Chapter 107: Night of the Annihilation
When Uchiha Fugaku rushed over with the Police Force ninja, all he saw was Uchiha Izumi, Kakashi Hatake, and the others.
When his gaze fell on Naruto Uzumaki, Fugaku's heart trembled, and the vivid blood on Naruto's head made his hair stand on end.
The Nine-Tails jinchuriki...
was injured!!!
Fugaku's first reaction was to carefully observe Naruto's mental state. After confirming that the jinchuriki wasn't in a state of loss of control, he finally let out a sigh of relief. The stone that was hanging in his heart finally settled.
He couldn't help but look at Sasuke again. Sasuke's disheveled state, covered in bruises and scrapes, made Fugaku frown deeply.
If Sasuke were Itachi, he would never be in such a sorry state. They're biological brothers, yet the difference is so vast— This was the first thought that flashed through Fugaku's mind.
Upon seeing Sasuke's condition, his first reaction wasn't even to be concerned, but to instinctively compare Sasuke to Uchiha Itachi.
The several destroyed houses in front of him, as well as the disheveled and panicked Uchiha clansmen, also ignited a nameless fire in Fugaku's heart.
He took a deep breath and asked Izumi, "Izumi, where is Ikeizumi?!"
Uchiha Izumi took out a clean handkerchief, first wiped the blood from Naruto's face, then, while using the handkerchief to cover the wound, she answered with a cold expression, "Ikeizumi-senpai is carrying out Absolute Justice. Clan Head Fugaku, please don't interfere."
She paused, then said with conviction, "Ikeizumi-senpai will soon execute the villains who dared to challenge [Absolute Justice]. [Absolute Justice] will never allow evil to be so rampant."
Then, she ignored the useless clan head.
After telling Naruto to hold the handkerchief himself, she rummaged through her clothes, took out a pack of disinfectant wipes, and said, "Sasuke-kun, let me help you with your scrapes."
Sasuke was stunned. He first looked up at his strict father.
After seeing that his father was frowning in thought and wasn't even paying attention to him, he pursed his lips, lowered his head, and walked over to Izumi.
His father's concern for him was not even as much as an outsider like Uchiha Izumi.
This made Sasuke feel very wronged.
Fugaku indeed didn't have time to be concerned about his second son. He had already learned from Izumi that Uchiha Ikeizumi wasn't successfully assassinated, so it seemed that Uchiha Setsuna's little scheme was for nothing.
Fugaku let out another sigh of relief.
But… who was Ikeizumi going to "carry out justice" on? "Uchiha Setsuna"? Or the "ninja clan" that Uchiha Setsuna mentioned? Fugaku realized that he had forgotten to question Uchiha Setsuna about which ninja clan it was.
That's right!
Fugaku looked at Kakashi. He recognized Kakashi Hatake, with his silver-white hair. He said, "If Lord Hokage finds out that Naruto Uzumaki is injured, please help the Uchiha clan explain that his injuries have nothing to do with us."
Kakashi didn't know if it was his imagination or something else, but he felt that there was a hint of pleading in Uchiha Fugaku's words.
Hmm…
It's probably my imagination, right?
After all, he's the Uchiha clan head. Does he really need to be so servile to the Hokage because of this small matter?
Kakashi, with these thoughts flashing through his mind, nodded to Fugaku without changing his expression.
"I will report the truth to Lord Hokage."
Fugaku let out another sigh of relief.
At this moment, Fugaku keenly noticed that two Police Force members had suddenly turned and left in a hurry.
He frowned deeply.
But he didn't stop them.
"He's not dead… phew!" Uchiha Setsuna slowly closed his eyes. His facial expression looked very calm, but the few veins on his forehead were twitching crazily.
He had clearly informed the Shimura clan, who wanted to "blow up" Uchiha Ikeizumi, about Ikeizumi's most likely weakness.
But he didn't expect the Shimura clan, who only had a few members left, to be even more useless than he had anticipated.
He had already turned a blind eye, allowing the Shimura clan ninja to set up explosive tags in the Uchiha clan compound.
