Konoha: The Absolute Justice of the Uchiha

Chapter 96 The Hokage is indeed an enemy of [Absolute Justice]! (5000 words)
"Simply condoning Danzo's evil deeds, treating him as a puppet, knowing that Danzo's crimes are heinous yet failing to punish him, instead tacitly approving and even supporting his actions... this is already colluding with the 'evil' of the ninja world."

Under the watchful eyes of all the Anbu ninjas, and under the astonished gaze of Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Uchiha Ikezumi's every word was utterly blunt.

They stabbed at Hiruzen Sarutobi like knives.

"Under these circumstances, how could the Third Hokage have the audacity to claim he wasn't a villain? Just because you're the Third Hokage of Konoha, does that give you privileges that other villains don't have?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's lips twitched a few times. Faced with Izumi Uchiha's words, he really didn't know how to quickly refute them.

Because, in his honest opinion, he did indeed see Danzo as a double agent, since Root was, after all, the dark side of Konoha.

Only through a combination of overt and covert operations can Konoha Village become the powerful village it is today.

Danzo's dirty deeds were naturally approved and supported by him. In fact, many people in the village knew about this, but no one spoke of it.

They would all give him, the Hokage, some face.

however……

Among so many people in Konoha, there will always be some who don't give him face, such as Uchiha Izumi in front of him.

But when he saw Naruto, he showed a look of sudden realization and shock.

Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately felt a tightness in his chest.

He coughed, adopting a serious demeanor, and put his hands behind his back, calmly retorting, "Danzo's Root and I, the Hokage, are two different systems in Konoha. Strictly speaking, the superior-subordinate relationship between me and him is not so strict and clear."

"He is often self-righteous and does things that even I don't know about. He only informs me after he has done those things, making me clean up his mess. As the Hokage, I am always required to maintain order in Konoha."

"Under these circumstances, I have no choice but to clean up Danzo's mess. If I were to take action against him, Root would fall into chaos, and Konoha would fall into chaos as well."

"At that time, the village will suffer many more innocent deaths and injuries, which is something I, the Hokage, do not wish to see."

As he spoke, Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a soft sigh.

This reveals the helplessness of not being able to control Danzo.

He wasn't entirely talking nonsense; sometimes Danzo's behavior was indeed beyond his control.

While his words seemed to be refuting Ikezumi, they were actually meant for Naruto.

He absolutely cannot let Naruto misunderstand him, the Hokage.

"...I see!" Naruto scratched his head, seemingly understanding but not quite.

Actually, he didn't quite understand what the Hokage was saying.

On the contrary, the words of terrifying men are easier to understand.

but……

Grandpa Naruto probably meant that he wasn't a bad person, right?

This inexplicable feeling of being surrounded by so many people was quite novel to Naruto.

Just as he was anticipating what the terrifying man was about to say...

But they found that the other person had simply turned around.

Uchiha Izumi and Hiruzen Sarutobi, Fugaku Uchiha, and others were simply not people he could reason with. To waste even a single word on them would be a waste of time meant to uphold justice.

He only left Naruto with his back turned, then covered the white sheets that he had previously lifted off the morgue beds back up. Without turning back, he said to Naruto, "If you want to see what real [justice] is like, come along."

Say it.

Ignoring the group of ANBU ninjas blocking their way, Uchiha Izumi, along with Tachibana Jiro and a black ninja cat, headed straight for the exit of the morgue.

Hiruzen Sarutobi secretly made a gesture, and the group of Anbu ninjas quickly made way for him to the left and right.

Naruto looked around.

He hurriedly followed.

Like a little shadow.

“…Sigh.” Looking at Naruto, who was following closely behind Uchiha Ikezumi with great interest in the so-called “justice,” Hiruzen Sarutobi could only sigh silently.

