Chapter 101: Indra and Ashura Can't Escape the Grasp of Justice
Within the Uchiha Clan Compound.
The sole Elder of the Shimura clan was currently surrounded by a group of radical Uchiha ninja.
Unfriendly gazes lingered on him.
"If this old man remembers correctly, most of the Shimura clan ninja served in Root. But ever since Uchiha Ikeizumi began extensively hunting and killing Root ninja, your Shimura clan has been struggling. The youngest of your generation is already in their teens. Now, you probably only have a few stragglers left, right?"
Uchiha Setsuna, leaning on his staff, narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing the Shimura clan elder, who was similar in age to him.
"Moreover, ever since Shimura Danzo was defeated by Uchiha Ikeizumi last time, his position as Root's leader was revoked by the Third Hokage, and he's been missing for several days straight."
"With few clan members remaining, and your pillar, Danzo, nowhere to be found. Does a Shimura clan like that deserve to cooperate with this old man?!"
Uchiha Setsuna's arrogant demeanor caused the Shimura clan elder's expression to darken.
As expected of the inherently evil Uchiha clan; every single one of them emanates a repulsive aura.
"Lord Danzo isn't missing; he's been in Konoha all along." The Shimura clan elder said coldly, "However—"
"Last night, under Uchiha Ikeizumi's shameless sneak attack, Lord Danzo sacrificed himself to protect Konoha!"
Uchiha Setsuna: "—!!!"
Honestly.
The news of Danzo's death had only circulated among a few individuals last night and hadn't been widely spread.
Uchiha Setsuna didn't know about it until the Shimura clan elder revealed it to him directly.
"Dead, huh—Danzo." The wrinkles on Uchiha Setsuna's face twitched slightly, and a cold sneer played at the corner of his lips: "Good riddance! If this old man remembers correctly, he was the one with the biggest objections to the Uchiha clan, right?!"
He suppressed his smile, saying coldly, "Shimura Danzo's existence meant a natural opposition between the Shimura clan and the Uchiha clan. Now that Shimura Danzo is dead, do you really think we Uchiha will forgive you people?"
"Without Shimura Danzo, the Shimura clan is practically a name only, on the verge of extinction, aren't you? Do you honestly think a few stragglers like you have the right to boast in front of this old man?"
The Shimura clan elder clenched his fists, but being on someone else's territory, he couldn't afford to lash out.
Besides, his risky visit this time wasn't to argue with Uchiha Setsuna.
His face darkened, and he gritted his teeth, saying in a low voice, "But we have a common enemy, don't we? Uchiha Ikeizumi! That maverick minority of the Uchiha clan, to you, he's the biggest stumbling block within your clan, isn't he?!"
"If the Shimura clan is willing to risk everything just to make Uchiha Ikeizumi accompany Lord Danzo in death! In that case, would you still ignore what I'm saying to you, Uchiha Setsuna?!"
"Because whether it's the downfall of the Shimura clan or the death of Uchiha Ikeizumi, it's a good thing for you, isn't it?"
Uchiha Setsuna's cloudy eyes were quite profound. His old fingers rubbed the wooden staff, which had developed a slight sheen from handling.
He had to admit, what that old man from the Shimura clan said did tempt him a little.
But, "Hey, hey! Are you old man trying to sow discord within our Uchiha clan?!" A young, radical Uchiha ninja, who had been staring maliciously at the Shimura clan elder, couldn't help but sneer, "What do you take our Uchiha clan for? Do we look like idiots?!"
"Shimura Danzo was the very person we wanted to kill the most! Now that Uchiha Ikeizumi has killed Shimura Danzo, we should be thanking him! Cooperate with you to kill Ikeizumi? Ha! What kind of joke is that?"
"Old man, you're trying to sow discord within the Uchiha clan. Why don't you just leave your old life here? This isn't a place you can just walk into and out of as you please."
Other Uchiha also scoffed, "You want to cooperate with us? Do you really think you're worthy? If Shimura Danzo comes back to life, let him personally come and kneel before us, and perhaps we'll consider it!"
"Uchiha Ikeizumi, no matter what, is still part of our Uchiha clan. Besides, his [Absolute Justice] quite suits my taste. Why would we cooperate with you to deal with him?"
