Chapter 105: Naruto Uzumaki, You Have Passed the First Test of Justice
Although Uchiha Ikeizumi's voice wasn't loud, Kakashi, who was secretly monitoring Naruto, still heard it.
At this moment,
Kakashi's expression was almost identical to Naruto's, with a look of astonishment behind the ANBU mask.
Crap!
He knew that Uchiha Ikeizumi's method of teaching Naruto [Absolute Justice] would be very unconventional and wouldn't be anything like a regular teacher standing at a lectern, providing patient instruction.
But Kakashi realized he had still underestimated the extremity of Uchiha Ikeizumi's method of teaching [Justice].
Asking the Nine-Tails jinchuriki to personally kill a villain who sells illegal drugs?
At first glance, it didn't seem too out of place.
But the problem was that Naruto Uzumaki was still so young, right? Moreover, the mission the Hokage gave him was to ensure that Naruto Uzumaki didn't fall into Uchiha Ikeizumi's [Absolute Justice] and that the Nine-Tails jinchuriki didn't become so extreme.
Kakashi was once again forced to reveal himself.
He took a deep breath, mentally prepared himself, and appeared directly in front of Uchiha Ikeizumi and Naruto Uzumaki.
Naruto, who was still in shock, suddenly noticed a person standing in front of him and couldn't help but look up.
"? Why is it you again, ya know?"
Although Kakashi was wearing an ANBU mask, his silver-white hair was still too eye-catching.
It made his mask completely useless.
"Uchiha Ikeizumi," Kakashi organized his thoughts and said with a complex expression, "Is it really necessary for Naruto Uzumaki to be exposed to such a dark world so early? For him, who is at his current age, killing is too soon, isn't it?"
Uchiha Ikeizumi looked at him and asked calmly, "How old were you when you first killed someone?"
Kakashi's words choked up.
He had become a genin at a very young age and was promoted to a chunin shortly after. He was even a jonin at the tender age of twelve. The first time Kakashi broke the rule of not killing was earlier than everyone imagined.
However,
that time was when he was ambushed by an enemy ninja and was forced to retaliate.
"That's different," Kakashi tried to argue, "The ninja world was very chaotic back then, and it was a common thing for ninja who were not yet ten years old to go on missions. You, who also went through that period, should know this, right?"
"The ninja world isn't as chaotic as it used to be. Shouldn't we... ahem! Look after these young people a little? Especially a child as young as Naruto Uzumaki, who is only seven years old."
Kakashi said many things that his personality wouldn't normally allow him to say. If Uchiha Ikeizumi had asked Sasuke to do it—he, Kakashi, wouldn't have shown up.
But the difficult mission the Hokage had given him...
It really left Kakashi feeling helpless.
"Is the ninja world... really not chaotic anymore?" When these words rang out, Kakashi couldn't help but be stunned because they hadn't come from Uchiha Ikeizumi.
He looked down at Naruto in front of him.
Naruto looked up. The two, one big and one small, made eye contact. Naruto spoke again: "Old man, you were sent by the old man Hokage to monitor me, weren't you? Or to monitor the fox demon sealed inside me, ya know?"
Kakashi fell silent for a moment.
Naruto bit his lip and continued, "I don't know what the old man Hokage told you, but choosing to learn [Justice] from Ikeizumi-sensei is a decision I made! The old man Hokage also said that he respects my decisions."
"I don't think the ninja world isn't chaotic anymore. Because—Ikeizumi-sensei has shown me a lot of evil in the ninja world over the past two days. This evil still exists even if there are no wars in the ninja world, and it's right here beside us!"
"Should we ignore this evil when defining whether the ninja world is chaotic or not?!"
"I feel like that's wrong, ya know!"
Kakashi didn't expect a child's questioning to leave him speechless for a moment.
He also realized that the old man Hokage had probably underestimated the impact of Uchiha Ikeizumi's [Absolute Justice] on Naruto. That kind of black-and-white, very clear-cut concept of right and wrong was too "brainwashing" for children in this age group!
At this moment, even Sasuke, who had always been a little unconvinced by Naruto, couldn't help but turn his shocked gaze to him.
"Dead-last..."
He suddenly felt that this dead-last seemed much more mature than he was.
