"Tsunade-sama, are you really going to say yes to Uchiha Chizumi and keep an eye on the Hyuga Main House's women and children?"
Inside a certain Konoha inn, Shizune—arms around Tonton—couldn't help asking, "If you do, doesn't that mean you'll be staying in the village a bit longer?"
"Doesn't matter."
Tsunade waved it off and flopped down, sitting with the easy, careless sprawl of someone who owned the room. Her loose robe had slipped enough to be a little revealing.
But it was just the two of them—and one tiny pig named Tonton—so she didn't care.
"That brat let us pick up a pile of money in Tanzaku Town," she went on. "I've been gambling for almost half a month and still haven't burned through it. I owe him one for that. I'm just paying back a favor."
Shizune muttered, "Maybe it's just me, but I don't think that's all you're thinking, Tsunade-sama."
Tsunade lifted her eyelids and shot her a look. "Oh? Then what do you think I'm thinking?"
In a small voice, Shizune said, "Doing this is your way of backing Uchiha Chizumi's 'Absolute Justice,' isn't it?"
Tsunade paused.
Shizune pressed on. "With your personality, you'd usually refuse outright in this kind of situation. Like when you insisted on leaving Konoha—no matter how hard the Third Hokage, Jiraiya-sama, or even Orochimaru tried to stop you, you still left."
"But this time you didn't turn Chizumi down. That means, deep down, you acknowledge his brand of justice. You even want to support him, but out of respect for your age you don't spell it out."
"So you support Uchiha Chizumi like this—same as the other times you rushed to the scene and stood up for him, talking back to the Hokage and the rest."
"—"
After a few seconds of silence, Tsunade rubbed her smooth chin and mumbled, "Am I that obvious?"
Just then, light footsteps sounded in the hallway, followed by a knock.
Tsunade arched a brow. "They're quick."
She tugged her robe up, covering what needed covering.
"It's not locked. Come in."
The sliding door eased open.
Hinata stood in the doorway with Hanabi's hand in hers, both of them timid as mice.
A few remaining members of the Hyuga Main House clustered behind them.
Under Tsunade's gaze, Hinata's voice came out barely louder than a mosquito. "Tsunade-sama—h-hello."
Tsunade dipped her chin in acknowledgment.
Then her eyes slid past Hinata and settled on the Special Jōnin of the Main House, Hyuga Keizuka. Her brows drew together. "What are you doing here, Special Jōnin?"
Keizuka blinked. "Ah—Chizumi-sama asked the Hyuga Main House to stay at this inn for the time being. I'm Main House as well."
"I promised that brat I'd protect the weak—women and children," Tsunade said. "Not a Special Jōnin."
She flicked her hand, then relented. "Forget it. Since you're here, you can run errands for me."
"No—wait—" she corrected herself. "I already have an errand-runner. You can be my errand-runner's errand-runner."
Shizune, clutching Tonton: "?"
Hyuga Keizuka: "…"
It wasn't like he had the option to refuse. Between Uchiha Chizumi and Tsunade, he had zero standing.
For the Hyuga bloodline's survival—
He'd just have to swallow his pride.
"Yes, Tsunade-sama."
He forced a smile at Shizune. "Shizune-sama, if you need anything, just say the word."
…
Huff… huff…
Mitarashi Anko was breathing hard. She looked battered; her left shoulder seemed dislocated, her entire left arm hanging limp.
A dark bruise stained her right cheek, the tie in her hair had slipped, and there were fresh tears in the fishnet underlayer beneath her coat.
Exhaustion showed in every line of her body.
On the ground lay dozens of severed black snakes. A massive white serpent—big enough to swallow a person whole—was wounded all over.
"Next time, deal with it yourself," the white snake hissed in human speech. "They're not trying to kill you. Don't summon me when it's a crowd like this."
With that, it burst into smoke and vanished.
With her summoning gone and a Root operative closing in—blade raised to strike her with the flat—
Anko could only bring up her right arm and catch the blow on a kunai.
But she was spent. Steel rang; the kunai flew out of her hand.
"You really did learn a lot from Orochimaru."