He was mentally prepared for Uchiha Ikeizumi to be at least severely injured, if not dead.
If Uchiha Ikeizumi died tonight, everyone would be happy; if he was severely injured, he would naturally arrange for people to finish him off.
But Uchiha Ikeizumi was neither dead nor severely injured…
This was truly a blind spot in Uchiha Setsuna's plan.
"They're the most useless of the useless!" Uchiha Setsuna opened his eyes, and a few words were squeezed out from between his teeth: "So-called ninja clans are all useless! If not for our Uchiha clan, this group of useless people probably wouldn't even be able to defend Konoha!"
"Hayata…"
He recalled the face of his grandson, Uchiha Hayata, who was now vaporized by the scorching lava, with not even a corpse left.
Then he thought of Uchiha Ikeizumi, who was assassinated but was completely fine.
Uchiha Setsuna suddenly clutched his chest.
His face turned an unusual shade of red, and he was gasping for air.
After a long while, he finally recovered, his lips a pale shade of white.
"U! CHI! HA! I! KE! I! ZU! MI!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi was no longer concerned about appeasing the heads of the various ninja clans that Uchiha Ikeizumi had "provoked." After realizing that Naruto might be in danger, he didn't hesitate to bring all the ANBU ninja he could and directly barged into the Uchiha clan.
When they saw many more ANBU ninja intruding, most of the Uchiha clan ninja were naturally very unhappy.
No one was happy to see a group of dangerous people wandering around their homes, and the Uchiha clan ninja were no exception.
However,
the moment they got Uchiha Fugaku as their clan head, the Uchiha clan compound became a place where anyone could enter.
"Fugaku!" Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately found Uchiha Fugaku in the messy explosion site. His old face looked grim, and he said in a deep voice, "Is Naruto here?"
Fugaku, who was already mentally prepared, was about to answer when he was loudly interrupted by Naruto, who was not far away.
"Old man Hokage!!!"
The moment Naruto's voice rang out, the grim expression on Hiruzen Sarutobi's face softened slightly.
When he forced a smile and was about to greet Naruto, he saw Naruto clutching his head.
He could also see that the white handkerchief on Naruto's head was already half-dyed red with blood.
The smile on Hiruzen Sarutobi's face immediately froze.
"Medical ninja!" As soon as Hiruzen Sarutobi's words fell, the medical ninja among the ANBU ninja immediately stepped forward. Hiruzen Sarutobi then quickly walked over to Naruto and said, "Naruto, let the medical ninja treat your injuries first."
Naruto pointed to Sasuke next to him: "Old man Hokage, can you also help him with his injuries?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi was stunned. The child next to him…
was Fugaku's youngest son, right?
"No problem," Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded slightly. He moved aside, allowing the medical ninja to treat Naruto first, then he asked Naruto with concern, "Naruto, what happened to your head? Did someone hit you?"
Naruto answered honestly, "I was caught in the explosion."
Hiruzen Sarutobi: "!!!"
The explosion?!
He looked at the wreckage beside them. The destructive power of the explosion made Hiruzen Sarutobi's brow twitch. If Naruto was caught in the explosion at the wreckage, didn't that mean Naruto almost died?
Hiruzen Sarutobi's face darkened slightly. He asked Kakashi, "Kakashi, I told you to supervise Naruto. You should know more than Naruto, right?"
"This old man with white hair said that the Shimura clan did it!" Naruto, who was being treated, answered for Kakashi.
"The Shimura… clan…"
Hiruzen Sarutobi was stunned.
Kakashi took a deep breath and explained the more detailed specifics to Hiruzen Sarutobi, which made Hiruzen Sarutobi's frown deepen.
In other words,
it was the Shimura clan ninja who wanted to assassinate Uchiha Ikeizumi. But to their surprise, not only did the assassination fail, but they almost blew up Naruto and Fugaku's youngest son as well!
If Ikeizumi hadn't been quick to throw them away, and if Kakashi hadn't caught them in time, these two kids would have really been in danger!
"Hold on!" Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly said, "You just said that Ikeizumi walked toward the Shimura clan compound by himself?"
Kakashi nodded.
