Chapter 102: Sasuke: I Won't Forgive Uchiha Itachi Either!
Seeing Sasuke's adorable, tsundere reaction, Izumi suddenly felt a little dazed. This pair of brothers was raised by the same parents, so why were their personalities so completely different?
"Let's go."
Uchiha Ikeizumi didn't waste much time with the two brats. After spitting out two words, he walked straight ahead.
"Go?"
Naruto's face was a little confused: "Where are we going, dattebayo?"
Izumi, standing beside him, explained on Uchiha Ikeizumi's behalf: "The way Ikeizumi-senpai teaches [Justice] and lets you understand [Justice] isn't by giving you a lecture in a classroom."
She, too, had once undergone Ikeizumi-senpai's "hellish justice training," and it had shaken her quite a bit in the beginning.
But thankfully, with the passage of time, she finally came to understand how incredibly uncompromising Ikeizumi-senpai's Absolute Justice was.
Izumi followed behind Uchiha Ikeizumi, her voice clear as she continued, "Senpai's teaching style is more inclined towards direct practice. Before you arrived, Kijiro-senpai's ninja cats had already found the targets that [Justice] needs to hunt and judge!"
Ninja cats...
Kijiro...
Naruto and Sasuke both simultaneously shifted their gazes to the large, fat cat comfortably perched on Izumi's left shoulder.
Kijiro opened one of its squinted eyes, and spoke in a human voice: "You two brats, since you've made this choice, you better be psychologically prepared not to wet yourselves in the face of sin. Especially, don't be scared silly by the evil of humanity."
Naruto whispered, "He sounds like a grumpy old lady, dattebayo."
Sasuke was about to nod in agreement, but he suddenly realized that if he agreed with this dead-last, wouldn't that be indirectly admitting that he was indeed inferior to him?
Sasuke, for some reason, felt a surge of competitive spirit. He let out a soft hmph and didn't respond to Naruto.
Sasuke followed along, but then he found that something wasn't right.
He couldn't help but say in surprise, "This direction seems to be—"
"The Uchiha clan compound," Uchiha Ikeizumi's cold voice rang out. "Ninja cats have discovered a massive quantity of illegal drugs within the Uchiha clan compound. Conveniently, three Uchiha clansmen returned from a ninja mission this morning. They are the most likely suspects."
Sasuke was filled with shock. He didn't expect the incident to involve the Uchiha clan!
His mother had once said that Uchiha Ikeizumi wouldn't give anyone a pass just because they were a member of the Uchiha clan.
As long as someone committed evil, Uchiha Ikeizumi would strike mercilessly, and it was common for people to die. At this moment, Sasuke had a much clearer understanding of the so-called "never giving a pass."
"...Illegal drugs?"
Naruto was a little confused; his focus was on something else.
Kijiro let out a yawn and explained, "They're those nasty things that ruin a person's life the moment they get hooked. They weren't so widespread before, but ever since the Third Great Ninja War ended, these awful things have become more and more common. I hear there's a merchant named Gato who's been smuggling a lot of this stuff."
"I sent out five ninja cats a month ago to search for intelligence on the merchant Gato outside Konoha, and even outside the Land of Fire. As soon as we have concrete intelligence and confirm his location, Lord Ikeizumi will pay him a visit."
Kijiro paused, then added, "The sheer amount of illegal goods found in the Uchiha clan compound most likely has an inseparable connection with that merchant, Gato."
"To be messing with this kind of stuff right under Lord Ikeizumi's nose... it seems they've been on missions outside Konoha for too long and haven't heard what's been happening in the village for the past month."
"They don't even know that [Absolute Justice] is almost unstoppable!"
Kijiro's words made even Izumi have a belated realization.
So, it hadn't even been a month since she first met Ikeizumi-senpai!
Naruto, who didn't have a very detailed concept of all this, asked curiously, "How many people have those illegal drugs harmed?"
"—Countless."
