"Hu…"
Uchiha Fugaku exhaled a heavy breath. His solitary figure seemed particularly desolate. With his back to Uchiha Mikoto, he spoke: "Mikoto, Itachi was someone who considered everything thoroughly no matter what he did. Especially after hearing from Keizumi that in the future he would destroy the Uchiha Clan, perhaps he had already begun calculating the plan of extermination in his heart."
"That also means that during the process, he prepared many contingencies, measures, and backup plans. Perhaps among those many plans, he anticipated the possibility that before he even had time to annihilate the Uchiha Clan, he might die early at someone else's hand."
"I'm thinking about what preparations he left behind."
At this, Uchiha Mikoto realized that her husband had not taken in her words at all.
A flash of disappointment passed through her eyes.
Uchiha Mikoto said: "Fugaku, I only hope that when Sasuke comes back, you won't speak of such strange things in front of him. You already turned Itachi into what he became—you can't let Sasuke, who has chosen his own shinobi path, become like Itachi too."
"Indeed."
This time, Uchiha Fugaku actually listened, which was rare. "We mustn't let that child Sasuke repeat the same mistakes."
Uchiha Mikoto froze, then showed a faint smile. "That's more like it."
She continued: "I'll head out first to buy some ingredients, and tonight I'll cook a few of Sasuke's favorite dishes."
Her footsteps grew more and more distant.
Uchiha Fugaku still stood quietly inside Uchiha Itachi's room.
"Konohagakure…"
"Sasuke…"
"Itachi…"
"Keizumi…"
Fugaku's mind was a tangled mess.
…
An hour quickly passed. During that time, Izumi had first relayed Yamanaka Inoichi's words to Uchiha Keizumi, then hurried back to the Nara Clan compound.
She brought out both the intelligence on Orochimaru that Yamanaka Inoichi had extracted from Shō, and the Yamanaka shinobi who had just returned to Konohagakure, then once again found Uchiha Keizumi.
After pausing to catch her breath, the girl said, "Keizumi-senpai, I've brought everything!"
Uchiha Keizumi took the intelligence file but didn't immediately open it to read.
Instead, his gaze fell on the slightly uneasy Yamanaka clansman before him.
"You'll cooperate with me to find Gato," Uchiha Keizumi told him. "Afterward, the Police Force will grant you a certain reward."
"N-no, that's not necessary!"
Yamanaka Anzawa hurriedly shook his head. He was only a minor chūnin of Konohagakure, and in front of Uchiha Keizumi he couldn't muster the slightest confidence. Even though the clan head had already reminded him beforehand that there was no need to be so nervous…
He rushed to add, "As long as there's a chance to help Absolute Justice, I'll devote myself without hesitation and ask for no return."
Uchiha Keizumi cast him a sidelong glance and said, "But you need to set an example for others who don't yet trust Absolute Justice. Let them know—cooperating with the Police Force to eradicate evil isn't something frightening. They can even gain benefits from it, so they feel a kind of positive feedback in return."
Yamanaka Anzawa froze.
"Absolute Justice doesn't demand that everyone in the shinobi world worship or believe in it. But we also can't let those who yearn for justice be too afraid that Absolute Justice will harm them. The only ones who should fear justice are those with evil in their hearts."
At the side, Uchiha Izumi hastily pulled a small notebook and a pen from her chest.
Her hand moved swiftly, recording every single word Keizumi-senpai had just spoken in detail.
Yes!
These words of Keizumi-senpai were clearly not only meant for this Yamanaka clansman, but perhaps also for herself and for Anko.
Uchiha Keizumi paid no attention to the girl's little movements.
He opened the interrogation file. Written inside was all the intelligence on Orochimaru, filtered and compiled by Yamanaka Inoichi.
The most crucial information was the exact location of one of Orochimaru's secret experimental bases within the Land of Fire!
Uchiha Keizumi's eyes narrowed slightly.
Then, he asked the restless Yamanaka clansman: "Where is the confidant of Gato you know?"
Yamanaka Anzawa gave him an address.
Uchiha Keizumi closed his eyes, recalling the detailed map of the Land of Fire, linking those two locations with Konohagakure in a straight line.
"Perfect, we can settle it along the way."
He spoke.
...
Evening.
Hyūga Hinata returned to the Hyūga Clan carrying nervous unease in her heart.
As she stepped into the clan grounds, she didn't dare make a sound the whole way, nor did she dare lift her head.