Perhaps if I had arrived ten minutes earlier, I could have saved Naruto from the quagmire of "justice".

pity……

It seems that Uchiha Ikezumi's "justice" has been deeply imprinted on Naruto's heart. In addition, some things from back then were also mentioned by Uchiha Ikezumi, which made Naruto develop a rebellious attitude towards some of his words.

Hiruzen Sarutobi felt that all he could do now was try his best to ensure that the word "absolute" was never added to Naruto's concept of "justice".

[Justice] is not wrong, Hiruzen Sarutobi also thinks justice is good.

But... he felt that [absolute justice] was wrong!
The existence of an absolute justice in Konoha already gave him a major headache.

If another one comes along, I might have to consider retirement.

Because according to Ikezumi's standard of "absolute justice," he, as Hokage, is most likely on the list of villains! Although Hiruzen Sarutobi doesn't think he's the kind of villain that Ikezumi would "kill," he can't help but feel a little guilty.

Therefore……

Whenever Hiruzen Sarutobi met with Izumi Uchiha, he would bring a large group of ANBU ninja with him.

"Lord Hokage, what should we do now?" An ANBU ninja glanced at Uchiha Ikezumi's retreating figure, then turned around and asked in a low voice.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's rather stiff, amiable smile vanished, and he said in a deep voice, "Follow him. We absolutely cannot let Naruto go down that overly extreme and crooked path of Ikezumi."

After taking only a few steps, Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly stopped.

He said to Fugaku, who was standing awkwardly to the side, feeling caught in a dilemma, "Fugaku, thank you for today. I can see your kindness and magnanimity. With a leader like you, the Uchiha clan will definitely not fall into the tragic future predicted by Izumi."

Fugaku finally breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing the Hokage's words.

At least……

The Hokage has approved of his actions.

Furthermore, Fugaku took Hiruzen Sarutobi's words as a promise. This inevitably stirred a little excitement within Fugaku, as he felt that his actions had been rewarded accordingly.

The village can finally trust the Uchiha clan a little more.

The misunderstanding has most likely been resolved today.

……

Uchiha Izumi arrived outside the morgue, found a police ninja, obtained information about a family of four victims, and handed the information to Izumi.

“Newcomer, you’ll be the one to investigate,” Uchiha Ikezumi said.

Quan immediately realized that this was also a test for him.

After all, the seniors can't always treat me as just a little follower; they definitely want me to be able to stand on my own.

She quickly took it: "Yes, senior!"

Looking at the information in his hand, Quan immediately froze. Where should he even begin his search?!
Well……

correct!

Even though he had already analyzed the likely identity of the murderer in front of his seniors, he must have been nervous because the atmosphere was too tense just now, and he still hadn't calmed down.

Izumi couldn't help but look at Naruto Uzumaki beside her, who was looking at her with curiosity.

If I'm not mistaken, this child is also one of the senior's followers of "absolute justice," right?
Even if Naruto Uzumaki hasn't yet grasped what absolute justice is.

But at least his seniors felt that he had the potential.

"You should watch it too," Quan said.

"……Eh?"

Naruto, who had been cautiously peeking from the side, exclaimed with delight, "Can I really do it?!"

"Ah."

As Izumi nodded, he pointed to the couple in the family of four and said to Naruto, "We need to find someone who has a conflict with this family of four, and such a person is most likely their relative, friend, neighbor or other acquaintance."

"The people the two children knew were most likely not connected to the murderer, so we need to investigate which people among the wives and husbands' acquaintances were the most suspicious."

Izumi then asked Tachibana Jiro, "Tachibana Jiro-senpai, could you ask your ninja cats to help you investigate some information?"

"No problem, meow!" Tachibana Jiro readily agreed.

It's unclear how it did it, but soon more than twenty ninja cats of various colors gathered in front of the police station building, whispering and discussing amongst themselves.

A large group of talking ninja cats left Naruto speechless. "Kid, my cats and their offspring are the most elite intelligence force in the ninja cat world! Even the youngest of them has been following Lord Ikezumi for a year or two. They will all be your future seniors!"

