With a slight tightening of Uchiha Keizumi's five fingers, his fingertips had already pierced through the skin of the man's chest, sinking into flesh and blood.
The power of chakra was further destroying the cursed seal on the man's chest.
It was Orochimaru's spy, sent into Konohagakure. The dense cursed seal patterns covering his body were visibly retreating like a receding tide.
Kagawa Shō looked down at his chest in sheer terror.
Orochimaru had placed a cursed seal on him precisely to prevent anyone from extracting Orochimaru's secrets from his body. The moment anyone attempted such a thing, the cursed seal would immediately be triggered, causing his entire body to explode and die in an instant.
To this kind of cursed seal, Kagawa Shō actually held no resentment.
Because he was absolutely loyal to Orochimaru. Even if it meant sacrificing his own life, he was determined to keep Orochimaru's secrets.
But what he never expected—was that the cursed seal had been undone by Uchiha Keizumi!
Not good…
Before Kagawa Shō could even try to struggle, a powerful suffocating grip at his throat made his eyes roll upward. His consciousness instantly short-circuited, and he was choked into unconsciousness.
Uchiha Keizumi casually tossed him toward Izumi.
"Send him to the Yamanaka Clan. Have them investigate the memories in his mind and bring back all information related to Orochimaru."
Uchiha Keizumi spoke calmly.
Orochimaru's earlier words hadn't stirred much of a ripple in his heart.
"Yes! Keizumi-senpai!"
Izumi realized the gravity of the situation. This was tied to one of the Sannin—Orochimaru—and also to whether Keizumi-senpai could eradicate Orochimaru, one of the great sources of evil in the shinobi world.
"Keizumi, I want to take part too!" At that moment, Mitarashi Anko's gaze shifted away from the severed white snake lying on the ground. Clenching her teeth, she spoke out.
As Orochimaru's disciple, Anko knew full well that within Konohagakure, she bore no small amount of subtle discrimination and isolation.
Although Orochimaru had defected, the shadow he cast over Anko still lingered on her life at every moment.
Like a nightmare haunting her dreams, it made Anko constantly yearn to destroy him.
She wanted to kill Orochimaru!
To slay one's sensei…
That too was a particular feature of the shinobi world.
"As you wish."
Uchiha Keizumi replied.
…
"What an impatient fellow, unwilling to let me finish speaking! It seems the Hyūga Main Family's Byakugan is beyond my grasp. And the newly planted piece in Konohagakure has also been pulled out. Hehe, but it hardly matters. Life may be short, yet there is no need to rush this moment."
In a secret experimental base within the Land of Fire, Orochimaru held a scalpel in hand, dissecting a living subject strapped to a bed, his face twisted with terror and despair.
A cold light flickered in his pair of golden, slit pupils. His hand, without realizing it, pressed down harder.
[Splurt—]
Orochimaru's movements froze.
He lowered his eyes to glance at the subject before him—whose complexion turned visibly pale until his breathing stopped entirely. Another "lab rat" gone.
"Uchiha Keizumi, even from afar you've caused me to lose a precious lab rat! Truly unforgettable, hehe."
It was obvious that Orochimaru's heart was far from as calm as he appeared on the surface.
Uchiha Keizumi's act of wordlessly slicing apart that slender white snake had clearly stirred a spark of anger within him.
…
Konohagakure, within the Nara Clan compound.
When Yamanaka Inoichi, temporarily residing there, saw the unconscious man brought in by Uchiha Izumi, he didn't ask any curious questions.
But Izumi took the initiative to explain: "This is a spy Orochimaru sent into Konohagakure. Keizumi-senpai needs information on Orochimaru."
"Orochimaru's spy…" On Yamanaka Inoichi's usually impassive face, a trace of change flickered. His gaze passed beyond Izumi, settling on Mitarashi Anko, who stood behind her with a rather complicated expression.
He gave a small nod and said, "Alright."
Then Yamanaka Inoichi added a question: "Concerning one of the Sannin, Orochimaru—should we inform the Hokage?"
"For now, no need."
Izumi shook her head, her words already heavy with distrust toward the Third. "If we let the Third Hokage intervene in this matter, he'll likely let memories of his bond as Orochimaru's sensei weigh on him, and at the critical moment, he may choose to spare Orochimaru."
Having followed Keizumi-senpai for so long, Izumi could now faintly see the true nature of the Third Hokage.
The Third was indeed commendable when it came to cherishing bonds.