Hiruzen Sarutobi asked again, "When was this?"
"Five minutes ago."
Hiruzen Sarutobi: "…"
It's probably too late.
Tonight, there was a high possibility that there would be a night of annihilation. But it wouldn't be the Uchiha clan's night of annihilation that Ikeizumi had predicted, but the Shimura clan's night of annihilation!
Because of his close relationship with Danzo, Hiruzen Sarutobi was well aware of what kind of people were in the Shimura clan.
Those people might be loyal to Konoha, and even sacrificing their lives for Konoha wouldn't be a problem for them.
But they were also deeply influenced by Danzo's extreme personality.
Regardless of whether they had done any dirty work for Danzo, what they did tonight alone was a major taboo.
If it weren't for Ikeizumi's concern for the safety of ordinary people, this explosion would have taken the lives of many innocent Uchiha clansmen.
As for Ikeizumi's [Absolute Justice],
all the participants…
had to die!!!
"Old man Hokage, Ikeizumi-sensei let me personally carry out justice today, and I passed Ikeizumi-sensei's test!" When the treated Naruto said this to Hiruzen Sarutobi with great excitement, Hiruzen Sarutobi was just about to complain inwardly about why Naruto was calling Ikeizumi "Ikeizumi-sensei."
But in the next second, Hiruzen Sarutobi was suddenly startled.
"What?!!"
He widened his eyes, unable to remain calm, and stared at Naruto: "Naruto, did Ikeizumi… encourage you to kill someone? You said you passed his test, so does that mean…"
Hiruzen Sarutobi stopped speaking. He glared fiercely at Kakashi.
Hadn't he already ordered Kakashi not to let Naruto be influenced by Absolute Justice?
What was Kakashi doing?!
"Lord Hokage, it's not what you think…"
Kakashi explained with a wry smile, which left Hiruzen Sarutobi stunned.
So it really was just a test?!
Ahem!
Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly felt a little embarrassed. Fortunately, he didn't express his dissatisfaction with Kakashi out loud, or he would have been unable to save face.
Inside the Shimura clan compound, some people were already waiting expectantly for the elders to return.
When they finally returned, they immediately gathered around them.
"Elder, has that Uchiha plague god already…"
The Shimura clan elder shook his head: "Although we did witness Uchiha Ikeizumi being swallowed by the explosion of the explosive tags, we didn't confirm that he was completely dead. Because if we had stayed there for one more second, we would have run into the Police Force."
A gloomy look flashed in his cloudy eyes: "And I didn't expect Kakashi Hatake to also be at the Uchiha clan compound. If we hadn't run so fast, he probably would have caught up to us."
"Kakashi Hatake? The Copy Ninja?" a young clansman asked hesitantly, "Isn't he in the ANBU? Why would he be there?"
The Shimura clan elder said slowly, "Who knows… But at least our initial goal was achieved. After tonight, I will go directly to the Konoha Hokage and turn myself in. I will take all the responsibility for planning this assassination."
"This way, the Uchiha clan won't be able to cause trouble for you. If Uchiha Ikeizumi miraculously survived… and comes looking for trouble in the future, he will come looking for me."
"And during this time that I have bought you, you must all leave Konoha one after another on the pretense of going on missions."
"You can come back one by one after the storm is over."
"I have a more suitable place to send you." A sudden cold voice made everyone present tremble. It also made the Shimura clan elder's old face fill with disbelief.
"The Underworld. How does that sound?" Uchiha Ikeizumi, holding a ninja blade, brazenly walked into the Shimura clan compound.
The Shimura clan elder turned around with an extremely horrified expression.
When he saw Uchiha Ikeizumi, who was completely unharmed, his elderly body couldn't help but stagger back a few steps, and a sentence filled with disbelief came out instinctively: "You already anticipated that someone would try to attack you?!!"
Other than that, he couldn't think of how Uchiha Ikeizumi could have survived the explosion of over a hundred explosive tags without activating his so-called "Lava Release: Chakra Armor" in advance.
And the premise of activating it in advance must have been that he had received some information, right?
Wait!