Utatane Koharu took a step forward, looking at the unarmed Anko with a blank face. "But my Root operatives are Konoha elites, drawn from the Utatane clan. Two of them are Special Jōnin, one is a Jōnin, and the rest are elite Chūnin."
"For you to hold out this long against six of them alone… no wonder Orochimaru took you as his student and served as your supervising Jōnin—though now you're just the disciple he cast aside."
Anko clenched her teeth. She was about to speak when a familiar voice carried from the distance, getting closer:
"Root! What do you think you're doing!?"
Both Anko and Koharu startled.
"…Izumi?!"
Anko turned at once. A familiar figure was sprinting toward them—Uchiha Izumi, the girl Anko had split from after leaving the dessert shop.
But their homes were in opposite directions. Why was Izumi here?
"Koharu-sama, I think that's Uchiha Chizumi's subordinate—the prodigy who awakened three-tomoe Sharingan at a very young age," a Root guard murmured.
"I know who she is."
Koharu's face darkened. If there was anyone in this entire village she had the biggest problem with, it was Uchiha Chizumi.
Second place went to his ninja cat.
Third place: his subordinates.
She still remembered that Uchiha girl mocking her to her face without the slightest hesitation—
Just like Chizumi: no manners, no sense of seniority.
Izumi reached Anko's side without a second thought. Seeing how ragged Anko looked, the young Uchiha's pretty face went cold.
Her eyes swept across the Root operatives.
Then she fixed on Koharu's tight expression.
"Advisor Koharu—this is how the head of Root treats fellow villagers? Attacking a Konoha shinobi without cause? What you did tonight is the naked act of a villain."
"Maybe Root really is a pit of darkness—turning Shimura Danzō into a font of evil, and dragging you down after him."
Izumi didn't bother being polite. In her eyes, Mitarashi Anko was one of her best comrades.
And Anko believed in her senior's Absolute Justice.
She had Chizumi-senpai's recognition, too.
Going after Anko was, in a sense, going after Absolute Justice itself.
"Don't pin baseless crimes on me," Koharu shot back, ice-cold. "I am not Danzō, and I won't play your game."
"If Root wanted her dead, do you think she'd still be breathing? Every one of my subordinates held back. Not one of them aimed to kill."
"We moved because Mitarashi Anko is a Special Jōnin of Konoha who refuses to shoulder a Special Jōnin's duties."
"She knows intel about the defector Orochimaru and refuses to share it with the village. If I don't detain her, how am I to know she isn't still loyal to him?"
Koharu paused, then pressed on. "What if she's Orochimaru's plant? If she betrays Konoha and causes great harm—who takes responsibility?"
She was just starting to feel pleased with herself for cowing the youngster—
When Izumi answered without blinking:
"I will."
Izumi's face tightened. At some point her Sharingan had opened, three tomoe spinning in her scarlet eyes. She stared straight into Koharu's.
"Mitarashi Anko is not some contingency Orochimaru left in Konoha. Chizumi-senpai already confirmed that."
"And—" Izumi's red gaze narrowed. "This is just your side of the story. I think you're hiding something."
"—Hah." Panting lightly, Anko added, "She tried to have her Root operatives take me alive and use genjutsu to pry me open. But since Chizumi refuses to share intel, I wasn't going to let Root get what they want—so we fought."
Izumi's hand tightened on her sword hilt.
So the village was very interested in Orochimaru—
But not to kill him. If they wanted him dead, they could just sit back and watch; Chizumi-senpai would do it.
They probably thought Orochimaru was useful. In their eyes, anything that benefited the village could be used—no matter how dangerous the person, no matter what they'd done.
Maybe that was one reason her senior had no patience for the village leadership.
The thought flashed through Izumi's mind.
At that moment, a new figure flickered into view—masked and uniformed like a Root operative, but not Root at all.
Anbu.
"Advisor Koharu," the Anbu murmured, "the Hokage requests that you not escalate this conflict."
Koharu's brows knit. What was that supposed to mean?
…
The Land of Rain.
Obito was sweating through his sleeves, cold damp slick on his palms. He subtly wiped them inside his robe.
The one eye visible through the mask looked calm, but his face beneath it had twisted into a rictus, facial muscles twitching out of his control.