Uchiha Setsuna: "..."
His wrinkled old face, and the Shimura clan elder's old face, both simultaneously darkened.
Because he noticed that these radical young people's views on Uchiha Ikeizumi had changed too drastically!
Yes.
Uchiha Setsuna was actually somewhat tempted by the Shimura clan elder's cooperation offer.
But he found that his subordinates seemed to be "disloyal" to him.
Damn it!
How did that brat, Uchiha Ikeizumi, manage to do it? Did he secretly contact the radical youngsters behind my back?
Uchiha Setsuna's face turned dark with malicious speculation.
"This old man understands." The Shimura clan elder's face suddenly returned to calm. He let out a breath, glanced at Uchiha Setsuna, and slowly said, "It seems you can't control the power of the Uchiha hardliners. I see, it appears I came to the wrong person."
After saying this, the Shimura clan elder turned to leave.
"Wait!"
Uchiha Setsuna's old face was grim as he interrupted him, squeezing out a word through gritted teeth: "Did this old man say you could leave?"
Danzo's death—this news, Uchiha Fugaku learned from his eldest son, Uchiha Itachi. The shock that surged within Fugaku's heart was immense. It took him a full thirty seconds to regain a semblance of calm.
Although Shimura Danzo had been stripped of his high-ranking position by the Hokage.
Everyone knew that was just a superficial gesture from the Hokage. After some time, Danzo would surely be entrusted with important responsibilities again; it was just unlikely that he would continue as Root's leader.
In other words, Danzo would sooner or later return to the ranks of Konoha's high command, so Fugaku never overlooked Danzo, who hadn't shown his face for a long time.
However.
Just such a former Konoha elder, whom he treated with caution, died last night at Ikeizumi's hands!
"Itachi, were you there at the time?" After an unknown period of silence, Fugaku finally asked his eldest son.
"No."
Uchiha Itachi replied expressionlessly, "By the time I noticed Uchiha Ikeizumi, he had already succeeded. If I had been there, there's no way I would have let him lay a hand on Lord Danzo. However, to be precise, Uchiha Ikeizumi was merely the orchestrator; the one who actually carried it out was Uchiha Izumi."
"That child, Izumi, she has completely embraced [Absolute Justice]! She also seems to be the only Provisional Police Force academy student who has followed Ikeizumi for so long."
Fugaku sighed in a daze: "Itachi—you must be very clear what it means for Danzo to be killed, and for it to be related to the Uchiha clan, right?"
Uchiha Itachi's voice was cold as he answered, "Some within the ninja clan will become restless because of this. Those people will naively believe that the so-called Konoha elders are nothing special. Their narrow-mindedness will lead to irreparable disaster."
"Itachi, give me some time, alright?"
Fugaku took a deep breath and said, "You don't have to let the future tragedy unfold. Perhaps I have a better way to resolve this matter."
Uchiha Itachi looked deeply at Fugaku: "Father, your so-called solution is merely patching things up. The only way to truly resolve this impending conflict... there is only one!"
Fugaku opened his mouth but couldn't utter a word. He looked at his eldest son, who seemed both a stranger and inexplicably gratifying to him.
In the end, he only sighed silently, weakly repeating the phrase: "Itachi, give me some time. The Uchiha and Konoha don't have to reach an irreconcilable point."
He didn't know if he could persuade his eldest son.
"But—"
Fugaku's eyes held a hint of paternal affection, yet also an indescribable pain and conflict, as he said, "If I can't resolve it, then I will no longer try to stop you."
"I know that beneath your cold expression, you hide much pain. I also know that your threat to Sasuke is a form of love for him, and that you hope he will grow strong in the future."
"Itachi, if it truly becomes inevitable. Then no matter what decision you make, I will be proud of you."
Uchiha Itachi was silent for a moment, then bowed deeply to Fugaku.
"Yes, Father!"
The incident of Danzo's death seemed to cause no further ripples. Hiruzen Sarutobi appeared to be deliberately suppressing the impact of the event, and he did not confront Uchiha Ikeizumi about it directly.
After all.
Although he greatly regretted Konoha losing such a fighting force, Danzo's death was not entirely a bad thing for him as Hokage.