Because if it were him, he would never have been able to say those things.
"Ikeizumi-sensei, please allow me to carry out justice myself!" Naruto took a deep breath. He had already mentally prepared himself and bowed deeply to Uchiha Ikeizumi.
Kakashi felt helpless.
"Lord Hokage, I've done my best—if I try to stop him anymore, I'll probably have to fight Uchiha Ikeizumi, and I'll probably be hated by Minato-sensei's son."
He muttered to himself.
The only thing he, Kakashi, could do was probably send his last subordinate back to inform the Hokage about this. As for whether to stop Naruto, that was for the Hokage to decide himself.
If he really wanted to stop him, then let the Hokage do it himself!
After all...
The Hokage had also said to never engage in a physical conflict with Uchiha Ikeizumi.
After this thought flashed through his mind, Kakashi's eyes reverted to his listless, dead-fish eyes.
At the Hokage's office.
"What?!!" Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was holding a smoking pipe, puffing on it, and looking worried, was shocked when he received the report from the last ANBU ninja.
His old face was twisted in shock.
"How long ago was this?!" Hiruzen Sarutobi was so uncharacteristically distraught that he quickly stood up, even reaching out and grabbing the ANBU ninja's collar.
His old face was slightly flushed from the extreme emotions.
The wrinkles on his face were twitching as if he was having a seizure.
"Five minutes—ago—"
The ANBU ninja felt his breathing become a little strained, but he couldn't show any dissatisfaction toward the Hokage.
"Five minutes..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi released his grip helplessly. With Uchiha Ikeizumi's "killing spree" speed, five minutes had already passed, so it was probably too late for everything, right?
Hiruzen Sarutobi gritted his teeth and said, "Didn't I tell Kakashi to try his best to prevent Ikeizumi's [Absolute Justice] from affecting Naruto too much?"
He couldn't understand how Kakashi was supervising him.
The ANBU ninja said in a low voice, "Lord Hokage, Captain Kakashi has exhausted all non-violent methods, but they were all useless. Moreover, in the end, Naruto Uzumaki was the one who voluntarily asked Uchiha Ikeizumi to let him try to carry out justice."
"At that time, Naruto Uzumaki also said a few things..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi closed his eyes and said in a deep voice, "Repeat them to me."
After the ANBU ninja repeated them, Hiruzen Sarutobi opened his eyes.
The look in his eyes was now one of utter dejection.
He didn't know if it was his own illusion, but he felt that from now on, Naruto would no longer be the Naruto who used to call him "old man Hokage" and follow him around.
This premonition was very strong.
At the same time, in a certain part of Konoha.
Naruto's forearm, gripping a ninja blade, was trembling slightly.
For his age, a ninja blade this long was still a bit too heavy for him.
But he was still gritting his teeth and hanging on.
When his eyes fell on a Konoha ninja who was pinned to the ground by several kunai, Naruto couldn't help but swallow. The sweat on his palms was either due to fatigue or due to being too nervous.
"U... Uchiha Ikeizumi!"
At this moment,
the Konoha ninja on the ground, unable to resist, said with blood in his mouth and gritted teeth, "You... you have attacked a fellow ninja in the village for no reason. The... the old man Hokage won't let you get away with this once he finds out!"
Uchiha Ikeizumi said flatly, "Justice purges evil in the ninja world. How is this for no reason?"
The Konoha ninja tried to struggle, but the kunai pinning him to the ground made him feel more pain with every struggle.
His face was contorted with hatred as he said, "What evidence do you have that I'm a villain in the ninja world? You're turning a fellow ninja in the village into a villain without any evidence. You're clearly just using this as an excuse to satisfy your bloodlust, aren't you?!"
"If I cut off your head and send it to the Yamanaka clan, wouldn't that be evidence?" Uchiha Ikeizumi's words left the Konoha ninja speechless.
No!
Shouldn't you find the evidence first and then kill the person? How can you kill the person first and then find the evidence? That's not how things work!
Is it just based on those so-called eyes that can see past and future evil from the rumors?
Damn it!
How could there be such a ridiculous Sharingan dōjutsu? I've never heard of any Uchiha ninja having such a dōjutsu before!
