Sarutobi Shinnosuke had been distracted, constantly trying to control the chakra within his body to mitigate the effects of the Sharingan genjutsu, all while avoiding direct eye contact with Uchiha Akainu. Yet, he still fell victim to the "Sharingan Genjutsu"!
When he saw the last ANBU ninja fall at Uchiha Akainu's hands, Sarutobi Shinnosuke's face was a mix of shock, horror, and extreme dismay. His former Genin student had grown to a point where even he, a Jonin instructor, couldn't suppress him. Shinnosuke realized he was already a washed-up veteran. The half-broken ninja blade in his hand offered him no sense of security whatsoever.
"Shinnosuke-sensei," Uchiha Akainu asked, "even now, are you still lost in delusion?"
Sarutobi Shinnosuke was silent for a moment, then let out a scoff. "Uchiha Akainu." He tossed away the melted half of his ninja blade, straightened his posture, and with a solemn expression, formed the "Confrontation Seal" with practiced ease. "Tonight, let me correct your mistaken justice. A ninja's justice stems from the village's best interests; only justice that benefits the village is true justice."
"Your justice, however, is merely self-centered. No one in the ninja world will acknowledge your justice, because everything you're doing now is practically making you an enemy of the entire world!"
Uchiha Akainu stood still as well, less than ten meters from Sarutobi Shinnosuke. He also formed a perfect Confrontation Seal.
"Shinnosuke-sensei. My heart and actions are as clear as a mirror, and everything I do is for justice—I remember telling you that, Sensei, a long, long time ago, when I was still a Genin." Uchiha Akainu's tone was calm.
"Hmph..." Sarutobi Shinnosuke sighed. "You're truly beyond saving. Someone like you will destroy Konoha one day."
Uchiha Akainu replied, "Shinnosuke-sensei thinks of me too extremely. You're not even willing to put in the effort to understand your student. Your understanding of me isn't even as much as a police force intern who's only been with me for a few days."
Sarutobi Shinnosuke's eyes narrowed. "Then I'm afraid I won't have the chance to understand you later, because you're about to fall deep into the underworld."
As his words fell, Sarutobi Shinnosuke quickly performed hand seals, his chest swelled dramatically, and he exhaled. "Fire Release: Red Earth Spider!!!"
Torrential flames erupted from his mouth, transforming into a giant spider that lunged towards Uchiha Akainu. Uchiha Akainu didn't rely on his "Lava Release Chakra Armor" to ignore the flames. He formed hand seals as well.
"Fire Release..."
"Great Fire Annihilation!!!"
Flames far grander in scale and temperature than Sarutobi Shinnosuke's Fire Release spewed from Uchiha Akainu's mouth. The roaring inferno instantly devoured the charging flame spider and rushed towards Sarutobi Shinnosuke with overwhelming force.
Sarutobi Shinnosuke immediately dodged into a side corner. The terrifying flames grazed past his nose, even curling his eyelashes from the intense heat.
"Tch, are you still holding back in this master-student battle, Uchiha Akainu! Is your self-centered justice getting soft now?" Sarutobi Shinnosuke gritted his teeth, bit his right thumb, and slammed his palm onto the ground. Intricate summoning seals spread across the floor.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
"Enma!!!"
Boom—
After a puff of white smoke, a massive, red-furred monkey, over three meters tall, suddenly appeared. This was Sarutobi Shinnosuke's strongest summoning beast, a robust monkey whose strength rivaled that of a Konoha Jonin—Enma!
The moment Enma appeared, he saw a field of lava and a sea of fire before him, and he saw Uchiha Akainu ahead.
"Shinnosuke, this scene isn't looking too good! Should I excuse myself from this master-student conflict?" Enma grumbled in a half-joking tone.
Sarutobi Shinnosuke took a deep breath. "Enma, this is a matter of life and death. Don't make such cynical jokes." Enma stood behind Sarutobi Shinnosuke, confronting Uchiha Akainu.
"Uchiha Akainu's so-called absolute justice has become a threat to Konoha," Sarutobi Shinnosuke said gravely.
Enma replied, "Shouldn't this have been expected? Though you've always been unwilling to understand your student, given his character and actions, this confrontation today was bound to happen sooner or later, wasn't it? Still, Shinnosuke... do you truly believe this child is wrong?"
Sarutobi Shinnosuke paused for half a second. "Justice that doesn't benefit Konoha is wrong. A ninja should stand with the village. Enma, let's end this here today."
"...Understood."
Meanwhile, Hiruzen Sarutobi, rushing towards the secret research base with a group of ANBU ninja, could already see the base, ravaged and scarred by the lava. He could also see the dense forest ahead that had been turned into a sea of fire. Though not yet fully close, he could smell the faint scent of sulfur lingering in the air. Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart sank.
"Immediately go put out the fire!" he ordered decisively. "Don't let the flames spread to Konoha! And... immediately go stop this unnecessary conflict; stop both sides!"
"Yes, Lord Hokage!"
The ANBU ninja forcibly increased their speed. They all knew that the person stationed at the secret research base was the Hokage's eldest son. And they also knew that the person who forcibly entered the secret research base was a genius from the Uchiha clan whom the Hokage held in high regard.
It seemed that Lord Hokage was unwilling to give up on either of them. He wanted to replicate his success in stopping the conflict between Uchiha Akainu and Danzo Shimura to stop tonight's...
A conflict that was probably already too late to stop.
Inside the secret research base, the battle between Uchiha Akainu and Sarutobi Shinnosuke, along with the summoning beast Enma, had reached a fever pitch.
"Roar!!!"
Enma grabbed a concrete pillar weighing over ten tons and, with a roar, charged at Uchiha Akainu. Sarutobi Shinnosuke, meanwhile, circled behind Uchiha Akainu, gritting his teeth as lightning surged in his right palm.
"Lightning Release..."
"Lightning Blade Jutsu!"
Blinding lightning transformed into a two-meter-long blade that heavily slashed down onto Uchiha Akainu's back; the massive concrete pillar, wide enough to almost cover Uchiha Akainu, also slammed forward from the front.
Whoosh!!!Thump!!!
The lightning blade "split" Uchiha Akainu's body in two; the large concrete pillar heavily slammed down, "thudding" Akainu's bisected lower body into the ground.
"Shinnosuke, be careful! That didn't feel right! His body is strange!" Enma suddenly warned.
Sarutobi Shinnosuke's eyes suddenly widened. He saw Uchiha Akainu, split in two by his attack, slowly "standing up" as lava oozed from his body.
"Water Clone Jutsu?" Shinnosuke was stunned. He couldn't even tell which trump card Uchiha Akainu was revealing now.
"Shinnosuke! Get out of the way!!!" This was Enma's urgent shout.
"If you were proficient in Water Release, you might have lasted longer against me." Uchiha Akainu's right arm's fingers slightly flexed, his right arm seemingly transforming into a giant lava demon dog, its grotesque maw wide open, "biting" fiercely towards Sarutobi Shinnosuke's chest.
"Farewell, Shinnosuke-sensei."
"Shinnosuke! Get out of the way!!!" This was the belated, panicked shout of the Third Hokage.