The crimson blood splattering on the ground constantly stimulated Hiruzen Sarutobi's nerves. The solidified expression on the severed head made his hair stand on end, and a thousand thoughts converged into two words: "It's over!"
Although there was no written rule, it was a commonly accepted custom among many high-ranking nobles that the "Ko-no-hitatare" (a type of noble's robe) was attire only fitting for the highest echelons of power in the ninja world.
Hiruzen Sarutobi clearly saw that the expensive clothing on the headless corpse at his feet was indeed in the "Ko-no-hitatare" style.
He no longer held onto any last shred of hope. The wrinkles on his face twitched incessantly, and his lips trembled slightly.
He wanted to say something, but the words were caught in his throat.
His face was terrifyingly dark.
"Hokage-sama... we arrived too late." An ANBU ninja whispered, "Even if medical ninja manage to reattach the head, it would only be to give the corpse a more dignified appearance in death."
Hiruzen Sarutobi: "..."
"Hokage-sama? You are the Hokage of Konoha?!" One of the retainers, who had been too intimidated by Akainu's impassioned speech to utter a sound, suddenly perked up and immediately shouted, "What exactly does your Konoha intend to do?! Are you trying to rebel?! Lord Daimyo allocates massive funds to Konoha every year, yet your village's ninja have killed Lord Daimyo's son!"
He then hastily pointed at Akainu Uchiha, reporting to Hiruzen Sarutobi with urgency, "It was that madman from the Uchiha clan! He's the one who killed Lord Kuzuke Goen'in! Your Konoha killed Lord Daimyo's second son, can you bear this responsibility?!"
"Oh, and... two other Daimyo retainers, and one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, also died by this madman's hand! He's insane! How dare he think he has the right to judge the Daimyo's son?!"
But when Akainu Uchiha's emotionless gaze fell upon him, the loudly clamoring retainer was instantly scared stiff, like a duck with its neck squeezed.
His mouth opened and closed soundlessly in terror.
In the end, he couldn't even manage a single peep.
Hiruzen Sarutobi: "..."
Anyone could sense the incredibly bizarre atmosphere. Some sharp-eyed ANBU ninja also noticed Hokage-sama clenching his fists tightly, the veins on the back of his hands trembling.
It was unclear whether Hokage-sama was enraged that a mere retainer dared to shout at him, the Third Hokage...
Or if he was furious that Akainu Uchiha had brazenly killed the Land of Fire Daimyo's second son in the street...
"Akainu."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes, for the first time, were so dark they were almost sinister. He tried hard to shift his gaze from the corpses on the ground.
He ignored the frantic, shouting Daimyo retainers.
Instead, he fixed a look of extreme displeasure on Akainu Uchiha.
"Hmph—"
Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a deep sigh. He was trying to suppress the rage boiling within him, and with a stiff expression, he said, "And now... will your explanation to this old man still be based on your overly extreme Absolute Justice? Does your Absolute Justice... mean sacrificing Konoha's interests and damaging Konoha's reputation?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't even imagine what the nobles of the Land of Fire would think of Konoha if this incident got out.
—Konoha ninja, wielding immense power, suddenly turned against the Land of Fire's nobility, daring to even kill the Daimyo's son!
In such a situation...
Wouldn't the entire noble class of the Land of Fire be in a state of panic? Would they still be willing to support Konoha then? Or would they still be willing to support him, Hiruzen Sarutobi?
"Akainu!" With his emotions in turmoil, Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice grew much louder. He gritted his teeth and said, "Kuzuke Goen'in... this young man's father is the Daimyo of the Land of Fire! He is the paramount figure in the Land of Fire! He controls the lifeblood of every industry in the Land of Fire!"
"Even if Konoha Village were to re-elect a Hokage, it would still depend on who the Daimyo decides to support. Without the Daimyo's support, Konoha Village wouldn't even be able to be established; the ninja of the Land of Fire would likely still be in a state of fragmentation and conflict..."
"And you... and you today..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi felt his breathing grow too shallow.
Making his head spin slightly.
"So, does the Third Hokage believe I should have let him go?" Akainu Uchiha's gaze met Hiruzen Sarutobi's. The moment Hiruzen Sarutobi saw those deep, dark eyes, he suddenly remembered something, startled, and quickly shifted his gaze away.
Hiruzen Sarutobi gritted his teeth, "Akainu, do you think it's right to arbitrarily sacrifice Konoha's future for your Absolute Justice? Without the Daimyo's funding, the village's infrastructure, the villagers' medical care, and employment would all be jeopardized."
