Sarutobi clan compound.
No one expected that Uchiha Keizumi, who had only just left, would double back so soon.
This time, however, he did not enter openly through the front gate. Instead, using Transparent Release, he slipped silently into the Sarutobi compound.
Unseen by anyone, he arrived before a modest two-story house, vaulted up to the second-floor balcony, and stepped inside.
He heard the faintest sound of sobbing.
Even in the darkness, he could clearly make out a ten-year-old girl, clutching her pillow tight, her thin little body curled up beneath a flimsy blanket.
Tears and snot had already soaked a wide patch of the pillow.
"Wu… wu… wu…"
"Mother… I'm so scared…"
"Father has become so terrifying… he hits me, curses me, even wrapped his hands around my neck to kill me… If I hadn't bitten him, he wouldn't have snapped out of it…"
"It hurts so much… Father won't let me tell you. He said if I dare speak of it, he'll kill you, Mother. And if I do tell, he'll kill me too."
"Wu… wu…"
Sarutobi Sakurako buried her face deep into her pillow, her small body trembling without pause. The beating she suffered at home three days ago replayed in her mind again and again, the indescribable pain surging through her as though it were happening all over again.
The place that should have been a safe harbor had instead become the source of her torment, her heart already shrouded in fear and darkness.
Just then, faint footsteps made her freeze.
The steps were heavy—not like her mother's.
Could it be…
Terror spread across her eyes. Her body, already shaking, now trembled more violently. She curled herself tighter into a ball, trying in that pitiful way to shield what should never have been hurt.
Wait.
That sound… it didn't quite resemble her father's footsteps either.
Sakurako's fear grew sharper, her unease pushing her to pray that her mother would hear what was happening in her room. But… her mother had come in over an hour ago only to warn her not to go outside tonight.
So… was her mother even still at home? Or was she, in this house, completely alone?
Driven to the edge of panic, she suddenly threw off the blanket.
She snatched it up and hurled it forward with a scream.
Then, scrambling off the bed, she cried out "Mother!" as she tried to flee the room.
But she hadn't made it two steps before pain ripped through her, forcing her to collapse to her knees, tears streaming down her face.
"Keizumi-sama, it seems she's injured…" Tachibana Jirō began to say, but then, realizing something, he abruptly fell silent.
That strange feline voice startled Sakurako, making her instinctively turn her head toward the sound.
Moonlight streamed in through the balcony, revealing a plump cat—
And a pair of scarlet eyes.
In an instant, the genjutsu of the Mangekyō Sharingan sank into her mind. A carefully woven dreamscape of beauty washed over the deepest corners of Sarutobi Sakurako's fear, cleansing her heart while forcing her to forget memories no child should carry.
"Only children this young can have their darkest memories so deeply reshaped by the Mangekyō Sharingan. For those even a little older, such pain would scar their souls forever, never to be erased."
Uchiha Keizumi let out a slow breath, his gaze lingering on Sakurako, collapsed on the floor as though slipping into sleep.
"Keizumi-sama, she likely won't dare tell her mother about her injuries. I can smell the stench of infection from her wounds… But how could she ever know that the one person she thinks she can rely on—her mother—is herself a disgusting murderer. Human nature is something no cat can understand."
Tachibana Jirō's voice carried a somber tone.
"You remember where Tsunade lives, right?" Uchiha Keizumi asked him.
"I remember." Tachibana Jirō straightened himself with energy.
"Take her to Tsunade." Keizumi stepped forward, picked up the thin blanket, wrapped it around Sarutobi Sakurako, and gently lifted her into his arms. His movements were so careful she did not stir from her sleep.
When he reached the second-floor balcony, Keizumi suddenly paused, as though speaking into empty air: "She is only being taken to Tsunade for treatment. Once she's healed, she will return. As for how to explain the fate of her parents to her… I believe that is your duty—as the Third Hokage of Konoha."
Behind him, Tachibana Jirō froze. His nose twitched slightly, and he caught the faint trace of a familiar scent.
"The Third Hokage?"
Just as the thought struck him in surprise, Keizumi leapt soundlessly from the balcony to the ground below.
The cat quickly followed.
…
"…Sigh."
Outside the door of the second-floor bedroom, Sarutobi Hiruzen stood without pushing it open, letting out a long breath. The complexity in his eyes was beyond words.
