Chapter 132: Tsunade: "You're Too Narrow-Minded, Jiraiya!"
The capital of the Land of Fire.
The Daimyō's Mansion.
The Anbu ninja who were hiding everywhere in the mansion no longer needed to hide. Hiruzen gathered them and sent some of them to investigate how many nobles had died in the capital yesterday.
At the same time, he sent some Anbu ninja to protect the Daimyō's eldest son, because he was worried that Uchiha Ikeizumi would suddenly attack him.
He didn't know the exact number until they started investigating. When he checked, he was shocked. It took the Anbu ninja less than half a day to get a clear count of the dead. They gave Hiruzen a shocking number—"1,549 people"!
Upon seeing this terrifying number, Hiruzen immediately felt dizzy. Ninety percent of these people were nobles in the capital! This involved countless famous and well-established noble clans.
In other words, in a single day, Uchiha Ikeizumi had made enemies of all the nobles in the capital for Konoha!
Oh, wait…
Some noble clans had been completely wiped out. Not a single person was left alive. Hiruzen wondered if the "worms" in those unlucky clans had been sliced in half and if the "eggs" had been scrambled.
If that was the case, then making enemies of those noble clans didn't matter anymore.
"Whew…" Hiruzen was in a daze. He waved his hand and said to the Anbu ninja, "Send all the information you've gathered back to Konoha Village and tell Homura and Koharu!"
"Yes, Lord Hokage!"
"Wait!" Hiruzen suddenly came to his senses. He immediately asked, "Where did Ikeizumi and his ninja cat go?!"
At his words, the Anbu ninja looked at each other. One of them said, "Lord Hokage, we already informed you half an hour ago that Uchiha Ikeizumi had left the Daimyō's Mansion. But we don't know where he went."
Hiruzen was speechless. "..."
He thought hard, trying to remember if he had that memory. He did remember that an Anbu ninja had informed him. But at that time, he was in a daze. His mental resilience was already strong enough that he hadn't fainted from anger. So, the Anbu ninja's report had gone in one ear and out the other.
"Ikeizumi…"
Hiruzen thought of a terrifying possibility. "He wouldn't think that killing 1,500 people wasn't enough, would he?!"
Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Hiruzen immediately sent a few more Anbu ninja to find Uchiha Ikeizumi and see what he was doing.
Not long after, Hiruzen received more bad news. All his bad premonitions had come true.
An Anbu ninja who had rushed back to him reported, "Lord Hokage, Uchiha Ikeizumi has started another killing spree! He wiped out seven noble clans in the southern part of the capital! And, hundreds of samurai from the military police in the southern part of the capital were almost all killed by Uchiha Ikeizumi!"
"Besides that… more than a dozen wealthy merchants and thirty 'innocent bystanders' were also subjected to Uchiha Ikeizumi's 'Justice Judgment'! Most of them were killed. Only a small number of them, who had lost a limb, were thrown into prison and barely saved their lives."
The Anbu ninja paused, took a deep breath, and continued, "In addition to that, some rogue ninja and Konoha ninja who were on missions in the capital were also killed by him."
"In just a short amount of time… he killed more than five hundred people!"
Hiruzen stood still as if he had been struck by lightning. He didn't question the Anbu ninja as to why they didn't stop Ikeizumi when they found him, because he knew that they couldn't. Unless he, the Hokage, went there himself, he could only barely stop Ikeizumi's extreme actions. He couldn't possibly keep an eye on him all the time, could he?
"Asuma…"
"Asuma!"
Hiruzen closed his eyes in pain. Who would have thought that his most rebellious son would cause such a huge problem for him, his father, in the last moments of his life? But could he blame a son who had already passed away?
Besides, the initial intention of Asuma's foolish actions was actually for the sake of Konoha. It was just that he had used the wrong method. Or rather… he had underestimated Ikeizumi.
When the information from the capital of the Land of Fire was sent to Konoha Village from thousands of miles away, Homura Mitokado, who was temporarily in charge of Konoha for Hiruzen, couldn't sit still.
His old face was filled with shock, and his eyes behind his glasses were full of disbelief.
"The Daimyō was killed by Uchiha Ikeizumi."
"Over a thousand nobles of the Land of Fire were also killed by him."
"The Daimyō's eldest son decided to put the matter behind him and not seek revenge for his father's death."
"Hiruzen couldn't stop Ikeizumi in the end. Or rather, he arrived too late. And when he wanted to make a move against Ikeizumi, he gave up because of the Daimyō's eldest son's attitude."
"This…"
Homura, whose face was filled with shock, didn't know what to do. He immediately called for Koharu to come back. To his surprise, not only did Koharu walk in, but so did Jiraiya and Tsunade.