Tachibana Jiro added, "Also, from now on, when you address me, you should call me 'Tachibana Jiro-senpai,' just like Uchiha Izumi!"

Say it.

Tachibana Jiro jumped down and walked confidently to the group of ninja cats, beginning to assign them various tasks.

Before long, the twenty-odd ninja cats scattered.

"Is this... all it takes?" Naruto scratched his head in confusion.

Izumi smiled slightly: "You have to trust Tachibana Jiro-senpai, his ninja cats are really amazing. Many times, Izumi-senpai and I are able to discover cases immediately because of Tachibana Jiro-senpai's ninja cats, who are constantly gathering various intelligence within Konoha."

"Well……"

After thinking for a moment, Izumi made an analogy: "You can think of these ninja cats as Senior Izumi's ANBU!"

The ANBU ninjas who surged out from behind: "..."

Hey! Comparing these elite Konoha ANBU members to a bunch of ninja cats, aren't you going a bit too far, girl?
“Having these ninja cats is indeed very convenient.” Hiruzen Sarutobi stood next to Izumi Uchiha with his hands behind his back. However, he tilted his body slightly outward so that his eyes could avoid Izumi Uchiha’s gaze at all times.

Hiruzen Sarutobi said, "Ikezumi, if you could join the Anbu, you could become the captain of the Anbu with this group of ninja cats."

Uchiha Ikezumi watched the disappearing figure of a calico ninja cat and said, "Staying in a place like that only makes me want to vomit."

Sarutobi Hiruzen: "..."

It seems I've made a fool of myself again. Every time I try to find a topic to talk about, I'm met with ridicule.

This further confirms the extremism of [absolute justice].

Even the Hokage couldn't tolerate [absolute justice], so I absolutely cannot let Naruto be tainted by it.

otherwise……

Hiruzen Sarutobi simply couldn't imagine what Naruto, with the power of the Nine-Tails, would do after believing in "absolute justice"! Especially since the power of the tailed beasts is extremely uncontrollable, Naruto might become an even more unstable factor than Izumi!
……

at the same time.

With a gloomy, old-fashioned face, Koharu Utatane returned to the Hokage Building.

Homura Mito, who had been waiting for a long time, frowned when he found that only Koharu Utatane was there: "Where's Naruto Uzumaki? Why didn't Hiruzen come back with you?"

He noticed that Koharu's face seemed to have darkened a bit after he turned to the dormitory.

Mitokado realized that something was wrong.

"Did something happen?"

Koharu took a deep breath and told Mitokado Homura what had happened, causing him to frown deeply.

"Uchiha Ikezumi... he actually has this kind of bewitching ability? With just a few words, he made the Jinchuriki become very interested in his 'Absolute Justice.' He even developed a strong rebellious mentality against your attempt to forcibly take him away... to the point that the Nine-Tails' power almost went out of control."

Mitomon En's expression grew increasingly grave; the development of this situation had exceeded all of their expectations.

"but……"

Mitokado Homura pondered, "With Hiruzen present, he should be able to prevent Naruto from suffering even more severe consequences."

Koharu, her face grim, said, "I hope so."

"otherwise……"

Her eyes flickered with uncertainty: "If the Nine-Tails falls into the hands of the Uchiha clan, I dare not guarantee that the Nine-Tails' rampage, which almost turned Konoha into ruins back then, will not happen again."

Mitokado Homura said, "Uchiha Ikezumi shouldn't let that happen, after all, he wants to uphold his extreme sense of justice."

"That's hard to say," Koharu Utatane scoffed. "There will always be people who think they can control the powerful forces of the tailed beasts. But by the time they lose control, it will be too late."

……

As time passed, it became afternoon.

More than twenty ninja cats had already returned to the police force building one after another, bringing with them the intelligence they had gathered.

Quan recorded all the intelligence and carefully organized it.

She handed a list to Uchiha Ikezumi.

