"Inoichi, you—!" Utatane Koharu gritted her teeth, about to lash out—
But Nara Shikaku, who had been standing quietly beside Inoichi, suddenly took half a step forward, hands in his pockets. He cut her off with a calm but serious tone: "Everyone, I also believe Sarutobi Asuma was in the wrong here. He conspired with shinobi from outside the village to attempt an assassination on a fellow Konoha shinobi… Even by the village's own rules, that could be punished with the death penalty—possibly even hanging, correct?"
Inoichi glanced gratefully at Shikaku for stepping in, then added, "And shouldn't Uchiha Keizumi, after being ambushed by eleven jōnin, be allowed the right to self-defense?"
"So, Hokage-sama, I believe that Uchiha Keizumi's actions were reasonable, lawful, and entirely aligned with the Will of Fire. That's all I have to say."
As soon as even Nara Shikaku stepped forward to speak, the expressions of nearly everyone in the room began to shift.
Many eyes turned to Akimichi Chōza, who had remained silent until now.
Chōza's narrowed eyes flickered with a trace of resignation.
He, too, took a half step forward and said, "The Ino-Shika-Chō have always shared the same values—and we advance and retreat as one. What Inoichi and Shikaku think is what I think."
Koharu's face darkened so much it looked like a storm was brewing.
Mitokado Homura opened his mouth but found no words to say.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, lying in his hospital bed, had fallen silent again.
The ANBU operatives in the room all kept their heads down, silent.
Kakashi glanced left, then right with half-lidded eyes.
He suddenly regretted not leaving earlier. He had stayed to wait for the Hokage to wake up—but now found himself knee-deep in a political quagmire.
The tension in the room was unmistakable.
"…I see," Sarutobi Hiruzen said hoarsely.
"So that's what the Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi Clans all believe… I suppose the Uchiha must think the same, don't they?"
Was it possible that more shinobi clans thought exactly the same as the Ino-Shika-Chō?
Sarutobi Hiruzen realized—it was entirely possible…
After all, a Hokage's son who could rally the Twelve Guardian Ninja to assassinate a fellow shinobi from the same village…
Such a man would never gain the village's approval, no matter how much he believed he was acting for Konoha's sake.
But—
His methods had been far too extreme. His justifications, far too weak.
In a village as vast as Konohagakure, aside from a select few…
There probably wasn't a single person who truly supported Asuma.
And those few who did—
Weren't siding with him because they believed in what he had done, but simply because they harbored grudges against Uchiha Keizumi, or had strong objections to Keizumi's existence.
"…Haa…"
Sarutobi Hiruzen let out another heavy sigh.
"I'm tired. Let me rest for a while," he said wearily, voice steeped in defeat.
"Hiruzen…" Utatane Koharu's tone turned anxious.
"I said I'm tired." Hiruzen repeated the line, voice heavier.
Koharu's entire expression collapsed.
All it took was the combined pressure of the Ino-Shika-Chō, and once again, the Hokage was hesitating?
If it had been Danzō in his place…
He would've already mobilized all of Konoha's shinobi to hunt Uchiha Keizumi down!
After everyone else had gradually left the hospital room, only Koharu remained.
She stood alone, gazing at Sarutobi Hiruzen. "Hiruzen… that was your only son. Right now, Uchiha Keizumi isn't in the village. You don't even need to worry about his Lava Release causing damage to Konoha."
"Isn't this the perfect opportunity? Why won't you seize it?"
"Are Inoichi, Chōza, and Shikaku enough to sway your judgment—as a Hokage? Or as a father? Are they enough for you to abandon your hatred over both your sons being killed?"
"Hiruzen, this indecisiveness—does it truly honor your two sons?"
"Hiruzen, you will regret this."
"…Koharu," Sarutobi Hiruzen murmured, "The responsibilities carried by the Hokage, and the balance he must preserve, are not as simple as you imagine."
"A man can only be Hokage if he has the approval of the majority. If I lose the village's trust…"
"Huff."
Hiruzen cut himself off, his voice suddenly turning hoarse and firm.
