Chapter 130: Justice Against the Ninja World!
Inside the Uchiha clan compound.
Several elders of the Uchiha hardliners had gathered. Setsuna Uchiha was also among them, and he was sitting in the main seat.
"Setsuna, this is the perfect time!" an elder said, his face twitching with emotion. "It's been confirmed that Hiruzen Sarutobi left Konoha with a large number of Anbu ninja! Now is the most vulnerable time for Konoha. They're so weak that if we, the Uchiha clan, go all out, we can take control of the entire village in a single day!"
"By the time Hiruzen Sarutobi returns to Konoha, he will be forced to become the former Third Hokage! The one who will be in charge of Konoha will be the Fifth Hokage! And the Fifth Hokage's last name will be—'Uchiha'!!!"
The passion in his voice moved Setsuna. Setsuna was naturally tempted. This opportunity was too good to be true, like a huge lottery prize from the heavens.
Hiruzen Sarutobi wasn't here, Uchiha Ikeizumi wasn't here, and neither were the Konoha Anbu. What was left was the Root, which had been crippled by Uchiha Ikeizumi, and a bunch of Konoha ninja clans that couldn't unite. In this situation, it was indeed the perfect time for a coup.
Setsuna believed that the saying, "One can only become Hokage after being recognized by everyone in the village," was a bunch of nonsense. He believed that the ninja clans in the village would side with whoever won.
Just like how Uchiha Ikeizumi repeatedly defied Hiruzen Sarutobi, and won every time. Didn't the Ino-Shika-Chō clans choose to side with that kid? If he led the Uchiha clan in a successful coup, and if he won, they would all help him.
"Alright!!!"
Setsuna slammed his hand on the table, his old face flushed with excitement.
Just as he was about to say something, a commotion suddenly broke out outside. This made him frown.
Suddenly, the closed door of the room was forced open. Fugaku Uchiha, leading a group of Uchiha ninja, walked in with a blank expression. Under Setsuna's shocked gaze, Fugaku found a seat and sat down calmly.
"Elder Setsuna, shouldn't you have called a meeting with the entire Uchiha clan for such an important discussion? So, may I ask what you were just talking about?" Fugaku said in a cold voice.
"Fugaku!!!"
Setsuna's eyelids twitched violently. Although Fugaku didn't say anything else, Setsuna could tell that he was here to cause trouble! The so-called Uchiha clan leader looked more like the Hokage's dog!
Facing Setsuna's angry glare, Fugaku's expression remained unchanged because he was used to it. Furthermore, to ensure the survival of the Uchiha bloodline in Konoha, he could only side with Lord Hokage now. At the very least, Fugaku felt that the Uchiha clan wasn't at a point where a coup was necessary.
And Setsuna's actions would definitely provoke Itachi. The Hokage had instructed him to keep a close eye on Itachi before he left. As a result, Fugaku had to personally come here and stop Setsuna's actions.
The atmosphere in the room immediately became tense, as if a fight was about to break out.
On a street in Konoha, Izumi Uchiha, who had a gash on her forehead and was bleeding profusely, shoved her sharp ninja blade into a Konoha ninja's chest. As the other ninja's eyes grew vacant, Ikeizumi took a deep breath. She looked a bit disheveled, and a shuriken was deeply embedded in her left shoulder.
"Today, in the name of 'Absolute Justice,' I will pass judgment on you," she said, quoting something Izumi had once told her. She slowly pulled out her ninja blade and pushed the body of the villain forward.
Thud—
Seeing the body fall to the ground, Ikeizumi slowly exhaled and said to a dumbfounded Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha, "No matter who the perpetrator is, even if he's a member of the Sarutobi clan or the Hokage's relative, 'Absolute Justice' will not show him any mercy, nor will it give him a pass for his sins."
The Konoha ninja that Ikeizumi had just killed was a special jōnin from the Sarutobi clan. She hadn't forgotten the mission that Senior Ikeizumi had given her. While carrying out Absolute Justice in the village, she also had to teach the two children, Sasuke and Naruto, and make them realize the correctness of Absolute Justice!
"But—" Naruto swallowed hard and pointed to a ninja who was lying on the ground, missing a hand and wailing in pain. "He shouldn't be a villain, right?"
