As soon as Asuma finished speaking, the Daimyō of the Land of Fire froze in shock.
His wide eyes, filled with disbelief and confusion, locked on Asuma's somber face.
My favorite son... murdered in Konoha, thousands of miles away?!
Asuma's words echoed endlessly in his mind.
The light faded from his eyes. He wavered on his feet, and Asuma quickly stepped forward to steady him.
"Please accept my condolences, Daimyō-sama," he said softly.
This time, Asuma was the one offering those words.
The Daimyō stood frozen in place for a good thirty seconds.
When he finally snapped out of it, grief and fury flooded his gaze.
His clenched fists turned bone-white, veins bulging on his temples.
His usually pale, refined face was now red with rage.
"Hah… hah…"
He took a deep, shaky breath and glared at Asuma.
Clenching his jaw to keep himself together, he forced out each word:
"You said the one who killed Kyūsuke and Nauma… what was his name again?"
"Uchiha Chizumi."
The Daimyō squinted as if trying to recall something.
"Chizumi… that name... I've heard it before."
"He's pretty well known," Asuma explained. "Not just in Konoha, but across the entire shinobi world. A member of the Uchiha clan, a rare genius born with two Kekkei Genkai. He made a name for himself during the Third Great Ninja War."
"…Right. I remember now."
The Daimyō nodded slowly. "Wasn't he in the Uchiha Police Force? I think your Hokage once mentioned him—called him a Konoha ninja who lives by something called 'Absolute Justice.'"
Asuma was a little surprised. He didn't expect his old man to ever bring up Chizumi to the Daimyō—but then again, it wasn't too strange. Chizumi was too infamous not to come up in any conversation about Konoha.
"Has the Hokage arrested him yet?"
Asuma shook his head. "No. That's why I came here myself to tell you."
The Daimyō frowned. "Why not?"
"My father's probably afraid that confronting Chizumi directly will cause collateral damage. Taking him down would come at a heavy price," Asuma said.
"And... the older he gets, the more hesitant he becomes. His resolve just isn't what it used to be. At this point, I don't even think he knows what to do."
"That's why I've decided to make the choice for him."
Asuma met the Daimyō's eyes. "I don't care about becoming Hokage. I don't care about the politics inside Konoha. But I care deeply about the village that raised me."
"As long as Chizumi stays in Konoha, it will never know peace. His so-called 'Absolute Justice' is just a daily bloodbath. People are dying—too many of them."
"Even my brother, Sarutobi Shinnosuke, was killed by him. And my father still managed to turn a blind eye to it."
Asuma's heavy words helped the Daimyō put a clearer image to his son's killer—
A man with no expression, hiding behind the label of 'justice' to kill as he pleased.
But Chizumi was strong. So strong that not even the Hokage could stop him.
The Daimyō inhaled deeply, but his chest still burned with grief.
He bit down on his tongue to keep from losing it again.
"That man… when he killed Kyūsuke, did he also justify it in the name of 'justice'?"
"…Yes," Asuma replied truthfully. "He called out all the terrible things Kyūsuke had done, right in front of everyone."
"So he killed him... because of that?" the Daimyō asked bitterly.
"Most likely."
"Why?!" the Daimyō finally exploded. "If he'd killed a commoner, I might've understood! But Kyūsuke was my son! My heir! One of the highest nobles in the entire Land of Fire!"
"High-ranking nobles are supposed to be protected under special immunity! That's a constitutional law I passed over a decade ago!"
"As long as it isn't treason, Kyūsuke was untouchable—only I had the right to punish him!"
"Chizumi's a Konoha cop—how could he not know the laws of the Land of Fire? What gave him the right to ignore our laws and murder my son?"
"He's not even the chief of police! He's just a regular officer!"
"Does he even see the Land of Fire? Does he recognize Konoha? Does he even respect the Daimyō?!"
"Hah… hah…"
After letting it all out, the Daimyō was struck by a painful realization:
He might be the ruler of the land, but he didn't control the military.
The army belonged to the Hokage.
Even if he wanted to avenge his son, he had no soldiers to send.
What—was he supposed to hire some mercs to take on a ninja?
Ridiculous.
"…Asuma." He looked up again. "I'm going to need your help this time."
Asuma exhaled, his heart finally at ease.
If the Daimyō had shown the same hesitation as his father, he would've had to go it alone.
..
Konoha — Uchiha Clan Compound
Koharu's old frame trembled. She'd always known Chizumi's way of "executing justice" was brutal. If you only got beaten and jailed by him, you were lucky. Most didn't walk away.
She had always felt uneasy about it, but since the people he punished were guilty, she never got involved.
Until now—when it happened to one of her own clan.
She rushed forward and spotted the headless body. Not far away, she saw the severed head of a boy she immediately recognized.
It was one of her clan's youths—someone related to her by blood.
"Hiruzen! You just stood there and let him kill someone?! He murdered a kid still in the Academy right in front of you! Even if the boy did something wrong, did he really deserve to die? That can't have been a death-worthy crime!"
She bit back her emotions and turned to question the Hokage.
