The massive capital of the Land of Fire was completely gripped by fear.
Most of the noble families who were lucky enough to survive had come to the same uneasy conclusion—if they didn't commit any crimes, they'd stay off Uchiha Chizumi's radar. They wouldn't be targeted by his so-called "Absolute Justice."
But the real question was—
Who could actually say they were clean?
Or that their family members were?
Who could guarantee they wouldn't be killed?
And if someone close to them was killed, could they really stay calm and pretend nothing happened?
Still, one thing was certain:
In just a few days, not a single person in the capital dared commit a crime.
Because one after another, every known criminal—no matter how big or small—was being hunted down by Uchiha Chizumi. The minor offenders ended up in prison. The major ones? Dead.
Every single day, it was the same: a fresh round of executions. The entire city reeked of blood.
People with criminal thoughts had long since lost the guts to act on them.
If you ignored the corpses left behind by Chizumi, and pretended the streets weren't stained with blood...
Then yeah—technically, you could say the city was "peaceful."
Peaceful enough that even the Daimyo was killed.
And in the middle of all this fear and chaos, Sarutobi Hiruzen was having a miserable time.
Rumors about him—about the Third Hokage—were already spreading like wildfire in the capital.
Right after witnessing the Daimyo's burial, an Anbu rushed up to him and reported:
"Hokage-sama, these are the conspiracy theories about you we've collected over the past few days. You were right. A lot of people believe you were involved."
Hiruzen's eyelid twitched. It took everything he had to keep calm as he took the intel.
One glance—and he almost fainted.
The pages were filled top to bottom with wild, terrifying speculation:
"The Daimyo's death clearly has something to do with Konoha! That Uchiha Chizumi guy is a Konoha shinobi, right? There's no way he infiltrated the palace on his own. Someone from Konoha had to be helping him from the inside. Didn't the Third Hokage show up at the palace too?"
"I thought the Third Hokage was some 'Hero'… First time I've seen a hero betray a Daimyo. These ninja are too dangerous. How long have they been planning this?"
"Is Konoha trying to break free from the Daimyo's rule? Is it the ambition of all the ninja there—or just their Hokage?"
"Rumor has it the Hokage's younger son was one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja—the Daimyo's personal guard! He planted a spy in the palace long ago. This was part of a long con."
"The Daimyo's son didn't retaliate—was he threatened by the Hokage too?"
"This is a coup! The Hokage wants to rule!"
"Ridiculous! Unbelievable!" was all Hiruzen could mutter as he paced furiously. His old face flushed with shame and anxiety. Every word on the page gnawed at his conscience.
But the truth was—none of it was true! These were just wild conspiracy theories. He had nothing to do with Chizumi's actions!
He didn't come all this way with the Anbu just to help Uchiha Chizumi!
He was being falsely accused.
For the first time, Hiruzen realized just how much pressure Sakumo Hatake must've endured years ago.
And the crazy part?
These rumors weren't even the worst-case scenario—they were still mild because people were afraid of "that shady Hokage."
If people got really bold with their accusations…
Hiruzen felt like even he might start thinking about suicide—just to prove his innocence.
Thankfully, that irrational thought didn't last.
"Can we even control this narrative?" he asked, turning to the Anbu next to him.
One of them replied, "Hokage-sama, some of these rumors have already spread beyond the capital. And the capital is way larger than Konoha—it's at least ten times harder to contain rumors here.
"And worse, this isn't our village. Even if we wanted to control public opinion, we'd need the Daimyo's office to cooperate. But…"
The Anbu hesitated for a second, then continued, "At this point, between you and Uchiha Chizumi… the Daimyo's court is clearly siding with Chizumi."
"If he gets involved, there's no stopping the narrative."
Hiruzen fell silent.
The name "Uchiha Chizumi" wasn't just a nightmare for the people in the capital.
It was his nightmare too.
…
Elsewhere
"Blade." That one word from Uchiha Chizumi was enough.
Anko Mitarashi quickly pulled a sword from the bundle she was holding and handed it to him.
Without hesitation, Chizumi tossed aside his dulled blade and decapitated a criminal with the new one—clean and fast.
"Victim number 4,756…"
"And the eleventh sword…"
Anko swallowed hard. She whispered those numbers to herself.
By now, she should've been numb to Chizumi's methods.
