Uchiha Chizumi's fingers tightened slightly, his grip firm but deliberate. The tips of his fingers broke through the man's chest, piercing the skin and sinking into warm flesh.
From his hand, chakra surged out like a current, tearing apart the curse mark embedded deep within the man's chest.
Before everyone's eyes, the intricate markings—dense, snake-like curse seal patterns that had been etched across the spy's body—began to fade, retreating like a receding tide, vanishing one by one.
Hagakawa Naoto lowered his head in shock, staring at his chest as if it belonged to someone else.
Orochimaru had placed that curse mark on him for one purpose: to ensure that no one could obtain information about Orochimaru from him. If anyone tried, the seal would trigger instantly, killing him on the spot in a violent, explosive burst.
Sho had never resented this. In fact, he accepted it without complaint. His loyalty to Orochimaru was absolute—if it meant keeping Orochimaru's secrets safe, he would give up his life without hesitation.
But the thing he never imagined… was that Uchiha Chizumi could just break it.
His heart sank. This was bad.
Before Sho could even think about resisting, an overwhelming pressure clamped down around his throat. A suffocating force crushed the breath out of him, and black spots danced in his vision. His eyes rolled back, and his mind slipped into darkness.
Chizumi, without a hint of strain, tossed the unconscious man toward Izumi.
"Send him to the Yamanaka clan. Have them dig through his mind and bring me anything about Orochimaru." His tone was calm, as if this was just routine business.
Orochimaru's earlier taunts and words hadn't stirred even the smallest ripple in his heart.
"Yes, Chizumi-senpai!" Izumi responded quickly. She understood just how serious this was. This wasn't just about any missing-nin—it involved one of the Legendary Sannin. More importantly, it could decide whether Chizumi could eliminate one of the greatest evils in the shinobi world.
"Chizumi, I want in." Mitarashi Anko's voice came from the side. Her gaze had just left the bisected white snake lying on the ground, its two halves still twitching faintly. Her teeth were clenched, eyes locked on him with fierce determination.
As Orochimaru's former student, she knew all too well the quiet discrimination and isolation she faced in Konoha. Even though he had long defected, his shadow still loomed over her life. His influence was everywhere, seeping into her days and haunting her nights.
In her dreams, the nightmare of him never stopped replaying. It was constant—a dark specter she couldn't escape.
And that's why she wanted to end it.
She wanted to kill Orochimaru with her own hands.
Killing one's master was just another ugly truth of the shinobi world.
"Fine," Chizumi said simply.
Far away, deep inside a hidden laboratory somewhere in the Land of Fire, a scalpel glinted under the dim light. Orochimaru, his golden slit-pupiled eyes cold and precise, was in the middle of dissecting a bound, terrified man strapped to a surgical bed.
His hands moved with practiced ease—until he suddenly stopped.
He glanced down. The man's face was draining of color rapidly, his breath faltering until finally… there was none left.
Orochimaru's gaze lingered on the lifeless "test subject" for a moment before a faint smile curved his lips.
"Uchiha Chizumi… even from a distance, you've cost me another precious piece of research. How… unpleasant."
The tone was calm, almost indifferent, but it was only surface-level composure. Inside, his mood had shifted—Chizumi's decisive act of killing the white snake had stirred something close to irritation.
Back in Konoha, at the Nara clan compound, Yamanaka Inoichi took in the sight of the unconscious man Izumi had brought without asking a single question.
Izumi explained anyway:
"This man is Orochimaru's agent. Chizumi-senpai wants everything in his mind about Orochimaru."
"Orochimaru's spy…" Inoichi's usually unreadable expression flickered, just for a moment. His gaze slid past Izumi to rest on Anko, who stood behind her, her expression conflicted.
He gave a small nod. "Understood. Do we inform the Hokage?"
"No," Izumi said firmly, her voice laced with distrust. "If the Third Hokage gets involved, his feelings for Orochimaru might make him let him go at the critical moment."
She'd been with Chizumi long enough to see the truth behind Hiruzen Sarutobi's mask. Yes, he valued bonds and loyalty—but too often, those feelings were misplaced. Danzo was a prime example of how far that misplaced loyalty could go.
Chizumi had said it plainly: the Third Hokage was not a good man.
And in Izumi's mind, there was something else. She couldn't shake the suspicion that Itachi's ability to hide so effectively after being labeled "the future evil" was because Hiruzen himself had shielded him.
"…Understood." Inoichi inclined his head. But before Izumi could leave, he spoke again. "One of our clan just returned from a mission outside the village. By coincidence, he befriended a close contact of Gato—the black market tycoon. I think Chizumi would find that… worth his time."