Uchiha Ikeizumi no longer paid attention to the dying, constantly yelling Konoha ninja. He glanced at the completely dark sky, then looked at Naruto, who was holding the ninja blade and was still hesitant: "Naruto Uzumaki, are you afraid to act against evil?"
"I... I... I'm not!" Naruto gritted his teeth.
"Your voice is too soft. I can't hear your conviction for justice at all. Do you really want to believe in justice with such a soft voice?!" Uchiha Ikeizumi's stern voice made Naruto's heart tremble.
He gathered his courage: "I'm not!!!"
This shout was at a level that could disturb the peace. But when the residents of Konoha nearby couldn't help but open their doors, wanting to scold the noisy kids, they were frightened by the scene in front of them.
They saw Naruto holding a ninja blade high in the air. His movements weren't standard; he clearly hadn't been systematically taught how to use a blade.
But for a sharp ninja blade, as long as it hit a person, it could take a life.
Just as Naruto closed his eyes, and just as the Konoha ninja's eyes were filled with despair, Naruto swung the blade down heavily.
However, in the next second, Naruto couldn't help but open his eyes in surprise because he felt a resistance that prevented him from swinging the ninja blade down.
He widened his eyes, looking at the fingers gripping the blade, and couldn't help but follow the fingers to Uchiha Ikeizumi, who was standing beside him.
"You're still too young. You don't have the right to kill yet."
Uchiha Ikeizumi said indifferently, "However, I have seen your determination to use a blade against evil."
Uchiha Ikeizumi applied a little force.
Naruto couldn't help but let go.
In Naruto's dazed gaze, Uchiha Ikeizumi, holding the hilt of the blade, stabbed it down without hesitation.
Thud!
The ninja blade pierced the heart of the Konoha ninja below. The splattered blood landed on Naruto's face.
It also made him snap out of his dazed state a little.
He stared blankly at Uchiha Ikeizumi's profile.
"Naruto Uzumaki." Uchiha Ikeizumi shifted his gaze, and his eyes met Naruto's bright blue eyes: "Your determination to kill evil has allowed you to pass the first test of [Justice]."
Naruto's eyes gradually widened. The look of blank bewilderment in his eyes was gradually replaced by one of pleasant surprise.
So this was Ikeizumi-sensei's test for me!
Sasuke, standing to the side, couldn't help but ask, "If the dead-last hadn't been able to do it, would he have failed the test?"
He recalled some of the bad rumors about Uchiha Ikeizumi within the clan: "Would you have killed him? I heard you once had two Police Force interns, and you killed them because they didn't meet your expectations..."
These few words shocked even Naruto.
Did I just unknowingly walk past the gates of hell?
No!
Ikeizumi-sensei couldn't have done something like that, could he?
However, Uchiha Ikeizumi's reply sent a shiver down Naruto's spine: "Only one of them died. The other one suffered mental trauma and was hospitalized for a long time in the Konoha Hospital's psychiatric ward."
Naruto: "!!!"
"However," Uchiha Ikeizumi said flatly, "The reason for killing that person wasn't because he didn't meet my expectations. It was because a person with evil in their heart tried to join the ranks of justice, tainting its purity."
Sasuke was stunned for a moment, then he immediately understood—that Police Force intern wasn't a good person, which was why he was killed!
He believed Uchiha Ikeizumi's words.
Even Sasuke himself didn't know why he trusted him so much.
"Seriously... he scared me too!" Kakashi, who was hiding and was in charge of supervising Naruto, breathed a partial sigh of relief. Like Naruto and Sasuke, he had really thought Uchiha Ikeizumi was going to make Naruto personally kill someone.
His eyes fell on the corpse on the ground, and Kakashi's mouth twitched: "Another clan ninja..."
He didn't know how the Hokage would clean up this mess.
Uchiha Ikeizumi had offended a lot of ninja clans tonight!
But no matter how big of a headache the Hokage had, it had nothing to do with him.
Kakashi squatted on a rooftop, with both hands in his pockets, and muttered, "At least the Hokage will probably feel a sense of relief when he finds out Naruto didn't do it, right? For him, this must be the only good news among a whole bunch of bad news."
On the other side.
