"Keizumi, I have indulged you far too much in Konoha!" Hiruzen's expression darkened, shifting like storm clouds. Just as he was about to grit his teeth and continue speaking, Keizumi cut him off directly.
"Third Hokage." Uchiha Keizumi's tone was icy. "The Daimyō's death beneath the judgment of [Absolute Justice]—even his eldest son has no objections. Yet you, the Hokage of Konoha, feel pity for the death of a villain? You, the so-called Third Hokage of Konoha—do you truly lack even the most basic understanding of right and wrong?"
Hiruzen: "???"
Involuntarily, he turned his gaze toward the Daimyō's eldest son—only to be shocked when he saw the man nod slightly. "Hokage-dono, my father was wrong. Wrong is wrong. There is no need for you to defend him."
Hiruzen froze.
"Your Highness?" He suddenly snapped back to himself, speaking solemnly. "Perhaps Your Highness has some misunderstanding about Konoha. The village has always stood beside the Daimyō's estate. Keizumi's Absolute Justice does not represent the Will of Fire."
He believed the Daimyō's son must surely fear that he and Keizumi were acting together.
Thus Hiruzen laid his stance bare with utmost sincerity.
After all, shinobi produced nothing on their own. Without the backing of the Daimyō or the nobles, how could Konoha's economy possibly survive?
The Daimyō's eldest son was taken aback.
He couldn't help but glance at Uchiha Keizumi, whose face showed not the slightest ripple, and then at Hiruzen, whose expression was grim.
He wavered for a moment.
But…
The images from the blood-soaked day in the Fire Capital flooded back: noble households wiped out one after another, corpses carried out in streams, his father's gruesome death, and his own cowardly words spoken before so many witnesses.
And as the faint scent of blood still lingered in the air, whatever waver of sympathy he had felt vanished at once.
Cold sweat trickled down his back.
Forcing a smile, he said, "Hokage-dono… my father was indeed blinded by the power of the Daimyō's seat, and in that blindness he made many foolish decisions. You truly need not defend him. As his eldest son, all I can do is spend the rest of my life striving to atone for the mistakes he once made."
"To restore to the Land of Fire—where worldviews have collapsed, where morality has decayed, where justice has been lost—the proper worldview, the proper morality, and above all, the truest Absolute Justice."
These dry, halting words from the Daimyō's son nearly made Hiruzen's mind short-circuit.
...
Mitarashi Anko had witnessed the entire conflict between Uchiha Keizumi and the Hokage. She hadn't expected the Hokage to actually fall into disadvantage, to the point where, in the end, his face darkened and he couldn't utter a single word.
Perhaps, the Hokage had intended to stand on the same side as the Daimyō's eldest son, using that position to put pressure on Uchiha Keizumi.
And at the same time, he could strike under the banner of "righteousness."
But what the Hokage hadn't expected was that the Daimyō's eldest son was the very first to surrender.
All because this eldest son wanted, more than anything, to stay alive.
Eh…
Wait!
As her thoughts reached this point, Anko couldn't help but fall into contemplation. She felt that things weren't nearly as simple as they appeared. The Hokage seemed to be at daggers drawn with Uchiha Keizumi on the surface, but was that truly the case?
Uchiha Keizumi openly killed the Daimyō of the Land of Fire—was the Hokage really completely uninvolved?
And the way he had rushed over with his ANBU—could it be that, had Uchiha Keizumi failed, he would have delivered the finishing blow himself?
The Daimyō's eldest son, enduring the pain of his father's death, now stood firmly on the side of [Absolute Justice].
And without a shred of shame, he kept spouting words of cowardice.
Could it be because he realized these two were putting on a double act?
That this was actually a power grab by Konohagakure against the Daimyō of the Land of Fire?
That Konohagakure was no longer content to remain a mere military organization?
Mitarashi Anko: "!!"
Her wild conjectures all tangled together in her mind, making her gaze toward Sarutobi Hiruzen turn increasingly strange. At that moment, she suddenly realized why the eldest son had looked at the Hokage with such an odd expression just moments ago.
Wasn't it the same look she herself was giving now?
The situation seemed to sink into an eerie silence. Keizumi was not the type to take the initiative to break such silence, and perhaps the Hokage himself felt a bit awkward. Should she… try to play along?
Thinking this, Anko gave a light cough and said, "The Land of Fire cannot go a single day without a leader. Isn't the most pressing matter now to hold the funeral for the former Daimyō as soon as possible, and then choose a new Daimyō, rather than lingering on these pointless disputes?"
The air went silent again for a few seconds. When no one responded, Anko's heart lurched—had she completely misread the situation?
Out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly noticed the Hokage glaring at her with an expression of disbelief.
As for Uchiha Keizumi, he ignored her entirely.
She also had the distinct feeling that the masked ANBU were watching her, though she had no proof.
And the Daimyō's eldest son was staring at her with a look of panic.
Anko: "…"
Damn it, she really had said the wrong thing!
"Yes!"
Just as she reached the peak of her embarrassment, sweat streaming down her face, the Daimyō's eldest son forced a laugh and quickly echoed, "This kunoichi is correct. The immediate priority of the Land of Fire… is indeed just as she said."
Anko felt that even his voice was trembling.
Those words she had just spoken—could it be that, in the ears of the Daimyō's eldest son, they had sounded like a threat from Konohagakure against him?