Kijiro's tone was a little less flippant now. It said, "In Konoha alone, six civilians and ninja combined died from illegal drugs just last year. And the number of people still suffering from them is impossible to count."
Naruto's eyes widened in shock: "Even ninja can be harmed by them?"
Kijiro said, "There are always naive people who think that with a ninja's strong willpower, they can resist that physical and psychological dependence. In reality, they can't resist at all."
"You two brats, just remember this. When you encounter these illegal drug dealers, whether they're producing, smuggling, or selling, you must execute all of them in the name of justice!"
As they spoke, they had already entered the Uchiha clan compound.
Naruto didn't expect to have "dropped by" this place three times in such a short period!
Sasuke, next to him, remained silent all the way, but it was clear from his pale little face that he was struggling with a deep internal conflict. He seemed to want to say something but held back.
Sasuke suddenly noticed that the man named Uchiha Ikeizumi seemed to have glanced over at him,
which made him flinch in surprise.
He became even more afraid to speak up.
But to his surprise, Uchiha Ikeizumi suddenly spoke: "You believe that since they are all part of the Uchiha clan, even if your kin make mistakes, you shouldn't use such extreme methods to deal with them. You should at least give them a way out, right? Uchiha Sasuke."
Sasuke: "!!!"
He immediately looked up in shock, with an expression of having seen a ghost, at Uchiha Ikeizumi's back.
Because Uchiha Ikeizumi had said exactly what was on his mind!
It felt as if his innermost thoughts had been heard!
Uchiha Ikeizumi said indifferently, "The evil of the ninja world is categorized into different levels. Petty evil, like Uzumaki Naruto's pranks, only requires a slightly heavier-than-usual punishment to correct the mistake. Minor evil, such as theft or fighting, can be handled by forced imprisonment and rehabilitation in Konoha's prison. Major evil, such as malicious murder, selling illegal drugs, human trafficking, and so on—must be corrected with killing!"
"Justice does not compromise, and it does not forgive. Uchiha Sasuke, do you think you have the right to forgive those who should repay with their lives, on behalf of the poor innocent people whose lives have been ruined?"
Uchiha Ikeizumi's footsteps had stopped. He turned around, looking down at Uchiha Sasuke.
"If your older brother, Uchiha Itachi, were to carry out the Uchiha clan massacre tonight, killing almost every single member of the Uchiha clan. Women, the elderly, children—even your father, your mother—would not escape death."
"At that time, among the entire Uchiha clan, only you and Uchiha Itachi would be left alive. In that situation, would you forgive Uchiha Itachi on behalf of the deceased Uchiha clan members?"
"Would you forgive your father's killer? Would you forgive your mother's killer? If someone were to suddenly stand in front of you and say—Uchiha Itachi is your brother, shouldn't you forgive him? It's not a big deal even if he made a mistake, right?"
"In that case, would you follow what that person said and choose to forgive the Uchiha who killed the entire Uchiha clan?"
Each of Uchiha Ikeizumi's relentless questions made Sasuke's eyes widen, and he couldn't help but stumble back a few steps.
He was now looking directly into Uchiha Ikeizumi's eyes.
At this moment, Sasuke didn't know why, but Uchiha Ikeizumi's words began to form images in his mind.
In a brief moment of daze, Sasuke felt that everything in front of his eyes had changed drastically.
He quietly saw himself in the middle of the night.
He remembered that the buildings in front of him were the Uchiha clan's buildings.
Sasuke's bewildered gaze wandered around.
And his eyes grew wider and wider at that moment.
Under a moonlit night, blood, corpses, darkness, screams, pleas—all sorts of horrifying scenes merged into an extremely terrible, tragic sight. Every lifelike corpse had a gruesome death, and the blood seemed to have soaked the earth crimson.
Sasuke's pupils trembled.
Because under the relatively bright moonlight, he clearly saw the familiar faces of the Uchiha clan members, with expressions of fear and despair frozen on the corpses!
