat with one hand tied behind his back.
But now, amidst his fury, only terror remained!
Because his body was bound to the iron bed by restraints, unable to move. This was originally intended to prevent him from moving and suffering secondary injuries, but now this "protection" had become a restriction!
Where was Homura Mitokado?!
Wasn't he outside? Where were the ANBU shinobi? Isn't this the ANBU base? Why aren't they intervening? They took this old man's Sharingan, they took this old man's Root, and now they're just abandoning this old man, treating him as a disposable pawn?!
"—"
"!!!"
Danzo, his single eye wide, struggled frantically on the iron bed. Only hoarse, guttural growls escaped his throat. The unease and fear, combined with the searing pain in his soul, made every muscle in Danzo's face twitch uncontrollably.
"Ikeizumi-senpai is out there, blocking all the ANBU shinobi by himself. He must be under immense pressure. But my weak strength is still unable to share that burden with him."
"Senpai said that [Absolute Justice] would grant a gift of justice whenever evil was eradicated. The strength brought by this gift would make justice stronger, there's no need to resist it."
The girl's determined gaze fell upon Shimura Danzo.
She knew how many evil deeds this person had committed. Even if the other party seemed like a powerless old man, she felt not a shred of pity or sorrow.
"Shimura Danzo, when you committed so many crimes, did you ever consider the feelings of the innocent people you persecuted?"
"Experience it well. The feelings you are experiencing now are the true feelings of those who were persecuted by you."
"Absent justice is indeed difficult to call justice."
"But someone must make up for the absent justice on behalf of the innocent."
Danzo's sole remaining eye was fixed on the Uchiha brat before him, who was muttering to herself like a madwoman. Damn her! Damn her! Damn her!!!
Danzo's heart roared with desperate fury. If he were an Uchiha clan ninja, the sheer emotional波動 he was experiencing now would be enough to awaken his Mangekyo Sharingan.
!!!
The next second.
Danzo's entire vision was consumed by a flash of a blade. He felt his vision shift, the evil Uchiha brat in his line of sight disappeared, and his surroundings suddenly spun. The last image in his vision was the leg of the iron bed.
The girl instinctively mimicked Uchiha Ikeizumi's killing habit; the sharp ninja blade instantly severed Danzo's head!
Gazing at the head that rolled "gurgle-gurgle" from the iron bed onto the ground.
Izumi's determined expression suddenly bloomed with a strange blush.
She truly felt the [Absolute Justice]'s gift; this time, the gift was infinitely more bountiful than the last. The rapid increase in her chakra quantity deeply shocked Uchiha Izumi!
What kind of power is this, that allows one to gain the gift of [Absolute Justice] after killing an evil person?
It must be Ikeizumi-senpai's Mangekyo Sharingan ability too, right!
[Ding! Your nurtured [Absolute Justice] follower has successfully killed a "red-named" evildoer! Your chakra has been amplified! Congratulations, you have successfully dropped: New Skill "Wood Release Kekkei Genkai"!]
[At the same time, Uchiha Izumi has also received a large chakra amplification!]
[[Absolute Justice] follower "Uchiha Izumi" has passed the final trial of justice; she will gain the ability to see the evil deeds of others!]
Outside the secret room.
When Uchiha Ikeizumi saw the three notifications appear before him, he knew that Izumi had, in the end, not disappointed his expectations of her. This once clumsy rookie had finally passed.
And Shimura Danzo, in this last moment of his life, had contributed the greatest gift to the ninja world: the Wood Release Kekkei Genkai!
His arm, from which lava had been slowly dripping, recovered completely.
The chilling murderous intent on Uchiha Ikeizumi's face also dissipated somewhat.
All these reactions were seen by Homura Mitokado.
Homura Mitokado immediately realized what had happened.
Danzo...
was dead!
Homura Mitokado had never felt such complex emotions before.
Previously, when he saw Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Hokage, being angered to trembling by Uchiha Ikeizumi's continuous sharp remarks, Homura Mitokado felt that Hiruzen was too old and indecisive, to the point where he couldn't even control a young person.
When he saw Uchiha Fugaku being disregarded by Uchiha Ikeizumi, Homura Mitokado felt that Fugaku lacked the dignity of a clan head. However, such an Uchiha clan head was rather good; if it were a hardline Uchiha clan head, he would be somewhat worried.
When he saw Koharu Utatane also being angered by Uchiha Ikeizumi until her face was as black as a pot, he felt that although Koharu might talk tough, her actual actions weren't strong enough.
Now, when the role switched to himself, Homura Mitokado discovered that he was even more disgraced than the three people above him!
He didn't even have the courage to forcefully break into the secret room with the eight ANBU shinobi who had rushed over behind him, to rescue Danzo!
Homura Mitokado's old face was filled with complex emotions.
He stared blankly as an Uchiha girl who had walked into the secret room now walked out again. In her hand, she held a ninja blade, its edge stained with much blood.
"Danzo—"
Homura Mitokado closed his eyes in pain. The feeling of shared misfortune, like a fox grieving for a fallen rabbit, reached its peak at this moment.
When he opened his eyes, he looked at Uchiha Ikeizumi with an extremely complex gaze and said, "Assuming I, in your eyes, am also an 'evildoer' like Danzo, would you also kill me?"
