Gekko Hayate still clearly remembered—two years ago… a Uchiha clan genius named "Uchiha Chizumi," wearing the uniform of the Police Force, stormed alone into the Moonlight Clan compound.
The man spoke coldly—"Police Force investigation. Irrelevant individuals, retreat immediately. Otherwise, kill without mercy."
Gekko Hayate never did know how exactly that conflict had started.
He only knew that he personally witnessed his father being killed.
Two of his uncles—clan elders—were also killed.
That night…
The Gekko Clan compound reeked of choking sulfur. Scalding-hot magma flowed across the ground, and the walls of the buildings were covered in sword marks, kunai, and shuriken buried deep into them.
Hayate remembered further that afterward, the Gekko Clan, as one, went to the Third Hokage to file a formal accusation against the Uchiha Clan.
They especially demanded that Hokage-sama arrest "Uchiha Chizumi" and throw him into prison—push that Uchiha demon onto the executioner's platform!
And yet…
For some reason…
The matter just… vanished.
Some elders of the Moonlight Clan came slinking back from the Hokage's office, never speaking of the matter again.
They never again sought any explanation from the Uchiha.
At most, they told the younger generation to burn the hatred into their hearts.
And that was all.
And now.
That same "Uchiha Chizumi"…
…had returned!
"Not good!!!"
Gekko Hayate snapped back to his senses. He drew his ninjatō in a panic, running toward his clan compound with frantic, uneven steps.
But as he reached the front gate of the Moonlight Clan, a deafening "BOOM" struck his ears.
In his sight—a feral-looking young man, his younger brother "Gekko Seisui," unleashed an Earth Release jutsu, trying to kill a pair of young Uchiha in Police Force uniforms—a boy and a girl.
He even saw his brother's kunai-wielding figure suddenly turn transparent.
Hayate couldn't tell if his brother had used Transparency Release to attack the Police Force members or if he had seized the chance to flee…
"Seisui! Don't!!!"
He shouted in a hurry.
Because whether it was the former or the latter—he would be killed!
To survive Uchiha Chizumi, that demon's hand, the only chance was to immediately drop all weapons and surrender without resistance!
…
Inside the compound, Uchiha Chizumi grabbed Izumi by the collar and tossed her aside, then lightly leapt aside, dodging a massive boulder that came crashing through the air.
His eyes were already crawling with a chilling, eerie crimson—the three-tomoe Sharingan pattern slowly blooming in his pupils.
His gaze suddenly flicked left. There was no silhouette there, yet the dirt on the ground shifted strangely.
"Transparency Release… hm."
Chiizumi pulled out several shuriken and instantly flung them in that direction.
The shuriken cut through the air with a piercing shriek, as if vanishing into something invisible.
"Urgh!!!"
A muffled groan rang out, and blood suddenly burst into the air out of nowhere.
"Seisui! Don't run away!!!" Hayate shouted in desperation as he dashed toward that streak of blood suspended in the air.
But Seisui, whose body hidden by Transparency Release had still been struck by the shuriken, panicked even more upon seeing his brother arrive.
He avoided Hayate.
Enduring the agony in his back, he hurriedly fled in another direction.
But before he could even make it out of the Moonlight Clan's compound—
A sharp ninjatō pierced straight through his back and out his chest!
Seisui's bloodshot eyes went wide.
He opened his mouth, but the blade in his chest twisted slightly, then was slowly, deliberately withdrawn from his body.
His body staggered, unable to stay upright.
He clutched at his chest in a panic, blood soaking his palms in an instant.
The Transparency Release bloodline limit collapsed.
His battered form revealed itself.
"Seisui—!!!" His brother's anguished cry grew nearer and nearer.
But Seisui's consciousness grew fainter and fainter.
"Seisui. Your mother's corpse has already been found. The evil you committed is already exposed."
Uchiha Chizumi's icy voice made Moonlight Seisui's face twist with despair in the last moment of his life: "Today, in the name of [Absolute Justice], I pass judgment on you."
Seisui clutched his chest, staggered a few steps forward, struggling to turn around, vision darkening: "Evi… evidence…"
"The marks on the corpse, indeed, you erased. But the corpse's memories—you cannot erase." Chiizumi flicked the blood from his blade. "The Police Force will hand the body over to the Yamanaka Clan. You should know of their secret arts."
"The evidence you seek—perhaps your clansmen will burn it as an offering to you after you're dead. Provided they ever forgive your 'crime of matricide.'"
Seisui seemed utterly drained.
His whole body collapsed weakly to the ground.
At the very moment he fell, Hayate finally arrived. He hurriedly caught his brother's body, one hand pressing desperately against the gaping hole in his chest, trying to stem the bleeding.
"Seisui! Hold on, I'll get you to a medical ninja!"
Slap—
Hayate froze.
Because Seisui had slapped his hand away.
"Cough… don't… be so fake…"
Seisui's lips were ghastly pale, his weak voice mocking: "If she hadn't favored you so much, I wouldn't have… killed her. Isn't it ironic… The father who valued you most died at Uchiha Chizumi's hands; the mother who loved you most… died at mine… heh heh…"
Under Hayate's wide, disbelieving eyes, Seisui spoke his final words:
"I really was so jealous of you…"
The light faded from Moonlight Seisui's eyes.
His pupils dulled.
His breath ceased.
[Ding! You have successfully killed a "Red Name" villain! Your chakra has increased slightly! Congratulations! You have obtained: "Transparency Release" bloodline limit!]
Two years ago, Uchiha Chiizumi had killed three Gekko clansmen, but they had only dropped three types of ninjutsu—not the Gekko Clan's unique "Transparency Release" bloodline.
Today.
After executing the villainous "Seisui," Uchiha Chizumi, already possessing "Sharingan" and "Lava Release," added yet another bloodline limit—"Transparency Release"!
"Chizumi-senpai…"
A stunned voice came from behind Chiizumi—Izumi's own: "That corpse… was his mother?"
Clearly.
Everything Chiizumi and Gekko Seisui had said just now—Izumi had heard it all upon arriving.
It shook her worldview to its core; she stood there, dazed, almost like her brain had crashed.
"Mm."
Chiizumi answered briefly.
Izumi's small face was full of blank confusion as she muttered: "To kill one's own mother… just out of jealousy. This…"
"This is the 'evil' of the shinobi world."
Uchiha Chiizumi gazed at the corpse, and at the dumbstruck, frozen Hayate, whose mind seemed to have gone blank.
He spoke slowly:
"Warped ideology, brutal wars… everything magnifies every person's 'evil' without limit. The power of shinobi only makes them naively believe they can escape the judgment of justice."
"This shinobi world is sick."
"It needs a purge."
…
…
(End of Chapter)