Izumi's eyes widened.
"Gato? The notorious smuggler and drug trafficker?"
Inoichi nodded.
"Thank you, Clan Head," Izumi said seriously. "I'll tell Chizumi-senpai right away."
After they left, Inoichi's gaze returned to the unconscious spy. He knew that by helping Chizumi get this information, he was putting himself directly at odds with Orochimaru. But the decision had already been made—there was no point looking back.
…
Meanwhile, in the Uchiha compound, Mikoto stood quietly at the doorway, watching her husband stand motionless in their son's empty room.
"Fugaku, you've been here for two hours. Even if you stayed all day, Itachi wouldn't come back."
Fugaku's face remained stiff and formal, but the grief in his eyes was impossible to hide.
"The Uchiha clan shouldn't follow Absolute Justice," he said after a long silence. "That path only leads from one extreme into another. It's what Itachi feared—that our clan would grow so radical it would harm Konoha… or spiral into something even he couldn't control."
"Maybe… he didn't choose that path entirely of his own will. Maybe people like Setsuna and Chizumi kept pushing him toward it."
Mikoto hesitated, but before she could respond, Fugaku continued, as if talking to himself.
"No. It's the environment that shapes a man. Outside, there was the Hokage's expectations and the Will of Fire. Inside, there were Setsuna's radicals… and Chizumi's absolute justice. Together, they made him into someone even his family barely recognized."
Mikoto finally broke in. "Fugaku, the past is the past. If Itachi were alive, he wouldn't want to see you like this." She softened her tone. "He was always a thoughtful child, always trying to shoulder burdens so you wouldn't have to. If you keep holding onto this, you'll never let him rest in peace."
She didn't say the rest aloud, but it was there in her mind: If you stay this obsessed with Itachi's death, something bad will happen.
She knew the Uchiha nature too well—no matter how calm her husband seemed on the outside, the pride and radicalism ran deep. And if that obsession ever pushed him toward a reckless decision, it could cost him dearly.
Fugaku let out a heavy sigh, his figure looking smaller, lonelier.
"Mikoto… Itachi was someone who always thought ahead. If, after hearing from Chizumi that he might one day destroy the Uchiha clan, he had already begun planning for it… then he must have prepared countless contingencies. He might have even considered that he could be killed before carrying out the plan."
"I'm thinking about what those contingencies could be."
Mikoto could see her words hadn't reached him at all. Disappointment flickered in her eyes.
"Then at least don't talk about these things in front of Sasuke when he comes back. You already shaped Itachi into what he became—don't let Sasuke, who's chosen his own path, end up the same way."
"…You're right. Sasuke can't walk that same path."
She smiled faintly at the rare agreement. "That's better. I'm going to the market to buy ingredients—tonight I'll make his favorite dishes."
Her footsteps faded, leaving Fugaku alone in the room.
"...Konoha… Sasuke… Chizumi…"
He felt restless.
An hour later, Izumi returned, breathless, with both the Orochimaru intel and the Yamanaka clan member who knew Gato's contact.
"Chizumi-senpai, I brought them!" she said.
Chizumi took the folder but didn't open it immediately. Instead, he turned to the nervous-looking Yamanaka chunin.
"You'll take me to Gato's man. Afterward, the police force will reward you."
"No need!" Yamanaka Anzawa said quickly, shaking his head. As just a mid-ranking ninja, standing in front of Chizumi made him feel small, no matter how much his clan leader had told him to relax. "If it's for the sake of Absolute Justice, I'll do it without expecting anything in return."
Chizumi fixed him with a sharp look. "Then set an example. Show others that working with the police to root out evil isn't something to fear. Let them see that doing so can bring benefits. People need that kind of positive reinforcement."
Anzawa blinked, startled.
"Absolute Justice doesn't demand that everyone follow or believe in it," Chizumi continued. "But it shouldn't frighten those who hope for justice. The only ones who should fear it… are the guilty."
At his side, Izumi had already pulled a small notebook and pen from her pocket, scribbling down every word. She knew these lines weren't just for Anzawa—they were for her and Anko as well.
Chizumi ignored her note-taking and finally opened the folder. Inside was a carefully sorted compilation of everything Inoichi had pulled from the spy's mind.
The most important detail was clear: the exact location of one of Orochimaru's hidden labs in the Land of Fire.
Chizumi's eyes narrowed slightly. He looked at Anzawa.
"Where's this Gato contact of yours?"
The man gave him an address.
Chizumi closed his eyes, running through the mental map of the Land of Fire, linking Konoha, the lab's location, and the contact's address into a neat, efficient route.
"…Perfect. I can handle both in one trip."
~~~
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