"Uchiha Keizumi? Sounds familiar…" Akimichi Chōji, munching on potato chips, was trying to place the name. Just as a faint spark of recognition was about to flash through his mind, a ninja cat padded forward from behind him.
"What a fat cat!" Chōji couldn't help blurting out in surprise. And then, another figure appeared behind him.
Chōji noticed immediately that Shikamaru, standing at his side, had gone stiff as if frozen, too intimidated to even speak.
"Uchiha Keizumi…"
Still a little chubby at his age, Chōji couldn't resist raising his head to look at the man in front of him, dressed in the uniform of the Uchiha Police Force.
"Eh?!"
The flicker in his mind finally clicked into place. His small eyes went wide and round, his pudgy face full of shock and panic. He didn't even notice when the half-finished bag of potato chips slipped from his hand and hit the ground with a thud.
He also saw a kunoichi walking behind Uchiha Keizumi.
And then Chōji remembered!
At that instant, realization struck him like a blow. In a fluster, he scrambled to pick up the fallen chips, then hastily grabbed the broom beside him and started sweeping the floor with exaggerated diligence.
Only after the terrifying man's back finally disappeared from sight did Chōji collapse onto the ground, drenched in sweat.
Shikamaru stopped moving as well.
Gazing at the direction Keizumi had gone, he let out a long breath and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead before muttering, "The whole village's been saying these last few days that he killed the Daimyō of the Land of Fire. By all rights, he should still be in the capital of the Land of Fire, so how has he come back this quickly?"
Though Shikamaru knew that the Nara Clan had a special connection with Uchiha Keizumi's [Absolute Justice]…
That didn't stop him from being afraid of Uchiha Keizumi.
A man's name.
A tree's shadow.
That man would never hold back just because he was dealing with a seven-year-old child!
"The village is probably going to see more deaths again."
Shikamaru murmured under his breath.
…
The news of Uchiha Keizumi's return spread through the entirety of Konohagakure in less than half a day. By the next morning, everyone in the village, high and low, had been shaken.
"Keizumi-senpai!!!"
A young girl rushed to meet Uchiha Keizumi at the first possible moment.
Breathing a little heavily, she quickly bowed in apology. "Last evening, I didn't know that Keizumi-senpai had returned. I failed to come welcome you right away. I truly apologize!"
"Meow, and what about me?" Tachibana Jirō cut in irritably. "Rookie, don't you want to welcome me too?"
Izumi immediately bowed again and quickly added, "I also forgot to welcome Tachibana Jirō-senpai. I deeply apologize!"
Tachibana Jirō looked very pleased with himself.
His feline eyes narrowed into satisfied slits.
At that moment, Izumi suddenly remembered something and turned to Uchiha Keizumi. "Keizumi-senpai, the night before last…"
She recounted every detail of what had happened at the clan meeting.
She left nothing out.
Especially the fact that quite a few Uchiha had already acknowledged [Absolute Justice]—she made sure to emphasize that point.
When she finished, Uchiha Keizumi responded in an indifferent tone: "Indeed, it was a pointless clan meeting. One side clings to struggles over power, while the other is bound by Konoha's restraints. With such a narrow vision, they will never win the recognition of all the clan."
"By the way, senpai."
Izumi spoke again. "The night before last, those three Uchiha jōnin who first stood up—they came to me afterwards. They said that, if possible, they want a chance to meet you, senpai."
"I believe they're already prepared to follow you. Otherwise, they wouldn't have openly contradicted, even ridiculed, Elder Setsuna and Clan Head Fugaku in front of everyone."
Uchiha Keizumi gave a slight nod. "If there's an opportunity, tell them this: if they want to meet me, they can do so at any time."
"But…"
Keizumi continued, "Absolute Justice is not child's play for shinobi, nor is it some tool for them to flaunt their independence. The moment they choose to follow Absolute Justice, they must be prepared to uphold justice even at the cost of their lives."
