"Oi, don't get the wrong idea," said Jūzō. He made no move to draw the Executioner's Blade, but spoke from where he stood. "I'm no longer a shinobi of Kirigakure. Now I belong to Amegakure—and I've come here as an envoy. You Konoha shinobi aren't really planning to attack a messenger, are you?"
"It wouldn't be the first time," Izumi shot back. "Keizumi-senpai killed even the envoy sent by the Fire Daimyō. What's one Amegakure envoy who also happens to be a missing-nin from Kirigakure compared to that?"
"…"
Jūzō froze.
Had he just overheard something outrageous?
Uchiha Keizumi… killed the Fire Daimyō's envoy? That lunatic—was that even allowed?
How could he be more bloodthirsty than the shinobi of the Bloody Mist?
"Oi, oi, oi—I don't mean any harm." Jūzō had no intention of clashing with Konoha shinobi. He kept firmly in mind the true mission that had brought him here. "If I were really your enemy, would I be standing here in the open like this?"
"And besides—Konoha's ANBU are surely watching me from the shadows. If I were hostile, they would have taken me down already."
He paused, then asked, "The two of you—you're subordinates of Uchiha Keizumi, aren't you?"
Izumi gave the faintest nod. "Yes."
Jūzō chuckled. "I'm very interested in your superior—or rather… in his so-called [Absolute Justice]. You wouldn't mind introducing me to him, would you?"
"I mind very much."
"…"
Izumi's voice was crisp and cold. "With that tone of yours, you don't sound like someone genuinely interested in Absolute Justice. You're just borrowing the excuse of justice to pursue your own agenda."
"I'm right, aren't I… Akatsuki member, Biwa Jūzō!"
Izumi's gaze was locked on the white square floating above his head. In it, she had seen the evil that awaited in his future—
And glimpsed fragments of his true identity.
"!!!" Jūzō's pupils constricted.
…
Inside the Academy.
"Izushima Kaede."
Uchiha Keizumi had not even bothered to wipe the blood from his blade. Turning expressionlessly, his killing intent fixed upon Kaede, who sat collapsed on the floor, her body trembling and powerless.
The Academy instructor had already broken down in sobbing regret, her voice choked as she muttered again and again: "I didn't mean it… I really didn't mean it… I didn't know she would actually do that. I only said something I shouldn't have—how was I supposed to know she'd act on it? I didn't know, I really didn't…"
"I—I didn't kill her with my own hands…"
Her tear-reddened eyes turned toward her fellow Academy teachers, pleading desperately: "I didn't kill her—she took her own life! According to the laws of the Land of Fire, I'm not a murderer. At most it's just incitement, right? That's all, just incitement… isn't that true?"
But none of her colleagues spoke up at such a moment.
They quietly shuffled back a few steps, putting distance between themselves and the woman.
"Incitement… incitement isn't punishable by death. I should be thrown into prison, not executed, right? Right?! Why won't you say something—tell me I'm right!"
"Why are you backing away from me, you…!"
Just as Kaede's hoarse voice reached its peak of despair—
A figure suddenly stepped past Uchiha Keizumi, halting right in front of her. Keizumi's stride paused, his gaze lifting toward the elegant back now blocking his path.
"Tsunade-sama?!"
Shizune's eyes widened in shock, for the figure was none other than Tsunade herself!
"Brat…"
Tsunade's voice was heavy, somber. "Let me do something first."
She turned her eyes on Kaede. "You. Stand up."
Kaede froze.
She recognized her at once—this was Tsunade, one of Konoha's Legendary Sannin, the famed woman of legend! Could it be… could it be that Tsunade had come to save her? Surely she also believed that what Kaede had done was not worthy of death?
It had to be!
Despair turned instantly into desperate hope. Tears of joy spilled down her face. Strength seemed to surge from nowhere, driving her to her feet. Just as she opened her mouth to pour out words of gratitude—
Tsunade cut her off, face expressionless.
"As I thought…"
Her eyes were wide open now, fixed upon Kaede. From this angle, there was no blood in sight.
Her face twisted with loathing. "If you truly felt remorse for that poor child, Sarutobi Sakurako, who took her own life—you could never wear an expression so utterly devoid of guilt. The regret you showed earlier was nothing more than the fear that your actions might cost you your life."
"You… are simply afraid of dying."
Each word ground out through clenched teeth, spat like venom.
"You…"
"Are beyond saving!!!"
