Not long after—
Upon returning to the village, Kakashi gave it some thought, then made his way directly to the Hokage's office.
There, he immediately found Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"Kakashi—you went outside the village just now, didn't you?"
Before Hiruzen could even speak, it was Koharu who stepped forward first.
She sniffed the faint sulfur clinging to Kakashi's clothing, her face stern as she asked, "What exactly happened out there? Who ambushed Uchiha Keizumi outside the village?"
With the ominous feeling in his heart growing stronger and stronger, Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't help but shift his gaze to Kakashi.
Even though Kakashi's black face mask concealed half his face, the unusual look in his drooping, weary eyes did not escape Hiruzen's sharp perception.
A sudden jolt struck Sarutobi Hiruzen's chest.
He spoke up as well: "Kakashi, just say what's on your mind."
"Huu…"
Kakashi exhaled a long breath. After taking two seconds to steady himself mentally, he delivered the bombshell without any attempt to soften it: "Hokage-sama, Uchiha Keizumi was indeed ambushed outside the village. The attackers were all elite jōnin-level shinobi, numbering around eleven."
"They were…"
"They were the personal guards of the Daimyō of the Land of Fire—none other than the famed Twelve Guardian Ninja."
He turned to look at Sarutobi Hiruzen, whose eyes were gradually going blank, and continued: "One of them… was your son, Sarutobi Asuma."
As Hiruzen's vacant eyes slowly widened in shock, Kakashi's voice sounded once more: "Hokage-sama… Sarutobi Asuma has already paid the price for attempting to assassinate a fellow Konoha shinobi."
Kakashi had deliberately softened the word "death," hoping to ease the emotional blow.
But the moment the words left his mouth, he suddenly realized—
Did that phrasing make it sound like he was siding with Uchiha Keizumi?
Then again…
The more he thought about it, the more he felt he hadn't said anything wrong—because this was the truth.
And then, he noticed it.
The atmosphere had suddenly turned eerily silent.
Hiruzen didn't speak. He just stood there in a daze.
Koharu, meanwhile, looked stunned. Then her face turned increasingly anxious as her eyes shifted to Hiruzen with growing concern.
That silence… no one could tell how long it lasted.
But Kakashi was the first to notice the change.
The Hokage's breathing was growing erratic.
His aged eyes were visibly trembling.
His face was flushing with an unhealthy red, his lips taking on a bluish hue—
and then his body lurched forward, as if he had suddenly lost all strength.
Kakashi moved quickly, catching Sarutobi Hiruzen before he could fall.
He could hear the Hokage's rapid, raspy breathing—it sounded like a bellows being worked at full force.
And then he heard Hiruzen muttering, over and over again: "Asuma… Asuma…"
"Hiruzen…" Koharu's voice carried complex emotions as she tried to offer some comfort—
but then she suddenly froze. "Hiruzen?"
Kakashi also noticed it at the same time.
The Hokage, whom he was supporting, had gone completely limp.
His eyes widened in alarm: "Hokage-sama?!"
To his shock, he realized—
The Third Hokage of Konohagakure, overwhelmed by sorrow and rage, had lost consciousness on the spot.
...
When Izumi and the group of ninja cats returned to Konoha, the story had already started spreading—thanks in no small part to the deliberate efforts of the cats to disseminate the truth.
Many villagers curious about the events outside the village quickly learned what had happened.
The ANBU didn't even have time to contain the information.
The headline "The Hokage's son leads Twelve Guardian Ninja to assassinate fellow Konoha shinobi Uchiha Keizumi—only to be killed in retaliation" had already erupted across Konoha like a whirlwind.
At first, many still didn't quite believe it.
But as more people began spreading the story—and the more convincingly they spoke—
The entire village of Konoha was shaken by the news!
...
Within the Hyūga Clan compound.
"The Hokage's second son… I remember his name was Sarutobi Asuma, right?"
Hyūga Hiashi took a deep breath.
Even his usually expressionless face couldn't help but betray a flicker of emotion.
"The Hokage's eldest son and second son have both died at the hands of Uchiha Keizumi. No matter what the reason, and no matter who was right or wrong… just the pain of losing two sons in succession—can the Hokage truly continue to tolerate Uchiha Keizumi?"