She remembered Ryūji—polite, respectful, and talented. With time, he would've at least become a special jōnin like his father.
Now he was just a corpse in two pieces.
She couldn't believe it.
"Koharu-sama," said an Anbu beside Hiruzen, "the Hokage couldn't intervene. That boy's crimes were worse than you know. Even if Chizumi hadn't killed him, the Land of Fire's laws would've sentenced him to over thirty years in prison."
Koharu focused on the masked Anbu.
His hair gave him away instantly.
Hatake Kakashi.
Even Hiruzen was shocked. Kakashi rarely spoke—but now he was defending him?
It comforted Hiruzen slightly, though something felt off.
Was Kakashi really defending him?
Or was he subtly justifying Chizumi's actions?
Just as Koharu's expression shifted with uncertainty, a voice interrupted from the side—
"Hey, granny, do you know that psycho murderer?"
It was Naruto.
"Murderer. Villain."
Naruto scowled. "How could you say he didn't deserve it?! He sneaked into his classmate's house out of jealousy and killed the whole family—four people! Their bodies are still lying in the morgue!"
His face turned pale just remembering the scene.
Koharu's eyes widened in shock.
"If you want to speak up for a twisted monster," Chizumi said coldly, "come talk to me directly."
Someone like Koharu might've scared the Uchiha clan head—but not Chizumi.
Her face flushed with embarrassment, then drained of color. She couldn't say another word.
She had no moral high ground left.
She'd just gone off defending a murderer.
Now she probably looked like a clown in front of both the Anbu and the Uchiha.
Some Uchiha shinobi even looked like they were holding back laughter.
Their expressions seemed to say, "So this is Konoha's leadership?"
Koharu gritted her teeth so hard she could almost taste blood.
"Hiruzen. Fugaku." She squeezed the words out. "I'm taking Ryūji's body back to the clan. That shouldn't be an issue, right?"
Fugaku hesitated. "Shouldn't we send it to the Yamanaka first? For memory extraction?"
"…No."
Koharu's face darkened. "Take the body. Now."
She didn't want to stay here even a second longer.
She was sure that if she stayed, the Uchiha—and even the Anbu—would break into laughter.
But before leaving, she paused by Hiruzen and whispered, "How's Naruto doing?"
She saw Hiruzen's face twist into the same complicated expression she wore.
She didn't need an answer.
Her cheek twitched.
"Hiruzen. You have to stop Chizumi."
Hiruzen replied, "First, we need to calm Naruto."
But…
It was too late.
Chizumi had already shaped Naruto's worldview.
And Ryūji's monstrous crimes had pushed him straight into Chizumi's camp.
Ryūji, at the very least, deserved 30% of the blame.
Hiruzen looked at Koharu with a trace of bitterness.
How do you manage your own clan?
Koharu: "???"
After Koharu left with the body, Naruto said goodbye to Chizumi and followed Hiruzen out. The Anbu also scattered.
"Phew…"
Fugaku sighed. The blood on the floor was a cold reminder of today's events.
"Chizumi—"
He looked up, but Chizumi was already walking away, just a fading silhouette.
Fugaku fell silent.
"Fugaku!"
A furious voice rang out.
Uchiha Setsuna had arrived with a group of radicals, all storming forward.
Fugaku frowned.
Setsuna didn't wait. "Two separate times now—Konoha's higher-ups barged into Uchiha territory! And you said nothing?! Do they think we're their playground?! What are we to them?!"
Fugaku was beyond tired.
He had just barely managed to convince the Hokage they weren't rebelling—and now this?
Expression flat, he replied, "Elder Setsuna, aren't we part of Konoha? If our people can walk the village streets freely, then others can walk ours."
With the Hokage and elders, he could play diplomat.
But with his own clan?
He was blunt.
Setsuna growled, then switched gears.
"Fugaku—your leadership is so soft that people are saying you're unfit to be clan head. The Uchiha have only gotten weaker under you. Maybe it's time to step down!"
Fugaku's eyes narrowed. A few moderates began to move behind him—but Setsuna still had the numbers.
In a clan that had bent over backwards for years, radical thinking had become the norm.
Tension filled the air.
But the Uchiha were never cleanly divided. If they were… they wouldn't be Uchiha.
Elsewhere, three Uchiha police officers were watching.
"We're so screwed," one muttered. "One's a washed-up has-been who couldn't even pull off a coup decades ago. The other's a clan head who sides with outsiders. No wonder he raised a freak like Itachi."
"Same argument, same drama, every time," another sighed. "It's always talk and no action. Waste of time."
"Honestly, we'd be better off patrolling the village."
"What do you think about Uchiha Chizumi?" the third suddenly asked.
"Chizumi? Strong as hell, but hard to deal with. He even killed a fellow clansman—that caused a huge scene back in the day."
"Yeah, but if he's really so impossible, how's that kid Uchiha Izumi still alive under him? And this whole 'Absolute Justice' thing... it's kinda fascinating."
"Yeah. Way more interesting than watching these two sides play politics like it's a stage play."
~~~
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