But with each execution, each rising number, she realized—
Numbness? That wasn't even possible.
Every day, she was shocked all over again. The things she saw, the things she heard—
Unspeakable crimes. Sickening stories. Things that made her feel like throwing up.
And gave her nightmares.
Her beliefs began to shift.
Maybe... these people really don't deserve to live in the shinobi world. Their very existence pollutes this land. Their minds are so twisted, they only spread more evil...
Staring at a headless corpse, she realized the version of her from a few days ago wouldn't have understood.
But now?
She thought good riddance.
The things these criminals had done…
They'd erased any empathy she once had.
No matter how hard they cried when they died—
She felt no pity.
No mercy.
But then, she suddenly felt lost.
She glanced at the swords she held… then at her own hands.
There was fear in her eyes now.
What if... I did horrible things for Orochimaru? What if I'm no different from these people? What if I've hurt others? What if I don't deserve to live either?
The thoughts kept spiraling.
She knew she'd been Orochimaru's student. But he had wiped parts of her memory.
She couldn't remember what she'd done.
Then Chizumi's voice came, quiet and cold:
"If your crimes were as bad as the ones I've executed, you'd already be decomposing in a ditch somewhere."
That one line hit her like a lightning bolt.
Right! If I were one of them—I'd be dead already.
She took a deep breath, calmed her racing thoughts, and—somehow—gathered the courage to ask the one classmate she now feared more than anyone:
"Chizumi… You're going to find Orochimaru and kill him, right?"
"I don't remember much. But still…"
"I will," Chizumi said coldly, cutting her off.
…
Meanwhile, in Konoha
Word of what happened in the capital spread quickly—too quickly for Homura and Koharu to contain.
Trying to cover it up now would only make things worse.
At the Nara residence, the Ino–Shika–Cho trio of clan leaders met up.
"Uchiha Chizumi really went and shook the whole world," Shikaku muttered, a shocked look in his eyes as he sipped his tea. "Inoichi, I get it now. I actually respect his 'Absolute Justice.' That guy's not messing around."
"He even killed the Daimyo. And from what I hear, he wiped out the capital's entire upper class. Tanzaku Town, too."
The shock in Shikaku's eyes still hadn't faded.
Chōza rubbed his chin. "Shikaku… does this mean trouble for us three clans? Chizumi made enemies of all the nobles. Won't we get dragged down too?"
Shikaku shook his head. "If it was just trouble, I wouldn't be saying I support his justice."
"Chizumi crushed every voice of dissent with sheer force. Even the Daimyo's son gave up on revenge. You know what that means?"
He answered his own question.
"It means all the nobles, all the elites—they've decided to just move on. Even the Daimyo's children."
"They're not going to go after Chizumi. And they won't come after us, either."
Chōza frowned. "So... they're scared of him? Is that it? They bowed their heads?"
Inoichi spoke up: "They just think he won. So they're backing the winner. As for the Daimyo? In their eyes, he's just a loser now."
He added, emotionless: "But if Chizumi ever slips—if his 'Absolute Justice' loses steam—they'll turn on him immediately. They'll bring up everything all over again."
Shikaku smirked. "That's how they play the game. But for now, it works in our favor."
"The Hokage, though? He's going to have a rough time."
…
Back at the Hokage tower...
"It's over," Homura muttered with a heavy sigh. He looked down at the crowds below, already starting to buzz with gossip and shock. "In half a day, everyone in the village will know what Chizumi did."
"And in a few days, his name—and that 'Absolute Justice' of his—will spread across the Land of Fire. Then to the spies. And eventually, the other ninja villages."
Koharu rubbed her forehead, face dark. "And it's not just the kid's reputation. Rumors about Hiruzen are starting to spread in Konoha too…"
She scowled just thinking about it.
"Some people actually believe Chizumi killed the Daimyo under Hiruzen's orders. To them, that kid's still a Konoha ninja. They have no idea how deep the divide is between him and us."
"These rumors, these conspiracy theories... they're bad news. For Hiruzen and for Konoha."
She gritted her teeth.
"That brat's insane actions just put Konoha at odds with every major power in the country."
"All those nobles—the ones with assets and influence across every sector of the Land of Fire—they'll never trust us again."
"In their eyes, if we were willing to kill the Daimyo… what wouldn't we do?"