Naruto remembered very clearly that when Ikeizumi was fighting the Sarutobi clan ninja, this ninja suddenly intervened and tried to "break up the fight." But Senior Izumi didn't hesitate to turn her blade on him and cut off his right hand with a single slash!
That scene terrified Naruto. He had always thought that Izumi was a gentle older sister. But now, it seemed that her methods were very bloody.
"I just warned him not to obstruct the execution of justice, or he would be killed, but he pretended he didn't hear me," Izumi said as she pulled the shuriken out of her shoulder. The wound on her shoulder was deep enough to show the bone.
She endured the pain and said in a low voice, "Since he made his choice and sided with evil, I will also make my choice. By condoning evil, he is no longer innocent."
"In the eyes of 'Absolute Justice,' his actions are aiding and abetting evil. 'Absolute Justice' will clear all obstacles in its path, no matter who they are."
These were all things that Senior Ikeizumi had told her before. Now she was relaying them to Naruto and Sasuke as someone who had already experienced it. This made Izumi feel a very strange feeling. It made her want to imitate Senior Ikeizumi in every way.
For example—even though her shoulder hurt a lot now, she would endure the pain and not make a sound.
Yes!
Senior Ikeizumi was that kind of tough guy!
Speaking of which, had Senior Ikeizumi not returned yet, even after all this time?
One day later.
Outside the capital of the Land of Fire.
"Whew!" Hiruzen Sarutobi was crouching on a thick tree branch, breathing heavily. The last time his old bones had gone through such a vigorous activity was on the night of the Nine-Tails incident. Now, a few years later, he was even older. Rushing from Konoha Village to the capital of the Land of Fire in one go made him feel a bit powerless. If he were younger, he wouldn't even be out of breath.
"…I guess I can't deny that I'm getting old."
Hiruzen mumbled to himself in a voice only he could hear. Behind him were a large number of Anbu.
"Lord Hokage?" an Anbu ninja asked.
Hiruzen's face seemed normal on the surface. He hid his fatigue, straightened up, and looked at the capital of the Land of Fire. "Go into the capital! Protect the Daimyō!"
"Yes! Lord Hokage!"
The defenses of the capital were practically non-existent for these ninja. Hiruzen led his Anbu ninja and infiltrated the capital without the samurai even noticing them.
After only a few steps inside the capital, Hiruzen could sense that the atmosphere was wrong. Every pedestrian on the street was in a hurry, and he could see the unease on their faces. Many shops on the streets had even closed down. He could hear funeral music from a distance. The entire capital of the Land of Fire had a very eerie atmosphere.
This made Hiruzen's heart sink.
"This is bad…" As he quickly led his Anbu ninja toward the Daimyō's Mansion, he passed by a large noble clan compound. When he looked inside, he saw samurai carrying bodies out. Each body was covered with a white cloth.
Hiruzen immediately stopped, and the Anbu behind him also stopped. The ninja scared the samurai who were carrying the bodies.
Hiruzen's face was very complicated. He asked directly, "Were these nobles… all killed?"
As the Hokage, his aura was indeed very strong, and the shadow that the ninja had cast over the capital of the Land of Fire had yet to dissipate. A samurai swallowed hard and quickly replied, "It was a ninja named 'Uchiha Ikeizumi,' my lord."
The heart that Hiruzen had been holding in his throat died completely. He felt a bit dry in his mouth. He asked again, "Ikeizumi Uchiha, how many people did he kill?"
"I don't know." The samurai shook his head. "I only heard that many people died yesterday. That ninja, my lord, was killing from day until night, and from night until this morning, before he finally stopped."
"When I went out today, I felt like the air I was breathing smelled of blood. The adults at the Daimyō's Mansion didn't say much. They just told us in the military police to dispose of the bodies."
Wait a minute!
Hiruzen suddenly noticed something strange—why did this samurai call Uchiha Ikeizumi "my lord ninja"? Didn't the Daimyō's people call Ikeizumi a ninja villain before? But he was just a samurai in the military police. Hiruzen felt that this was the most information he could get from him.
He quickly said his thanks and instantly disappeared with his Anbu ninja.
After a while.
The Daimyō's Mansion.
One after another, the Anbu ninja from Konoha, like a flock of crows falling from the sky, stood at various corners of the mansion and hid themselves. Their different positions had already surrounded the entire Daimyō's Mansion.