Hiashi imagined himself in the Third Hokage's shoes, and he had to admit—he might already have wanted to kill Uchiha Keizumi by now.
At the same time, he couldn't help but feel a sense of awe for Keizumi's [Absolute Justice].
When the Hokage's eldest son fell into darkness, Uchiha Keizumi was willing to carry the stigma of killing his own sensei in order to purge evil.
And now that the Hokage's second son had fallen, Keizumi made the exact same choice again.
He would not bend his justice for anyone—not even for a Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"If it had been anyone else, they might've spared Sarutobi Asuma in the end—just because of who he was… They might've even pretended the assassination attempt never happened. If it had been me, I probably would've made that choice too…"
Hiashi let out a soft sigh.
Not everyone had the same resolve as Uchiha Keizumi.
...
Inside the Uchiha Clan compound.
Uchiha Fugaku stood frozen, dazed.
Right now, he was filled with regret.
Maybe… following his wife's advice and immediately leading the Police Force out to support Keizumi had been the right choice after all.
At the very least… if they had stepped in at the critical moment and stopped Uchiha Keizumi in time, Sarutobi Asuma might still be alive.
And the Hokage wouldn't have had to endure the pain of losing yet another son.
Fugaku could no longer imagine how the Hokage—after losing two sons—would now view the Uchiha Clan.
He very much wanted to draw a clear line between Uchiha Keizumi and the rest of the clan. That way, Keizumi's Absolute Justice would have nothing to do with them.
But the fatal problem was—they hadn't fully severed that connection yet!
And in this situation, how could the Hokage not view the Uchiha with suspicion?
Who could've known it was Sarutobi Asuma who ambushed Keizumi?!
What the hell were the Hokage's sons even doing?!
Couldn't they just behave like normal shinobi?!
"…It seems I've made yet another foolish decision."
Fugaku was lost.
He felt that no matter what he did, it always ended up wrong.
Why was it like this?
He couldn't make sense of it.
He simply didn't understand!
...
"Uchiha Keizumi…"
Uchiha Itachi had not gone with the ANBU to check the situation outside the village.
At this moment, his eyes had grown visibly more resolute and unwavering.
"You truly don't realize that everything you're doing… is pushing the Uchiha Clan and Konoha toward two completely opposite, irreconcilable paths."
He murmured to himself: "This kind of conduct will only make those radicals in the clan stare at Konoha with even greater hostility."
Uchiha Itachi ran his fingers slowly along the hilt of the ninja blade at his waist.
Then he couldn't help tapping the pommel's counterweight lightly with his fingertip.
He was gazing toward the Uchiha Clan compound in the distance.
As if he could already see the excitement swelling among the radical Uchiha shinobi after hearing what had happened outside the village.
As if he could already see those irredeemable fools itching to push forward the coup they had been secretly planning for so long.
"I will never let that happen."
"Everything…"
"Is for the sake of Konoha."
...
After listening to the excited report from one of the radical young members below, Uchiha Setsuna fell into silence for a moment.
He truly hadn't expected the Third Hokage's second son to be so bold—
To actually attempt an assassination on Uchiha Keizumi outside of Konoha?
Even more unexpected… was that Uchiha Keizumi was strong to this extent.
Those were the Twelve Guardian Ninja of the Land of Fire!
Even with one missing, that was still eleven elite jōnin. The combined strength of those eleven was enough to make even a Kage choose to avoid direct confrontation.
And yet, Uchiha Keizumi, while ambushed and forced into a reactive defense, had managed to kill them all!
And what's more—
Rumor had it that this extremist brat of justice emerged completely unscathed!
Uchiha Setsuna no longer knew what to say.
The son of the Hokage, the mighty Twelve Guardian Ninja—how were they all this useless? They couldn't even take down one Uchiha Keizumi?
Still… for someone like me, this isn't necessarily a bad thing.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
Because this meant that the rift between Uchiha Keizumi and the Third Hokage had now escalated to an irreconcilable level.
If the two could inflict damage on each other…
Then he could profit from the conflict.
There was no way—no way—the Third Hokage would just swallow this and let it go.
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