Within the Aburame compound.
Most of the clan had gathered together. At the head sat Aburame Shibi, the current clan leader. With his sunglasses hiding his eyes, no one could read his emotions.
On either side of him sat several elders of the Aburame Clan, venerable figures within the clan.
Directly before Shibi, kneeling a short distance away, was an Aburame elite chūnin. His spirits were visibly crushed, his entire demeanor steeped in negativity.
The atmosphere in the hall was heavy and oppressive.
"Hayato."
A clan elder rasped, "After committing such a grave offense, you cowered in fear of Uchiha Keizumi's judgment and wanted the clan head and us elders to shield your crime. But did you ever think—you could have simply chosen not to commit it?"
"You concealed from the clan that you were using other people's bodies to cultivate special insects. Then, when one of those people died from your actions, only then did you reveal this secret to us. Hayato, do you take the Aburame Clan as a shelter for your crimes?"
The elite chūnin, Aburame Hayato, quickly raised his head.
"I already know I was wrong!" he pleaded at once. "I won't drag the Aburame Clan down with me. I only beg the clan head to arrange for me to slip out of the village quietly. Once I'm gone, you can expel me from the clan!"
"And… my parents both died honorably in the Third Shinobi World War. They were heroes of Konoha. Couldn't you help me, for their sake?"
Anyone could hear it—the terror of [Absolute Justice] in his voice.
One elder let out a helpless sigh, turning to Shibi. "Shibi, you are the clan head. You must decide."
Another elder added, "Shibi, think carefully. This means setting yourself against Uchiha Keizumi."
Silent until now, Shibi was about to speak—
When suddenly—
A young Aburame genin rushed in, breathless as he reported, "Shibi-sama! At the gates of our compound—a shinobi of the Uchiha Police Force has arrived! She is one of Keizumi's subordinates, I believe her name is Uchiha Izumi!"
"…"
The entire hall fell silent.
Aburame Hayato's face went pale in an instant.
"Hayato, surrender."
Shibi's voice was calm but heavy. "The Aburame Clan will not sacrifice the future of our entire clan for one man."
Hayato stared, dumbfounded, mumbling in confusion, "Just one Uchiha Keizumi… is enough to doom the Aburame Clan?"
Shibi closed his eyes, and memory rose unbidden—the overwhelming torrent of molten lava. Every time he recalled that scene, it left him breathless, as though the very stench of sulfur still clung to his nostrils.
Uchiha Keizumi…
Without question, he was the one shinobi in all of Konoha who absolutely could not be provoked.
And there was no second.
"He can."
Aburame Shibi's answer was firm.
…
Outside the Aburame compound.
Izumi's hand was already resting on the hilt of her ninja blade. If no one came out within three minutes, she was prepared to grit her teeth and force her way inside.
After all, Keizumi had already given his directive. If she failed to handle this case properly…
In Keizumi's eyes…
It would surely be a failing mark.
Just as Izumi's young face grew solemn and her whole body tensed for battle, she heard movement from within the compound. A moment later, a large crowd poured out.
"So many people!" Anko's forehead was beaded with sweat. "It looks like nearly the entire clan has come out. They're not thinking of opposing Justice, are they?"
As Anko muttered nervously, Aburame Shibi—at the head of the group—stopped directly before her and Izumi.
"The Aburame Clan will not shield a clansman who has committed evil," Shibi declared. "The criminal sought by the Police Force has already been brought out."
Anko froze in place.
She then watched as several Aburame shinobi escorted a dejected-looking Aburame Hayato forward.
Shibi continued, "After committing such deeds, he is no longer of the Aburame Clan. Whatever Absolute Justice decides to do with him, the Aburame will raise no objection."
Those words finally made Anko realize the truth.
Because Shibi had spoken of Absolute Justice, not the Uchiha Police Force.
Which meant…
He had handed over his clansman without hesitation only because of Keizumi's overwhelming presence. What the Aburame feared was not the Uchiha Clan—it was Keizumi's Absolute Justice.
Fortunately, Izumi responded in kind. "The Aburame Clan has made the right choice today. As for compensation for the victims, the Police Force will send someone to discuss the terms."
Shibi answered, "Whatever the amount, the Aburame Clan will pay double."
