"…" The crimson blood on the ground made Tsunade's entire body freeze. Every inch of her skin trembled faintly, her pupils quivering without pause.
In the past, she would have closed her eyes, or forced herself to look away, anything to avoid staring at blood.
But now—
Tsunade forced herself, with shaking gaze, to stare directly at the small corpse lying on the ground.
"Haah… haah…" Her breath came ragged, cold sweat soaking her back without her even realizing it. Her reaction was so abnormal that the exhausted Shizune behind her looked on in deep concern.
"Brat… did she really take her own life?" Tsunade clenched her teeth, forcing her willpower to steady as she turned to Keizumi.
"Yes."
Keizumi gave a slight nod. "She ended her life decisively, without the slightest hesitation."
Tsunade fixed her trembling gaze on Keizumi's impassive face.
"You… you feel no ripple at all over her death?" she asked, unable to stop herself.
"I do."
Keizumi's voice was flat. "But Absolute Justice cannot allow personal emotion to be shown. To reveal it would be taken as weakness."
Tsunade was stunned.
Then she heard Keizumi continue in that same indifferent tone: "Her death may have been suicide, but it was not meaningless. There is a cause behind it—evil at work."
Tsunade thought she detected something colder than before in his voice.
So—
This boy did feel something within. The stir was not small. But just as he had said, he did not allow it to show.
"Evil?" Shizune asked cautiously. "Do you mean someone pushed this child into it?"
She looked at Sakurako's body, thinking that to end one's life in such a way required absolute resolve—something not easily reached on one's own.
"Some people know the truth better than we do." Keizumi's gaze shifted forward, toward the group of Academy teachers.
Especially one female teacher among them, who kept her head lowered, never once looking in this direction.
[Izushima Kaede — Today, after learning from a young Sarutobi clan member about Sarutobi Sakurako's tragic experience the night before, she deliberately mentioned before Sakurako that her mother had been unfaithful after engagement and had even drowned her own infant. Using this to provoke Sakurako, she pushed the girl toward despair, planting the idea of ending her life and ultimately driving her to act.]
[Degree of Crime: Red Name!]
The blood-red text stood out clearly in Uchiha Keizumi's eyes.
His reaction also made Tsunade realize something.
"Keizumi… your eyes… did they just see the mark of sin?"
Though Tsunade's voice was not loud, it still carried to the group of Academy teachers not far away. At once, several of them froze, suddenly aware that Uchiha Keizumi's gaze was directed squarely at them.
Their faces showed shock and doubt as their wary eyes darted between their colleagues.
Especially toward Izushima Kaede!
Because she was Sarutobi Sakurako's teacher—and after Tsunade's words, Kaede's expression, already a little unnatural, had become even stranger!
Her facial muscles were stiff, her eyelids twitched uncontrollably, and even her lashes trembled faintly.
"Kaede-sensei…"
One Academy instructor stared in astonishment. "You…"
Izushima Kaede seemed drained of all strength. She clutched at the forehead protector bound on her arm, as if only that piece of metal could give her some sense of safety.
She opened her mouth, about to defend herself, but when her gaze flicked involuntarily toward Uchiha Keizumi—
Her face instantly turned pale.
As the one under his scrutiny, Kaede could feel Keizumi's stare directly upon her. It was like plunging into an ice pit. Tales of Uchiha Keizumi's deeds surged in her mind, and her defenses collapsed in an instant.
"I…"
Her hand trembled as she covered half her face. "I didn't know she was so fragile. I only hated her mother… because that mother, years ago, drowned a baby who… should have been my elder brother's child. My brother died young of illness, and that was the only bloodline he left behind. And she still…"
"I only found out about this today. It was three Sarutobi children in the class who were talking about it… In front of everyone, they revealed many of Sakurako's so-called 'secrets,' some of them right to her face."
"I was angry at her mother, so I repeated some of what I heard in front of Sakurako. I… I only repeated it…"
"Was it really just repeating?" At some point, Uchiha Keizumi was already standing directly before her.
Startled, Kaede lifted her head and lowered the hand that had been hiding her face—only to see the icy cold Sharingan staring straight at her.
"I… I…"
Tears welled up in Kaede's eyes, spilling uncontrollably. "I said far worse things. I even told her… 'After what you've been through, with parents like that, you might as well not go on living…'"
She clutched her head in anguish. "I didn't know it would turn out like this. I don't even know why I said such vile things to a child—words even adults couldn't bear to hear. I never intended this… I wasn't thinking… I truly regret it."
Uchiha Keizumi's cold voice cut through her pretenses: "You're only regretting that things blew out of proportion. Drop that pitiful act—your face makes me sick."
