At the same time, on a street in Konoha—
"Kakashi-senpai, you're finally here."
As Kakashi hurried over, an Anbu operative rushed up to meet him and quickly ran through the situation.
Kakashi's perpetually droopy, "dead-fish" gaze carried a hint of helplessness.
He glanced at the cluster of Anbu nearby, then at the knot of Police Force ninja gathered opposite.
A headache was already coming on.
Who would have thought the Police and the Anbu would clash like this? Worse, whichever side he stood on felt wrong.
As an Anbu himself, Kakashi should by rights stand with the Anbu—line up with them against the Police.
But the problem was…
Kakashi actually agreed with much of what the Police had been doing lately in the village in the name of justice. In this morally warped shinobi world, it seemed only an extreme brand of "Absolute Justice" could wrench some people's crooked values back into place.
More importantly, Kakashi knew something of Uchiha Chizumi's strength.
And he knew that once a conflict like this broke out, Chizumi would definitely show up.
That would make things much worse.
After thinking for a moment, Kakashi asked, "This plan to probe every Anbu's memories—was that a few Police acting on their own, or an order from Uchiha Chizumi?"
The Anbu in front of him shook his head angrily. "No idea. All we know is they're like a pack of crazed dog—they won't let go."
Kakashi sighed inwardly.
He looked around and saw more Anbu and Police sprinting in from all directions.
The number of ninja on this street kept growing—dozens now, and all of them Konoha elites.
Just as Kakashi was about to say more, his eyes narrowed slightly, fixing on a point in the distance.
"Uchiha…"
"Chizumi."
This just got big.
There would be no easy wrap-up now.
"Chizumi-sama is here!" a Police ninja shouted. Every Anbu and every Police officer swung their gaze to Uchiha Chizumi.
In that instant, quite a few Anbu who'd been locked stubbornly in the standoff twitched—faces tightening beneath their masks.
Clearly, they understood the power Chizumi possessed.
"Hokage-sama is here too!"
At a sudden cry from an Anbu, the Anbu ranks instantly found a true backbone.
Sure enough, the Third Hokage was racing over, flanked by two Anbu bodyguards.
…
"So many people…"
Hiruzen could already see the heaving crowd from afar before he arrived. Anbu on one side, Police on the other, barely two meters between them.
Even from a hundred meters out, the heavy smell of "gunpowder" stung the nose.
One spark and the powder keg would blow.
And then… Anbu and the Police would be spilling each other's blood on Konoha's streets.
That would pull the entire village into a massive civil disturbance.
At that point, even Hiruzen Sarutobi wouldn't be able to mediate.
After all, the Anbu were clashing with the Police out of loyalty to him as Hokage.
If he tried to mediate without siding with the Anbu, how would he face those men who served him?
But if he leaned too far toward the Anbu, the Police would only grow more resentful and the conflict would escalate.
Just imagining it made Hiruzen's scalp prickle.
A few years ago, it would have been different.
Back when Uchiha Chizumi hadn't yet spread his wings, Konoha's Anbu alone could have suppressed the entire Police Force.
It wouldn't just be a street clash—Hiruzen could have crushed a full-blown coup.
But now, times had changed.
Stepping into the narrow two-meter gap between the sides, Hiruzen set his old face, clasped his hands behind his back in full Hokage bearing, and addressed Uchiha Chizumi standing before him: "Chizumi, let's end this farce together. Two village departments should not be at odds. You and I should dissolve the misunderstandings between them."
Chizumi looked at the short, slightly head-tilted old man who seemed reluctant to meet his eyes.
His voice was flat. "Have the Anbu accept Yamanaka memory probes, and the farce ends. The Police won't trouble the innocent within Anbu."
The cold tone made Hiruzen's brow twitch—and tightened more than a few Anbu hearts.
In the crowd, Kakashi exhaled.
Just as he'd guessed: with Chizumi here, this wasn't ending cleanly.
Hiruzen said gravely, "Chizumi, the Anbu is a covert unit. We hold many of the village's secrets. If those leak, the blow to Konoha's safety would be immense."
"And there's the matter of personal privacy. No one wants others rifling through their private thoughts—especially when they've done nothing wrong."
Chizumi answered evenly, "Then I'll name a set list; only they undergo memory probes. The rest won't. Problem solved."
"Third, of those I name—how many do you think will be innocent? How many guilty? Whose 'privacy' is worth the Hokage himself shielding?"
Hiruzen's pupils jolted.
Maybe he was getting old—he'd momentarily forgotten that Chizumi's eyes could see the evil in others.
If Chizumi was allowing his men to face off with the Anbu, it meant there truly were sinners among the Anbu.
And rather than yank them out at the start, he'd first let the Police stand up to the Anbu…
Was he deliberately hardening the Police's courage?
Teaching them to raise the blade of Absolute Justice against Konoha's entrenched power?