"These complex issues cannot be solved by your Absolute Justice. If your extreme acts of justice bring negative consequences to the village, making life for everyone in Konoha worse day by day, would you still be considered just, or evil?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's barrage of questions reflected his true feelings.
"Hey, hey! As the Hokage of Konoha, why are you debating such things with this madman? Shouldn't you be arresting him immediately?!"
The group of still-terrified Daimyo retainers behind him suddenly interjected.
"Exactly! This madman killed Lord Kuzuke! Is killing the Daimyo's son not considered a rogue ninja act?!"
"This deranged lunatic of a ninja should be executed on the spot to avenge Lord Kuzuke, and his family should be implicated, made to be buried with Lord Kuzuke! Are you even competent as the Hokage of Konoha?!"
"As the Hokage, surely you wouldn't try to protect a murderer from your own village, would you?!"
"..."
Perhaps Hiruzen Sarutobi's appearance made them feel safe, giving them a pillar of support.
But they weren't ninja; they weren't loyal to the Hokage of Konoha; their loyalty lay with the Daimyo of the Land of Fire.
In the eyes of some Konoha ninja, the status between the Daimyo and the Hokage wasn't all that different. One commanded the Land of Fire's economy, civilian life, and government... while the other commanded the Land of Fire's military.
However, in the eyes of these Daimyo retainers, the Konoha Hokage's status was ultimately a level below the Daimyo's.
Which is why they weren't very polite, even after finding their 'pillar.'
Each successive sentence made Hiruzen Sarutobi's brow furrow deeper.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's gloomy, cold gaze swept over the Daimyo retainers. The Third Hokage's presence couldn't suppress Akainu Uchiha, but it absolutely terrified the retainers, making them break out in cold sweats.
"This is Konoha's internal affair!" Hiruzen Sarutobi said icily, "I will handle it however I see fit. Who are you to criticize this old man here?"
He stepped aside slightly, his face grim, and said, "If you wish to avenge the Daimyo's second son, then I won't stop you. The 'murderer' is right here. Go on, make your move."
The Daimyo retainers: "..."
After seeing these guys finally quiet down, Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep breath. Being interrupted by them, the suppressed anger in his heart somehow deflated a little.
So much so that when he spoke again, he was less forceful than before.
"Akainu, not every mistake committed by a person needs to be resolved with such extreme, absolute methods of execution." Hiruzen Sarutobi gritted his teeth and continued, "The evil in the ninja world cannot be solved by your rampant killing. What's the use of killing so many? Even if you can kill a hundred people, a thousand people, ten thousand people... but in the vast ninja world, aren't there far more villains than that?"
"Making Konoha better, making everyone in the village live better, isn't something you can achieve by slaughtering evildoers. Too much killing will only exacerbate the outbreak of conflict. Once some conflicts erupt, they will trigger even more evil!"
"You killed the Daimyo's son today. Do you know how much chaos this will cause? The Daimyo of the Land of Fire... even his offspring... they simply cannot be killed!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi, without even realizing it himself, actually began to "reason" with Akainu Uchiha.
Ultimately, it was his excessive apprehension of Akainu Uchiha's Mangekyo Sharingan abilities that made him feel a lack of confidence.
—To tear relations with Akainu Uchiha over the Daimyo's son, sparking an unprecedented war in Konoha that would 100% drag in the Uchiha clan.
—To proceed as usual.
These were essentially the only two choices before Hiruzen Sarutobi.
What choice he, as Hokage, would make...
There was no need to guess.
"Third Hokage," Akainu Uchiha said coldly, "If my actions lead to more evil festering in the ninja world, then it only proves that those who commit evil are not normal individuals to begin with; they are born with one foot on the opposing side of Absolute Justice."
"They merely need an excuse to support the evil within them, and my actions merely happened to become the excuse they needed. Such beings are inherently hidden enemies of Absolute Justice."
"They are already among the evils of the ninja world that Absolute Justice needs to purge. If, because they might bring chaos to the ninja world, justice chooses to compromise and endure, chooses to no longer speak out..."
Akainu Uchiha narrowed his eyes and continued, "That kind of justice... would only sicken me to the point of wanting to vomit."
"Besides..."
Akainu Uchiha added, "To think you can so easily change what an adult believes with just a few words. Third Hokage, are you perhaps overestimating your 'personal charisma'?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression stiffened slightly. Even though he knew he had anticipated Akainu Uchiha's reaction.
