Fugaku, being the current head of the Uchiha clan, finally managed to silence the grumbling Uchiha ninja behind him. Despite their discontent, they could only quiet down when faced with their stern clan head.
"Lord Danzo."
Before turning to leave, Fugaku spoke in a low, somber tone. "The Uchiha clan has no other designs on the village. There's no need for the village to continuously distrust the Uchiha clan like this."
With that, without waiting for Danzo to reply, Fugaku gritted his teeth and turned away, leaving Danzo with nothing but his gradually fading back.
Fugaku sighed internally. He knew he had backed down again, and in front of so many clan members at that… This retreat, he feared, might even leave Uchiha Akainu completely isolated and unsupported.
But Fugaku believed that if he didn't back down, the relationship between the village and the Uchiha would be beyond saving. The village already distrusted the Uchiha clan. If they were to engage in armed conflict with Root ninja now… could the Uchiha clan even remain in Konoha?
"I'm sorry, Akainu…" Fugaku looked up at the full moon in the sky, muttering, "I'm doing this for the greater good. As long as the Uchiha clan can coexist peacefully with the village, whether it's scorn or anything else, I'll bear it alone."
Fugaku felt he saw things clearly. The Uchiha clan seemed strong, but compared to the entire village, they were just a praying mantis trying to stop a chariot.
"I'm only doing this to protect the Uchiha clan." The shame in his eyes diminished slightly.
"Hmph. Uchiha…" Danzo's eyes grew darker and darker, but he wasn't so irrational as to try and forcibly detain Fugaku.
"Lord Danzo, the Hokage and his team are back!" a Root ninja suddenly announced.
Danzo paused. "Already?!"
He had only waited a few minutes when he saw Hiruzen Sarutobi indeed returning to Konoha with a group of Anbu ninja.
"Hmm?"
Danzo suddenly sensed something was off. He saw many Anbu ninja carrying "dead bodies" back. Even the "Monkey" himself was cradling a "dead body." So many dead! Under the moonlight, his gaze lingered on each corpse, yet he couldn't find the hateful face he most wished to see.
Most of these corpses were dressed as Anbu ninja, with some appearing to be researchers. And their deaths were horrifying! Many bodies weren't even complete, looking "scattered." Danzo also caught faint whiffs of burning flesh.
"Hiruzen, where is Uchiha Akainu?!" Danzo demanded, his brow deeply furrowed, unable to wait any longer.
Hiruzen Sarutobi lifted his eyelids and glanced at Danzo. But he silently bypassed Danzo, not even acknowledging any of the Root ninja, as if they were air. This made Danzo's temper flare.
"Hiruzen!"
"Lord Danzo." Just then, an Anbu ninja suddenly blocked Danzo's path and spoke in a low voice, "Lord Hokage has just experienced the pain of losing a son. Please don't disturb him."
Lost a son? Danzo's pupils slightly constricted. Does that mean the dead person in the Monkey's arms is Sarutobi Shin'nosuke? The Monkey's eldest son is dead? Killed by Uchiha Akainu?
Danzo's breathing quickened slightly. This must be a mortal enmity, right? The Monkey must be so furious that he ordered the Anbu to besiege Uchiha Akainu until he died, right?
"As for Uchiha Akainu…" The Anbu ninja hesitated, then added, "He left the secret research base and should have returned to the village by now. Perhaps he found it troublesome and took a direct route over the village walls, too lazy to go through the main gate."
Danzo suddenly froze.
"What do you mean?"
His sinister eyes were filled with disbelief, his emotions so volatile that his old face struggled to maintain its composure. Danzo gritted his teeth, demanding bitterly, "Are you saying… Hiruzen let that inherently evil Uchiha brat go? Even after that evil Uchiha killed his eldest son?"
"Yes," the Anbu ninja replied simply.
Danzo was dumbfounded. He knew that the Monkey was old and no longer possessed the ambition of his younger days; he had become completely indecisive. But he never expected that when faced with the murder of his own son, that bastard Monkey would still be so indecisive! How could he let his enemy, the killer, go? Was he a saint?!
"Hiruzen!" Danzo's emotions snapped. His face was so grim he was nearly swearing, but he ultimately managed to restrain himself, only shouting at Hiruzen Sarutobi's back, "What in the world are you thinking?! That inherently evil Uchiha brat killed your son! And so many Anbu ninja! Are you still going to keep that menace in the village?!"
Danzo didn't understand!
Hiruzen Sarutobi paused.
"I…"
Hiruzen Sarutobi clenched his teeth until his gums bled, staring down at Shin'nosuke Sarutobi's face in his arms.
"I… am upholding Shin'nosuke's final Will of Fire. He didn't want to see the village exhaust its own strength through internal strife when there was no external enemy. This is his dying wish."
"I…" Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep breath. "I need to fulfill his dying wish. And, Uchiha Akainu… Uchiha Akainu didn't… kill the wrong people—Shin'nosuke said so too."
Danzo listened, dumbfounded, wondering if he was getting too old and his ears were malfunctioning. He thought Sarutobi Shin'nosuke, who was killed by Uchiha Akainu, had gone insane! And Hiruzen Sarutobi, after experiencing the pain of losing a son, had also gone insane! Damn it… were there any normal people left in this Leaf Village?
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Izumi, who had returned to the village with Uchiha Akainu, once again dragged her weary body back to the Uchiha clan compound. Midway, she and Uchiha Akainu parted ways.
"Ah! So tired…"
Izumi walked down the dimly lit street, feeling a bit lifeless. It was a double exhaustion, both physical and mental. She couldn't count how many people Akainu-senpai had killed tonight. Especially when that rain of lava fell, how many people could have possibly survived that secret research base?
And even the Hokage's eldest son had been killed by Akainu-senpai. Is this Absolute Justice…? Even the Hokage's son's identity couldn't grant him privilege in the face of justice.
"This… perhaps this is why I have to grit my teeth and follow Senpai, no matter how tired I am?" Izumi mumbled to herself.
Just then, she almost collided with a tall figure. Luckily, she reacted quickly and stopped herself, hastily backing up two steps. Glancing up, Izumi was startled and couldn't help but blurt out, "Clan Head Fugaku?"
Fugaku was also startled; he recognized the young Uchiha girl.
"Izumi?" Fugaku suddenly remembered something. "Has Akainu returned?"
Izumi quickly replied, "Akainu-senpai should have gone home already."
"...I see!" Fugaku felt a sense of relief wash over him. Akainu had returned alive. Fugaku then felt a renewed pang of guilt.
At the same time, back at his home, Uchiha Akainu focused his attention on the last "legacy" left by Sarutobi Shin'nosuke, his former Jonin instructor—the "rewards" gained from killing the red-named villain.
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