While Tsunade and Keizumi were speaking at the doorway, Shizune hurried out of the room. Upon spotting Keizumi, she froze for an instant before quickly turning back to Tsunade to report: "Tsunade-sama, the child is recovering very well. From here, she only needs proper rest and can already be sent home."
"And…"
Shizune scratched her head awkwardly, as a little girl crept out from behind her, face full of panic.
Shizune bowed her head apologetically. "I accidentally woke her up."
"Who… who are you people?" Sarutobi Sakurako stumbled out of the room and immediately edged away from the three strangers before her. If not for the disheveled Tsunade looking so unthreatening, she might have already bolted in fright.
Sakurako shifted uneasily on her feet, taking two small steps in place. She felt a strange discomfort in her body, but couldn't quite tell what part of her was wrong.
She swallowed hard. "Where… where is this place? Why am I here? Where are my father and mother?"
Her final question plunged the room into sudden silence.
Tsunade looked over at Uchiha Keizumi. He spoke first: "Your questions—the Third Hokage will answer them."
"The Third Hokage… Hokage-sama?!"
Sarutobi Sakurako froze in shock.
Keizumi said indifferently, "Do you see this uniform? I'm a shinobi of the Uchiha Police Force. I'll take you to the Third Hokage. On the way, don't ask unnecessary questions."
Sakurako didn't dare make a sound. She felt this man was terrifying.
…
Hyūga Clan.
Hyūga Neji wore a cold expression as Hinata shouted and charged at him, her body sliding into a Gentle Fist stance. He merely shifted half a step back, and her palm strike sliced past his chest without even brushing his clothes.
In a flash, Neji stepped in close. Hooking his toes around Hinata's ankle, he gave the slightest pull—Hinata yelped in surprise and stumbled to the ground.
Looking down at her panicked attempt to scramble back up, Neji's mind flashed with the image of his father.
And with it came the memory of the searing pain when the Caged Bird Seal was carved into him.
At just eight years old, a flicker of killing intent flared in his eyes.
"Hm?"
At that moment, not far away, Hyūga Hiashi was watching Hinata's poor performance with disappointment. Suddenly, he sensed something. His face darkened, and he swiftly formed a seal. Just as he was about to activate the Caged Bird Curse Seal, Hiashi saw that killing intent in Neji's eyes—only to watch him crush it down by sheer force.
Hiashi's hands paused mid-seal.
"…" Neji himself, unaware how close he had come to agony, felt a trace of turmoil in his gaze.
Because in that instant of rising bloodlust, he had thought of Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke.
And more than that—
He thought of Uchiha Keizumi.
And of that man's [Absolute Justice].
'To vent the hatred of my father's death, making him a scapegoat, onto a naïve young lady who knew nothing of it—could that truly be called [Justice]?' That thought was the reason his killing intent had been forced back down.
In that moment, he felt lost. After all, he was only a second-year Academy student. His education was not as advanced as Uchiha Itachi's—he was simply not as neurotic as him.
Neji could not understand it fully.
"Neji, know your place. Know the distinction between high and low." Hyūga Hiashi's cold warning suddenly rang out.
Neji stiffened in fright.
He immediately stepped back, his hand moving instinctively toward his forehead—yet the unbearable pain he expected never came.
Hiashi's stare made his skin crawl.
"This time, it's only a verbal warning. There will be no next time. Do not let me see you act in ways you should not, nor think thoughts you should not, Neji."
"…Yes, Clan Head-sama."
Head bowed, Neji forced the words out between clenched teeth.
"It's getting late," Hiashi continued. "Take Hinata to the Academy. She cannot be late."
"Yes."
…
Sarutobi Clan compound.
"I heard that before dawn this morning, four corpses were carried out from the Uchiha Police Force." A Sarutobi tokubetsu jōnin stood with arms crossed, his face dark. "Sarutobi Kyōya, Sarutobi Tsuneyuki, Sarutobi Mitsuji, Sarutobi Rina. If I'm not mistaken, those four corpses must have been them."
"The Uchiha Police Force usually wouldn't execute prisoners in private. At the very least, there would be a proper death sentence procedure. It must have been that Uchiha Keizumi—he must have uncovered something, and then, without hesitation, killed all four of them."
As he finished speaking, the gloom on his face deepened into a shadow of dread.
"Those four all had families in the Sarutobi Clan. Their loved ones have either lost the pillar of their household or a mother. Hah… what a wretched day!"
Beside him, a short Sarutobi clansman muttered, "The Hokage already expelled them from the clan. There's no need to let their deaths stir such emotions."
"…Heh, quick to draw a line, aren't you?" another Sarutobi sneered. "If I recall, one of those taken away was your blood relative, wasn't it?"
"Are you just afraid his crimes might drag you down too, and that the plague god Uchiha Keizumi might come for you as well?"