—Uchiha Obito. She actually said the name. How does she know? Why say it to my face?
—Has she discovered my secret? Does she know "Uchiha Madara" isn't Madara?
—Is she warning me? Threatening me?
Wild, impossible thoughts stampeded through Obito's head.
He'd gone all the way to the Land of Fire to kill Jūzō Biwa precisely to keep Konan from learning the truth.
He hadn't managed to kill Jūzō, but surely he'd scared him off coming back to Akatsuki?
So how did this woman learn the name "Uchiha Obito"?
"Uchiha Obito," he said, forcing his voice to stay cool and rasping, staring Konan down with that single eye. "I recall the name. A talented kid of the Uchiha. I kept an eye on him for a time."
"Unfortunately, fate toyed with him. He died in the Third Great Ninja War. And yet you speak his name to me now."
He narrowed his eye and added, "Someone must be borrowing his identity to deceive you. To fool Akatsuki. Bold of them."
Chizumi didn't feed me fake intel? Konan felt the question spike in her mind.
Because "Madara" sounded so utterly sure of himself.
Or was he really Uchiha Obito—playing dumb, refusing to admit the truth had been dragged into the light?
"Perhaps we need to speed up recruiting and fundraising," Nagato said suddenly, his voice thin with illness. "With Uchiha Chizumi in the picture, the future is more uncertain. If we keep dragging our feet, something unexpected may happen."
He shifted the topic, keeping Konan from pushing further, keeping her from cornering their "Madara."
Konan frowned slightly and glanced at Nagato's impassive face.
Obito, inside, breathed easier. He figured his poise had fooled them again.
Whether the woman believed him or not, Nagato, at least, seemed to.
"Advancing the timeline makes sense," Obito said, arms crossed, expression flat. "But not because of that brat Chizumi. He's not the only variable in the ninja world."
A lie.
Obito's thoughts matched Nagato's, but he couldn't say that out loud. It didn't fit the persona of Uchiha Madara.
After a few more perfunctory exchanges, he turned on his heel and left, face a mask of serenity.
…
A few minutes later—
"Why stop me from exposing him on the spot?" Konan asked. "A few more questions and he would've slipped. I could see it—the holes were already there."
Nagato didn't look at her. He stared at a stalactite and spoke slowly. "If he wants to be Uchiha Madara so badly, let him. We'll pretend he is."
He paused. "Until our plan is complete, don't create ripples inside Akatsuki. All we need is for him to be useful."
"Konan—look farther down the road. We can't burn energy on this."
Konan drew a long breath.
"…Understood."
…
Outside, Obito slipped straight into Kamui space.
He ripped off his mask and flung it aside.
His face was slick with sweat. His eyelid kept twitching.
Black Zetsu's screams still echoed faintly in the warped dimension, fraying what remained of his mood.
"Here to take a dump, Obito?" said a swirl-faced White Zetsu, watching over Black Zetsu. It shuffled over and squatted behind him, craning its head as if trying to peek at his rear.
Obito turned his back, jaw clenched. "That woman found out the name 'Uchiha Obito.' She even hinted I might be him. She said some newbie named Uchiha Obito joined Akatsuki—she was really aiming the words at me."
"I'm thinking Jūzō wasn't scared off after all. He probably crawled back and blabbed."
His social skills were trash, but he wasn't stupid.
Konan had practically spelled it out.
There was no way he missed it—he was just pretending he had.
"Uh?" White Zetsu scratched its head. "So what now?"
"Hmph. Good thing I kept my cool. If I play it the right way, they'll think it's fake intel."
He snorted.
Then he and White Zetsu stared at each other for several minutes, both at a loss, neither with a clean solution.
And the brains of the outfit was still screaming.
Obito even wondered: once the tomoe-induced torment on Black Zetsu finally faded—would it still function?
…
Konoha.
Utatane Koharu stood rigid, anger with nowhere to go, as the Anbu who'd arrived on the Third's orders stared back at her, unflinching.
After a taut few seconds, Koharu shot Anko and Izumi a resentful look.
"Withdraw!"
At her command, the Root operatives filed out. No further entanglements.
