But just then, the sudden chill in Jūzō Biwa's voice made Momochi Zabuza pause.
"I know you're unhappy with the Fourth Mizukage and the Blood Mist policy too. But don't think you can finally breathe easy, don't feel relieved, just because he was killed by an Uchiha and most of the people who backed that policy are dead."
Jūzō Biwa fixed his eyes on Momochi Zabuza—this junior from the Hidden Mist—and spoke slowly. "Demon. I've heard about the way you do things. On the Blood Mist policy, you may stand with me and Uchiha Chizumi."
"But in other matters, you're nothing like us. In Uchiha Chizumi's eyes, you're one of the villains. Don't tell me that as a member of the Mizukage's Anbu, you never did anything evil."
"Killing on the battlefield doesn't necessarily count as evil. But when you were carrying out missions for the Fourth Mizukage, can you honestly say you never crossed any lines?"
Jūzō Biwa's warning and challenge left Zabuza silent.
He could clearly feel the killing intent radiating from Jūzō, aimed squarely at him.
And the other man already held the Kubikiribōchō in his hand.
It was obvious Jūzō had taken the Leaf ninja's side, and Zabuza knew that man's style all too well. His very existence was something that Konoha ninja would never tolerate.
"Heh—" And then, though exhausted to the limit and too weak to even walk out of the village, Zabuza suddenly laughed—almost with relief.
"Jūzō Biwa. Even if I once respected you as a senior, don't you dare belittle my resolve." Zabuza bared his teeth in a grin and lifted his head to stare straight at Jūzō.
"For someone like me, the only meaning in life was to kill the Fourth Mizukage and dismantle the Blood Mist policy!"
"Every plan I made, every move in the shadows, was aimed at assassinating the Mizukage. Now that the bastard is dead, now that the Blood Mist has basically been broken, clinging to life holds no meaning for me."
"You think I fear death? Are you prodding me on purpose, trying to make me run for my life so you can let me off? Heh. If that Uchiha Chizumi finds out, he'll never trust you again!"
Saying all that in one breath tugged at his wounds; Zabuza coughed a few times.
He wiped the blood that had soaked his chin.
At some point his other hand had already reached into his pouch and drawn a kunai.
Gripping the kunai, breathing hard, Zabuza glared at Jūzō. "My life won't end in a Leaf ninja's hands. If you want to be that Konoha shinobi's dog, Jūzō, that's your choice—I won't meddle."
"Let me see how the Seven Ninja Swordsmen—"
Before he could finish, Jūzō's figure suddenly blurred before his eyes—as if the man had vanished in the blink of an eye.
"So fast…" Zabuza muttered in a daze. "If I weren't injured, I could've reacted—"
With a soft clink, the kunai slipped from his hand. Zabuza pitched forward, blood spilling across the damp ground at his feet.
At some point Jūzō Biwa had appeared behind him.
He watched the blood slowly being drunk by the Kubikiribōchō, then let out a quiet sigh.
Elsewhere—
Terumi Mei, Ao, and Elder Genji met Uchiha Chizumi again.
To be honest, when this neatly dressed Uchiha from the Leaf—without a speck of blood on him—stood before them, even Genji, the village's oldest and most respected elder, felt tension creeping into his heart.
To feel such unprecedented pressure from someone so young… unbelievable, Genji sighed inwardly. It felt like the era of his generation had passed. Now the shinobi world belonged to the young.
"Sir," Genji said to Uchiha Chizumi, "you have slain our village's incompetent Fourth Mizukage, and many of the diehards whose support for the Blood Mist policy drove Kirigakure and the Land of Water into decline."
With that single sentence, Genji essentially defined what had happened today—and who was in the right.
He paused, then went on, "So… should the killing stop here?"
Chizumi glanced at the aged elder and said slowly, "Do you believe the sins of Kirigakure or the Land of Water have been completely uprooted?"
Genji froze.
"…They should have been completely eliminated, right?" After a moment's thought, he nodded solemnly. At least from his perspective, it was the Blood Mist policy that had long hindered the Land of Water and Kirigakure—the policy that poisoned its people.
Chizumi turned to Terumi Mei. "What about you? Do you think it's over?"
By the time the question shifted to Mei, cold sweat was already trickling down Genji's back; he felt he'd given the wrong answer.
Mei realized it too and forced the words "It's over" back down her throat. Her face taut with tension, she answered, "Not yet."
"What hasn't ended?" Chizumi asked again.
The problem was, she didn't actually know. So many had died already—could the village's evil truly not be over? Where else did it lie? Was this man going to kill everyone in Kirigakure before he stopped? What could she possibly say to keep him from wiping them out?
As cold sweat streamed down Mei's back, a sudden flash of insight crossed her mind—but she hesitated.
"It seems you have an answer. Why not say it?" Chizumi took a few steps forward until he was right in front of her. The closeness made sweat bead in her palms.
"There are still…" Mei bit down on her teeth. Whether it was survival instinct or something else, she finally cast aside her hesitation. "There are still the people who profited from the Blood Mist policy—and those who took advantage of the chaos it brought to the Land of Water to commit their crimes. Most of them are people with power, or people of status within the Land of Water—"
"To be precise—the merchants, the nobles, and the daimyo!"
~~~
Thank you very much for reading! This Fanfic is already dropped by the Author and no update since Oct. 16!