Realization darkened Hiruzen's face.
To Uchiha Chizumi, this standoff was training—a tempering of the Police Force's mettle.
To the Hokage, it was a serious blow to his authority.
Was he really going to let Chizumi, in full view of everyone, pick out the Anbu with dirty hands?
He'd lose the Anbu's hearts overnight.
Hiruzen drew a cold breath.
His political instincts screamed that Chizumi was using this incident to hit four targets at once: temper the Police, seize criminals, erode the Hokage's prestige, and weaken the Hokage's inner circle.
As Police Captain, Chizumi had finally turned the blade of Absolute Justice toward Hiruzen Sarutobi.
…
Meanwhile, at the Ninja Academy—
"Jiraiya, with this special variable called "Absolute Justice", we can't drag our feet teaching the Child of Prophecy," Shima the Toad Sage said earnestly from Jiraiya's shoulder.
"While Uzumaki Naruto is still young—before his values are fully set by Absolute Justice—you must pass on your ideals to him. Make him the savior who can rescue a shinobi world heading into crisis."
Fukasaku nodded. "Under normal circumstances, we'd wait until the child was older and the timing was right."
"But the situation won't wait. Even if that Chizumi isn't trying to 'snatch' the Child of Prophecy from us, his extreme creed is already influencing the boy."
"Someone who believes only in Absolute Justice cannot save the shinobi world. Taken to the extreme, that thinking could endanger everyone."
"Only with your guidance can he bring true change."
Fukasaku paused, then added, "We know you're under heavy pressure. You might even clash with that woman named Tsunade over beliefs."
"But…"
"Those who truly act for the shinobi world are rarely understood. Heroes of the shinobi world aren't necessarily as flashy and blazingly righteous as Uchiha Chizumi."
"A ragged ninja, laboring under immense pressure, can still become a great name in the world—if he raises the Child of Prophecy."
The two Great Toad Sages took turns in each of Jiraiya's ears.
Any lingering hesitation on Jiraiya's face vanished.
"I understand," he said. "I'll go make contact with Minato's kid."
…
"Hyuga Neji—has your clan still not settled down?"
At lunchtime, Naruto, Sasuke, and Neji weren't napping in class; they'd slipped out to the practice field.
As Naruto clumsily hurled a kunai at a target he asked, "Didn't you say your branch family was trying to select a new main-house line? It's been days—shouldn't there be a result by now?"
Neji flipped a wooden kunai straight into the bull's-eye. His face didn't change. "No. A thing called greed is spreading through the branch families. Many want to become the new main house. The competition keeps getting fiercer."
"Before, we'd hold a clan meeting every two or three days. Lately it's almost daily. A few branch elders even want two a day."
Sasuke, who'd just nailed the center himself, said, "Your clan's situation doesn't look good. If this drags on, it'll turn ugly. I know a thing or two about internal clan strife."
"I have a feeling that at this rate, war of words will turn into bloodshed. People hungry for power rarely play nice."
Neji's expression grew heavy as he nodded.
That was exactly why he'd been so down lately.
Locking the corrupt Hyuga main family in Konoha's prison hadn't fundamentally changed the clan.
"Ah-hahaha! You kids sure dive deep, huh? Are children these days all this precocious? Mind letting me join the discussion?"
A shameless, booming laugh made the three freeze.
They turned to see a creepy-gaited, oddball uncle in geta clacking toward them.
"This guy…" Neji blinked, then muttered, "One of Konoha's Legendary Sannin—Jiraiya."
Sasuke jammed his hands in his pockets. "You know him?"
"He tailed me at night," Neji said.
At that, both Sasuke and Naruto shot Jiraiya wary looks.
Jiraiya's warm, beaming smile stalled on his face.
Crap.
He'd forgotten.
He had shadowed Neji to see if he was the Child of Prophecy—and thanks to a hiccup, he'd even had to reveal himself that night.
He hadn't expected their suspicion to last this long.
…
"Chizumi, is there really no room to maneuver?" Hiruzen drew a breath, face impassive. "I can conduct an internal investigation within the Anbu. If someone truly has a problem, I won't shield them."
Chizumi shot it down in one line: "Coming from a man whose two sons are both villains, that carries zero credibility."
Hiruzen's face froze.
Chizumi went on, "I'll name a few. Those I name can either stand there and do nothing, or step forward and turn themselves in. The choice is yours."
Kakashi's heart lurched in the crowd.
He ransacked his memory for any past wrongdoing.
Coming up blank, he let out the faintest breath.
This is his final ultimatum, Kakashi realized.
Chizumi's tone was calm, almost flat—but the air was thick with killing intent.
Anbu across the line tensed, muscles coiling on instinct.
Police hands slid, eager, onto sword hilts.
It was the first time the Police had ever faced the Hokage like this.
In the past, they would never have dared.
But now, the scales—the source of each side's confidence—had tipped.