"Hiruzen, I've already heard about it!"
Inside the Hokage's office, Koharu's face was dark as she confronted Sarutobi Hiruzen. "The Nine-Tails' jinchūriki killed someone in the village. Isn't that right? And the one he killed was a Hyūga! Hiruzen, this is the danger of Uchiha Keizumi's [Absolute Justice]!"
"Under the negative influence of [Absolute Justice], even the jinchūriki has now learned to kill. Can you guarantee that, in the near future, he won't commit even more extreme acts?"
Her expression grew even darker as she continued, "And Fugaku's child was involved as well, wasn't he? Not only did he fail to stop the jinchūriki, he joined him in killing—and may even have been the one who incited him."
"I am beginning to doubt whether Fugaku is truly on our side. Otherwise, how did he raise such a son—one who goads the jinchūriki into killing?"
"I am even starting to suspect that the death of Uchiha Setsuna was part of a design all along. Perhaps it was staged to make us lower our guard toward the Uchiha clan."
"And when the opportunity arises, will the Uchiha launch a coup without hesitation?"
"Could that coup even be led by Uchiha Keizumi himself?"
Listening as Koharu's words grew more outrageous—eventually nothing more than pure speculation and paranoia—Sarutobi Hiruzen's brow furrowed tightly.
Exhausted, he cut her off. "Don't speak of things that are only guesses, Koharu. Konoha is already chaotic enough—don't add to it with groundless fears."
In a low voice, Hiruzen admitted, "Even I did not expect Naruto's justice to become so extreme as well."
"But…"
Hiruzen's eyes narrowed slightly as something came to mind. "Didn't I already assign Kakashi to supervise Naruto's justice?"
On the other side, Mitokado Homura, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke: "During the time you were away from Konoha, didn't you assign Kakashi to monitor the movements of the Uchiha clan?"
"Perhaps… it was precisely in that brief gap of a few days that Naruto's values shifted in subtle ways, allowing him to be more deeply influenced by Absolute Justice."
"And since Kakashi was burdened with other missions, no one was there to stop this change in Naruto's mindset."
Sarutobi Hiruzen: "…"
The blame had twisted back around in a wide circle—only to land squarely on his shoulders, the Hokage of Konoha.
"Hiruzen, while we may not be able to stop Naruto from believing in [Absolute Justice], why can't we divert his focus—make him pay more attention to other things instead?"
Homura continued calmly, "Naruto is still young. His worldview is not yet fixed. Even if he made such a mistake today, it can still be corrected."
Hiruzen hesitated. "What method?"
Homura replied, "Besides his fascination with Absolute Justice, that child still dreams of becoming Hokage, doesn't he?"
Hiruzen nodded, a hint of pride in his tone. "The efforts I've made all these years were not in vain. Becoming the Hokage has always been Naruto's greatest dream. It is the ideal I've instilled in him since he was little."
With a sigh, Homura said, "In that case, train him ahead of time. Hiruzen, you want to raise him as the future Fifth Hokage, don't you?"
"Once you decide to prepare him early, Uzumaki Naruto will have many responsibilities to shoulder. While his admiration for [Absolute Justice] may not disappear…"
"At least, as I said, part of his attention can be diverted, so that he won't sink too deeply into it."
"Train him early…" Hiruzen drew in a deep breath. "Koharu, what do you think?"
Koharu replied, "Uzumaki Naruto's father was the Fourth Hokage. Grooming him to become the Fifth is not impossible. But he must abandon this so-called Absolute Justice. Otherwise, if he one day becomes Hokage, Konoha will be destroyed by it."
Though she set conditions, at least she did not oppose.
Hiruzen rubbed his temples and said, "It's worth a try."
Yet in his heart, a doubt lingered—earlier that evening, Keizumi had told him that indulging Naruto's actions was forcing growth prematurely.
And wasn't what he was doing now… the very same mistake?
…
Late at night.
As Uchiha Izumi slept soundly, a sudden knock-knock startled her awake.
Her hand instinctively reached for the ninja blade beside her.
Without hesitation, she activated her three-tomoe Sharingan.
Her gaze darted toward the source of the sound.
"Jirō… Tachibana Jirō?!" Izumi's movements froze, stunned to see Tachibana Jirō crouched outside the tightly shut window, tapping gently on the glass with his paw.