The elderly.
The young.
The children.
The infants.
Everyone was there!
A sudden scream that sounded as if it were right next to him made Sasuke's hair stand on end. He turned his head in a panic and saw an Uchiha peer of his age being lifted by the hair by a man who had moved his mask to the side of his head. A ninja blade had already pierced through the peer's chest, taking his life.
The ninja blade was slowly withdrawn.
The corpse was thrown to the ground.
At this moment, Sasuke, whose body was trembling, finally saw the man's face—Uchiha Itachi!!!
Before Sasuke could even scream, the scene in front of him suddenly shifted.
Sasuke found himself inside a house. The dim yellow light gave Sasuke no sense of security. A faint sound of footsteps and dragging made him turn his head in a hurry.
Sasuke was shocked to see that his older brother, Uchiha Itachi, was dragging a woman who was on her last breath. He also noticed that Uchiha Itachi seemed not to see him, passing right in front of him.
Uchiha Itachi, with one hand dragging the woman and the other holding a blood-stained kunai, would make a cut on the woman's body with the kunai every few steps he took inside the house.
"Ahhhhhhh—"
The woman's hoarse, heart-wrenching screams caused a faint noise to come from a closet inside the house.
Uchiha Itachi, in his line of sight, slit the woman's throat with the kunai.
Then, he walked to the closet and expressionlessly pulled it open.
Sasuke saw a little girl hiding inside the closet!
"Brother! Stop!!!" Sasuke wanted to shout this, but he found he couldn't make a sound. He could only watch helplessly as Uchiha Itachi dragged the terrified little girl out of the closet and ended her life with the kunai.
The scene in front of him changed again.
Sasuke, filled with grief and outrage, saw Uchiha Ikeizumi, Uchiha Izumi, Uzumaki Naruto, and Kijiro appear in his line of sight.
Uchiha Itachi was gone.
The blood, corpses, and screams had all disappeared.
Sasuke was left standing in a daze.
"Did you see it?" Uchiha Ikeizumi's three-tomoe Sharingan slowly reverted to its normal state. He said, "If something like that really happened, do you have the right to forgive and pardon him on behalf of others? Give me your answer, Uchiha Sasuke."
Sasuke snapped out of his trance as if waking from a dream: "That was genjutsu?"
He was completely stunned. The genjutsu was so real, so real it felt as if these tragedies were truly going to happen in the future.
He couldn't imagine his brother doing such a thing.
But if it really did happen, would he have the right to forgive Uchiha Itachi on behalf of the slain clan members?
Sasuke remembered his peer whose body was pierced by the ninja blade.
He remembered the infant on the ground, cut in half with a single sword slash.
He remembered the woman being tortured in pain, and he also remembered the little girl who couldn't help but make a sound upon hearing her mother being tormented. 'Patap'—tears began to flow uncontrollably.
His blurred vision made Sasuke realize he was crying.
He quickly reached up and wiped his wet eyes.
Sasuke lowered his head and silently gave his answer: "I don't have the right to forgive him on behalf of others. And—if something like that really happened, I wouldn't forgive him myself—"
He suddenly understood something, and with reddened eyes, he looked at Uchiha Ikeizumi. His fear of Uchiha Ikeizumi seemed to have faded, replaced by a brave thirst for knowledge: "Did those three clansmen who brought a large amount of illegal drugs into Konoha also cause such pain to others?"
"Yes." A single-word reply.
It made Sasuke feel so ashamed he wished he could crawl into a hole and hide.
"—I'm sorry."
He apologized in a low voice.
"?!" Naruto, who had no idea what was happening, was completely bewildered. He didn't understand why Ikeizumi-sensei just asked that arrogant guy a few questions, and then the guy inexplicably lowered his head and apologized.
Meanwhile, at the Police Force Headquarters.
"Lord Fugaku, the jinchuriki has been brought in again by Uchiha Ikeizumi. There are also some ANBU ninja, probably monitoring the jinchuriki, who have also secretly infiltrated."