“Senior Chiquan, I believe the most suspicious individuals are these five. These five individuals all had conflicts with the couple who were among the four victims, and they are all ninjas. They definitely have the ability to kill a family of four silently in a short period of time.”

Quan Gang thought to himself—if we bring them here and interrogate them properly, we should be able to extract some useful information.

But then I remembered Senior Ikezumi's special abilities.

It seems that the interrogation process could be completely omitted.

"Let my ANBU ninjas bring those five over!" At this moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi's sudden interruption startled Izumi, causing her to slightly change her opinion of the Hokage.

Hiruzen Sarutobi said in a serious tone, "Although this is the duty of the police force, I am, after all, the Hokage of Konoha. When such a heinous crime occurs in the village, I must personally take charge and try to arrest the murderer as soon as possible."

He looked at Naruto and smiled, "Naruto, even if you only possess the Will of Fire, you can still uphold justice in Konoha. Only by combining the Will of Fire with justice can you become an excellent ninja."

Izumi's slight change in opinion of Hiruzen Sarutobi vanished instantly.

She realized that the Hokage was doing this to prevent Ikezumi-senpai from teaching Naruto Uzumaki [Absolute Justice].

—The Hokage is indeed the enemy of [absolute justice]!
This bold idea popped into Quan's mind.

……

Under Hiruzen Sarutobi's orders, five ANBU ninjas broke away from the group and, in less than twenty minutes, brought over all five most suspicious ninjas that Izumi had just mentioned.

Quan suddenly felt his sleeve being tugged.

She looked down.

It turned out to be Naruto.

Naruto asked nervously in a low voice, "Are they really the villains who killed people? What... what if they don't confess?"

Quan shook his head, indicating that he was not sure either.

She reassured Naruto, saying, "Don't worry, Senior Chiquan has the powerful ability to see through the evil of the past and the evil of the future. As long as a murderer stands in front of Senior Chiquan, he can see through his true nature at a glance."

Izumi paused, then added, "It's because Senior Izumi believes in [absolute justice] that he possesses this power."

Naruto looked at Uchiha Ikezumi in surprise.

So this terrifying man has this kind of ability? But what is [Absolute Justice]... and how is it different from justice?

Naruto had this question in his mind.

Just as Izumi was about to cautiously ask Uchiha Ike Izumi, he suddenly heard Ike Izumi-senpai coldly say, "None of them."

spring:"!!!"

Quan froze on the spot. He seemed to have messed up the test given to him by Senior Ike Quan...

Naruto exclaimed in shock, "Huh? Neither of those?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi was also taken aback. He felt that Izumi Uchiha's method of screening criminals was correct, and if it were him, he would also use this method to investigate.

That's why Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't hesitate to order the Anbu ninjas to bring all five suspects over immediately.

But I never expected to get this answer from Uchiha Izumi!
Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned and said, "Then let's bring the others who are less suspicious over for inspection as well?"

“There’s no need.” Uchiha Ikezumi rejected Sarutobi Hiruzen’s words, and said expressionlessly, “Tachibana Jiro, investigate the interpersonal relationships of that seven-year-old victim. I need a list of suspects who have had conflicts with him. Remember, there is no age limit for the suspects.”

"Yes, Lord Ikezumi!" This time, Tachibana Jiro personally took action.

"Seven years old...that boy who was the same age as me?" Naruto recalled the corpse that still gave him the creeps.

Just as Naruto hesitated, Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned and asked the question Naruto most wanted to ask: "Ikezumi, in a seven-year-old child's interpersonal relationships, most of the people he has conflicts with are peers of similar age, right?"

"What's the point of investigating these children?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked, puzzled, but it was just a question, not a challenge.

Because he knew that Uchiha Ikezumi was more professional than him.

Uchiha Ikezumi did not explain in detail, but simply said, "Your imagination about the evil in the ninja world is too barren, and you lack awareness of how twisted and morbid the ninja world is."

……

……

(End of this chapter)