"Simply indulging Danzo's evil, using him as a dirty tool, knowing his profound sins yet not punishing him, instead silently condoning and even supporting his actions... this, is already colluding with the 'evil' of the ninja world."
Under the watchful eyes of the Anbu ninja, and Hiruzen Sarutobi's astonished gaze.
Every word Uchiha Akainu spoke was blunt.
Like daggers, each one plunging deep into Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Under such circumstances, how can the Third Hokage have the audacity to claim he's not a villain? Just because you're the Third Hokage of the Leaf, you suddenly have privileges other villains don't?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's mouth twitched a few times. Faced with Uchiha Akainu's words, he truly didn't know how to quickly refute them.
Because, deep down, he did treat Danzo as his dirty work. After all, the Foundation was always the hidden side of the Leaf.
Only by combining both the light and the dark could the Leaf Village be as powerful as it was today.
Some of the dirty deeds Danzo committed were, of course, with his tacit approval and support. Many in the village actually knew this, but no one would openly say it.
Everyone would give him, the Hokage, some face.
However...
Among the many people in the Leaf, there would always be someone who wouldn't give him face, like Uchiha Akainu standing right there.
But when he saw Naruto's suddenly enlightened and shocked expression.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart tightened instantly.
He cleared his throat, assuming a serious demeanor, his hands clasped behind his back, subtly arguing, "Danzo's Foundation and I, the Hokage, are two different systems within the Leaf. Strictly speaking, the superior-subordinate relationship between us isn't so strictly defined."
"He often acts on his own accord, doing things even I don't know about. He only informs me after he's done them, leaving me to clean up his mess. And as the Hokage, I constantly need to maintain the Leaf's order."
"In such situations, I'm forced to reluctantly clean up after Danzo's egregious actions. If I were to move against him, the Foundation would descend into chaos, and so would the Leaf."
"At that point, the village would suffer many innocent casualties, and that's something I, as Hokage, don't wish to see."
As he spoke, Hiruzen Sarutobi even let out a slight sigh.
Revealing that sense of helplessness, of being unable to control Danzo.
He wasn't entirely lying; sometimes, he genuinely couldn't control Danzo's actions.
And these words, though seemingly refuting Akainu, were actually meant for Naruto's ears.
He absolutely couldn't let Naruto misunderstand his Hokage-jiji.
"...Is that so!" Naruto scratched his head, half-understanding, half-confused.
He actually didn't quite grasp Hokage-jiji's words.
The scary man's words, on the other hand, were easier to understand.
But...
Hokage-jiji probably meant he wasn't a bad guy, right?
This strange feeling of being surrounded by so many people, with him at the center, felt incredibly novel to Naruto.
Just as he was eagerly anticipating what the scary man would say.
He found that the man had already turned around.
Uchiha Akainu felt that with Hiruzen Sarutobi, Fugaku Uchiha, and the others, it was like trying to carry on a conversation with incompatible minds. Any more wasted words with them would be a waste of time that could be spent on executing justice.
He left only his back to Naruto, covering the bodies on the gurneys with the white sheets he had lifted earlier. Then, without looking back, he said to Naruto, "If you want to try and witness true Justice, then follow me."
With that.
Uchiha Akainu ignored the Anbu ninja blocking the path ahead, and with Izumi Uchiha, Jirou Tachibana, and a black ninja cat, walked straight towards the morgue exit.
Hiruzen Sarutobi subtly gestured, and the Anbu ninja quickly parted to create a path.
Naruto looked left and right.
He quickly followed.
Like a little shadow.
"...Sigh." Watching Naruto eagerly follow behind Uchiha Akainu, showing a keen interest in this "Justice," Hiruzen Sarutobi could only sigh silently.
Perhaps if he had arrived ten minutes earlier, he could have saved Naruto from the quagmire of "Justice."
Alas...
Uchiha Akainu's Justice seemed to have already branded itself deep within Naruto's heart. Coupled with some past events that Uchiha Akainu had revealed, it had caused the boy to develop a slight rebellious attitude towards some of Hiruzen's own words.
Hiruzen Sarutobi felt that all he could do now was try to ensure that the Justice in Naruto's heart never had the word "Absolute" attached to it.
Justice itself wasn't wrong. Hiruzen Sarutobi also believed justice was good.
But... he believed Absolute Justice was wrong!
Having one person embodying Absolute Justice in the Leaf was already giving him headaches.
If there were another, he might as well consider retirement.
Because, by Akainu's standards of Absolute Justice, he, the Hokage, was very likely on the list of villains! Although Hiruzen Sarutobi believed he wasn't the kind of "kill-on-sight" villain in Akainu's eyes, he couldn't help but feel a little bit uneasy.
Precisely because of this...
Every time Hiruzen Sarutobi had to meet Uchiha Akainu, he would bring a large group of Anbu ninja with him.
"Hokage-sama, what now?" An Anbu ninja glanced at Uchiha Akainu's retreating back, then turned and whispered.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's stiff, amiable smile faded. He said gravely, "Follow them. We absolutely cannot let Naruto go down Akainu's overly extreme path."
After only a few steps, Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly paused.