Uchiha Keizumi had never once believed the tears of the guilty.
Nor did he ever trust a single word of their so-called remorse.
Because it was never true regret for their actions.
It was only regret that Justice had set its eyes on them.
"Hey!" Tsunade's voice suddenly rang out as she strode forward, her fair face shadowed with anger. Her sharp gaze fixed on the pitifully feigning Izushima Kaede as she demanded icily, "Those three Sarutobi children you just mentioned—where are they?"
"Tsunade-sama…"
Behind her, Shizune swallowed nervously. As Tsunade's disciple, she knew her master all too well. She could already tell—Tsunade's killing intent was stirring.
…
Elsewhere, inside Iruka's classroom.
"Damn it, with Iruka-sensei watching us, there's no way to sneak out!"
Naruto sat at his desk, staring longingly out the window. The moment he tried to rise, Iruka, standing at the podium, shot him a fierce glare.
"Arghhh—!"
Naruto grabbed his head, roughly ruffling his blond hair as he let out a low, helpless groan. "Who would've thought Iruka-sensei would be the greatest obstacle to Justice?!"
Sasuke sat with arms folded, his expression calm and cold as he muttered, "We'll just have to wait until class is over."
Just then, something outside the window caught his eye.
Frowning, Sasuke nudged Naruto's arm.
"Dead last, aren't those three the same guys we saw before? The ones you said might be connected to all this?" he whispered.
"Huh? Where?" Ignoring the way Iruka's face darkened on the podium, Naruto peered outside as well.
"It really is them!" he muttered. "But it's still class time, right? Even if their sensei isn't around, they should be in their classroom studying. Yet those three have been sneaking around outside this whole time."
Suddenly Sasuke's voice sharpened. "Dead last—aren't they heading toward the Academy gates?!"
Naruto blinked. "Now that you mention it… yeah, it looks like it."
"Wait!"
Naruto jumped to his feet in alarm. "Don't tell me it really is them! Are they trying to run?!"
Sasuke stood at once. "We have to stop them."
"Naruto!!!"
"Sasuke!!!"
Veins bulged on Iruka's forehead as he finally lost his patience. "You two aren't going anywhere! Get to the back of the room and stand there as punishment! I already told you—this isn't something children like you can meddle in. The Uchiha Police Force will handle it!"
Naruto: "…"
Sasuke: "…"
Inside the classroom—
Every student's eyes were drawn toward Naruto and Sasuke.
"When did Sasuke-kun get so close with that Naruto?" Haruno Sakura muttered jealously. "And lately they've been together constantly, leaving me no chance to even talk to Sasuke-kun. I mean, even I don't get to sit beside him, let alone whisper with him in class…"
Haruno Sakura couldn't resist probing her "love rival" for information.
"Ino-pig, do you know what's going on with those two?"
"Ino… Ino-pig?!"
Yamanaka Ino, who had been spacing out, instantly widened her eyes.
"Damn you, forehead! Who wants to play your silly little crush games?" Ino rolled her eyes. "How would I know why they've gotten so close?!"
"Sakura!"
"Ino!"
Iruka snapped the chalk in his hand, veins bulging on his forehead that refused to fade. "You two—stand in the back as well and reflect! And no giving classmates such nasty nicknames!"
Yamanaka Ino: "…"
Haruno Sakura: "…"
The two of them obediently stood at the back of the classroom. Yet Sakura couldn't help sneaking curious glances at Ino.
She couldn't tell if it was an illusion, but these days… Ino didn't seem quite right.
Normally—
Didn't Ino also like Sasuke? Hadn't that very crush turned them from best friends into "love rivals" almost overnight?
But now… she didn't look very interested in Sasuke at all. Instead, she seemed lost in thought, her mind wandering in every class.
Sakura was puzzled.
It felt as though all the people she knew in the Academy were changing in strange ways—while she herself was left completely in the dark.
Sasuke glanced briefly at Sakura standing nearby, then at Ino further away. He ignored both girls. Just as he was about to whisper something to Naruto—
Suddenly—
Sasuke whipped his head toward the window on his right. His usually cold little face broke its composure as he exclaimed, ignoring Iruka at the podium, "Dead last! It's Keizumi-sensei!"
Naruto froze, then quickly looked too. "It really is Keizumi-sensei!"
Keizumi... sensei?
Beside them, Sakura's face was full of doubt. But she quickly noticed Ino suddenly tremble violently.
So Ino… also knew this "Keizumi-sensei"? Since when did the Academy have such a sensei?
Confused, Sakura turned to look as well.
And with that single glance—
She was utterly stunned!
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