Chapter 156: Hiruzen Sarutobi: "I Am Not Questioning the Will of Fire!" Part 1
Hiruzen Sarutobi was quickly informed of the situation at the Ninja Academy. After realizing that three young Sarutobi clan members and a senior Ninja Academy teacher had been killed on the spot, Hiruzen Sarutobi found that he wasn't angry about Ikeizumi's extreme actions.
Perhaps, he was now harboring the thought of condoning Ikeizumi's extreme behavior.
He had tacitly allowed Ikeizumi to carry out his Absolute Justice.
If he, the Third Hokage, had wanted to stop him, he could have brought a group of ANBU ninjas to the Ninja Academy. In that case, he could have stopped Ikeizumi from carrying out Absolute Justice as he had done before.
But he didn't move. He stayed in the Hokage's office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi took a little tobacco, put it into his pipe, lit it with a match, and took a light puff. As he exhaled a puff of smoke, he said in a low voice, "Help me inform the members of the Sarutobi clan to send a few more people to the Ninja Academy to collect the bodies. Also, inform Izumi Kaede's family to collect her body."
Hiruzen Sarutobi paused, then added, "And also, help me tell the members of the Sarutobi clan to deal with Sakura Sarutobi's body properly. Take a portion of her ashes and place it in the Sarutobi clan's shrine, and erect a memorial tablet for the child in the shrine!"
"Yes, Lord Hokage!"
The ANBU ninja nodded slightly and instantly disappeared.
"Hah…"
Hiruzen Sarutobi exhaled another puff of smoke. The swirling smoke obscured half of his complex, wrinkled old face.
"Tsunade has also completely taken a side…"
The actions of the Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi clans were something Hiruzen Sarutobi could barely understand.
Although they often sided with him, their relationship with him, the Third Hokage, was still distant.
There was no blood relationship or master-disciple relationship between them.
It was understandable that they would one day part ways.
But…
Tsunade was one of his disciples!
The most important point was that Tsunade's identity was too special. It was not a problem to call her the Princess of Konoha. After all, her grandfather was the First Hokage who founded Konoha, and she was not a mascot. She was a female ninja with absolute strength and high prestige in Konoha.
When Tsunade said those words to Uchiha Ikeizumi in front of so many people, it was undoubtedly a declaration of her support for Uchiha Ikeizumi.
And she wasn't hiding it at all.
It was clearly a public show of support.
"Hiruzen!" Just as Hiruzen Sarutobi was sighing repeatedly, the office door was roughly pulled open. Hiruzen Sarutobi lifted his eyelids slightly and saw Koharu Utatane walking in quickly.
Hiruzen Sarutobi brushed away the sadness on his face and asked, "Koharu, aren't you and Homura receiving the Amegakure envoys?"
Koharu Utatane questioned him repeatedly, "The Amegakure envoys are no longer important. What's important is, how can you let Uchiha Ikeizumi run wild at the Ninja Academy? If the children see his bloody and cruel extreme actions, won't it cause great psychological trauma to the Ninja Academy students?"
"The Ninja Academy is meant to cultivate fresh buds for the future of Konoha. Every student is of utmost importance. Maybe one of them will become a pillar of Konoha's future. In this situation, how can you…"
"Koharu!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi interrupted her and shook his head. "It's not that I'm letting Ikeizumi run wild at the Ninja Academy. I was the one who specifically designated Ikeizumi to handle this matter at the Ninja Academy."
Koharu Utatane suddenly froze. "What do you mean?!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed and told her about Sakura Sarutobi.
Koharu Utatane's old face froze again.
The anger and dissatisfaction on her face also froze. She opened her mouth to say something, but the words got stuck in her throat.
After a few seconds of silence, she could only look at Hiruzen Sarutobi deeply and said, "Hiruzen, maybe you're just clouded by anger because of that child's death. Have you ever thought that you might regret your decision today?"
"Because you, as the Hokage of Konoha, specifically ordered Uchiha Ikeizumi to carry out Absolute Justice at the Ninja Academy, and even tacitly allowed him to kill three young members of the Sarutobi clan…"
"This will be a huge blow to your prestige and authority. It will also make some people think that your stance might have changed. They'll think that you might also be supporting Absolute Justice."
"Those who are wavering might lean towards Absolute Justice because of your actions."
Hiruzen Sarutobi felt that this scene was strangely familiar.
Especially when Koharu Utatane said the word "regret."
This made him almost blurt out the phrase "I am the Hokage."
Fortunately, compared to Danzo, who always went against him, what Koharu Utatane said was at least for his sake as the Third Hokage.
"Regret is something for the future," Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed. "The decision has already been made. Can I take it back? Can I eat a pill of regret and make time go back?"
Koharu Utatane fell silent.
After a long time, she seemed to have seen something. After taking a deep breath of secondhand smoke, she said faintly, "Hiruzen… As the Hokage of Konoha, you shouldn't question the Will of Fire."
"And you shouldn't have any leanings toward Absolute Justice, which is contrary to the Will of Fire. Sakura Sarutobi's death has had a very bad influence on you."
Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned. "I simply believe that it was most appropriate to have Ikeizumi handle this matter. I am not questioning the Will of Fire, nor do I approve of his Absolute Justice."
Koharu Utatane said silently, "I hope so."
