"Jūzō Biwa… went to the Hidden Mist!"
Land of Rain.
Uchiha Obito's eyes snapped open.
These days Kirigakure—now the Bloody Mist—was already under his thumb. Even the Fourth Mizukage was a puppet, and under Obito's vengeful manipulation the village tore itself apart day and night in bloody infighting, slaughter, and chaos.
Once the intel reached the Mist, Obito naturally got the first report as well.
"…Obito."
Beside him, Black Zetsu—who had found a suitable White Zetsu body again and re-merged into that familiar humanoid pitcher-plant form—spoke up: "I'm afraid the one who went to the Mist… isn't just Jūzō Biwa."
Black Zetsu narrowed its eyes and said evenly, "Don't forget, that man has betrayed us—betrayed Akatsuki. He's standing on the same side as Uchiha Chizumi."
Obito frowned. "You're saying Biwa took Chizumi's shadow clone to the Land of Rain, then brought the real Chizumi to the Mist? What's he trying to do?"
"Unclear," Black Zetsu replied slowly. "But one thing is certain: Jūzō and Akatsuki don't get along. His motive for joining in the first place may never have been pure."
"As for now… bringing Uchiha Chizumi to the Mist, there's a real possibility he's realized the village's current state can't be separated from Akatsuki's hand."
"When he understood he couldn't change it by his own power, he went looking for outside help. The 'outside help' he found… was Uchiha Chizumi."
Obito didn't quite follow. He didn't answer for a long moment, still turning over Black Zetsu's words.
Seeing this, Black Zetsu paused half a beat, then said, "In plain terms, he's figured out you're the one pulling strings in the Mist—and he wants to deal with you. As for how he knows, it may tie back to Uchiha Chizumi again. That man knows far too many of our secrets."
At that, a shiver crept through Black Zetsu.
It couldn't shake the feeling that its true purpose—its true design—had already been seen through, laid bare by Uchiha Chizumi.
Maybe… the other side knew even more than it did.
No, that's not right…
Black Zetsu shook its head inwardly.
Even if that man had some kind of foresight, he couldn't be "omniscient" the way it was imagining. Not even Mother could be omniscient—so how could a mere Uchiha Chizumi be?
"…Hmph. I already figured as much—you don't have to spell it out."
Obito snorted, missing the tangle of thoughts behind Black Zetsu's calm tone. "If we know where he is, then it's time to end this."
Black Zetsu asked, "We go end it with him—are you sure? You really want to take that risk?"
Obito: "…"
After several seconds of silence, Obito ground out, "Weren't you the one who said we can't let Uchiha Chizumi live? That his existence will seriously disrupt our plan?"
Black Zetsu sighed without a sound; outwardly it remained impassive. "Remember— we aren't the only ones who want him dead. Uchiha Chizumi has made too many enemies."
"He killed the Daimyō of the Land of Fire; now countless nobles are terrified of him and would love nothing more than to see him gone. He's also made Nagato feel threatened; Nagato wants him eliminated too."
"We can ride that wave—kill with them. All we need to do is feed them intelligence. The rest… doesn't require us to take the risk ourselves."
Obito's face tightened. "Since when did we have to take such a roundabout route to deal with one man?"
Black Zetsu walked on as it spoke. "When you're older, when you've lived longer, you'll understand: staying alive is what matters most. If you outlive everyone, everything else becomes solvable. Don't put yourself in danger. Live—that's the priority."
Obito stared at its back. "Are you deliberately imitating Uchiha Madara? You sound just like him."
A faint curve touched Black Zetsu's mouth. "I was born from his will. Of course I resemble that great one a little."
…
Not long after—
"Uchiha… Madara told me where Uchiha Chizumi is. He took Jūzō Biwa and went to the Land of Water. I just can't tell yet if it's the real body or a clone."
Nagato passed the intel to Konan.
Konan nodded. "Konoha's senior advisor Utatane Koharu wants to hire us to kill Uchiha Chizumi. She promised a very generous fee—enough to cover at least two or three years of work for us."
"So that's a Great Village for you…" Nagato murmured. "A single promise, and we can even move our schedule up a bit."
"So," Konan asked, "you've decided to hunt Uchiha Chizumi?"
Nagato nodded. "It's time to rally everyone."
Konan blinked. "Everyone…"
"To take him down, a pair or a trio won't cut it," Nagato said slowly. "You know the kind of power he has."
"If we send too few, he'll pick them off one by one. Two or three people is just sending them to die."
"Rather than waste time and drain Akatsuki's living strength, we end this in one stroke. Against someone like him, we prepare to go all out."
Konan exhaled. "…All right."
"For safety," Nagato added, "I'll deploy the Six Paths—everyone except the Naraka Path—at the same time. The Naraka Path will stand by near the Mist."
Konan's pupils tightened. She immediately shook her head. "Wait! No!"
"If you do that, you're alone," she said urgently. "Your real body is too frail. If anyone sneaks in while you're exposed, they'll kill you!"
Nagato shook his head. "No one but Uchiha Chizumi can get close to me. And that man is far away—unless this intel is a baited trap to draw me out."
"But my gut says… it isn't a trap. So I'll trust it."
Konan opened her mouth, then closed it again before his settled resolve. She still couldn't rest easy. "Then I'll stay behind. Always have a fallback, right? Remember—this intel came from Uchiha Obito. What if it's his plot? Don't forget—his Sharingan ability can reach you too!"