Hiruzen, meanwhile, stood in front of the Daimyō's Mansion's gate. Only two Anbu ninja followed him.
"There's a smell of blood… although it's not as strong as the noble compounds I passed by earlier, it's not far from it."
As Hiruzen's nose twitched slightly, his mood became even heavier. And for some reason, the large Daimyō's Mansion in front of him had no samurai or ninja guards! Could it be that the Daimyō wasn't at all worried about his safety?
Or could it be that… Hiruzen didn't dare to think any further. He walked straight in.
"Lord—Lord Hokage?!" A clear voice made Hiruzen pause. When he looked, he saw Anko Mitarashi.
"…Anko?"
Hiruzen didn't have time to react before he saw Uchiha Ikeizumi standing next to her!
"Ikeizumi!"
Hiruzen felt that his bad premonition had become a reality. When he saw Uchiha Ikeizumi inside the Daimyō's Mansion, and when he saw the blood on his clothes, he knew that the Fire Daimyō might have already met his end!
But before Hiruzen could say anything, a tentative question came from the other side. "You're… the Third Hokage of Konoha Village? Hiruzen Sarutobi?"
Hiruzen turned his head again and saw a man who looked a bit like the Fire Daimyō. He recognized him—the Daimyō's eldest son, Takahito On'in!
He saw the tired expression on the man's face and his cautious demeanor.
Hiruzen was silent. He opened his mouth, but he didn't know what to say. He could only nod slightly to the Daimyō's eldest son, indicating that he was the Hokage of Konoha.
The Daimyō's eldest son seemed to have seen what was on the mind of the visiting Hokage. He forced a smile on his stiff, tired face and said to Hiruzen, "Father paid the price for his wrongdoings yesterday."
Hiruzen's eyes widened. "!!!"
It's true!!!
A look of utter horror flashed in the depths of Hiruzen's eyes. He felt as if the sky had fallen. Even the two Anbu ninja behind him and the ones hiding all around them had a slight change in their expressions.
In the next second, one gaze after another focused on Uchiha Ikeizumi. Every gaze was filled with disbelief.
This Uchiha, who believed in 'Absolute Justice,' had truly assassinated the Fire Daimyō with his own hands!
And! After killing the Fire Daimyō, he was still in the capital, even in the Daimyō's Mansion, in broad daylight!
This…
Was there a more arrogant ninja than this? Was there a more extreme Uchiha than this? Compared to Uchiha Madara, who had a philosophical disagreement with the First Hokage, Uchiha Ikeizumi probably made him seem not so extreme.
At the same time, they also understood the deeper meaning of the Daimyō's eldest son's words. Especially the phrase "wrongdoings." Did this mean that the Daimyō's eldest son, whose own father had been killed, chose to swallow his pride?! This would also explain why Uchiha Ikeizumi was still standing in the Daimyō's Mansion in broad daylight, and the Daimyō's eldest son wasn't doing anything about it.
Hiss!
Hiruzen's scalp was tingling. He couldn't even imagine how all the nobles of the Land of Fire would view him, the Hokage of Konoha. They would surely think that he was the one who ordered Ikeizumi to do this, right? Especially when he saw the Daimyō's eldest son's eyes slightly dart away from his gaze, Hiruzen felt as if the sky had fallen.
He probably wouldn't be able to wash away the injustice even if he jumped into the Konoha River.
It's a misunderstanding! I, the Hokage of Konoha, am also a victim of Absolute Justice!
"Ikeizumi!" Hiruzen's emotions were in a turmoil. He looked at Uchiha Ikeizumi, his old face barely holding it together. If the Daimyō's eldest son wasn't standing there, he would have probably broken down!
"What in the world are you doing?" Hiruzen's words were squeezed out through his gritted teeth. "That's the Daimyō, the Daimyō of the Land of Fire! The ruler of a country! Konoha ninja are the subjects of the ruler! They are the swords that expand the country's borders and the shields that protect the country! They are not venomous snakes that turn around and bite the ruler!"
Hiruzen couldn't describe what he was feeling right now. He felt that his eyes must be red, and his fingertips were trembling with anger.
"And you…"
Hiruzen felt like he couldn't breathe. He had thought that killing a few hundred people in Tanzaku Gai was the most Uchiha Ikeizumi was capable of. And since those few hundred people were indeed villains, Hiruzen had decided not to hold that against Ikeizumi.