Before Homura could ask when the two of them had returned to Konoha, Koharu immediately asked, "Is there any new information from Hiruzen?"
Homura was silent for a moment. He silently handed a document to Koharu. Koharu took it and gave it a quick scan. Her old face immediately changed.
"U! CHI! HA! Ikeizumi!"
She gripped the paper so tightly that she almost crumpled a corner of it. Her eyes were filled with rage. "He is indeed Konoha's biggest disaster! And there is no one else! The dirty deeds that Danzo did back then are considered good deeds compared to what he did!"
"What is he trying to do? Is he trying to destroy Konoha Village? Does he have the Will of Fire in his eyes? Does he have the concept of a ninja village in his eyes? Is he a wolf with a rebellious streak?"
"Haa... haa..."
She was breathing heavily like a bellows. It was hard for her to imagine how angry she would have been if she had been in the capital of the Land of Fire.
"Let me see."
Tsunade, who was next to her, roughly snatched the document. As she looked at it, Jiraiya, who was next to her, also leaned in to look, but Tsunade disgustedly pushed him away with a slap.
A look of shock flashed in Tsunade's beautiful eyes. She blurted out, "That kid, he really dared to kill the Daimyō?!"
"Kill what?!"
"Killed who?!"
Jiraiya, who had been pushed away and was now against the wall, was so scared that he slid down to the floor. His face was full of horror. He leaned in again, his eyes fixed on the words on the document.
Jiraiya's eyes widened. "!!!"
Even as a best-selling author, Jiraiya couldn't find any words to describe the shock he was feeling inside. A Konoha ninja assassinating the Fire Daimyō—this was an unheard-of event. There was definitely no one like him before, and there would be no one like him after, right?
No!
According to the description on the document, Uchiha Ikeizumi didn't even assassinate the Daimyō. He just walked into the capital in broad daylight, and then brazenly entered the Daimyō's Mansion, and finally, killed his father, the Fire Daimyō, in front of his eldest son.
And the noble clans, one after another, the ninja, the commoners, the wealthy merchants... all died under his 'Absolute Justice!'
The Anbu ninja's report was very detailed. Just by looking at the words on the page, Jiraiya felt as if he was in the capital, which had been turned into a sea of blood and had a very oppressive atmosphere.
Uchiha Ikeizumi, that genius with two kekkei genkai… he was killing people as if they were nothing! No one could control him!
"The old man…" Jiraiya said with a very complicated expression. "It seems that he has given up on stopping Uchiha Ikeizumi. Since the Daimyō's children have decided not to seek revenge and even want to pretend that nothing happened, the old man, who is an outsider, can only swallow his pride as well."
Then, Jiraiya looked at Tsunade. "Tsunade, I remember that you were quite fond of his 'Absolute Justice.' Seeing how extreme and out of control he is now, do you still approve of his justice?"
"Jiraiya, do you think that kid is really out of control?" Tsunade simply asked him in return. "Do you think his actions are so extreme that they're beyond redemption?"
Jiraiya was silent for a moment. "It's not that he's beyond redemption, but his actions are something that not everyone can tolerate."
He knew what Tsunade wanted to say. It was nothing more than this: No one that Uchiha Ikeizumi had killed was an innocent person, not even the Fire Daimyō.
But the problem was that this world wasn't black and white! The consequences of some people's deaths were more severe than their lives.
Jiraiya couldn't imagine how other ninja would view the Daimyō now that a Konoha ninja had killed him. How would they view the nobles? How would the commoners view the people on top of them?
Uchiha Ikeizumi had opened this Pandora's box. The world was going to fall into chaos!
"Tsunade, he broke the rules," Jiraiya sighed. "Sometimes, the old rules might be wrong, but they're not necessarily bad, because they can restrain a lot of people's desires. But once they are broken, desires will be released, and it's hard to imagine what the world will become."
Tsunade said, "You've got it backward."
Jiraiya was stunned.
"It's not because what you said was broken that the world will fall into chaos. It's because what you said has always been a dark cloud over the ninja world, and it's what has made this world so chaotic."
Tsunade paused and continued, "Jiraiya, is there a possibility that the ninja world is already very twisted? Many people's thoughts are also already very sick."
When Jiraiya opened his mouth to say something, Tsunade interrupted him directly. "Perhaps, it's time for you to focus your attention on other things instead of on Orochimaru."
"Your eyes only see an Orochimaru who has messed up Konoha, but you don't see what the entire ninja world is like."
"That Uchiha Ikeizumi kid showed me what the real ninja world is like, so I don't think what he's doing is wrong."
