Chapter 126: In the Eyes of Absolute Justice, There Are No 'Betters'!
Meanwhile.
"Phew… I caught up." Jiraiya looked at the group of children, ranging in age from five to fourteen, and saw a familiar, eye-catching back in the front.
"Tsunade…"
Jiraiya's eyes held a complex emotion. Ever since he left the village to track Orochimaru across the shinobi world, he hadn't seen Tsunade. He never expected their reunion to be caused by the commotion made by Uchiha Ikeizumi.
"It's not very nice to be hiding and sneaking around, you know?" Tsunade's clear voice reached Jiraiya's ears.
She had stopped and looked back at him with a displeased expression, her hands kneading together. It looked like she was ready to fight if the stalker didn't show himself.
"W-Wait a minute!"
Jiraiya, who could almost feel the pain in his ribs, flinched. He hadn't forgotten the time he was badly injured after getting caught peeping on Tsunade. He quickly jumped down from the tree, his hands raised to show he was harmless.
"It's me!"
Jiraiya's appearance startled the children. A lecherous old man with spiky white hair never gave the impression of a good person. Even though Uchiha Ikeizumi's three-tomoe Sharingan had given the children beautiful dreamscapes and made them temporarily forget their horrific experience in the underground vault of the Tanzaku Gai dance hall, the deep-seated fear of people like him wasn't something a genjutsu could erase.
Dozens of children scrambled behind Tsunade. In the few days they had spent with her, they had come to see Tsunade as a very powerful person who could smash a huge boulder with a single punch. This big-breasted older sister was the one who could protect them!
"It's okay," Tsunade said, gently stroking a child's head, trying to calm her down. She then looked at Jiraiya with a complicated expression. She hadn't expected to meet her old friend again in such a sudden manner.
"Why are you here? And you were following me, weren't you?"
Tsunade's two questions made Jiraiya scratch his head. He honestly explained why he had been following her.
Tsunade's eyebrow twitched. "You were worried about me because I didn't stop that kid, Uchiha Ikeizumi, from killing hundreds of people?"
"Uh… yeah!" Jiraiya nodded. "I was just worried, and I acted on impulse and followed you."
"Tch, why would I have stopped that kid?" Tsunade waved her hand. "Besides, nothing happened to me. You have all this free time, but why don't you hurry up and catch that Orochimaru? I haven't seen him in forever since he defected from the village. When you catch him, make sure to give him a few hard punches to knock some sense into him."
Jiraiya didn't leave. He stood where he was and asked with curiosity, "Tsunade, are these kids the reason you didn't stop Uchiha Ikeizumi?"
A shadow passed over Tsunade's eyes.
"Jiraiya, how evil do you think a person can be?" Tsunade didn't answer directly, but asked a question of her own.
Jiraiya was taken aback. He rubbed his chin. "A person's evil grows as their desires expand and know no bounds. Of course, it must have a limit. The most evil person I have ever met…"
Jiraiya paused, then let out a sigh, a complex expression on his face. "…would probably be our old friend Orochimaru. He is also a person whose evil has grown out of control because of his desires."
"Then you've underestimated the evil in the ninja world." Tsunade murmured. "Orochimaru's evil is selfish and arrogant. His evil makes people feel disgusted, annoyed, and angry. It makes them feel like he's not on the same side as them."
"But…"
Tsunade's eyes met Jiraiya's. "The evil that Uchiha Ikeizumi showed me makes me feel hatred, it makes me lose control of my killing intent, and it makes me feel a sense of world-weary despair."
"It makes me think… the ninja world shouldn't be like this. And it also makes me unable to remain indifferent to the evil I see, unable to ignore everything happening right in front of me."
Jiraiya was taken aback.
Tsunade's next words were even more shocking. "That night, Uchiha Ikeizumi killed hundreds of people. I didn't stop him because I was following behind him, and I killed nineteen people myself."
"These children are all poor, unfortunate souls. I couldn't find a better orphanage to house them, so I could only bring them back to Konoha and see if the Old Man could take them in."
"I can tell you what happened, but not in front of them. It took a lot for them to forget it all."
Tsunade paused, then continued. "Uchiha Ikeizumi used his Sharingan to make them forget. To do that, that kid almost exhausted his dojutsu and collapsed."