At least, "Root," that black-ops arm that had once been somewhat uncontrollable, was now entirely under his command as Hokage.
Moreover, he no longer needed to worry about Danzo going crazy again one day and inexplicably orchestrating an assassination plot to seize power, because Danzo had a history of attempted coups!
The advantages and disadvantages canceled each other out, making it as if nothing had happened.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's greatest concern now was Naruto.
He didn't know how much Naruto had been "brainwashed" by Ikeizumi, and whether what he told Naruto yesterday would be effective.
Did Naruto know how to combine the Will of Fire and justice to form a ninja way that stood on Konoha's side?
Hiruzen Sarutobi was a little worried.
"Kakashi." After quickly finishing his duties, Hiruzen Sarutobi slowly stood up. He spoke in a deep voice, "Starting today, you will supervise the jinchuriki, Uzumaki Naruto. Note, not alone; you are to take an ANBU squad with you to supervise Naruto."
Standing by, having been motionless all day, Kakashi was surprised that the Hokage-sama had suddenly called upon him.
Kakashi asked with some confusion, "Hokage-sama, isn't Yamanaka Yoshinobu monitoring Uzumaki Naruto?"
"He monitors, you supervise."
Hiruzen Sarutobi explained, "Yamanaka Yoshinobu submitted his resignation this morning. He said he might not be suited for monitoring the jinchuriki. I refused him, because ANBU is short on manpower. My requirement is: he is responsible for monitoring Naruto's safety, and you are responsible for supervising Naruto's growth."
"This way, your people and Yamanaka Yoshinobu can complement each other, and his pressure will be less."
Kakashi was taken aback.
"—Growth?"
He didn't quite understand.
Hiruzen Sarutobi said, "Naruto has decided to follow Ikeizumi in believing in justice. The word 'justice' itself is not wrong; I don't object to it. But [Absolute Justice] is different. Ikeizumi's [Absolute Justice] is too extreme. It only suits Ikeizumi, not Naruto."
"Kakashi, you should know what the consequences would be if Naruto, as a jinchuriki, disregards the bigger picture like Ikeizumi, right? We can temporarily restrain Ikeizumi, but a rampaging Nine-Tails would probably be difficult to stop even with the entire village's strength."
"Naruto's identity and his background dictate that he should stand with Konoha; his justice should also be justice from Konoha's standpoint. Not a maverick [Absolute Justice]."
"My arrangement for you to supervise him with others is for Naruto's sake, and even more for the greater good of Konoha."
Kakashi nodded thoughtfully: "Understood."
"However—"
He languidly asked with his half-lidded dead fish eyes, "Hokage-sama, if Uzumaki Naruto is too deeply influenced by Absolute Justice, should I report to you, or intervene directly to correct him?"
"Both are needed." Hiruzen Sarutobi said, "Intervene to correct him first, then report to me afterwards."
"—Yes, Hokage-sama."
Kakashi sighed inwardly; this was no easy mission!
When Kakashi took an ANBU squad to the Ninja Academy, he ordered the ANBU members to spread out in all directions. Although he knew that the ANBU ninja lurking in the shadows definitely couldn't hide from Uchiha Ikeizumi, at least they couldn't openly supervise, could they?
"Hmm?"
Kakashi, crouching on a treetop, concealing himself with branches, holding a copy of Make-Out Paradise that he had read several times, suddenly raised his drooping eyelids.
In his line of sight, ninja academy students were gradually leaving school. Among them, a blond brat was quite noticeable.
To Kakashi's surprise, Uzumaki Naruto was accompanied by a somewhat unexpected young companion.
"—Uchiha Sasuke?!"
Sasuke-kun—why is his relationship with Uzumaki Naruto so good?
A dozen meters behind Naruto and Sasuke, a small girl with pink hair and a clear, broad forehead was currently muttering in utter confusion: "From morning to evening, those two have been together the whole time, and they've been talking too."
Haruno Sakura didn't understand. In her impression, Uzumaki Naruto was a dead-last student with terrible grades, who was very inattentive in class, and she'd even heard he liked to play pranks.
There were also some rumors about Uzumaki Naruto in the academy.