He said to Fugaku, who was awkwardly standing there, feeling caught between a rock and a hard place, "Fugaku, thank you for today. Your sincerity and magnanimity are clear to me. With a leader like you, the Uchiha clan will definitely not fall into the tragic future Akainu predicted."
The words from the Hokage finally allowed Fugaku to let out a sigh of relief.
At least...
The Hokage had approved of his actions.
And Fugaku took Hiruzen Sarutobi's words as a promise. This made Fugaku feel a little excited; he felt that his actions had received their due reward.
The village could finally trust the Uchiha a little more.
And today's misunderstanding had likely been cleared up.
Uchiha Akainu went outside the morgue and found a Police Force ninja. He requested information about the family of four victims and handed it to Izumi.
"Rookie, you investigate," Uchiha Akainu instructed.
Izumi immediately realized this was a test for her.
After all, her senior couldn't always treat her as a mere subordinate; he surely wanted her to be able to stand on her own.
She quickly took the documents. "Yes, Senpai!"
But looking at the documents in her hand, Izumi was stumped for a moment about where to even begin.
Hmm...
Right!
She had already analyzed what kind of killer they were likely dealing with in front of her senior before. It must have been the tense atmosphere earlier that made her nervous, and she hadn't quite recovered yet.
Izumi couldn't help but glance at Naruto Uzumaki, who was looking on with curiosity beside her.
If she wasn't mistaken, this child was also one of her senior's followers of Absolute Justice, wasn't he?
Even if Naruto Uzumaki didn't yet understand what Absolute Justice was.
At least her senior felt he had the potential for it.
"You can look at it too," Izumi said.
"...Huh?"
Naruto, who had been cautiously peeking, was instantly delighted. "Really?! I can?!"
"Mm."
As Izumi nodded, she pointed to the couple among the family of four victims and said to Naruto, "We need to find people who had conflicts with this family of four, and such people are most likely their relatives, friends, neighbors, or other acquaintances."
"The acquaintances of those two children probably aren't connected to the killer, so we need to screen the acquaintances of the wife and husband to see who is most suspicious."
Izumi then asked Jirou Tachibana, "Jirou-senpai, can your ninja cats help investigate for information?"
"No problem, meow!" Jirou Tachibana readily agreed.
She didn't know what method he used, but soon, over twenty ninja cats of various colors gathered at the Police Force building's entrance, whispering and discussing among themselves.
A large group of talking ninja cats left Naruto speechless.
"Kid, my Jirou Tachibana's cat-children and cat-grandchildren are the most excellent intelligence elites in the ninja cat world! Even the youngest ninja cat among them has been with Lord Akainu for a year or two already; they're all your future seniors, meow!"
Jirou Tachibana added, "Also, from now on, when you address me, you'll do so like Izumi Uchiha does: call me 'Jirou-senpai'!"
With that.
Jirou Tachibana jumped down and walked proudly to the group of ninja cats, beginning to assign them various tasks.
Before long, the two dozen or so ninja cats dispersed.
"This... is enough?" Naruto scratched his head, perplexed.
Izumi smiled slightly. "You have to trust Jirou-senpai. His ninja cats are truly amazing. Many times, Akainu-senpai and I are able to discover cases immediately because Jirou-senpai's ninja cats are constantly gathering all sorts of information within the Leaf."
"Hmm..."
Izumi pondered for a moment, then made a comparison: "You can think of these ninja cats as Akainu-senpai's Anbu!"
The Anbu ninja who had just emerged behind them: "..."
Hey, hey, hey! Comparing them, the elite Anbu of the Leaf, to a bunch of ninja cats, wasn't that a bit too much, young lady?
"Having these ninja cats is indeed very convenient." Hiruzen Sarutobi stood beside Uchiha Akainu, his hands clasped behind his back. But his posture was slightly angled away, ensuring his eyes constantly avoided Uchiha Akainu's gaze.
Hiruzen Sarutobi said, "Akainu, if you could join the Anbu, with this group of ninja cats, you could even become the Anbu's General Captain."
Uchiha Akainu watched the back of a calico ninja cat disappear and said, "Being in a place like that would only sicken me."
Hiruzen Sarutobi: "..."
It seemed he had embarrassed himself again. Every time he tried to start a conversation, he was met with the other's scorn.
This further confirmed the extremity of Absolute Justice.
Absolute Justice that couldn't even tolerate the Hokage was something he absolutely couldn't let Naruto get involved with.
Otherwise...
Hiruzen Sarutobi dared not imagine what Naruto, possessing the Nine-Tails' power, would do after believing in Absolute Justice! Especially since a tailed beast's power was incredibly uncontrollable; perhaps Naruto would become an even more unstable factor than Akainu!
Meanwhile.
A grim-faced Koharu Utatane returned to the Hokage Office.
Homura Mitokado, who had been waiting for a long time, frowned when he found only Koharu Utatane. "Where's Naruto Uzumaki? Why didn't Hiruzen come back with you?"
He noticed that Koharu Utatane's old face seemed to have darkened even further.
Homura Mitokado realized the situation wasn't quite right.
"Did something happen?"
Koharu Utatane took a deep breath and recounted what had transpired, making Homura Mitokado frown deeply.