"And they must also be prepared for this: if they defile or betray justice, they will be judged by Absolute Justice itself. Justice spares no one—not even those who claim to uphold it."
Izumi's young face grew solemn. "Yes, senpai!"
Then, curiosity flashed in her eyes. "Senpai, who is that?"
Her gaze drifted to a short-haired kunoichi standing not far behind Uchiha Keizumi. The woman seemed hesitant to step forward, but at a glance it was obvious she knew Keizumi-senpai.
Realizing she had been noticed, Mitarashi Anko could only walk forward.
She introduced herself directly. "Mitarashi Anko, special jōnin of Konoha. And… also a criminal."
Izumi's eyes widened in shock, but Anko turned to Keizumi and said, "I know I still have more than two years left to serve in Konoha Prison. But I want to atone for my sins in another way—just like that brat Uzumaki Naruto!"
Clearly…
After returning to Konoha yesterday, Anko had gone around the village frantically digging up every bit of information she could about Uchiha Keizumi.
She didn't even know why she was doing it—only that she desperately wanted to understand this former classmate from the Academy.
And the more she learned, the more her heart trembled.
Yet the deeper she dug, the more she felt something else.
Respect.
His Absolute Justice was utterly pure, without the slightest trace of corruption.
That respect gradually turned into something Anko herself hadn't expected—acceptance. The moment she realized she felt no revulsion toward Keizumi's Absolute Justice, she understood that she might have already been conquered by the magnitude of his ideals.
Just like she once admired Orochimaru.
But…
Uchiha Keizumi and Orochimaru were two entirely different men.
The latter had plunged into the extremes of sin, driven by desire.
The former…
Perhaps he would never walk that path of depravity.
"I'm not saying all this just because I want to avoid staying locked up in Konoha Prison. I'm saying it with true resolve!" Anko clenched her teeth. Even as the weight of Keizumi's gaze bore down on her, she refused to look away, meeting his eyes with unwavering determination.
"In the capital of the Land of Fire, I saw with my own eyes how countless sins plague the shinobi world. And I realized—if no one steps up to correct this twisted, diseased world, it will never return to what it should be!"
"There will only be more and more people who stray down the wrong path, becoming villains like Orochimaru. I… huh! I don't want to see another Orochimaru appear in the shinobi world!"
"I hold an absolute conviction! A conviction that goes beyond even my belief in the Will of Fire!"
Every word Anko spoke came from the depths of her heart.
There was not a trace of pretension in her voice.
Ever since being abandoned by Orochimaru—and even having her memories erased by him—Mitarashi Anko's life had drifted in a daze. Even when Uchiha Keizumi threw her into prison more than two years ago, she had felt lost, directionless.
But now.
She finally realized what she had to do.
She was fighting for a chance.
The air at the scene grew heavy with silence. Just as Anko was beginning to feel uneasy, Uchiha Keizumi's calm voice broke the stillness: "To atone for sins that aren't too grave… by devoting yourself to Absolute Justice? If you can endure the trials of Justice, then perhaps it can be allowed."
Anko's anxious face lit up with sudden joy.
As if afraid he might change his mind, she quickly blurted out, "No matter what kind of trial it is, I can withstand it!"
Her tone grew solemn. "Even if it costs me my life!"
Uchiha Keizumi said indifferently, "Just remember your own words."
"Uchiha Izumi." He called to the girl beside him.
"Here!!!"
The young kunoichi straightened her back at once, answering loudly and firmly.
"Return to the Uchiha compound," Keizumi ordered.
"Yes!"
Izumi nodded vigorously, then couldn't resist asking in curiosity: "Senpai, what are we…?"
"Carrying out justice."
Uchiha Keizumi's expression did not change. "Target: Uchiha Setsuna."
Izumi: "!!"
He glanced toward Anko. "You're coming as well. This will be your first trial."
Her first?
So strict!
Anko's heart skipped—she felt she had heard the name "Uchiha Setsuna" before, but couldn't quite place it in the moment.
"Yes!"
She copied Izumi's response.
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