"Yes," Uchiha Ikeizumi replied with one word.
Homura Mitokado felt a chill throughout his body. He didn't know whether to be angry now, or to be glad that he wasn't Hiruzen's "black glove."
When Konoha established Root back then, Homura Mitokado had actually wanted to contend for the position of Root leader...
If he had indeed won against Danzo back then and become Konoha's "darkness."
He and Danzo would have likely swapped fates, wouldn't they?
Meanwhile, behind Uchiha Ikeizumi, Izumi had already wiped the blood from her blade and returned her ninja blade to its sheath. She straightened her back, her small face serious, and spoke to Uchiha Ikeizumi: "Senpai, Shimura Danzo has been executed!"
Izumi was actually a little dazed. A dignified member of Konoha's leadership had died by her blade just like that.
It completely shattered her idealized view of "important figures."
Even if these high-ranking officials committed evil, they would still be judged by [Justice].
The blade of [Justice] could kill them.
This was Ikeizumi-senpai's [Absolute Justice]!
Even a high-ranking official like Shimura Danzo was treated equally before [Absolute Justice].
There was no right to special pardon or exemption!
"Hm." Uchiha Ikeizumi's slight nod was enough to acknowledge the girl's performance tonight. His calm gaze swept over Homura Mitokado and the ANBU shinobi present.
His eyes were perfectly still, yet they made everyone present clench their hearts, fearing that he might see some evil in them, even if they inwardly felt they had done nothing wrong.
But that sense of tension lingered.
The sulfurous smell in the air and the stench of blood emanating from the secret room constantly warned them of what fate awaited them if they were targeted by [Absolute Justice].
Until they watched, wide-eyed, as Uchiha Ikeizumi, accompanied by a ninja cat and an Uchiha clan girl, departed.
"Lord Mitokado, we—" An ANBU shinobi's expression beneath his mask was somewhat aggrieved, as he stopped short of speaking.
"Go inform Hiruzen—and also inform the Shimura clan. And send a few more people to guard Danzo's body; his body holds too many secrets, we cannot let outside spies get their hands on it."
Homura Mitokado sighed, his entire spirit seemingly deflated, as if he had aged several years.
He felt that if Hiruzen had been here, he could definitely have saved Danzo.
There was a reason he was only an advisor.
"Yes, Lord Mitokado!"
Meanwhile, Uchiha Clan Compound.
Under the night sky, Uchiha Izumi walked alone on her way home. She remembered her senpai telling her before he left—that tonight's mission was complete, and she could go back to rest.
But...
"How could I possibly sleep?!"
Izumi reached out and vigorously rubbed her long hair. The image of mercilessly severing Shimura Danzo's head still replayed in her mind. The feeling of personally killing a Konoha elder felt very strange to her.
But she had to admit, her understanding of [Absolute Justice] had reached a higher level.
She felt Ikeizumi-senpai's painstaking efforts.
Although her senpai usually spoke little and was completely cold, as if everyone in the world had isolated him.
However, only by getting close to her senpai could one know that he was actually silently paying attention to everyone he knew. "Hm?!"
Just as the girl was filled with emotion, her footsteps suddenly halted, her heart tightening as if sensing something. In an instant, she pulled a kunai from her ninja pouch and threw it behind her.
Whoosh!!!
The kunai instantly whizzed past an ANBU fox mask, embedding itself deeply into the trunk of a large tree behind it.
"You've improved a lot recently, Izumi. It seems that being with that man has indeed helped you grow considerably. One could even say your growth rate is astonishing."
A sudden, familiar cold voice made Izumi's pupils constrict.
Turning back in a hurry, she saw a figure of moderate height standing not far behind her.
The other party had already removed their ANBU mask, revealing a mark left by the kunai on the left side of the mask.
That young face was one Izumi would never forget.
"—Uchiha Itachi!!!"
Izumi's right hand instinctively gripped the hilt of her ninja blade at her waist. Her three-tomoe Sharingan activated without hesitation. She cautiously took half a step back, staring at the person she once considered her best friend, who now seemed to have stepped halfway into the abyss of evil, Uchiha Itachi.
"You still dare to show yourself in the Uchiha clan compound? If I were to shout now, many clan members would probably rush out, wanting to kill you, wouldn't they?!"
Izumi spoke in a cold tone.
That cold tone, as if speaking to an unknown stranger, made Uchiha Itachi fall silent for half a second.
"Izumi—"
"Call me Uchiha Izumi." Izumi interrupted, "Until you completely discard that idea and return to normal, I am not that familiar with you."
The current Izumi felt a strong physiological and psychological repulsion towards Uchiha Itachi.
She couldn't accept a beast who would kill her mother in the future calling her by her first name.
Uchiha Itachi, however, spoke expressionlessly, as if to himself: "I saw you and Uchiha Ikeizumi leave the Root base. After I went in, I heard them say Danzo died. And that you killed him."
"Izumi, you've become very unfamiliar to me." He stared at Uchiha Izumi, asking hauntingly, "Are you going to stand against Konoha?"
The atmosphere suddenly turned chilling.
.....
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