…
Konoha.
Shizune stood anxiously before the Hokage and Tsunade-sama, feeling the air go strange.
The two had been seated across from each other for well over a minute.
Aside from a brief greeting at the start, neither had said another word.
They might as well have been mute.
The eerie quiet only made Shizune's nerves worse, like a fuse burning toward an explosion.
Could Uchiha Chizumi have been right?
If the Hokage met with Tsunade-sama in private, was it with ill intent? Was he planning to kill her?
Hiss…
Then what should I do, as her disciple? Stand with Tsunade-sama and move against the Hokage?
The dangerous thought made Shizune go pale.
One hand hugged Tonton; the other drifted by instinct to the pouch at her waist.
If the Hokage so much as twitched, she'd have a kunai in hand in an instant—
She looked ready to stake her life.
"Why?" At last, Sarutobi Hiruzen's slightly hoarse voice broke the silence. "Tsunade… is the village under my care so worthless in your eyes? Only if you were utterly disappointed in this old man would you try to replace him—try to become the Fifth Hokage yourself, isn't that it?"
Tsunade finally spoke. "Old man. When you were young, you were a fine Hokage. I had no complaints. Back then Konoha really was thriving. Even when wars hit, we could recover."
"I know you sacrificed a lot for the village, and compromised time and again. In your youth, to push Konoha back toward the peak under Grandfather Hashirama, you took risks and looked the other way on certain things."
"You thought as long as the benefits outweighed the harm, letting some things slide was fine—you'd settle those accounts later."
"But…"
Tsunade lifted her gaze and fixed it on Hiruzen. "You only did the first half. You never did the second. The people you ignored—who prospered under your indulgence—never faced the end they deserved."
"The rot Chizumi dug up in this village is just the tip of the iceberg of what you left behind. It's not that you refuse to settle the accounts—you no longer have the ability."
"Those people have grown deep roots in Konoha. Some of their interests are intertwined with yours. To purge them would be to purge yourself."
"So you pretended none of those look-the-other-way years ever happened. If Chizumi hadn't appeared out of nowhere—if he hadn't insisted on 'absolute justice'—"
"Time would have scrubbed away the memories and the guilt. No one would ever know what they'd done—and you would forget too."
"That…"
"Is wrong."
Tsunade let out a slow breath; the long speech had dried her throat. She took a small sip of sake, then continued: "If this keeps up, Konoha will keep sliding. The true meaning of the Will of Fire will be twisted on purpose."
"The evil coiled beneath Konoha will use you, the Hokage, as its nourishment and umbrella—growing stronger under that cover, sending roots and shoots everywhere."
"Old man, the resolve you've shown in your later years proves you can't handle this crisis. You're not even much of a paper-over."
"Maybe it's time to put it down. Hand the village's future to the young."
"Let the village undergo a more radical shake-up."
Hiruzen cut in, "By 'radical shake-up' you mean Chizumi's Absolute Justice, don't you?"
"Yes."
Tsunade owned it without hesitation. "Maybe Absolute Justice isn't the only way to save Konoha—but it's the only one I can see right now."
"And it isn't just Konoha that needs saving. The whole shinobi world is, frankly, in the same condition."
"Grandfather Hashirama's heart was never fixed on Konoha alone—he cared about the entire shinobi world. Sometimes I can't help thinking Chizumi and my grandfather are alike in certain ways."
"But their personalities are completely different, so their methods differ too."
Hiruzen was quiet for a long time.
"Give me ten more years," he said seriously at last. "If Chizumi will work with me—take my direction—I believe, with my methods and his power, we can excise Konoha's illness."
Tsunade smiled. "Why not the other way around? Why don't you follow his lead? Wouldn't that achieve the same end?"
Hiruzen drew a long breath. "There has to be a primary and a secondary. I cannot let 'absolute justice' be the main thing of Konoha while the Will of Fire is secondary."
"That," Tsunade said, "is where you and I differ. You care about too many things. Your concern for Konoha is mixed with a lot of… other stuff."
"Whether you admit it or not, that's the truth. Otherwise, why do you think Jiraiya refuses, no matter what, to inherit your mantle?"
"That idiot may be wrapped around the finger of a bunch of toads, but sometimes he's crystal clear about one thing—he doesn't want to become what you are now."
Hiruzen froze.
Tsunade rose, patted the dust from her clothes, and went on. "If you really won't step down, then let's have two Hokage. You cede part of your authority to me; you're Hokage and I'm Hokage. Watch from the side and see what changes I can bring."
"If what I do satisfies you, hand over the rest and retire in peace."
"If not, we can fight it out again. Then we'll see whom the village truly supports."
"Or…"
Tsunade looked down at him. "We skip all the twists and turns and settle it right now. Whoever has the bigger fist and more ninja behind them—that's Konoha's Hokage."
She touched her bare, pale neck.
And exhaled heavily. "Since I already gave that man my word, I can't let him down, can I?"
Hiruzen's face went stiff.
…
Land of Water.
A port.
"Chizumi-senpai! We've reached the Land of Water!" Izumi turned back, delighted, and called to Uchiha Chizumi.
And saw him toying with something that glittered.
Looking closer—
It seemed to be a pendant.