…
"What is Akatsuki?!" Anko Mitarashi was clearly stunned when she heard Izumi Uchiha say this strange organization's name. Then, she looked at Jūzō Biwa, who had an even more intense reaction than her.
From Jūzō Biwa's reaction, Anko was basically certain that the Akatsuki organization Izumi mentioned seemed to be real.
She immediately narrowed her eyes. "Hey, are you a member of this organization called Akatsuki, and you're just pretending to be an Amegakure envoy to sneak into Konoha?!"
HISS!
HISS!
The sound of snakes' tongues flickering could be heard from Anko's sleeve.
Jūzō Biwa ignored Anko's question. He stared intently at the young Uchiha girl and suddenly sneered. "What are you talking about? I don't understand. I am an Amegakure envoy right now, without a doubt."
"What Akatsuki? I've never heard of it." How could Jūzō Biwa admit it? He had to deny it resolutely.
Izumi said with a cold face, "I have the ability bestowed upon me by Ikeizumi-senpai to see through a person's past and future sins. Your information is no secret to me."
She said, her voice dropping with each word, "What is your purpose for coming to Konoha and wanting to meet my senpai?!"
"You…"
Izumi asked coldly, "What is your relationship with Obito Uchiha?"
Izumi had learned about Obito Uchiha, who was impersonating "Madara Uchiha," from Ikeizumi-senpai. She had learned early on that Obito Uchiha was currently in an organization called "Akatsuki."
Now that she saw that Jūzō Biwa was also a member of the Akatsuki organization, Izumi naturally instinctively assumed that the two of them were in the same group.
And in her mind, the Obito Uchiha that Ikeizumi-senpai spoke of was not a good person.
Then, was Jūzō Biwa in front of her also not a good person?
At the very least…
It could be confirmed that his purpose was not pure and it was not as simple as coming to Konoha as an Amegakure envoy to ease the relationship.
Jūzō Biwa: "???"
Obito Uchiha…
Who is that?!
And what was this eye that could see past and future sins? Did the ninja world have such an absurd ability? He had never heard that the Uchiha clan's Sharingan Dōjutsu could see through sins.
Not to mention the concept of time like past and future.
"Hmph, I don't understand what you're saying." Jūzō Biwa's face also turned a little colder. Anyone would get a little annoyed after being questioned by a young Uchiha brat.
Izumi said, "It doesn't matter if you understand or not. The most important thing is that you need to come to the Police Force."
She said slowly, "As a Police Force ninja, when you find a ninja from another village who is suspected of being a spy for an organization, you have the absolute responsibility and right to bring him to the Police Force for interrogation."
"Haha, what if I refuse?" A dangerous look flashed in Jūzō Biwa's eyes. He had already realized that the mission the woman gave him might be a bust because of this Uchiha girl.
"You don't have the right to refuse." A sudden voice made Jūzō Biwa, Izumi, and Anko all freeze.
When they looked at where the voice came from, they saw a perverted old man with a long spiky white hair walking towards them with a serious expression and an awe-inspiring aura of a hero.
"I just heard the word 'Akatsuki'," Jiraiya stared intently at Jūzō Biwa.
"I'm very interested in this organization."
Jiraiya stood in front of Izumi and Anko, looking directly into Jūzō Biwa's eyes, and continued slowly, "You don't have to give these two lovely girls face, but can you give me, Jiraiya, some face?"
"Because the person I've been looking for has joined 'Akatsuki' and is one of its core members." Jiraiya's clothes moved without a breeze. "I don't think… you would be stupid enough to attack me in Konoha, would you?"
Jūzō Biwa's face became extremely ugly and stiff. His action of trying to take down the Kubikiribōchō also paused.
"Konoha's Sannin…"
"Jiraiya!"
…
"This is bad…" Not far away, a weird-looking Zetsu slowly disappeared into the trunk of a tree. "Jūzō Biwa has come into contact with a secret that he shouldn't have. I have to pass this information on as soon as possible."
The speed of Zetsu's information transfer was extremely fast, taking less than half a minute.
The information neural network was quickly transmitted to "Zetsu."
This made Zetsu, who had already entered the Land of Fire, immediately narrow his eyes.
"Obito! The plan has changed!" Zetsu said to Obito, who was beside him, while they were on the move. "Uchiha Ikeizumi's subordinate said your name in front of Jūzō Biwa. If they can communicate and exchange information properly, he might learn your secret from Uchiha Ikeizumi's subordinate."
"And this secret will be passed on to Konan through him. At that time… even Nagato will know your true identity. However, I don't think it will have a very big impact on you if the two of them know your true identity…"
"…Tch!"
The masked Obito gritted his teeth and interrupted. "Shut up! We absolutely cannot let them know that 'Madara Uchiha' is 'Obito Uchiha'!"
"Otherwise, what kind of look will they give me, and what kind of attitude will they have towards me? I need to use the name 'Madara Uchiha' to be the true leader of the Akatsuki organization!"
"The plan has indeed changed."
Obito took a deep breath. His expression and tone returned to normal. "Jūzō Biwa must die! It doesn't matter if he knows my secret or not. He absolutely cannot return to the Akatsuki organization."
"Even his body must be completely destroyed, in case someone can use his body to find information about me."
Zetsu looked at Obito and didn't argue. He just said, "It's hard to do in Konoha without an inside person to cooperate with."
Obito's tone became more forceful. "There will always be a chance."
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