Jiraiya was stunned. "!!!"
For some reason, Jiraiya was hearing about a Uchiha Ikeizumi who was completely different from his preconceived notions. And it seemed this Uchiha Ikeizumi had managed to influence Tsunade in just one day.
The Land of Fire.
The Capital.
News of a Konoha ninja killing three people in broad daylight in the capital caused a great stir. The fact that two of them were capital police samurai even alarmed many of the nobles and the Fire Daimyō himself.
"A Konoha ninja?"
"Killing in the street?"
The Fire Daimyō's brows were tightly furrowed. He hadn't expected his Twelve Guardian Ninja, including Asuma, to be gone for so long, and now a murderer ninja was causing havoc! It made him even more anxious.
With the protection of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, he could sit on the throne with peace of mind, without fear of assassination or other nobles trying to overthrow him. But without the Guardian Ninja, the Fire Daimyō felt like a rich boy in a crowded market. His intense unease made him irritable. The ominous feeling swirling around him made him pace back and forth.
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration hit the Fire Daimyō. He took a deep breath, trying to appear calm, and ordered his vassal who had come to report the news. "Issue a bounty for the ninja! With a reward of eight million ryo… no! Make it ten million ryo! And make sure every ninja in the capital knows about this bounty!"
He might not have much else, but as a Daimyō, he had plenty of money. Spending a huge sum to eliminate an uncertain factor that was making him anxious was worth it. After all… who could guarantee that a lunatic who dared to kill in broad daylight in the capital wouldn't suddenly come for the Daimyō's Mansion? The history of the ninja world was not without accounts of Daimyō being assassinated by ninja.
"Yes, my lord!" The vassal quickly bowed and rushed out to carry out the Fire Daimyō's order.
But before the Fire Daimyō could calm down, another vassal rushed in.
"My lord!"
He said frantically, "This is terrible! The villain ninja who was killing in the streets has broken into the 'Yuki Clan's' compound! When… when that ninja walked out, he was covered in blood!"
"The police samurai who went into the Yuki Clan compound to check the situation found that out of the over fifty members of the Yuki Clan, only eleven were left alive!"
"Their hired ninja bodyguards were all killed! The head of the Yu… Yuki Clan, his head was even cut off!"
"The eleven who survived were mostly maids and gardeners! They're all terrified!"
The shocking news made the Fire Daimyō's breath catch in his throat. The Yuki Clan was a noble family that had been around for hundreds of years in the Land of Fire, and they were already a powerful force even before Konoha was founded. They had numerous businesses throughout the Land of Fire and were involved in all aspects of civilian life.
Even the Konoha Hokage would show some respect to the Yuki Clan head. After all, they were one of Konoha's major patrons.
And yet… a famous noble family like this was practically wiped out by a single villain ninja?! Only eleven survivors, most of them maids and gardeners. Even if one or two Yuki Clan members were still clinging to life, it was no different than a clan extermination, was it?
A chill ran down his spine. Asuma… Kazuma… Chiriku… and the rest of the Twelve Guardian Ninja… when are you coming back?! I don't feel safe at all! The slight trembling in the Fire Daimyō's hand showed just how unsettled he was.
"You!" He quickly said to the vassal in front of him. "Go after the man who just left and tell him to raise the bounty for that villain ninja from ten million to thirty million… no! Raise it directly to fifty million ryo! The Daimyō's Mansion will pay for it!"
"Huh?" The vassal who had just reported the emergency was stunned.
"What do you mean, 'huh'?! Go!"
The Fire Daimyō was so angry that he bit his lip and kicked the man's behind, sending him stumbling out the door. The vassal he kicked almost ran into his eldest son, who had just arrived. The Daimyō's eldest son quickly moved out of the way of the disheveled vassal, then entered the room, looking at his enraged father with surprise.
"Father, I heard a ninja killed three people in the streets," his eldest son said with a hint of hesitation. "Are you angry about this?"
"He didn't just kill three people!" The Fire Daimyō took a deep breath and said to his son, "That unknown ninja… he practically wiped out the Yuki Clan of the Land of Fire! Just now!"
The Daimyō's eldest son's eyes widened. "!!!"
