Mitokado Homura left the Sarutobi clan with a heavy heart. He racked his brains, but still could not figure out who in the dark was trying to provoke an armed conflict between the Will of Fire and Absolute Justice.
Could it be Utatane Koharu?
Koharu indeed holds a very strong opinion against Uchiha Keizumi, and has even repeatedly spoken ill of his Absolute Justice behind his back.
And she has repeatedly felt quite dissatisfied with Hiruzen's indecision.
But by rights, from what he knows of her, she should not do such a thing.
Or else…
Could it be Fugaku?!
Mitokado Homura formed such a suspicion—Uchiha Fugaku, this Uchiha clan head, has been almost completely sidelined by Absolute Justice. In order to take back the Uchiha clan's voice, Fugaku decided to take a gamble, wishing to borrow the Hokage's power to eliminate Uchiha Keizumi.
But is that right?
"Fugaku least wants the Uchiha clan to be feared by the village. If he truly did this, whether it's Hiruzen or I or Koharu, all of us would grow extremely wary of his scheming."
Mitokado Homura shook his head again.
It can't be the Hyūga, can it? For example, the Hyūga main family members whom Uchiha Keizumi locked into the Konoha Prison?
They hate Uchiha Keizumi, but they do not have the strength to deal with him, and so carried out such a plot?
But that is not right, either.
Sarutobi Nadeshiko… had once been one of Hiruzen's right and left arms, and she herself was a quite capable jōnin. Within the Hyūga clan, there is almost no one who could kill her in an instant!
Unless Hyūga Hiashi, the clan head, made a move personally—but the problem is, he is sitting in the Konoha Prison, and there are people specifically guarding him.
Mitokado Homura shook his head. For now, the one skulking with head and tail tucked has yet to slip up; for the moment he could not conjecture any useful information.
But Hiruzen doing this is, in the end, a bit extreme.
Mitokado Homura muttered: "Koharu mistakenly thinks he truly wants to strike at Uchiha Keizumi, so she will inevitably offend Uchiha Keizumi because of this. This time Hiruzen has unintentionally dug a pit for Koharu."
"Though, given the depth of her loathing toward Uchiha Keizumi, she doesn't even care whether she offends him or not."
Mitokado Homura considered whether to remind Utatane Koharu.
But on second thought, Sarutobi Hiruzen still suspected Utatane Koharu.
He decided he would quietly observe how the situation developed!
"Who would have thought, with Uchiha Keizumi not in the village, the village has instead become even more chaotic…"
He spoke to himself helplessly.
…
Ding—two kunai clashed in midair. The red glow of Uchiha Izumi's Sharingan, with its three tomoe, flashed as she swiftly ducked low, dodging the Root shinobi's blade slicing toward her.
Immediately, she thrust her ninja blade diagonally upward. The sharp edge split open the opponent's mask, revealing an utterly ordinary face.
Izumi gave a light shout, braced one hand against the ground, and kicked upward.
Caught unprepared, the Root shinobi took a heavy kick to the abdomen.
"Cough, cough, cough—"
His face changed sharply as he clutched his stomach with one hand, retreating again and again. Beads of sweat the size of beans seeped from his forehead, and the look he cast at Uchiha Izumi carried a trace of dread.
This brat…
Is she really only 12 years old? Really just graduated from the Academy not long ago?
Ordered by Koharu to capture Uchiha Izumi, he had never expected to run into such a hard opponent! Both he and Koharu had underestimated this Uchiha girl.
"Hoo…"
Catching her breath, Izumi gripped her blade tightly. Fixing her gaze on the Root shinobi ahead, she demanded: "Are you Root planning to sink completely into the abyss of darkness? What is the purpose of striking at me? Is it related to Keizumi-senpai?"
The Root shinobi ignored her. His face cold, he bit his thumb and pressed both palms to the ground.
"Summoning Technique!"
In the next instant—a massive ninja hound suddenly appeared. At the Root shinobi's command, the beast lunged straight at Uchiha Izumi.
…
A pitch-black venomous snake bit down hard on the shoulder of a Root special jōnin.
Mitarashi Anko, holding a kunai, turned back to parry, blocking another Root shinobi's sneak attack from behind.
From her sleeve several more snakes slithered out, lunging to gnaw at the attacker.
Mitarashi Anko had never expected that within only 2 days, she would be ambushed twice by Root shinobi! If not for having rested well last night to restore her strength, under this two-pronged ambush she might have been floored in a single exchange.
This stirred up a nameless anger in Mitarashi Anko's chest.
When will Root ever be finished?!
That shortsighted old hag Utatane Koharu—what the hell is she thinking? Does she mean to make herself an enemy of Absolute Justice?