When these words reached his ears, Fugaku was completely numb.
This is the third time, isn't it? Can't you take a break?!
Even if you're not tired, Ikeizumi,
I'm already tired!
However.
When the next sentence was spoken, it made Fugaku pause in shock: "And—Lord Fugaku, your second son, Uchiha Sasuke, also seems to be with Uchiha Ikeizumi."
Fugaku: "???"
Sasuke?!
Fugaku racked his brain but couldn't figure out what strange connection that child, Sasuke, could have with Uchiha Ikeizumi.
In his impression, the two were completely unrelated people.
Fugaku's brow furrowed, and a hint of worry flashed in his eyes. His immediate thought was—did Sasuke get into some trouble and get caught by Uchiha Ikeizumi?!
Although his second son's talent made him feel a deep sense of disappointment and inadequacy, believing he was not even one-tenth as good as Itachi.
He was still his son, no matter what.
Fugaku stood up and said in a deep voice, "Where is Ikeizumi? Take me to see!"
As for the ANBU who infiltrated the Uchiha clan compound to monitor the jinchuriki.
Fugaku magnificently ignored them.
On the other side of the Uchiha compound.
In a house's basement.
Three Uchiha ninja were gathered there. One of them had his arms crossed and was frowning at the bags of goods in front of them: "Hayata, Konoha can't possibly digest over a ton of drugs, can it? It'll take quite some time to get rid of all of them!"
"Don't worry," the youth named "Uchiha Hayata" said with a smirk, "we don't need to get rid of them in Konoha. We just need to hand them over to someone else. It's their business to get rid of them; it has nothing to do with us."
Another person frowned and said, "It's better to be careful. If Uchiha Fugaku finds out, we'll be in trouble."
"Hmph!"
Uchiha Hayata sneered, "What are you afraid of? We're doing this to raise enough funds for the Uchiha clan! As long as we use these funds to buy a large number of explosive tags, we can turn it into military capital for a coup to overthrow the Hokage someday in the future."
"If Uchiha Fugaku, our clan head, bothers us over such a small matter, it only proves he's a guy who favors outsiders! And it's perfect..."
"At that time, I'll directly urge my grandfather to use this as a reason to initiate a clan-wide election and choose a new clan head."
"Haha, you're right." The other person said, "Your grandfather is Elder Setsuna; the weak Fugaku definitely won't do anything to you."
"Speaking of which," this person frowned, looking slightly hesitant, "I haven't been back in a few months, but I get the feeling Konoha is a little strange. And I seem to hear a lot of people talking about that dangerous guy. Do you think he might come looking for trouble with us? After all, that guy is always going on about justice and stuff."
Uchiha Hayata said dismissively, "You're too suspicious. As for the guy you're talking about, ha, as long as we don't tell anyone about this, how could he possibly know what we did?"
Evidently, all three of these Uchiha ninja were young radicals.
Just as Uchiha Hayata was about to say something more.
Sudden footsteps from above made their pupils shrink.
Where did those footsteps come from? Did someone pick the lock and come in?—this was the thought that popped into all three of their minds at the same time.
The three of them immediately exchanged a look. Just as they were about to go up from the secret basement, they realized the footsteps were getting closer and closer.
In other words, the person who had somehow gotten in was even walking toward the secret basement!
A sense of foreboding instantly filled the three of them.
When they saw who was walking toward them, Uchiha Hayata's internal alarm bells went off, and he exclaimed in disbelief: "Hiss! Uchiha Ikeizumi?!!"
Then.
The three of them saw three more people walking behind Uchiha Ikeizumi, and they were all kids.
One was a girl in a Police Force uniform.
One was a kid with spiky hair.
The other one...
Huh?!
When they saw Sasuke's young face, Uchiha Hayata and the other two were all stunned. They still knew what Uchiha Fugaku's eldest and second sons looked like.
....
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