The capital of the Land of Fire.
Inside the Daimyō's residence.
The ANBU hidden throughout the compound no longer needed to conceal themselves. Sarutobi Hiruzen gathered them together, sending one squad out to investigate how many nobles had died in the capital the previous day.
At the same time, he ordered another squad to remain at the side of the Daimyō's eldest son, guarding him closely.
He feared Uchiha Keizumi might suddenly strike at the Daimyō's heir.
But the results of the investigation… were staggering.
In less than half a day, the ANBU had tallied the death toll with precision, and handed Hiruzen a number that chilled him to the bone—"1,549."
The moment he saw that horrific figure, Sarutobi Hiruzen felt his entire body sway with dizziness.
Because among them…
At least ninety percent were nobles of the capital! Involved were countless households of great renown.
In effect, in a single day, Uchiha Keizumi had managed to offend every noble family of the capital on Konoha's behalf!
No—worse.
Some of the noble families had been completely annihilated, leaving not a single survivor. Hiruzen even wondered grimly—had Keizumi split the worms in their soil lengthwise? Had he even shaken the eggs in their kitchens to pulp?
Such families… perhaps it hardly mattered if they had been provoked.
"Huu…" Hiruzen exhaled, his mind in a haze. He waved his hand to the ANBU and ordered, "Send all the intelligence we've gathered back to Konoha immediately. Inform Homura and Koharu of everything!"
"Yes, Hokage-sama!"
"Wait!" Sarutobi Hiruzen suddenly snapped back to his senses. He immediately asked, "Where did Keizumi and that ninja cat of his go?!"
At his words, the ANBU looked at one another in confusion.
One of them spoke up, "Hokage-sama, we already informed you half an hour ago. Uchiha Keizumi left the Daimyō's residence. But as for where exactly he went, we don't know."
Sarutobi Hiruzen: "…"
He forced himself to recall whether he had any memory of that report.
And indeed—he remembered. The ANBU had told him.
But at that time his mind had been drifting in and out, so shaken by Keizumi that it had taken all his strength not to collapse outright.
The ANBU's words had gone in one ear and out the other.
"Keizumi…"
A terrifying thought struck him.
"Could it be he thinks killing more than 1,500 people still isn't enough?!"
Realizing the gravity of the situation, Hiruzen immediately dispatched several more ANBU to track down Uchiha Keizumi's whereabouts and see just what he was doing.
Not long after, Hiruzen received dreadful news. His worst premonitions had all come true.
An ANBU, rushing back in, reported breathlessly: "Hokage-sama, Uchiha Keizumi has once again gone on a killing spree! In the southern quarter of the capital, he wiped out seven noble families! And the police forces stationed in the south—hundreds of samurai—have almost all been slaughtered by him!"
"Besides that… more than a dozen wealthy merchants, and over thirty so-called 'innocent bystanders,' have also faced Keizumi's [Judgment of Justice]! The vast majority were killed outright. Only a few, missing arms or legs, were thrown into prison, barely spared with their lives."
The ANBU paused, drew a deep breath, and continued: "In addition, some wandering shinobi, and even Konoha ninjas carrying out missions in the capital, were killed by him as well."
"In just this short span of time… he has killed no fewer than five hundred more people!"
Hiruzen stood frozen, as if struck by lightning.
He did not ask why the ANBU hadn't tried to stop Keizumi—because he knew they couldn't.
Unless he, the Hokage himself, personally took the field, and even then, he could only hope to restrain Keizumi's extremity a little.
He couldn't possibly shadow him every moment of the day.
"Asuma…"
"Asuma!"
Hiruzen shut his eyes in pain. Who could have imagined that his most rebellious son, in the very last moment of his life, would bring such an enormous calamity down on his father?
But could he really reproach a son who was already gone?
Especially when Asuma's foolish actions had, at their core, been for the sake of Konoha?
It was only that his methods were wrong.
Or rather…
He had underestimated Keizumi.
…
By the time news from the capital of the Land of Fire traveled the thousand kilometers back to Konoha—
Mitokado Homura, temporarily in charge of the village in Hiruzen's stead, could no longer sit still.
His aged face was filled with horror, and behind his spectacles his eyes shone with disbelief.
"The Daimyō… has been killed by Uchiha Keizumi."
"The nobles of the Land of Fire—over a thousand of them—were all killed by him."
"The Daimyō's eldest son chose to turn the page on the matter, neither dwelling on the pain of losing his father nor seeking vengeance for his father's murder."