Toward Uchiha Keizumi's actions tonight, he could no longer summon even the faintest trace of anger or dissatisfaction.
Could an ordinary good man ever go as far as Keizumi had?
The moment the question formed in his mind—
He already had his answer.
—No.
If the shinobi world truly had many such "good men," it would not be overrun with villains, nor so warped and diseased.
Another thought flickered through Hiruzen's mind.
As Hokage of Konoha…
Am I truly qualified?
…
"Tsunade-sama, why are you drinking again the moment we return from gambling?"
Elsewhere, in a room of a Konoha inn, Shizune's face was full of exasperation as she pleaded earnestly: "The sky is nearly bright, Tsunade-sama. Aren't you going to sleep?"
"Frustration. I need a little wine to clear my head." Tsunade slouched shamelessly, posture thoroughly unrefined, and downed her cup in one gulp.
Shizune: "…"
Who ever sobers up by drinking? Isn't it always the opposite?
After draining another cup, Tsunade suddenly asked: "Shizune, tell me—if a person has the power to accomplish certain things, but those things don't actually concern him, and even if he chooses not to do them, no one will condemn him morally… If by not doing them he can live more comfortably… in that situation, does he still need to do them?"
Shizune froze. After thinking carefully, she replied: "Tsunade-sama, some things… only by trying them yourself can you know whether you should do them, or whether they have meaning at all."
Scratching her head in embarrassment, she added: "To be honest, I can't really explain it clearly. And besides, you're my sensei—yet you're the one asking me this kind of question. I don't even know how I'm supposed to answer."
[Knock—]
Suddenly, a knock sounded at the door. Shizune immediately stiffened in alert, bracing herself. But then she remembered—this was Konoha. There shouldn't be any enemies here.
Still, in the middle of the night, who would come looking for Tsunade-sama?
Could it be Jiraiya-sama again, pestering Tsunade-sama?
With that thought, and a trace of doubt, Shizune slid the door open.
"Eh?!" The unexpected figure before her widened her eyes. "Uchiha Keizumi?"
"Hm? Uchiha Keizumi?"
Inside, Tsunade lifted her heavy eyelids, surprise flashing across her gaze. "Hey, hey, justice brat, what are you doing here? Wait—that little girl you're holding…"
A thought struck her, and her careless posture—so loose it nearly exposed her—tightened slightly.
Her brows knit together. "She wouldn't be—?"
"The daughter of Sarutobi Kazunori and Sarutobi Mayuzuki," Uchiha Keizumi said. "Her father inflicted serious harm on her, but she never told her mother. The wound has badly worsened."
"…Hah." Tsunade exhaled a breath laced with alcohol, her expression turning serious. "Put her down. I'll heal her. And once she wakes, I'll see if I can counsel her. If it proves impossible, I can try taking her as my disciple, letting her stay by my side. Over time, maybe the shadow in her heart will fade, and she can grow up with a healthy body and mind."
"I've already placed her in a beautiful dream," Keizumi said calmly. "When she wakes, she won't remember those memories."
Tsunade blinked. "Like those children back in Tanzaku Town?"
"Yes." Keizumi gently laid Sarutobi Sakurako down.
Tsunade fell silent for half a moment. "If every Uchiha could use the Sharingan's genjutsu the way you do, the reputation of the Uchiha clan in all of Konoha would be vastly different."
Only then did Shizune grasp the situation.
She hurriedly said, "Tsunade-sama, why don't I handle this instead? Your hemophobia might—"
"No."
A shadow passed over Tsunade's eyes. She lifted the thin blanket covering Sarutobi Sakurako, breathing in the faint, sour scent of infection rising from the wound.
Whatever emotions she held, when Keizumi closed his eyes and turned away, Tsunade's hands trembled as she carefully slid down the sleeping girl's pajama bottoms.
"The wound… it's already fused with the fabric of her clothes."
Tsunade's hands shook.
Her voice shook too.
"Shizune…" Tsunade bit down hard on her lip, her tone low and quivering. "Bring me my medical kit."
"Tsunade-sama…" Shizune noticed her phobia of blood flaring up again. Tsunade's condition looked dire; her hemophobia could spiral out of control at any moment.
"Now!"
Tsunade's tone sharpened.
"Yes!"
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