Outside, Jirō seemed to hear the girl's muttering, and immediately complained, "What do you mean just Jirō? You should call me Tachibana Jirō-senpai, meow! Show some respect for your elders, rookie!"
Izumi quickly pushed the window open.
Before she could even ask in curiosity, Tachibana Jirō spoke bluntly: "Keizumi-sama sent me to call you out. He also said— the time to carry out justice has come."
The moment the word justice reached her ears, Izumi was instantly shaken from her lingering drowsiness.
"Alright!"
She wasted no time. Without even bothering to take off her nightclothes, she hurriedly pulled her Police Force gear over them. She slapped her cheeks to wake herself fully, then leapt straight out the window.
"We'll need one more."
As Tachibana Jirō added these words, he nimbly landed on Izumi's shoulder.
Izumi paused. "Who?!"
"Mitarashi Anko."
…
That night, Anko had not slept at all. She could not have imagined that so many major events could happen within a single day.
And every single one of them was tied to Uchiha Keizumi—some of them even with her, Mitarashi Anko, directly involved.
Standing on the balcony of the jōnin apartments, Anko gazed out at the night view of Konoha.
"Konoha… or rather, the entire shinobi world—does it really hide so much evil? But if there wasn't that much evil, then what exactly was it that Uchiha Keizumi saw?"
She could hardly imagine that the village she had grown up in concealed such unforgivable sins.
"Hm? Who's there?!"
All at once, Anko's vigilance sharpened. Her gaze snapped toward the rooftop of a nearby building.
A shadow had appeared there.
"It's me." Izumi's voice carried from across the way. "Keizumi-senpai has found another villain who must be executed. He ordered that you come along as well."
Anko remembered her—it was that Uchiha girl who stayed close to Uchiha Keizumi, a rather cute one at that.
She also recalled the sharp, decisive skill the girl had displayed at the Uchiha compound, which had left a deep impression on her.
And that girl even possessed the three-tomoe Sharingan of the Uchiha clan. Her strength was likely not far from Anko's own.
Or perhaps… slightly above?
If Orochimaru had still been in Konoha, perhaps Uchiha Izumi would have been one of his targets for experimentation…
As that unsettling thought flickered through her mind, a faint shadow crossed Anko's eyes.
Though Orochimaru had wiped away some of her memories, the deepest scars could never truly be erased. Strange thoughts like these would always resurface out of nowhere.
Anko's mood was anything but pleasant.
After steadying her thoughts, Mitarashi Anko nodded seriously to show she understood, then asked curiously, "What kind of villain?"
"I don't know."
Izumi answered bluntly.
…
When Tachibana Jirō, Izumi, and Anko—two kunoichi and one cat—met with Uchiha Keizumi, it was as if he could read the thoughts within their hearts.
The moment they stopped, Keizumi's faint voice drifted over: "The Utatane clan."
"The Utatane clan?" Izumi froze. "Senpai, do you mean that's where the villain is?"
"Yes." Keizumi's reply was calm.
"Utatane…" Anko was instantly startled. "Isn't that the clan of Advisor Koharu?"
She was dumbfounded.
Today—it had first been the Uchiha clan, then the Hyūga clan, and now the Utatane clan…
It felt like, at this rate, they were going to offend every major clan of Konoha one after another.
"Meow, no need to be surprised." While licking his paw and smoothing the fur on his face with it, Tachibana Jirō said lazily, "The Utatane clan is just our first stop tonight."
Uchiha Keizumi spoke slowly: "The second stop is the Mitokado clan; the third, the Sarutobi clan. Tonight, I will only block those among them who are beyond your ability to face—for now."
Mitarashi Anko: "!!!"
Uchiha Izumi: "!!!"
That was practically covering all three clans tied directly to Konoha's highest leadership!
Anko suddenly realized something. She drew in a sharp breath, her heart pounding as she asked cautiously, "Keizumi… are you telling Izumi and me to execute the villains within those three clans?!"
"Yes."
Keizumi's voice was indifferent. "Back at the Hyūga compound, I saw that both of you still held a filter of hesitation toward the Hokage—or rather, toward the higher powers of Konoha. What you must do now is shatter that filter in your hearts."
"If you cannot bring yourselves to execute those within their clans, then how will you ever have the courage, in the future, to point the blade of Absolute Justice at them themselves?!"
"This is Absolute Justice's trial for you. Especially for you, Mitarashi Anko. You are the oldest, and you are the one most deeply influenced by those three."
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