She occasionally heard someone secretly say—my mom warned me not to get close to Uzumaki Naruto, that guy is the Nine-Tails Fox!
Anyway, Uzumaki Naruto was not popular in the village.
How could Sasuke-kun have such a close relationship with someone like that?
Could it be that after learning about his own brother's future evil deeds,
Sasuke-kun has chosen to give up on himself?!
Sasuke didn't know that there was a pink-haired girl behind him, secretly shocked by his actions today.
Right now, he was holding a tense little face, putting on the act of an "Uchiha genius ninja" to suppress the nervousness in his heart.
He let out a soft hmph, saying, "How could I possibly fear Uchiha Ikeizumi?!"
Because he didn't want to be inferior even to a dead-last, Sasuke, who had suddenly become interested in [Justice], spent the entire day trying to learn what [Justice] was from Naruto.
But Naruto himself only had a partial understanding, and more importantly, he didn't know how to properly explain it.
So.
Naruto had previously proposed a plan—"If you want to know what Absolute Justice is, then come meet Ikeizumi-sensei with me! But Ikeizumi-sensei is very strict, and a very scary person, so don't get scared by him, dattebayo!"
Naruto had already come to regard Uchiha Ikeizumi as a "teacher" similar to Iruka-sensei.
Except this teacher didn't teach academy knowledge.
This person taught [Absolute Justice]!
"You're clearly nervous, dattebayo." Naruto glanced at Sasuke's smug expression. He mercilessly punctured Sasuke's facade. Sasuke gritted his teeth, "I'm not!"
"Then why are you sweating, dattebayo?" Naruto scratched his head and asked.
Because it's too hot!
Sasuke stubbornly defended himself.
However, twenty minutes later, when Sasuke saw a familiar figure, his stubbornness suddenly vanished. An unprovoked sense of nervousness made him involuntarily slow his steps. For some reason, he regretted coming along with the dead-last.
Damn it! How could my mental fortitude be worse than his? He's just a dead-last! How could I be inferior to him? He should be inferior to me!
Sasuke glanced at Naruto ahead.
He gritted his teeth.
He quickened his pace. Naruto, with his blond hair, and Sasuke, with the Uchiha clan crest embroidered on his clothes, were quite conspicuous on the street.
Izumi immediately saw Naruto, and she also saw Sasuke.
She said to Uchiha Ikeizumi beside her in astonishment, "Ikeizumi-senpai, Sasuke-kun actually came with Naruto!"
"This is their destined bond." Uchiha Ikeizumi said indifferently, "When justice takes hold of one of them, the other naturally cannot escape the palm of justice."
Izumi paused, then immediately realized something: "Could Sasuke-kun also be a seed for [Absolute Justice] that you had marked out early on, Senpai?"
Uchiha Ikeizumi said, "After all, this kind of special Uchiha is very rare within the Uchiha clan. Compared to his older brother, he's as normal as can be."
At this moment.
Naruto was seen running over in a hurry. When he was still two meters away from Uchiha Ikeizumi, he quickly stopped, then immediately bowed deeply to Uchiha Ikeizumi.
"Ikeizumi-sensei! Uzumaki Naruto reporting for duty!"
"Ikeizumi-sensei?!" Izumi's pretty face showed a rather strange expression. In the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki's eyes, was Ikeizumi-senpai playing the role of a "Justice Instructor"?
It seemed quite fitting.
And Ikeizumi-senpai didn't correct Uzumaki Naruto's way of speaking.
Izumi looked at Sasuke, who stood beside Naruto with a timid and uneasy expression.
Noticing the gaze, Sasuke realized his silence seemed overly awkward and quickly retorted, unwilling to be outdone, "The dead-last invited me; I didn't come on my own initiative."
Naruto immediately grumbled, "Hey, hey, who's the dead-last, dattebayo!"
"Oh?" Izumi smiled faintly, saying, "Since Sasuke-kun was just invited and isn't truly interested in justice, then Sasuke-kun should probably go back first. After all, Sasuke-kun, who isn't interested in justice, would just be..."
"I I didn't say I wasn't interested..." Sasuke quickly interrupted, but his voice was a bit small and fragmented.
...
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