"Danzō-sama, as per your instructions, both Root and the Shimura clan have been fanning the flames of public opinion in Konoha."
Inside the Root headquarters, a masked Root operative knelt on one knee, reporting the day's situation to Shimura Danzō.
"Right now, the hostile rumors about the Uchiha clan are raging out of control—and the damage is becoming irreversible."
"I'm afraid that not even the Hokage could rein them in at this point."
"Danzō-sama, your objective has been achieved."
When the Root ninja finished his report, the old, constantly brooding face of Danzō finally curled into a thin, satisfied smile.
Danzō despised every "innately evil" Uchiha brat without distinction—
Including Uchiha Chizumi.
Including Uchiha Fugaku.
Including Uchiha Itachi…
To Danzō, anything that might hurt the Uchiha clan was worth his personal involvement. Of course, "involvement" never meant helping them; it meant striking from the shadows, adding fuel to the fire, and reveling in their downfall.
"So the one who will someday massacre the entire clan, Uchiha Itachi…," Danzō's eyes narrowed. "Yes, he's a rather special Uchiha. Which is precisely why I must push him to stand in open opposition to his clan—so that he's utterly isolated by them."
Nothing would please Danzō more than if Itachi's "future atrocity" happened ahead of schedule—
Preferably tonight, turning it into a night of annihilation for the Uchiha clan.
He would have quite a celebration.
However…
"Uchiha Chizumi… his eyes…" Danzō's fists clenched, the smug smile fading into a stormy scowl. "Has he truly awakened the same legendary eyes as Shisui? Yet the power he wields differs from Shisui's?"
The thought of Chizumi's dōjutsu—which could peer into a person's "past and future evils"—sent a chill down Danzō's spine.
In Chizumi's presence, no one would have secrets; a single boy could master the most complete intelligence network in the shinobi world.
Still, compared with Shisui's "Kotoamatsukami,"
Chizumi's ability wasn't quite as fearsome, was it?
Danzō was wary, but not afraid.
Even so, sinister ideas began to sprout.
Shrouded in darkness, he muttered, "For an innately evil Uchiha brat to possess power he should never have—this is… unsettling."
…
Some street in Konoha.
"I'm telling you, the Uchiha compound must be awash in blood by now! That Uchiha Itachi is out of his mind—the whole clan's nuts—and he's gone on a killing spree!"
A "Konoha civilian" was embellishing today's rumors with dramatic flair.
His performance left the handful of listeners wide‑eyed.
Just then, someone interrupted:
"Hold on—you just said Itachi wiped out the entire clan. If that's true, who's standing right behind you?"
The "civilian" froze.
He turned his head and felt icy sweat bead down his back. His pupils shrank.
Uchiha Chizumi!!!—the name exploded in his mind.
"Aburame Keiya." The name rolled slowly off Chizumi's tongue.
As one of Root's elite, Aburame Keiya's breath nearly caught in his throat.
Before he could react further, Chizumi's voice continued:
"Six months ago, you transported a large shipment of addictive contraband for Root and peddled it on the black market—an act of extreme malice."
"Two years ago, you secretly murdered a Konoha shinobi who had filed a motion to impeach Shimura Danzō, then killed the man's wife and daughter and destroyed the evidence."
"Five years ago—"
With every line Chizumi uttered, shock clawed across Aburame Keiya's eyes.
The rumors were true! Chizumi's strange eyes really could expose a person's past sins—
Even his own identity was laid bare!
"He's a Root operative?!" Izumi, who had rushed over, stared at Keiya in disbelief. To her, every Root shinobi Chizumi‑sama identified was invariably "bad news."
Keiya knew things had gone south.
Revealed, he let countless tiny insects crawl from his fingertips.
The actual Konoha civilians nearby sensed the tension.
They stumbled backward, desperate to leave this place of trouble—
Mostly to distance themselves from Uchiha Chizumi, the "plague god" of the Police Force.
Sasuke, bringing up the rear, could feel how off everything felt.
He eyed the taut‑faced Keiya.
"Is he a criminal?" Sasuke whispered to Izumi.
Keeping Sasuke slightly behind her, Izumi nodded warily. "If Chizumi‑senpai says he's a criminal, then that's what he is—and not just any criminal, a deeply wicked one."
Sasuke was baffled. Why did Izumi trust this Uchiha Chizumi so implicitly?
Yet he sensed a real arrest was about to unfold before him.
Staring at Chizumi's back, Sasuke wondered what skill this man—who once tried to kill his brother—possessed, that both his mother and Itachi had warned him to keep away.
"Aburame Keiya, your evil reeks to the point of nausea."
With every step Chizumi advanced, Keiya's instincts drove him one step back.
"In the name of Absolute Justice, I will execute you."
The instant those words fell, Keiya struck first, knowing there'd be no peaceful end.
He knew Chizumi was powerful—
Even Danzō-sama hadn't been able to subdue him quickly.
To escape Chizumi's gaze,
he had to hit first and hard!
"Secret Technique: Insects Sphere!"
A surging mass of black insects—hundreds, then thousands—erupted from Keiya's arms, sweeping toward Chizumi like a living curtain.
Yet however fast Keiya was, Chizumi was faster.
The moment Chizumi saw the red frame hovering above Keiya's head,
he was already a dead man in those Sharingan eyes.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique."
Just as the dark swarm was about to engulf him, Chizumi spewed a massive fireball—
And with one hand formed a seal.
A molten sheen rippled over his skin as he walked straight into the blaze and the insects.
The flames could not harm him; the insects evaporated before touching him.
Keiya's pupils constricted—
But before he could act again, his vision filled with a hellish hound sculpted from lava.
‑‑‑BOOM!!!
Half his head vanished.
Sasuke, standing farthest back, stared slack‑jawed at the scene.
He'd expected Chizumi to arrest the man—
Who could have imagined the fight would explode in an instant,
and end in death?
"Sasuke‑kun, that is Chizumi‑senpai's 'Absolute Justice,'" Izumi whispered. "Any evil in the shinobi world must be eradicated by the most decisive means."