Tsunade crossed her arms and said blankly, "Letting a person who keeps committing evil deeds live is an act of injustice."
"Why don't we see the same privilege of forgiveness given to commoners? Is it because their status is special that they can have privileges?"
"Why give mercy to the evil people who are on top, but not to the victims?"
She stared at Jiraiya. "If you still think that what that Uchiha Ikeizumi kid is doing is wrong, then our philosophies are different, and our moral views are different. It also means that your vision is too high, and your perspective is too narrow."
After saying so much in one breath, Tsunade let out a heavy sigh. She recalled what she had seen and heard on that night in Tanzaku Gai. The psychological impact of it had yet to leave her.
At this moment, Jiraiya couldn't say a single word. He had only heard from Tsunade's words about how shocking the evil in Tanzaku Gai was, but since he had never seen it with his own eyes, it was hard for him to feel the suffocating anger. He felt that Tsunade had been influenced a bit too much by Uchiha Ikeizumi.
Jiraiya was a bit confused. He felt that the Tsunade in front of him was a stranger. He wondered if an adult's thoughts could really be changed so easily by a young person.
But Jiraiya understood that if he were to anger Tsunade now, it would likely cause their long-standing friendship to turn sour instantly.
Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, who were next to them, looked at each other. They could both see the shock in each other's eyes.
No.
Uchiha Ikeizumi and Tsunade shouldn't have been in contact for long, right? They should have only met briefly in Tanzaku Gai, right?
But why was Tsunade acting as if she had already accepted Ikeizumi's 'Absolute Justice?' They could both see the horror in each other's eyes.
It was understandable that young children like Izumi Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, and Sasuke Uchiha would be influenced by 'Absolute Justice,' because this kind of black-and-white, two-sided, extreme thinking was very appealing to children. They could also barely understand that Inoichi Yamanaka was influenced by 'Absolute Justice,' after all, the Yamanaka clan and Uchiha Ikeizumi were very deeply intertwined. They were almost inseparable.
But the problem was... Tsunade being influenced by this extreme ideology was very shocking to them!
"'Absolute Justice' is... more terrifying than we thought," Homura mumbled to Koharu.
Koharu's face was as dark as a storm cloud.
Two days later.
The capital of the Land of Fire.
The simple Daimyō's funeral from the Daimyō's Mansion made it impossible to hide the fact that the Daimyō had been killed. The commoners in the capital, which had already become a sea of blood, had thought that the events of the past few days were shocking enough to numb them.
Who would have thought that there was an even more shocking secret? The Konoha ninja "Uchiha Ikeizumi," who had caused a bloodbath in the capital, had already killed the Fire Daimyō a few days ago!
And the Daimyō's Mansion acted as if nothing had happened! Ikeizumi even showed up at the Daimyō's funeral!
One piece of news after another shocked countless people into a daze. They felt as if they were in a ninja genjutsu, unable to tell if it was reality or an illusion.
And when the news swept through the entire capital like a hurricane, it inevitably spread to other parts of the Land of Fire. From the lucky nobles who had not been "cared for" by Uchiha Ikeizumi to the commoners who had nothing to do with these events, they all learned the news through various channels.
"The Daimyō died at the hands of a ninja…"
At this moment, in the capital of the Land of Fire, all the members of the Nakamura clan, which had a good reputation, were gathered together.
"Even Lord Daimyō was killed by him. And Lord Daimyō's children have no complaints about it," the Nakamura clan leader said, his face filled with horror and lingering fear. His hands were trembling, and he swallowed hard. "From now on, if anyone in our Nakamura clan dares to commit evil deeds outside…"
His clouded eyes were filled with killing intent. "I will personally kill him! Even if he is my son or my grandson!"
All the members of the Nakamura clan bowed their heads. Not a single person expressed a dissenting opinion. Everyone was shocked by Uchiha Ikeizumi's iron-blooded methods. The fact that he dared to kill the Daimyō, and their Nakamura clan only had three members killed, was already incredibly lucky!
"Lord leader…" a clan member said, "I suggest that we not hold a funeral for the three clan members who were killed by the ninja for their evil deeds. We should expel them from the Nakamura clan. Their bodies should be thrown into the crematorium, and they should be buried somewhere else!"
No one refuted his statement. The Nakamura clan leader even nodded. "Indeed, they should be expelled from the Nakamura clan! Their actions have crossed the line and are a disgrace to our family!"
Similar scenes were constantly playing out in many of the noble clans in the capital of the Land of Fire that had luckily survived.
The name "Uchiha Ikeizumi" had been deeply etched into the deepest part of every one of their psychological shadows! And it would never be erased for the rest of their lives!
.....
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