But who would have thought that after leaving Tanzaku Gai, Uchiha Ikeizumi would pull off something that would shock the entire ninja world for him, the Hokage!
"And you chose to become that venomous snake! You are no longer carrying out justice; you are destroying the order and rules of the entire ninja world! Do you want to become an enemy of the entire ninja world?!"
Hiruzen's tone was full of incomprehension.
Uchiha Ikeizumi's eyes were calm, without a single ripple. "Haven't I been an enemy of the entire ninja world before this? Especially in your eyes, 'Absolute Justice' is a concept you can't tolerate, isn't it?"
Hiruzen was taken aback by the two simple sentences.
"Ikeizumi! That's different!"
Hiruzen calmed down and said with a grim face, "Before this, your justice was only an enemy of evil. But after this, both evil and order will become your enemies!"
"The ninja world… cannot tolerate a ninja who assassinates a Daimyō!"
Uchiha Ikeizumi said indifferently, "Correction. I walked in here in broad daylight and, in the name of 'Absolute Justice,' killed the evil Fire Daimyō, ending the source of that evil."
"'Absolute Justice' never does something as despicable as assassination. Even when it raises its blade against evil, it does so openly."
Hiruzen was speechless.
No. What's the point of correcting that? Did you just ignore all the things I said?
Hiruzen was so angry that he was half-dead. The biggest mess Uchiha Ikeizumi had made before was killing the Daimyō's son. Although it was a big mess, it didn't have a very deep impact, otherwise Hiruzen wouldn't have had the confidence to cover it up until now.
But this time, the mess he had made was so big that it was as if he had brought the entire sky down. The mess was so big that he, the Hokage, was powerless to do anything.
And yet, the person who had caused all of this looked completely unconcerned.
How could Hiruzen not be angry? How could he keep it together?!
"Ikeizumi, I have truly been too lenient with you in Konoha!" Hiruzen's expression was uncertain. Just as he was about to say something else through gritted teeth, he was cut off by Uchiha Ikeizumi.
"Third Hokage," Uchiha Ikeizumi said coldly. "The Daimyō died from a judgment of 'Absolute Justice.' Even his eldest son has no opinion about it. But you, the Hokage of Konoha, are feeling sympathy for the death of a villain. Do you, the dignified Third Hokage, not have a correct sense of good and evil?"
Hiruzen's eyes widened. "???"
He couldn't help but look at the Daimyō's eldest son next to him and was shocked to see that he was slightly nodding. "Lord Hokage, what my father did was wrong, so you don't have to defend him."
Hiruzen was stunned.
"Your Highness?" Hiruzen suddenly reacted. He said solemnly, "Perhaps Your Highness has some misunderstanding about Konoha. Konoha Village has always been on the side of the Daimyō's Mansion. Ikeizumi's 'Absolute Justice' does not represent Konoha's Will of Fire."
He felt that the Daimyō's eldest son was worried that he and Ikeizumi were in this together. So, Hiruzen sincerely stated his position. Ninja didn't produce anything. If they didn't have the support of the Daimyō or the nobles, he couldn't imagine how long Konoha's economy would last.
The Daimyō's eldest son was taken aback. He couldn't help but look at Uchiha Ikeizumi, who was expressionless, and then at Hiruzen Sarutobi, whose face was as dark as the bottom of a pot. He was a little tempted.
However, when he recalled the bloody day in the capital, the noble clans that had been wiped out, the bloody bodies, and the tragic death of his father, as well as the cowardly words he had said in front of so many people, and then breathed in the faint smell of blood that still lingered in the air, the slightest bit of temptation he had just felt instantly vanished.
He broke out in a cold sweat. He forced a smile.
"Lord Hokage, my father was indeed blinded by the power of the Daimyō, which led him to do many foolish things. You really don't have to defend him. As my father's eldest son, I only want to spend the rest of my life making up for the mistakes he made."
"With this, I hope to bring back a correct sense of morality and ethics and a true 'Absolute Justice' to the Land of Fire, which has lost them."
The Daimyō's eldest son's voice was hoarse as he spoke. This almost caused a short circuit in Hiruzen's mind.
.....
For advanced chapters:
Get early access to 80 advanced chapters before anyone else!
Join now: Patreon com/Chaos_God