"Leave. I am still the Hokage of Konoha. I have my own judgment."
"Shinnosuke understood that early on. He always understood so much. And Asuma… Asuma may come to understand me, too."
Koharu stared at Sarutobi Hiruzen for a long, deep moment.
Then she turned and walked out.
Bang! —the door slammed shut behind her.
The sheer force of it made clear just how unsettled she truly felt inside.
...
Tanzaku Quarters.
"Tch, tch… no wonder this is the most famous money pit in the Land of Fire. Even at night, the place is packed with lucky bastards who hit it big overnight."
"Too bad… having the luck to win a fortune is one thing—but you need to live long enough to bring that money back home, idiot."
Down a shadowy alleyway, a shinobi wearing his forehead protector backwards stood with one foot planted on a bloodied man's chest.
He held a thick stack of bills, each one marked with a face value of 10,000 ryō.
The shinobi was eagerly counting the money, a grin on his face.
Just as the man beneath his foot began to struggle, the shinobi's expression turned vicious. He ground his sole forcefully against the man's face, the rough friction scraping hard against skin.
"Ugh—!"
The man let out a muffled groan of pain. One side of his face was torn open against the coarse ground, a mess of blood and raw flesh, and several of his teeth cracked and fell out under the pressure of the stomp.
The shinobi finished counting the cash and chuckled, "Five million ryō. That's heavy—nearly couldn't hold it all in one hand."
"Hey, you're not seriously gonna report this, right? Sure, gambling addicts usually have no conscience, but you don't look like a seasoned degenerate. You must care about your family, yeah?"
"And you know full well… a shinobi can easily silence you and your whole family, right? You also know… a shinobi never leaves behind evidence, right?"
"P… please…"
The man beneath him was soaked in blood, sobbing through broken teeth and mangled lips, "Please… don't hurt me… don't hurt my family… take all the money… it's yours…"
"I swear I won't report anything…"
"All the money? What do you mean give me the money? This was mine to begin with!"
The shinobi sneered viciously. "You really don't know how to talk, do you?"
He raised his foot, aiming to stomp down hard and knock the man unconscious in one brutal strike.
But the moment his right leg lifted—
A sudden force knocked it off course.
[Bang!]
His leg slammed sideways into the wall. Before he could react, a surge of sharp pain exploded through his calf, sending cold sweat pouring down his face.
When he hastily looked down—
There, embedded deep into the flesh and bone of his right shin—was a kunai.
His eyes went wide with horror as blood gushed from the wound.
"Wh-What the hell…?"
Even as he gasped in shock and turned toward the direction the kunai had flown from—
All he saw was the flash of a blade.
[Shhhk—]
"Kawajima Keichi. Two years ago, you killed a gambler and stole two million ryō. A year and a half ago, you beat a man half to death and stole six hundred thousand. A year ago, you murdered…"
The voice that echoed through the dark alley was cold and detached, carrying a sharp clarity that cut through the silence.
And as Uchiha Keizumi brushed past the shinobi named Kawajima Keichi, a large head rolled to the ground with a thud.
The system prompt for executing a red-named criminal briefly flashed before his eyes.
Tachibana Jirō followed close behind, stepping over the groaning man on the ground.
With one paw, he flipped off the shinobi's backward-worn forehead protector.
He glanced at the back of the protector.
"Nyaa… A Konoha shinobi," Jirō said grimly.
"And there's no scratch on the plate—he wasn't even a rogue ninja. Tanzaku Quarters really is a breeding ground for sin, nyaa…"
"Keizumi-sama, we might have to go on a killing spree tonight."
The man on the ground could only stare, dumbfounded, as it all unfolded before him.
The blood-soaked cash scattered across the alley floor burned into his vision.
And echoing in his ears—was that name.
"Keizumi-sama"… Keizumi…
Keizumi…
A sudden flash of memory surged through his mind.
His pupils shrank, disbelief warping his expression as he stared at the retreating figure ahead, growing smaller with every step.
"Uchiha… hiss!!!"
"Uchiha Keizumi!!!"
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