The disgust and fury on Tsunade's face left Kaede frozen in place. This was nothing like the 'script' she had expected.
Then came a faint crack from the ground beneath her feet. Instinctively, Kaede's eyes dropped downward.
The floor had split open.
In that instant, her eyes flew wide, bloodshot veins crawling across her already tear-swollen gaze. Her pretty features twisted into something hideous, wracked with indescribable pain.
Terrifying monstrous strength erupted, unleashed in Tsunade's fist without the slightest restraint. Kaede's chest collapsed inward at a speed visible to the naked eye, bones shattering with a relentless series of cracks.
The sheer shockwave of force tore her upper garments into shredded strips.
But the glimpse of exposed flesh lasted less than a thousandth of a second.
Her chest caved in completely—then burst apart!
Blood, shattered bone, organs, and flesh exploded from the gaping cavity, spraying in a torrent. Her entire body was flung back as though struck head-on by a mountain's weight, blood gushing wildly from her seven orifices as she was hurled through the air.
[Boom!!!]
Her body was sent hurtling backward, smashing through a tree as thick as a man's bowl-sized grip.
[Boom!!!]
She crashed through the iron fence of the Academy.
[Boom!!!]
Finally, she slammed against the wall of a building, her body embedded into the stone with brutal force. Her head and limbs drooped lifelessly as blood painted half the wall crimson.
Everyone present—except Uchiha Keizumi—was struck dumb with shock.
"So this is Konoha's Tsunade-hime, one of the Legendary Sannin?" One of the Police Force members whispered in awe, a tremor in his voice. "Even with the dynamic vision of a three-tomoe Sharingan, it was hard to follow her movements."
"I've heard Tsunade of the Sannin specializes in monstrous strength taijutsu," another remarked, glancing at the shattered ground beneath her feet. "She must have held back. With her full strength, that woman would have been pulverized."
A third muttered, "Oi, oi—shouldn't we be asking why she suddenly acted in the first place?"
"And more than that…"
He narrowed his eyes. "That was a killing blow. That Academy teacher won't survive it. Truly worthy of being one of the Sannin—her killing intent just now even made me flinch."
Shizune stared blankly at Tsunade's back. "…Tsunade-sama?"
"Huff…"
"Huff…"
Tsunade's pupils trembled as she looked down at her blood-stained arm.
The blood spray had drenched half her body, leaving her covered in scarlet specks.
For someone of her strength—one of Konoha's Legendary Sannin—this punch hadn't even qualified as a warm-up.
Yet her hemophobia sent waves of terror crashing over her, forcing her into ragged, heavy breaths.
Sweat poured in layers from her pale skin, until she could no longer tell if the clammy wetness clinging to her body was sweat—or blood.
Just as her limbs weakened and she nearly collapsed, as Shizune cried out and abandoned Tonton to rush to her side—
A hand suddenly caught her from behind, supporting her before she could fall.
With that support, Tsunade barely managed to steady herself.
"You didn't need to step in."
Uchiha Keizumi spoke indifferently. "There's no need to force yourself. Carrying out the execution of the wicked is the duty and responsibility of Absolute Justice."
"Cut the chatter, brat! Don't underestimate my resolve!"
Tsunade tried to take a step forward, but her legs refused to move. She had no choice but to rest a hand on Keizumi's shoulder for support.
The tremor in her voice could not be suppressed. It was obvious her words just now were pure bravado.
Confusion clouded her eyes. "That child… already so pitiful, to such an extent… How could anyone's mind be twisted enough to bully a child like that? Has the moral thought of the shinobi world truly become this sick, this warped?"
Before anyone else could respond, she exhaled heavily, pale-faced, and lifted her gaze to Keizumi.
"Brat… if your Absolute Justice can truly make this shinobi world a better place—if it can truly lessen the number of villains like these, if it can correct the very way people think…"
"Haa…"
"You shouldn't fight alone. You should seek out those who share your resolve, those willing to support you. Because on your own—even sweeping away just Konoha's evils has already left you running back and forth every day. How could you handle the entire shinobi world?"
"There are others out there too, carrying dreams of changing the shinobi world. Brat, you should pass your beliefs, your ideals, to them. You should lead them in carrying out Absolute Justice."
As she spoke, Tsunade's trembling voice finally steadied somewhat.
"One Izumi, one Anko, and you—it isn't enough."
"When the time comes… count me in."
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