She could clearly feel the strange looks cast her way by many members of the branch family. That sense of unease swelled to its peak, making her wish she could bury her head deep into the ground beneath her feet.
"Main family's young lady, huh…"
A branch family member brushed past her, let out a cold laugh, then glanced back at Hinata's hastening figure with disdain. "The moment the main family fell from the altar, no one wanted to call her 'Hinata-sama' anymore!"
Not far away, another branch shinobi fixed his gaze on Hinata's back and said, "All of us in the branch family have the Caged Bird Cursed Seal carved on our foreheads. She alone has a clean forehead, nothing at all."
"What if…"
A strange glint flickered in his eyes. "We find a chance to carve a Caged Bird Cursed Seal on her forehead! And her little sister too—she should also have the Caged Bird Cursed Seal! And it should be the modified kind created by the main family. Once activated, it would bring endless agony, as if the head were splitting apart."
It was as though he recalled the torment he had once suffered under the Caged Bird Cursed Seal of the main family.
This branch ninja already looked eager to try.
"There are more main family members than just those two sisters who haven't been thrown into Konoha's prison. The others should also have the Caged Bird carved on them. Only that way can fairness between the main and branch families be shown," someone else said.
"Speaking of which, if a successor to the main family is chosen, would their two children also need one of them to be marked with the Caged Bird? Or would both be marked with the Caged Bird?"
Behind her came waves of discussion, many words directed at Hyūga Hinata.
She was so frightened her palms were soaked with cold sweat.
Only then did she truly understand why that terrifying man had demanded that she take Hanabi and the other main family members who had not been imprisoned and leave the Hyūga Clan.
If she continued to stay in the clan, who knew what kind of dreadful fate awaited her.
Yet as she half-ran along, Hinata suddenly froze.
"The things they said behind my back… could it be what they themselves once went through? In other words, Neji-nii-san and Hizashi-ojisan also suffered such pain. That's why Neji-nii-san held such resentment toward Father, and felt such strong hatred for the main family members…"
This doubt spilled from Hinata's lips in a faint murmur.
She paused in silence, lips pale, pressing them together.
Only seven years old, Hinata was slow to grasp the truth—something outsiders had understood right away. As one of the people caught in the middle, she was the very last to awaken to it.
Just then—
Hyūga Hinata ran into a young man of the main family, his face weary and heavy with worry. He happened to be the only special jōnin left of the main family. Upon seeing Hinata, he immediately forced himself to straighten, struggling to put on a smile so as not to appear utterly drained.
"Hinata-sama, I was just preparing dinner for Hanabi-sama. She's only two years old, and I just realized there are some foods adults can eat that she cannot…"
"Keizuka-ojisan, let's leave the Hyūga estate!" Hinata mustered her courage and looked up at Hyūga Keizuka.
Ojisan…
I'm only twenty years old…
Keizuka was silent for half a beat, then asked with some puzzlement, "Why do you want to leave the Hyūga estate?"
"It's… it's…"
Hinata replied weakly, "It was the man called Uchiha Keizumi who told me. He said—take my little sister with me, take the other people as well, and meet him at Ichiraku Ramen at eight tonight."
Uchiha Keizumi!!!
Keizuka felt his heart tighten. Suddenly his mouth went dry and he could not bring himself to refuse with any firmness, because most of the main family elders had been sent to Konoha Prison by that man!
In Keizuka's eyes, that man was the most terrifying person in Konoha!
To disobey his "orders" would likely bring extremely severe consequences.
After taking a deep breath, Keizuka—already sweating profusely from the mere mention of that name—forced a smile and said, "If that man says so, then he must have his reasons. Besides, he worships absolute justice; he wouldn't intend to harm others. If that's the case, the main family following his instructions should pose no problem."
"Eight o'clock, you say?" Keizuka could not hide the nervousness on his face; he buried his head and murmured to himself, "There are still two hours, but we mustn't keep that man waiting. If we make him wait, it will seem like the Hyūga main family is being rude."
"So we should go early, wait for him in advance, and show that the Hyūga main family is sincere and harbors no dissatisfaction with absolute justice, nor any resentment."
"Yes! That's exactly what we should do!"
Keizuka hurried on: "Hinata-ojōsama, please split up with me and notify the main family members. Aim to gather at the Hyūga estate gate within ten minutes."
"…All right."
Hinata nodded.
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