Anko was left dumbstruck.
It seemed that Keizumi's sheer deterrence alone was enough to resolve countless cases.
…
Elsewhere.
Inside the Hokage's office.
Sarutobi Hiruzen was receiving the Amegakure envoys. When he learned that Biwa Jūzō was still "wandering" around within Konoha—
His aged face remained all smiles and courtesy on the surface. But in truth, he had already given a discreet signal to the ANBU to follow Jūzō at once.
After all, he was a former member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist—so dangerous that no one could predict what he might attempt in Konoha.
But just then—
A sudden, urgent knock on the door made Sarutobi Hiruzen frown. He quickly smoothed the displeasure from his face, offered a polite apology to one of the Amegakure envoys, assured them he would return shortly, and stepped out of the Hokage's office.
What greeted him was a clansman of the Sarutobi Clan.
The moment Hiruzen noticed the man's anxious expression—words caught in his throat, yet clearly desperate to speak—his heart sank sharply.
A wave of foreboding pressed heavily against him.
"What happened?" Hiruzen asked in a low, grim voice. "Don't tell me… Keizumi has come after the Sarutobi Clan again?"
The clansman shook his head. But before Hiruzen could feel the slightest relief, the man swallowed hard and forced out the words that struck like thunder: "Hokage-sama, Sarutobi Sakurako... She... slit her own throat with a kunai! By the time anyone found her, she was too late..."
Hiruzen: "!!"
For several seconds, Sarutobi Hiruzen stood completely frozen, his aged face filled with disbelief.
"I… didn't I already comfort her this morning? I even personally escorted her to the Academy. And Keizumi had erased those memories for her, hadn't he? That was Mangekyō Sharingan genjutsu… There's no way she could have recalled such trauma so soon."
"How could this have happened…"
Gradually regaining his senses, Hiruzen drew in a long, steady breath. A dark shadow had fallen over his eyes.
He demanded at once, "Tell me exactly what happened! That child should have been in the Academy at this very moment, shouldn't she?"
The clansman hurriedly replied: "She committed suicide at the ninja academy! A teacher at the academy came to inform us, the Sarutobi clan, intending to inform Sakurako's parents, but..."
He fell silent.
After all, the girl's parents had already killed each other.
"Phew…"
Hiruzen immediately summoned an ANBU, his face grim as he ordered, "Have the Uchiha Police Force begin an investigation at once!"
"Wait!"
Just as the ANBU was about to depart, Hiruzen suddenly stopped him.
"Send… Keizumi."
Hiruzen's tone was heavy.
"Yes, Hokage-sama!"
...
"It was only supposed to be routine surveillance of the Jinchūriki… I didn't expect to run into something like this. That child—if I'm not mistaken, she seems to be that poor girl of the Sarutobi clan from last night?"
At the Ninja Academy, hidden in the shadows, Kakashi gazed at the body in the distance, already growing cold.
"Haah… if only she had been in the same class as Uzumaki Naruto."
Kakashi himself wasn't sure why a trace of guilt rose in his heart.
Perhaps it was because he felt he had clearly had the chance to save her.
After all, as an ANBU elite jōnin, if he had seen a child trying to take her own life, he could have saved her at any time. The problem was, when she ended it herself, he hadn't witnessed it.
A shadow veiled Kakashi's single eye—
Kakashi couldn't figure it out. Since his mission was to remain in the shadows and keep watch over Naruto, he couldn't reveal himself now.
All he could do was quietly observe the situation at the Academy, watching the teachers' anxious faces.
And also—
He fixed his gaze on Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke, standing not far from Sarutobi Sakurako's body.
"She… used a kunai on her own throat…" Sasuke stared at the bloodstained weapon clenched tightly in Sakurako's hand. He could hardly imagine how much resolve it had taken to go that far. "Before she passed, she must have been in deep sorrow. You can still see two clear streaks of tears on her face."
"Tch! Too bad the Academy teachers won't let us get any closer."
Sasuke clicked his tongue in frustration. As the second son of the Uchiha clan head, even if he wasn't part of the Police Force, he still knew something about their procedures.
If only he could examine the scene more carefully—
He might just find something new.
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