Elsewhere.
Anko Mitarashi was numb. She had realized that Uchiha Ikeizumi truly didn't care about any external factors when he was enforcing his justice. Whether it was the capital police samurai or a noble family, in his eyes, they were all villains to be purged!
As she watched Uchiha Ikeizumi kill over forty members of a noble family like the Yuki Clan, leaving only a dozen alive, she realized that she could never convince him to stop.
She didn't even want to think about how many people Uchiha Ikeizumi would have to kill today to satisfy his "need" to enforce his 'Absolute Justice'?
And… something else confused Anko. Why hadn't anyone in the entire capital come out to stop him? Didn't the Daimyō have the Twelve Guardian Ninja? If she remembered correctly, the Hokage's second son, Asuma Sarutobi, was one of them. Why did they seem to have completely vanished?
Just as Anko was deep in thought, Kojiro's sudden words almost made her brain shut down. "Lord Ikeizumi, shouldn't we ask someone where the Daimyō's Mansion is, meow?"
Anko's eyes went wide. "???"
W-Wait!
The Daimyō?
Is this cat talking about the Fire Daimyō?!
"No need to rush," Uchiha Ikeizumi said emotionlessly. "I've come all this way to the capital of the Land of Fire. I can't just leave after killing one Daimyō, can I? The evil here… it's not just the Fire Daimyō. This place is a hotbed of the ninja world's evil."
"Especially the so-called high and mighty nobles. They are born believing they are superior to others and that the laws and morals of the Land of Fire don't apply to them."
"In some ways, the law even favors them, making their crimes a normal occurrence. They view ordinary people as a different, inferior 'species.'"
Uchiha Ikeizumi's voice was soft, but the words were sharp. "How can I set things right in the entire ninja world if I don't purge all the evil I see right in front of me?"
His words weren't loud, but to Anko, they exploded like a barrage of explosive tags, instantly sending her thoughts into a spiral. The phrase "kill one Daimyō" echoed in her mind. Anko realized she was drenched in sweat. She finally understood what Uchiha Ikeizumi had meant when he said he had something to take care of.
He was going to assassinate the Fire Daimyō!!!
No… judging by his public actions today, this wasn't an assassination. This was a public murder! In his heart, the concept of a "Daimyō" didn't seem to exist at all!
"Meow, didn't you, as Lord Ikeizumi's classmate from the Academy, know that in the eyes of 'Absolute Justice,' there's no such thing as a 'better' person?" Kojiro's words were like a lightning bolt, hitting Anko's dazed mind and making her flinch.
"In the eyes of Absolute Justice, there are no 'betters'…"
Anko repeated the words in a low voice.
Meanwhile.
In the most prosperous area of the capital of the Land of Fire, a few samurai frantically pushed through the crowd, ignoring the complaints and shouts. They rushed to a public notice board, quickly tore down the notice, and then posted the papers they had. They then hurried away, gasping for breath, to another location. Judging by the large stack of papers in their hands, they wouldn't be finished with their task for a full day and night.
Someone couldn't help but look at the notice board.
"Ninja… bounty warrant?"
Hiss! "Signed by the Daimyō?!"
They quickly realized this wasn't just a political decree; it was a bounty! The reward amount shocked everyone.
"Fifty million ryo?!!"
Gasps of disbelief rose from the crowd. This time, not only were the commoners of the capital shocked, but even some of the ninja in the crowd stared with wide eyes.
"Fifty million ryo… a bounty for a village's Kage would be in the same range, wouldn't it?" a ninja with a Konoha headband murmured, rubbing his chin as he looked at the incredibly simple information on the bounty.
"Name unknown, age unknown, male…"
"Strength also unknown… only a crude, hand-drawn sketch. The only distinguishing features are a cat and a short-haired woman in a ninja uniform."
"Crime… killed two police samurai in broad daylight, killed one civilian from a distance."
"And… huh? Hiss! What?!"
"Slaughtered dozens of nobles?!"
The Konoha ninja's eyes widened, and he couldn't help but take a sharp breath. Where did this ninja come from? He was so… bold?! But from the simple description, he couldn't help but feel a strange sense of familiarity.
Was it just his imagination?
....
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