The problem was—he often put that sentiment in the wrong place.
His indulgence of Danzō was a prime example.
At least, that was Izumi's preliminary conclusion. What's more, Keizumi-senpai had also said before that the Third was no good man. In such circumstances, there was even less reason to trust him.
Izumi even suspected…
That when Uchiha Itachi, once exposed as the "Evil of the Future," managed to hide so well, it was probably the Third who helped conceal him.
"Understood." Yamanaka Inoichi gave a slight nod. Just as he watched Izumi turn to leave, he suddenly called out.
Izumi looked back in puzzlement.
He then heard Yamanaka Inoichi say: "Our Yamanaka Clan has a clansman who just returned to Konohagakure today. While carrying out a shinobi mission outside the village, he happened by chance to make the acquaintance of one of the confidants of a great merchant, Gato. I think… Keizumi might have a strong interest in that infamous merchant."
Izumi: "!!!"
"Gato…" Mitarashi Anko turned her face away, trying to shake off her complex emotions. She hesitated before speaking: "That merchant who started with smuggling and selling illegal drugs, and is so notorious?"
Yamanaka Inoichi answered, "Yes."
"Thank you, Clan Head Yamanaka!" Izumi sincerely bowed in gratitude. "I'll make sure to tell Keizumi-senpai."
After watching the two leave, Yamanaka Inoichi turned his gaze to the unconscious Orochimaru spy.
He knew.
By helping Uchiha Keizumi obtain intelligence on Orochimaru, he was bound to earn Orochimaru's enmity. But since the Yamanaka Clan had already made this choice, what was there left to hesitate over?
…
Meanwhile.
Within the Uchiha Clan.
"Fugaku… you've been standing there for two hours." Uchiha Mikoto leaned against the doorway, her face carrying a complicated expression as she gazed at Uchiha Fugaku, who stood motionless inside the room.
She let out a faint sigh in her heart and said aloud, "Even if you stay in Itachi's room for an entire day, Itachi will never come back."
On Uchiha Fugaku's stern, expressionless face, a trace of desolation appeared.
The longing and sorrow in his eyes could not be hidden no matter what.
"Mikoto, the Uchiha Clan should not be like this."
After who knew how long in silence, Uchiha Fugaku finally spoke: "The Uchiha Clan should not worship absolute justice, because that only drags the clan from one extreme into another."
"Itachi was worried that the Uchiha Clan would become too extreme. He feared such an Uchiha would bring harm to Konohagakure. More than that, he feared that if it continued to accumulate, even he himself would no longer be able to control that situation."
"Perhaps it wasn't his own choice to step onto the path of the abyss. Rather, it was people like Uchiha Setsuna and Uchiha Keizumi who kept forcing him in that direction."
"If there had been no Setsuna with a heart set on launching a coup, if there had been no Keizumi so extreme he dared to kill even the Hokage's son—would Itachi still have fallen into the abyss?"
Uchiha Mikoto was stunned. She thought seriously for a moment and was just about to reply, but Uchiha Fugaku cut her off.
It turned out Fugaku had never intended to hear any answer from her—he was only asking and answering himself.
"No."
Uchiha Fugaku took a deep breath and said, "The reason someone can become so unyielding is environmental factors."
"On the outside, there were the Hokage's expectations of Itachi, and the Will of Fire shaping him. On the inside, there was Setsuna leading the radicals, and Keizumi leading the faction of absolute justice."
"These four together are the main factors that made Itachi change to the point that even we, his family, could barely recognize him."
Seeing that her husband's emotions were turning awry, Uchiha Mikoto finally spoke up.
"Fugaku, let the past be the past. If Itachi were still alive, he surely wouldn't want to see you so anxious and sorrowful."
Uchiha Mikoto softly comforted him: "The Itachi of the past was an understanding child. He would take the initiative to shoulder burdens so that as his father, you wouldn't have to work so hard."
"Your fixation now will only prevent Itachi from finding peace in the Pure Land."
In her mind, Mikoto silently added: 'If you keep obsessing over Itachi's death, something bad will surely happen.'
Uchiha Mikoto also knew very well that the radical ideology rooted in the Uchiha bloodline was something nearly impossible to erase.
She knew that even though her husband outwardly appeared calm and composed, the radicalism and arrogance belonging to the Uchiha could never truly be worn away.
She feared that in his fixation and obsession, Uchiha Fugaku might suddenly give rise to some strange idea.
And that strange idea could very well lead Fugaku into danger.
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