For a moment, Fugaku truly wished he was having trouble with his hearing, rather than Uchiha Akainu actually harboring such a dangerous thought.
—Wanting to kill the Hokage but not finding the right opportunity!
Is that something you can just casually blurt out in broad daylight?
Even a composed person like Fugaku nearly lost his composure.
Just then, a lot of Uchiha Police Force members started arriving.
They quickly blocked off all the exits, giving Uchiha Onigawara no chance to escape.
They also cast wary glances at the two figures in front of them.
But when they saw Uchiha Akainu was also there, they visibly froze.
"Uchiha Akainu? He... isn't he Uchiha Onigawara's relative? If I remember right, he's his nephew?" one Uchiha Police Force member muttered in surprise.
Uchiha Onigawara was just as shocked as Fugaku.
He'd believed that, as Uchiha Akainu's blood relative, he understood Akainu's extreme personality very well.
Only now did he realize...
His understanding of Uchiha Akainu was far too shallow.
This kid is extreme beyond belief!
He'd kill Uchiha clan members, he'd kill his own blood relatives, and he'd even kill the Hokage himself!
In this vast ninja world...
Is there anyone he wouldn't kill?
The intense pain from his ten fingers blurred Uchiha Onigawara's vision. Every step Akainu took forward, Onigawara stumbled a step back.
Uchiha Onigawara suddenly contorted his face into a sneer, his voice turning vicious: "...Akainu, honestly, isn't your so-called Absolute Justice just an excuse for you to kill? Besides, you've probably killed just as many people in Konoha as I have, haven't you? You and I, we're actually the same! We're connected by blood! We're both bloodthirsty!"
"Akainu! Sooner or later, your mask will be torn off! Sooner or later, you'll become exactly like me! No, you'll be even more extreme than me! This is the fate dictated by the Uchiha bloodline between us!"
In the blink of an eye, Uchiha Onigawara's vision was completely consumed by rolling lava.
With his ten fingers melted by the lava, he was powerless to resist.
The distance between them closed so fast he didn't even have a chance to dodge.
"Akainu! I'll be waiting for you in the Pure Land!!!"
—BOOM!!!
A body, its head now missing, instantly lost all strength.
And slumped straight backward.
Uchiha Onigawara.
Dead!
[Ding! You have successfully killed a 'Red Name' villain! Your chakra has received a slight boost! Congratulations, you successfully dropped: 'Uchiha Onigawara's Sharingan Eye Power'!]
Uchiha Akainu's arm, which had turned into lava, returned to normal.
He stood perfectly still, his eyes closed.
He could clearly feel a surge of eye power being rapidly absorbed and assimilated into his own Sharingan.
This change lasted for only two brief seconds.
To outsiders...
He simply stood in deathly silence after slaying his own blood relative who had fallen into the abyss of evil.
"This guy..." One Uchiha ninja wanted to go forward and check the situation, but hesitated. "He actually killed his own blood relative for his 'Absolute Justice'?"
Another police force ninja was silent for half a second, then slowly whispered, "They say Uchiha Onigawara was Uchiha Akainu's only surviving blood relative."
"This..."
"No wonder he's called a rare genius in the Uchiha clan, perhaps once in decades. With such capacity, he'll surely awaken the legendary Mangekyo Sharingan someday, won't he?"
"He seems to be closing his eyes... Hey, hey, I remember he had three tomoe. Is he really about to awaken it?"
"No way..."
"Tch, that 'Absolute Justice' he keeps spouting isn't just made up after all. Uchiha Onigawara tried to shake Uchiha Akainu's ninja way even as he died. He was probably thinking too much. How could someone like that be swayed?"
During the lull in the hushed whispers, Izumi, accompanied by Kikujiro, arrived in a hurried rush.
She leaned on her knees, panting, her small face pale.
"Meow, Akainu-sama really did 'destroy evil for the greater good,' didn't he..."
Izumi suddenly heard Kikujiro's shocked tone from her shoulder.
She quickly looked up and saw Akainu-senpai standing silently before a headless corpse.
A little lava was still flowing on the ground in front.
She gasped in shock: "That... that corpse, could it be?"
Kikujiro said, "That's Uchiha Onigawara. His head's missing, and his neck looks charred and blackened. No need to guess, he was definitely killed by Akainu-sama's Lava Release, meow."
"Meow, this was Akainu-sama's only surviving blood relative. Now, Akainu-sama is truly all alone in the world."
Izumi pursed her lips.
"Akainu-senpai, is he... in a lot of pain right now?"
She murmured.
Izumi couldn't imagine how she would feel if she had to kill her own blood relative.
Sadness?
Pain?
Regret?
Sorrow?
"Ah—" She quickly wiped the dampness from the corners of her eyes, and when she turned her head, she was met with Kikujiro's disdainful gaze.
"Rookie, your empathy is way too strong. Good thing Akainu-sama didn't look over here, or you'd lose points, meow."
Izumi whispered back, defending herself, "But... perhaps only those with strong empathy can truly understand how hard-won justice and fairness are."
She took a deep breath, and while none of the police force ninjas, including Fugaku, took a step forward, she actively walked towards Uchiha Akainu.
"...Akainu-senpai?" Izumi came to Uchiha Akainu's side, gathering her courage to prompt him.
"Rookie, perfect timing."
She noticed that Akainu-senpai's tone held no sorrow; it was as calm as ever, almost as if he were numb.
Uchiha Akainu asked, "Which lesson did I teach you this from?"
Izumi quickly stood straight and replied, "The fourth lesson! No matter what high-sounding excuses others use to commit evil, one must unswervingly carry out Absolute Justice! Even if..."
Her memory was excellent.
She could remember anything Akainu-senpai said after hearing it just once.
Izumi's voice dropped a little in emotion, but then she remembered that the people around them had never understood the justice her senior believed in, so she immediately raised her voice and shouted, "Even if the blade of justice must be wielded against those you know best, those closest to you!"
"You must not hesitate! You must strike without indulgence!"
"You must execute justice with absolutely thorough means!!!"
"To purge the evil of the ninja world!!!"
Uchiha Akainu glanced at Izumi, whose small face was slightly flushed from shouting, then turned to Uchiha Fugaku who was not far away. "The rest is for you to handle."
Fugaku's ears still echoed with the girl's resolute shouts.
He looked at Uchiha Akainu and Izumi with a complex gaze.
Akainu had finally passed on his "ninja way" to the new generation, it seemed!
But could the "evil" of the ninja world truly be purged?
—Akainu, as long as there are people, evil will continuously breed! You understand that better than anyone, don't you?
Fugaku didn't say these words out loud.
But he knew that after today, many in the Uchiha clan would likely have a change of heart about Akainu.