Hiruzen Sarutobi hadn't had a headache for long before he saw Koharu Utatane, with an ashen face, rushing to the Hokage's office in the middle of the night. "Hiruzen!" Koharu Utatane pushed the door open, but just as she was about to say something, she saw a large group of ANBU ninja in the office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi wasn't surprised by her arrival at all.
After all, Ikeizumi had killed two Tsume clan ninja.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed, "I already knew."
"What a coincidence." Another voice rang out. Homura Mitokado, who was protected by several Mitokado clan ninja, had also arrived at the Hokage's office at this time: "I thought you would be the only one here at this time, Hiruzen."
Koharu Utatane looked at Homura Mitokado, and she couldn't help but frown and ask thoughtfully, "Did you also come because of Uchiha Ikeizumi?"
Homura Mitokado took a deep breath, his eyes filled with gloom: "My cousin was killed by him, and his head was separated from his body."
He asked, "You said 'also.' Could it be that..."
Koharu Utatane's expression was grim: "Two people from the Tsume clan died!"
The two Konoha senior advisors exchanged glances.
They didn't expect to feel empathy for each other one day.
"Lord Hokage!" Suddenly, someone else rushed in. It was the head of a small ninja clan in Konoha, who complained in a fit of rage, "Uchiha Ikeizumi broke into our clan's compound without a word and killed a young member of our clan!"
"...Huh?" As soon as he finished his complaint, he noticed that the atmosphere in the Hokage's office was a little off.
And why were there so many people here?
"Hiruzen..."
Just as Koharu Utatane was about to say something, Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head and interrupted her: "Wait a little longer. More people will be coming soon. We'll talk when everyone is here."
Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed again with a feeling of melancholy: "Ikeizumi killed at least a dozen people tonight.
More people will be coming to find me later."
Koharu Utatane: "???"
Homura Mitokado: "..."
At the same time, at the Uchiha clan compound.
Uchiha Setsuna, who was rubbing his staff and lost in thought, suddenly received some information from the radical ninja under his command.
"Elder Setsuna, Uchiha Ikeizumi killed three Uchiha clansmen within the Uchiha clan an hour ago!"
Uchiha Setsuna's eyelid twitched, and his rubbing motion stopped.
"I knew it. That eccentric, extreme brat would one day turn his butcher's knife on his own clansmen again. I just didn't expect it to happen so soon! Hmph!"
"Whose people were killed?"
He asked coldly.
If the ones who were killed were on Fugaku's side and were part of the moderate faction of the Uchiha, who also sided with outsiders, he would be clapping for joy.
The Uchiha ninja who came to report the information suddenly hesitated.
This reaction gave Uchiha Setsuna a bad feeling.
He narrowed his eyes: "Speak!"
"Elder Setsuna, the ones who died were Uchiha Naoto, Uchiha Tadashi..."
Hearing this, Uchiha Setsuna's anger was already stirred.
He was very familiar with these two names. They were young members of the Uchiha radical faction. They had both awakened their Sharingan and had a lot of potential.
"...And Uchiha Hayata."
When the last name entered Uchiha Setsuna's ears,
he was stunned.
Uchiha Setsuna's arm began to tremble. His face twitched uncontrollably, and his cloudy, old eyes were filled with disbelief. The sharp pain in his heart made him gasp for air. The name "Uchiha Hayata" kept echoing in his mind.
Until a sudden series of unfamiliar footsteps made him lift his gloomy eyes, which were filled with killing intent.
"...Fugaku!!!"
The person who came uninvited was none other than Uchiha Fugaku.
"Elder Setsuna." Fugaku, surrounded and protected by members of the Police Force, looked at Uchiha Setsuna, whose emotions were clearly off. A hint of a complex expression flashed across his face, but he still said firmly, "Uchiha Hayata and the other two were targeted by Ikeizumi because they were smuggling and selling a large amount of illegal drugs."
Fugaku said with a stern face, "I think that as young Uchiha members, it's impossible for them to have brought so many illegal drugs to the Uchiha compound with just the three of them, right?"
Uchiha Setsuna clenched his fists.
He didn't take up Fugaku's words.
Fugaku continued slowly, "Since it was their fault, I ask that you let this matter go, Elder Setsuna. I will not pursue the hidden details behind this."
"I do not want to see internal strife within the Uchiha clan."
....
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