Yet every time he was directly rebutted by the other man, it always infuriated him.
Looking at all of Konoha, only Akainu Uchiha would challenge him, the Hokage, with a barrage of words like this.
The crucial point was... this also meant that Akainu's Absolute Justice was no longer a double-edged sword he could control.
Once upon a time.
Hiruzen Sarutobi could still rely on Akainu Uchiha's Absolute Justice to deter some ill-intentioned individuals in the village.
Now.
He no longer had the ability to control it, nor could he see who exactly this double-edged sword would strike within the village.
"I forgot to mention this, Third Hokage." Just as Hiruzen Sarutobi was inwardly startled and speechless, Akainu Uchiha's voice came again, "Aside from one person among those behind you, everyone else, in my eyes, is also an evildoer."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's pupils constricted. Only then did he realize that Akainu Uchiha's ninja blade had remained unsheathed the entire time!
"Evildoers... need to be purged."
As Akainu Uchiha's words fell, the ANBU ninja Hiruzen Sarutobi had brought immediately became alert and quickly formed a human wall, surrounding and protecting Hiruzen Sarutobi.
They had all witnessed Akainu Uchiha's Mangekyo abilities.
They absolutely could not let this dangerous individual, Akainu Uchiha, use that chilling dōjutsu on Hokage-sama!
Whoosh—
All the ANBU ninja, including Hiruzen Sarutobi, watched wide-eyed as Akainu Uchiha's figure instantly vanished.
The words "Stop him!" were caught in Hiruzen Sarutobi's throat.
Because he genuinely felt the killing intent emanating from Akainu Uchiha.
And a strange thought popped into his mind: if he really ordered the ANBU to stop Akainu... a devastatingly bloody conflict would undoubtedly erupt right here!
It was precisely this hesitation from Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Akainu Uchiha had already charged into the retainers like a tiger into a flock of sheep. His ninja blade flashed across the neck of one Daimyo retainer. As he passed by, a head flew into the air.
Hiruzen Sarutobi and the ANBU ninja turned back in astonishment.
In their line of sight...
Over a dozen heads, frozen in expressions of terror, flew high into the air. The blood sprayed from the dozen or so headless bodies rained down like a bloody torrent. A drop of blood even penetrated the ANBU ninja's dense human wall, splashing onto Hiruzen Sarutobi's Hokage robes.
There were no screams, no cries of pain, only the dull thuds of a dozen heads hitting the ground and a dozen headless bodies collapsing in unison.
"Gurgle gurgle—"
A large head rolled to the feet of an ANBU ninja.
The chilling, bone-deep coldness made even this battle-hardened ANBU ninja break out in goosebumps.
—Akainu Uchiha, this man is simply too dangerous!
This was practically the consensus among all the ANBU ninja.
Yet, not a single ANBU ninja secretly blamed or criticized Akainu Uchiha's actions.
After all, no one would question this man's judgment of "evil."
This was also the reason for Hiruzen Sarutobi's complex expression.
He and a part of the ANBU ninja's thoughts were surprisingly in agreement.
"No... no..."
"Don't kill me..."
A broken, terrified sob broke the eerie silence. The sole surviving Daimyo retainer had been scared to the point of incontinence. He sat paralyzed amidst blood and his own bodily fluids, his face filled with horror as he looked at the expressionless Akainu Uchiha.
Hiruzen Sarutobi watched as Akainu Uchiha didn't even spare the man a glance.
This young man, who made even him feel a pang of unease, simply turned away and, without looking back, said to him, "Third Hokage, I suppose I don't need to explain their misdeeds one by one, do I?"
Then he watched Akainu Uchiha leave.
Hiruzen Sarutobi: "..."
The blood flowing on the ground had already reached Hiruzen Sarutobi's feet.
He couldn't help but open his mouth.
But not a single word came out.
"Um... Hokage-sama." Izumi tore off a few pages from her small notebook, walked over, and handed them to an ANBU ninja, saying, "These are the crimes of Kuzuke Goen'in that I recorded, all dictated by Akainu-senpai. You can send the bodies to the Yamanaka clan and have them check the memories of the corpses to see if they match."
The ANBU ninja's expression beneath his mask was quite peculiar as he accepted the several pages of written white paper from the young girl.
He then handed them to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Hiruzen Sarutobi took them, silently gazing at the writing.
Finally, he let out a deep sigh.