Hiss!
She saw that the Hokage's face now carried the look of a man upon whom the sky itself had collapsed.
Then the Daimyō's eldest son continued: "I must ask Hokage-sama of Konohagakure to remain in the capital of the Land of Fire for several days, to personally attend my father's funeral. Furthermore, the next Daimyō shall be chosen by the joint recommendation of Keizumi-sama and Hokage-sama."
Sarutobi Hiruzen: "..."
Now there was truly no way to clear himself of suspicion! Sarutobi Hiruzen could hardly imagine how the entire shinobi world would view him once word of this spread.
The hatred for Keizumi's assassination of the Land of Fire's Daimyō would surely be redirected onto him, the Hokage of Konohagakure!
Even the Daimyō's eldest son, at a subconscious level, already believed that this entire incident was somehow tied to him, Sarutobi Hiruzen.
By then, the target of the world's condemnation would not be Uchiha Keizumi alone…
It would also be Sarutobi Hiruzen!
He, Sarutobi Hiruzen, would become synonymous with "disloyalty" and "unrighteousness"!
All the nobility of the Land of Fire would look at him with strange, distrustful eyes. And once the news returned to Konohagakure, every shinobi clan would believe their Hokage was deeply scheming, that his ambition had grown so vast even Konohagakure itself could no longer contain it.
Hiruzen wished he could personally throw Anko into Konoha's prison, let her sit there and reflect for a dozen years at least!
Why, in a moment of foolishness, had he ever pardoned that child and let her out?
Sarutobi Hiruzen regretted it bitterly.
"Hokage-sama?" At the cautious prompting of the Daimyō's eldest son, Sarutobi Hiruzen—his eyes now dim and unfocused—barely managed to squeeze out a stiff smile from the twitch at the corner of his lips.
"…Very well."
His old face flushed between shades of green and red before he finally forced out a single sentence, dripping with reluctance.
After all, regardless of the circumstances, as Hokage he was duty-bound to attend the Daimyō's funeral.
But in this way, under such a misunderstanding…
It might destroy in an instant the image he had built over decades as the Third Hokage!
It left him forever beneath Keizumi's shadow!
For Keizumi acted in the open, while he appeared the sly, conniving one.
…
"By the timing, Hiruzen should already have reached the capital of the Land of Fire by now. Perhaps he has already met with the Daimyō."
At that very moment, inside the Hokage building—
Mitokado Homura stood with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing out the window at the distant scenery as he said, "If Uchiha Keizumi truly intends to assassinate the Daimyō, then it's quite possible that Hiruzen has already crossed blades with him."
"As for what the outcome will be, we can only wait for Hiruzen to send word back. Nowadays the shinobi world does have long-range communication tools; passing along information is fairly convenient."
"If I recall correctly, these communication tools were invented by Orochimaru before he defected from Konoha. At the time, he wanted to use such a practical device to win the village's approval, and with it, compete against Minato for the position of Hokage."
As he spoke, Homura couldn't help recalling those years, leaving him with the heavy feeling of old age.
Koharu let out a soft snort and said, "Are you certain Hiruzen would fight Uchiha Keizumi, that brat? Don't forget how he indulged the boy in Konohagakure."
"If not for his indulgence, Uchiha Keizumi would never have spread his wings so wide, to the point where no one can restrain him any longer."
Mitokado Homura let out a sigh and said, "At the time, it wasn't so much that Hiruzen indulged him—it was that he used him. At the very least, you can't deny that while Keizumi was still in the village, the radical faction of the Uchiha never had the courage to launch a coup."
"And after Keizumi left Konohagakure, it wasn't long before Hiruzen began to worry that the Uchiha radicals would cause trouble. He even feared that Uchiha Itachi might one day wipe out the Uchiha Clan."
As he spoke, Homura shifted his gaze toward a corner of the room.
There stood a short figure who had remained silent from beginning to end.
It was none other than Uchiha Itachi!
Sarutobi Hiruzen had not taken him to the capital of the Land of Fire, instead assigning him to act as Homura's guard.
This was because Konoha needed Itachi's power to help guard the village, while at the same time allowing Homura to keep an eye on him.
But Homura felt there was another layer to Hiruzen's decision—he feared that Itachi, whose state of mind was not entirely stable, might do something to the Daimyō if he were brought to the capital.
After all…
According to Keizumi's prophecy, for the sake of Konoha, Itachi could be merciless to the extreme—so extreme that it defied reason. He had dared to slaughter the entire Uchiha Clan.
Who could say whether, for Konoha's sake, he might not do something even more earth-shaking in the capital of the Land of Fire?
Homura felt that Hiruzen did not want to gamble.
Nor did he dare gamble.
Shaking off his stray thoughts, Homura continued to Koharu: "But once the matter involves the Daimyō, it's different. Hiruzen won't blindly 'indulge' Keizumi any further. Every indulgence has its limit and its boundary."
"If Keizumi really makes a move against the Daimyō, then in Hiruzen's eyes, that means he has crossed the line and gone too far. I believe Hiruzen is not blind to the gravity of that situation."
Hearing this, the expression on Koharu's face softened ever so slightly.
She too looked out the window and said coldly, "Let's hope that, when they return to the village, it will only be Hiruzen and Konoha's ANBU."
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