"Hiruzen… in the end, he failed to stop Keizumi. Or rather, by the time he arrived, it was already too late. And when he did consider striking at Keizumi, the attitude of the Daimyō's eldest son forced him to give up, frustrated and unwilling."
"This…"
Mitokado Homura's face was full of shock and horror, his mind unable to decide what course of action to take. At once, he ordered someone to summon Utatane Koharu.
But what he hadn't expected was this—
Walking in were not only Koharu, but also Jiraiya and Tsunade.
Before Homura even had the chance to question when the two Sannin had returned to Konoha, Koharu cut straight to the point: "Has new intelligence come in from Hiruzen's side?"
Homura stayed silent for a moment, then wordlessly handed over the intelligence report in his hand.
Koharu took it. With just a cursory glance, her aged face immediately shifted, her expression darkening dramatically.
"U! Chi! Ha! Kei! Zu! Mi!"
Clutching the document so tightly that she nearly crumpled one corner, her eyes blazed with fury as she spat each word: "He truly is Konoha's greatest disaster! And there is no second! Compared to him, all the dirty deeds Danzō committed back then count as good deeds!"
"What is he trying to do? Is he trying to destroy Konoha itself? Does he have even a shred of the Will of Fire in his eyes? Does he even acknowledge the very concept of a shinobi village? Is he nothing but a traitorous white-eyed wolf?!"
"Haa… haa…"
Her breathing came fast and heavy like a bellows, and it was hard to imagine what her fury would have looked like if she had actually been in the capital of the Land of Fire, standing face to face with Uchiha Keizumi.
"Let me see."
At her side, Tsunade snatched the document from her hand with little ceremony.
As she looked it over, Jiraiya leaned in curiously, only to be shoved aside with a single annoyed slap.
A flash of shock crossed Tsunade's eyes, and she blurted out, "That brat actually dared to kill the Daimyō?!"
"Kill what?!"
"Kill who?!"
Jiraiya, plastered against the wall from Tsunade's shove, slid down in fright. His face pale with shock, he rushed back to peer at the intelligence report, eyes locked on the words.
Jiraiya: "!!!"
Even as a bestselling writer, Jiraiya found himself utterly at a loss for words that could capture the storm of emotions surging inside him.
A Konoha shinobi killing the Daimyō of the Land of Fire—such a horrifying event was surely unprecedented and would never be repeated again.
No—wrong!
According to the report, Uchiha Keizumi hadn't even assassinated him. He had walked openly into the capital of the Land of Fire; brazenly entered the Daimyō's residence; and then, right before the eyes of the Daimyō's eldest son, killed his father, the Daimyō of the Land of Fire.
And one noble household after another, one shinobi, one civilian, one wealthy merchant after another…
All perished beneath his [Absolute Justice].
The ANBU's intelligence report was nothing if not detailed. Just reading the words, Jiraiya felt as though he himself were standing within the capital, transformed into a sea of blood, the atmosphere unbearably suffocating.
Uchiha Keizumi, that genius of dual kekkei genkai…
He slaughtered people as easily as chickens and dogs!!!
No one could restrain him!!!
"Old man…" Jiraiya's expression was deeply conflicted as he said, "It seems you've already given up on trying to stop Uchiha Keizumi. Since even the Daimyō's heir has decided not to seek vengeance, even choosing to act as if nothing ever happened, then as an outsider, the old man can only swallow his anger along with them."
After speaking, Jiraiya turned to Tsunade.
"Tsunade, I remember you once approved of his [Absolute Justice]. Seeing him now, this out of control, do you still believe in his justice?"
"Tsunade simply countered with a question.
"Jiraiya, do you truly believe that brat is out of control? Do you think his actions are so extreme that he's beyond saving?"
Jiraiya paused, then said, "Not beyond saving, perhaps. But what he's done is something very few could ever accept."
He already knew what Tsunade was getting at—
That none of those killed by Uchiha Keizumi were truly innocent, not even the Daimyō of the Land of Fire.
But the problem was—this world was not purely black and white.
Some people, if killed, would leave consequences even greater than if they had lived.
Jiraiya could hardly imagine it—the Daimyō, a figure so lofty, killed by a shinobi of Konoha. How would other shinobi view the Daimyōs from now on? How would they view the nobility? And how would the common people look upon the powerful who sat on their backs?
This Pandora's box had been opened by Uchiha Keizumi.
The world would descend into chaos!
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