The short Sarutobi flushed red, snapping back, "And you say that like you dared to do anything to Keizumi yourself. Last night, why didn't I hear a peep from you?"
The other clansman's face twisted in shame and anger. "That's because the Hokage restrained us! If Hokage-sama hadn't—hadn't—"
His words suddenly caught in his throat.
His eyes widened, staring at the gate of the Sarutobi compound.
His reaction drew the attention of the others, who followed his gaze.
And then—
Every heart seized at once, the breath leaving their lungs in a sharp hiss. Their muscles tightened instinctively as they all fixed wary, uneasy eyes on the man who had appeared in their sight.
"…Uchiha Keizumi!"
The palms of the Sarutobi tokubetsu jōnin were already slick with cold sweat.
"Wait! That child!" Suddenly, he noticed a young girl walking beside Keizumi. Recognition struck him like a blow, his eyes widening further. "That's the daughter of Sarutobi Kazunori and Sarutobi Mayuzuki…"
That poor child
"Uchiha Keizumi!" He clenched his teeth, summoning a surge of courage from nowhere, and shouted, "Why is that child with you? What have you done to her? She's already suffered enough—she was—"
But his voice faltered, the words dying in his throat.
"Cough, cough…"
A soft cough rose behind them. Startled, the Sarutobi shinobi turned around—only to see the Third Hokage standing there.
"Hokage-sama!"
They hastily cleared a path.
Keizumi's cold gaze fell on Sarutobi Hiruzen, who instinctively averted his eyes, unwilling to meet Keizumi's stare.
"I've brought her back to you." Keizumi ignored the jōnin's accusations as if they were air. His face betrayed no emotion as he added, "She remembers nothing of what happened. Her injuries will heal with a few days of rest. As for the truth about her parents—that is for you to tell her. That is the responsibility you must bear as the Third Hokage of Konoha."
As his words fell, Sarutobi Sakurako rushed to Hiruzen's side in a panic.
Sarutobi Sakurako cast a timid glance at Uchiha Keizumi.
"…" Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression grew complicated as he gently patted the child's head. After two seconds of silence, he said to Keizumi, "Keizumi… thank you for showing kindness to this child."
Every Sarutobi present stared in shock.
Hokage-sama… thanking Uchiha Keizumi?
Wait!
They suddenly recalled Keizumi's earlier words—she remembers nothing of that matter; her wounds will heal with rest.
"That matter"… could it mean the harm her father inflicted on her?
And those "wounds"… what sort of injuries could a child bear?
Could it be…?
At that instant, all the Sarutobi fell silent.
Because each of them had thought of the same thing.
This "Uchiha plague god" had, without noise or fuss, and without exaggeration, quietly done such a thing for a child? Wasn't that the sort of thing only a good man would do?
Could it be…
Was he a good man?
…
Ninja Academy.
Seven-year-old Hyūga Hinata trailed behind Hyūga Neji like a shadow.
When the cousins entered the Academy, Hinata finally mustered a shred of courage. Tugging softly at Neji's sleeve, she whispered, "Neji-nii… back home just now, the way you looked at me was really scary…"
Neji's steps faltered.
His fists clenched slightly—then loosened.
The heiress of the Main House, frightened by nothing more than the look in the eyes of a Branch House child—how absurd.
Yet her weakness only left Neji feeling bitter inside.
He drew in a deep breath and said with a blank expression, "That's because you're too timid. If you were even a little stronger, you wouldn't fear my gaze."
He was about to ignore her and head straight to his classroom when—
"Eh? Aren't you that guy who suddenly showed up at my place last night? You asked me all sorts of weird questions, didn't you?"
The voice caught Neji off guard.
It was Naruto. His long hair had made him stand out, and Naruto recognized him instantly.
Walking over, Naruto studied Neji, rubbing his chin as he muttered, "I think your name was… Hyūga…"
"Huh—wait," Naruto blinked. "You never actually told me your name, did you?!"
"Hyūga Neji," Neji said flatly.
"Oh!" Naruto exclaimed, suddenly enlightened.
Just as Naruto was about to speak again, Neji cut him off, asking directly, "Uzumaki Naruto. If someone forces the hatred and grudges of the previous generation onto their children—can that be called justice?"
Naruto: "…"
He instantly regretted calling out to him. This weirdo was once again asking strange questions.
But since it was about justice, he couldn't just ignore it.
So Naruto thought it over and answered, "Of course not! If that counts as justice, then would there be anyone left alive in the shinobi world? Who can guarantee their father, their grandfather, or even their great-grandfather never did anything wrong? If justice means punishing their children and descendants too, then you'd have to kill every last person in the shinobi world to 'purge' it!"
Naruto shivered just from saying it out loud.
That was way too extreme—seemed even more extreme than Keizumi-sensei!
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