Izumi let out a small breath. She'd been ready to clash, but there were too many of them—and Anko was hurt.
If they fought now, they'd lose. No question.
Even so, the anger boiling in Izumi's chest didn't fade.
She helped Anko to her feet. Watching Koharu's back retreating, she called out, "Advisor Koharu—sending Root to injure fellow villagers under the absurd pretext of 'refusing to share intel with Konoha'—in the eyes of Absolute Justice, that alone earns a guilty verdict. And you can't even offer the victim a single apology?"
Apologize?
Koharu almost laughed out loud.
She turned back, face dark as thunder. "You've spent too long at Uchiha Chizumi's side. You've forgotten where you are. Konoha is governed by the Will of Fire, not your Absolute Justice."
"As a shinobi, if you sit on intel about a defector and refuse to report it, you've violated fundamental rules."
Izumi cut in. "Since you're 'following the rules,' then tell me—which rule compels a shinobi to share everything she knows with you, Utatane Koharu? Cite me the clause."
"If the Third asked Anko about Orochimaru and she refused him—that might look like breaking Konoha's rules to most people. But—"
"You're just a senior advisor. You're allowed to offer the Hokage advice. You're not the Hokage."
Koharu's fists trembled. Talking to someone "brainwashed by Absolute Justice" was going to be the death of her.
And she couldn't take the bait, because those "rules" were just her bluff.
She'd thought she could browbeat these two kids. She couldn't.
"So you insist I should apologize to her?"
"Not only that," Izumi said, deadly serious. "You should also be punished by justice. Sending Root to injure a comrade without proper cause—at minimum, five years in prison."
Koharu: "???"
Five years?!
Anko's worst injury was a dislocated shoulder. Pop it back in and she'd be fine.
The rest were scrapes and bruises—ointment and a few days of rest would do it.
She looked miserable mostly because she was exhausted.
Not even a minor injury, and you're talking five years?
What kind of draconian lunacy—
This is your Absolute Justice?
Are you all insane?
Koharu dragged air into her lungs, chest heaving, rage climbing. "I said it already: Konoha isn't the Konoha of Absolute Justice. It's the Konoha of the Will of Fire. Don't try to slap your rules onto this village. Your 'Absolute Justice' has no authority to arrest me!"
With that, she turned on her heel and stalked off. Root trailed after her.
Watching them go, Anko exhaled and managed a crooked smile. "Aren't you worried you've pushed her too far? What if she loses it and tries to kill us?"
"She's taken over Root," Izumi said evenly. "Root is Konoha's darkness. In that state, she's capable of anything."
Izumi nodded once. "I'm worried."
"But if fear keeps you from standing up for others, what justice do you believe in? Jujirō-senpai said Chizumi-senpai, when he was young and weak, still found ways to make evildoers' lives miserable—even when he couldn't strike them down."
She reached to her hip for a scroll. "Besides, if she rips off the mask and makes a move, I'm not without counters."
It was a sealing scroll—"Fire Sealing Method." Inside was a portion of Uchiha Itachi's Amaterasu.
Making use of a "waste product," in a way.
…
"Don't lecture me."
In the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi stood with his hands behind his back, staring out at the night.
He'd heard the door slam long before Koharu could speak, and cut her off before the words left her mouth.
He turned, drew a breath, and said—disappointed more than angry, "Didn't I warn you? Don't go overboard. Especially not against Chizumi's subordinates. All you'll do is set yourself on fire."
Koharu ground her teeth. "If you knew I was 'going overboard,' then your people have been watching me the whole time, haven't they?"
"You wanted intel out of Mitarashi Anko as well—but you were afraid. Afraid of Uchiha Chizumi."
"Don't forget, Hiruzen—you're the Hokage of Konoha. Uchiha Chizumi is just a police corps shinobi. He's not even the captain."
Hiruzen frowned. "I'm not afraid of him. I'm afraid for you."
"If it's for Konoha's sake, even if it costs my life, I won't regret it," Koharu said, voice like ice. "Hiruzen, you're too indecisive. I'm disappointed in you. Maybe some of what Danzō said about you… was right."
~~~
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