"Konoha's reputation is ruined—just like that!"
She was furious, and Homura knew she wasn't wrong.
He sighed. "We can't stop the rumors. Even if we deny it publicly, who's going to believe us?"
"And worse..."
His expression darkened.
"Now that everyone knows about Chizumi's 'Absolute Justice,' who knows how many people will be drawn to it?"
"Especially young ninja—even kids in the Academy—might start believing in that black-and-white ideology."
"If enough people do... the entire country could plunge into chaos."
Neither of them said anything after that.
They were just advisors. Pointing out problems was their job.
Solving them?
That was Hiruzen's job.
If they did have one "solution" to suggest, it was this:
Kill Uchiha Chizumi.
...The least realistic plan of all.
…
Back in the Uchiha Clan Compound…
The clan was already reeling from shocking news—several elders were trying to impeach Fugaku and elect a new clan head.
But then… another bombshell dropped.
"The man Izumi follows—Chizumi-sama—he killed the Daimyo. The reason? He said the Daimyo had committed too many crimes."
Uchiha Hazuki was stunned. She knew her daughter's superior, Uchiha Chizumi, didn't exactly have many fans within the clan. His actions often came off as extreme—even among Uchiha.
But after a few brief encounters, she thought he seemed normal. Not as terrifying as the rumors said.
Turns out… she might've underestimated him.
Killing the Daimyo?
That was a national-level catastrophe.
Hazuki began to panic.
Would the Hokage see Chizumi as a rogue ninja now? And what about Izumi—would she be labeled one too for following him?
Actually, no—this wasn't just defection.
This was treason.
It sounded even worse than becoming a missing-nin.
Hazuki, like any mother, was suddenly overwhelmed with worry for her daughter.
…
Meanwhile, at the Police Force HQ…
"Chizumi... Damn it!"
Fugaku slumped into his chair, feeling like his skull was splitting open. He'd just been dealing with Uchiha Setsuna and the hardline elders trying to oust him—now this?
Chizumi had just dropped a bomb bigger than anything before.
The moment he heard the news, Fugaku felt like ten thousand needles stabbed into his brain.
"That was the Daimyo...!!"
"You can't just… kill the Daimyo!!"
He stared blankly at his desk, voice barely a whisper, completely numb.
This was it.
The Uchiha clan had officially lost any chance of recovering their reputation.
No matter how they spun it, Chizumi was still one of them. The clan hadn't fully cut ties with him.
Now that he'd assassinated the Daimyo, the Konoha leadership would absolutely believe the Uchiha were involved.
They'd see Chizumi's actions as a reflection of the clan's hidden ambitions—ambitions they could no longer suppress.
And when that happened?
Every other ninja clan in Konoha would turn against the Uchiha.
Because if the Uchiha were bold enough to kill the Daimyo, what's stopping them from targeting the Hokage next? Or other clans?
That's how they'd think.
Fugaku, always stoic, now looked visibly pained.
He'd given everything to ensure the clan's survival—only to watch Uchiha Setsuna and Uchiha Chizumi bury the clan with their own hands.
How… how did it come to this?
Fugaku muttered in a daze.
…
Elsewhere, Uchiha Setsuna...
"U! CHI! HA! CHI! ZU! MI!!"
Setsuna was practically exploding with rage.
He gasped like a bellows, gripping his cane so hard it trembled. His eyes blazed with fury.
"That little extremist bastard! How dare he?! HOW DARE HE?!"
"What the hell is Hiruzen even doing?! Why the hell did he let that brat kill the Daimyo?!"
Breathing heavily, Setsuna staggered into a chair. His face was dark as ink.
"My whole damn coup plan—everything—relied on the support of the Daimyo and the nobles!"
"Kick Hiruzen out, get their backing, and the Uchiha could finally sit in the Hokage seat!"
"But now…"
Setsuna clutched his chest like his liver ached. "That little lunatic! All for his twisted version of justice…"
"He didn't just kill the Daimyo—he slaughtered half the capital's nobility! Wiped out entire clans!"
Setsuna could barely fathom it.
After something like this… who in their right mind would ever support the Uchiha taking the Hokage seat?
Chizumi, from hundreds of miles away, had just destroyed everything Setsuna had spent decades planning.
~~~
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