Blocking another strike from the Root shinobi, a possibility suddenly came to her. Grappling with the opponent, she furrowed her brow and demanded: "You're not just targeting me, are you? That old woman Utatane Koharu—while Keizumi is away, has she taken the chance to strike at Izumi and Sasuke and the others as well?!"
Unfortunately.
Root shinobi have always been taciturn. Even though a new batch of Root shinobi had already been rotated in, this style still continued.
The two Root shinobi besieging Mitarashi Anko gave no answer to her questions.
But that only made Anko's mood grow heavier.
Because she felt she must have guessed right!
…
"It shouldn't be Advisor Koharu." Sent by Sarutobi Hiruzen, Yamato came to the Sarutobi compound and found him.
Lowering his head, he reported to the Hokage: "The Anbu squad under my lead and I have been observing every move of Root."
"So far, we haven't discovered any clues in Root's actions."
Yamato paused for a moment, then continued: "By the way, Hokage-sama. The Root shinobi seem to be acting a bit excessively. I don't know if it's by Advisor Koharu's deliberate instruction or for some other reason, but when trying to take shinobi who follow [Absolute Justice] back into Root, the methods they've used have been especially violent."
"Hokage-sama, should we step in to stop Root's actions?"
"No need." Sarutobi Hiruzen, his old face taut, shook his head: "Before we find out who the mastermind really is, as long as Root and Keizumi's subordinates don't cause deaths, Anbu should not interfere."
Yamato hesitated, feeling this approach seemed somewhat improper.
The Hokage was using Utatane Koharu, and also using Uchiha Keizumi, treating both sides as bait to lure out the rat.
By normal logic, for him as Hokage to do this was indeed not wrong.
Even if Utatane Koharu later learned she had been used, she probably would not say much.
The problem was…
Could the Hokage guarantee that Uchiha Keizumi would not mind?
Yamato felt the Hokage truly was being a bit impatient.
He was playing with fire.
If played well, this fire could burn away the mastermind behind it; if not, it might bring disaster upon himself.
"Keep observing the every move of the people in the village." Sarutobi Hiruzen's words pulled Yamato out of his thoughts.
A trace of complexity flickered beneath Yamato's mask.
But because of his position, in the end he still did not remind Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
…
At the same time.
As two Root shinobi were just about to take Uchiha Sasuke and Hyūga Neji to the Root base, a rather tall figure suddenly appeared in front of them.
The pupils of the two Root shinobi shrank slightly.
"The Sannin… Jiraiya!!!"
Blocking their path, Jiraiya gave a light cough: "That's right! I… am the one and only Jiraiya the Sage!"
Then Jiraiya's gaze fell on Sasuke, still struggling, and on Neji, who had already fainted.
Jiraiya said in a deep voice: "There's no need to use such heavy hands against two kids, is there? I heard at the Academy you said this was the Hokage's order. What exactly is going on? Can you tell me?"
The two Root shinobi looked at each other.
"Jiraiya, this isn't something you should be meddling in." Just then, a sudden voice rang out from behind him.
When Jiraiya turned, he saw Utatane Koharu walking over under the protection of two Root guards.
Utatane Koharu took the initiative to speak, telling what had happened today right in front of Jiraiya.
Then she continued: "That is why this old woman ordered her subordinates to capture these two brats."
Jiraiya was stunned.
The old man's daughter-in-law…
Had been killed?!
"Wait a moment…" While trying to sort out the chaos in his mind, Jiraiya said: "If I remember correctly, Uchiha Keizumi's eyes can see through others' sins. If he killed the old man's daughter-in-law, doesn't that mean that the old man's daughter-in-law herself was actually also a…"
"Jiraiya."
Utatane Koharu cut him off, saying: "There are in fact two ways to interpret Hiruzen's decision this time."
"First: Sarutobi Nadeshiko was innocent. But Uchiha Keizumi mistakenly killed her. His eyes cannot be flawless forever. In his anger, Hiruzen decided to thoroughly settle accounts with Absolute Justice."
"Second: Sarutobi Nadeshiko was not innocent. But Hiruzen intends to use this chance to eliminate Absolute Justice. Because he has finally realized that Absolute Justice will only bring calamity to Konoha."
"To avenge one's kin is a very good excuse. Even if Hiruzen does not hold the banner of great righteousness, there would be no great fault to find with him."
Jiraiya: "…"
For some reason, he saw a trace of fanaticism in the eyes of this senior Konoha advisor before him.
Jiraiya kept feeling that Sarutobi Hiruzen did not think this way.
But what he knew of the matter was limited only to Utatane Koharu's account.
For the moment, he could not make sense of it.
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