"Uchiha Akainu... he actually has such a power of manipulation? In just a few words, he made the Jinchuriki intensely interested in his Absolute Justice. And he even caused a severe rebellious reaction to your attempt to forcefully take him away... to the point where the Nine-Tails' power nearly went out of control."
Homura Mitokado's expression grew even more solemn. The development of this situation had somewhat exceeded all their expectations.
"However..."
Homura Mitokado pondered, "With Hiruzen on site, he should be able to prevent Naruto Uzumaki from being more severely affected."
Koharu Utatane said with a dark expression, "I hope so."
"Otherwise..."
Her eyes flickered uncertainly, "Once the Nine-Tails falls into the Uchiha clan's hands, I can't guarantee that the Nine-Tails attack, which nearly turned the Leaf into ruins back then, won't happen again."
Homura Mitokado said, "Uchiha Akainu probably wouldn't let that happen, considering he upholds his extreme justice."
"You can't be so sure," Koharu Utatane scoffed. "Someone will always believe they can control a tailed beast's immense power. But by the time it gets out of control, it'll already be too late."
As time passed, by afternoon.
The two dozen or so ninja cats had successively returned to the Police Force building, bringing with them the intelligence they had gathered.
Izumi recorded all the information and meticulously organized it.
She handed a list to Uchiha Akainu.
"Akainu-senpai, I believe these five people are the most suspicious. All five had conflicts with the couple from the family of four victims, and they are all ninja. They definitely have the ability to silently kill a family of four in a short amount of time."
Izumi was about to say—as long as they are brought in for proper interrogation, useful information should be obtained.
But then she remembered Akainu-senpai's special ability.
It seemed the interrogation step could be completely skipped.
"Let my Anbu ninja bring those five over!" At this moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi's sudden interjection made Izumi pause, and she had a tiny bit of a changed impression of the Hokage.
Hiruzen Sarutobi said earnestly, "Although this is the Police Force's duty, I am still the Hokage of the Leaf. When such a heinous crime occurs in the village, I must personally take action and strive to arrest the killer as quickly as possible."
He looked at Naruto and smiled, "Naruto, even with just the Will of Fire, you can execute justice in the Leaf. The combination of the Will of Fire and justice is what makes an excellent ninja."
Izumi's tiny bit of a changed impression of Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately vanished.
She realized that this Hokage was simply trying to prevent Akainu-senpai from teaching Naruto Uzumaki Absolute Justice.
—The Hokage is indeed the enemy of Absolute Justice!
This bold thought flashed through Izumi's mind.
Under Hiruzen Sarutobi's command, five Anbu ninja detached from the group and, in less than twenty minutes, brought all five of the most suspicious ninja Izumi had just mentioned.
Izumi suddenly felt her sleeve being tugged.
She looked down.
It was Naruto.
Naruto nervously whispered, "Are they really the killers? What... what if they don't confess?"
Izumi shook her head, indicating she wasn't sure either.
She gave Naruto a reassuring glance. "Don't worry, Akainu-senpai possesses the powerful ability to see through past evils and future evils. As long as the killer stands before Akainu-senpai, he'll be able to see right through their facade."
Izumi paused, then added, "This is because Akainu-senpai believes in Absolute Justice, which is why he has this power."
Naruto looked at Uchiha Akainu in surprise.
So this scary man had such an ability? But what was Absolute Justice... and how was it different from just justice?
Such questions arose in Naruto's mind.
Just as Izumi was about to cautiously ask Uchiha Akainu, she suddenly heard Akainu-senpai's cold voice: "None of the five are."
Izumi: "!!!"
Izumi froze on the spot. She felt like she had messed up her test from Akainu-senpai...
Naruto exclaimed in shock, "Huh? None of them?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi also couldn't help but be stunned. He thought that Izumi Uchiha's method of screening suspects was correct; if it were him, he would have used the same method for investigation.
That's why Hiruzen Sarutobi had unhesitatingly ordered the Anbu ninja to immediately bring all five suspects over.
But he never expected to get this answer from Uchiha Akainu!
Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned and said, "Then let's bring over the other less suspicious people too, and take a look?"
"No need," Uchiha Akainu dismissed Hiruzen Sarutobi's suggestion. He said expressionlessly, "Jirou Tachibana, investigate the social circle of the seven-year-old victim. I need a list of suspects who had conflicts with him. Remember, there's no age limit for suspects."
"Yes, Lord Akainu!" Jirou Tachibana personally set off this time.
"Seven-year-old... that boy my age?" Naruto recalled the body that, even now, sent shivers down his spine.
As Naruto hesitated to speak, Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned and asked the question Naruto most wanted to ask: "Akainu, in the social circle of a seven-year-old, most of the people who have conflicts with him are likely his peers, right?"
"What's the use of investigating these children?" Hiruzen Sarutobi was puzzled, but he merely asked, not questioning.
Because he knew Uchiha Akainu was more professional than him.
Uchiha Akainu did not explain in detail, simply stating, "Your imagination of the ninja world's evil is too impoverished, and you lack understanding of how twisted and pathological the ninja world truly is."
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