The Shimura clan elder's expression visibly turned grim. He was already starting to suspect if this was a scheme between Uchiha Setsuna and Uchiha Ikeizumi to target the Shimura clan.
Was their purpose to use this as an excuse to deal with the Shimura clan?
"Phew!" After letting out a deep sigh of relief, the Shimura clan elder said coldly, "Uchiha Ikeizumi. I am the only one responsible for my actions. The person who tried to assassinate you was me! I was the one who planned this, and I was the one who set up the explosive tags."
"Everything… has nothing to do with the other members of the Shimura clan. They were simply being held hostage by my orders. In the Shimura clan, I am the only one who harbors evil!"
"Is that so?" Uchiha Ikeizumi glanced at the Shimura clansmen, who were all looking at him with hostile and wary eyes.
As far as the eye could see, one red text after another was particularly conspicuous.
Among them, most of the Shimura clansmen were marked with a red crime: [Deeply involved in the plan to assassinate Uchiha Ikeizumi].
This one crime alone was enough to make them red-name villains.
Because if Uchiha Ikeizumi hadn't revealed his Wood Release ability and saved the Uchiha clansmen who were almost caught in the explosion, the actions of this group of people would have killed many innocent people.
They all knew that doing so would lead to such consequences, which would harm innocent people.
But they still deeply participated in it.
They simply didn't care about killing innocent people.
What's more…
In addition to the red-name crime of plotting his assassination, Uchiha Ikeizumi also saw some "fish that slipped through the net" on the heads of some Shimura clan ninja that he hadn't caught yet.
This wasn't surprising.
The village of Konoha was not too big, but it wasn't too small either, and there were also many ninja who were on missions outside the village all year round. It was impossible for Uchiha Ikeizumi to have met every single Konoha ninja.
Moreover, before he had fully grown, [Absolute Justice] was still very weak.
"Unfortunately, I don't see a single innocent person here," Uchiha Ikeizumi's words made the Shimura clan elder's expression change dramatically: "Especially you, Shimura Kenya. In these eyes of mine, your evil is the most shocking."
The Shimura clan elder, named Shimura Kenya, immediately realized that Uchiha Ikeizumi was here to kill people tonight!
And…
he didn't just want to kill him!
Uchiha Ikeizumi wanted to annihilate the entire clan!
"Let's attack together! Otherwise, we will all be killed by him!" Uchiha Ikeizumi's unpredictable actions made Shimura Kenya unable to remain calm. He shouted with a twisted old face, then directly threw away his staff and quickly performed hand seals.
"Wind Release: Great Cutting Wind Jutsu!!!"
Shimura Kenya was trying his best to squeeze out the little chakra that was left in his old body.
He took a deep breath, then exhaled two invisible wind blades that were hard to see with the naked eye, which flew toward Uchiha Ikeizumi.
Uchiha Ikeizumi dodged one of the wind blades by turning his body, and with a horizontal slash of his ninja blade, he easily cut the other wind blade in half.
When he slightly lifted his eyelids, he saw that the pair of crimson three-tomoe Sharingan looked especially spooky under the moonlight!
The rest of the Shimura clan ninja also immediately took action.
Some of them even bit their thumbs and summoned their summoning animals.
They used every method they could think of.
They unleashed all of their strongest ninjutsu.
"No wonder you guys can't cause any trouble or have any presence." Uchiha Ikeizumi sheathed his blade. His right arm was now completely made of lava. Several "Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere" flew through the air and hit his body, creating four round holes in it.
But not a single drop of blood splattered from his body. All he could see was lava flowing inside.
Whoosh— A sharp wind blade cut Uchiha Ikeizumi's neck halfway with incredible precision, and without losing momentum, it also cut the half-open Shimura clan gates.
But the cut in his neck was still lava!
Lava gushed down Uchiha Ikeizumi's body and neck. In just a moment, the "injuries" caused by the Wind Release ninjutsu were all completely healed!
The lava in his right arm was constantly surging.
Under the horrified gazes of many Shimura clan ninja,
his right arm was rapidly expanding.
"Lava Release…"
"Great Eruption!!!"
....
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