At night, Mitokado Homura noticed the Hokage's office was still lit; Sarutobi Hiruzen hadn't left the tower.
He knocked, went in, and asked what was keeping him. The answer stunned him into silence.
After a long moment, wearing a complicated look, Homura said to Hiruzen, "Since we've learned what really happened, are you going to make the truth public? I'm worried today's shock may have rattled you, so I have to say this out loud.
"If you go public, Sarutobi Nadeshiko and the two other Sarutobi involved will see their reputations plummet, and even the whole Sarutobi clan will take a hit. What they did is no different from going rogue.
"But if you don't go public, how will you quell the clan's anger and their current confrontation with 'absolute justice'? That standoff will only push more hot-headed youths into rash acts."
Hiruzen drew a long breath, his face equally conflicted. "I know I have to choose…"
Both options had costs and benefits. It came down to what the Hokage would sacrifice.
Choose the first, and within the Sarutobi clan he'd be branded a lackey of absolute justice—his standing among his own might end up like Fugaku's. He had more power and prestige than Fugaku, true, but being isolated by one's own kin was a given.
Choose the second, and once Uchiha Chizumi returned… Hiruzen didn't dare imagine the uproar.
That thought settled it.
"Make it public," he sighed.
Homura nodded. "Hiruzen, you should rest for a couple of days. You don't look well. Give yourself some time off. I'll take care of this."
"Thank you, Homura," Hiruzen said. "At a time like this, you may be the only one in Konoha willing to share the burden without adding to my troubles."
Homura could hear the faint dissatisfaction with Utatane Koharu in his tone. Fair enough—since taking over Shimura Danzo's Root, she hadn't handled much of anything well, especially when 'absolute justice' was involved. Every time, it blew up. She wasn't even as capable as Danzo.
…
Not long after, somewhere in the shinobi world.
"This should be where Chizumi-sama fought Orochimaru, right? Even after a full day and night, the air still reeks of sulfur."
Three Uchiha stepped onto a battlefield laid to waste. Everywhere they looked lay the marks of cooled lava—volcanic rock and charred earth. The whole area had become a barren wasteland; nothing grew, and anything that once did had been burned to ash.
"The collateral range is outrageous," a jōnin said impassively, one hand in his pocket. "Map this onto Konoha and the entire village would be gone. Who knows how many tens of thousands of civilians and shinobi would be dead or injured."
Another Uchiha, holding a cloth sack that smelled faintly of lime, asked, "So where is Chizumi-sama now? Did he already kill Orochimaru?"
As the words left his mouth, all three men stiffened, pupils narrowing. They snapped to high alert, staring in the same direction.
A figure walked toward them at an unhurried pace—Uchiha Chizumi, the very man they'd been waiting for.
"Coming back from Ryūchi Cave took a bit," Chizumi said before they could ask. "Orochimaru is dead, and I went ahead and cleansed the entire cave. Now—what about the job I gave you? The tycoon Gato—you handled him?"
"!!!"
Chizumi's results were far beyond what they'd expected. They'd thought killing Orochimaru would be the end of it—who'd have guessed he'd also scour one of the Three Great Sage Lands? Wouldn't that offend the White Snake Sage?
And yet… that was exactly why they were willing to follow him: daring to challenge any power for the sake of justice.
"It's done." The Uchiha with the sack opened it to reveal Gato's head, frozen in terror. It had been specially treated to preserve it for at least ten days to half a month.
Chizumi gave it a cursory glance. "Let's head back to the village." Then he added, "You three have passed the test. The shinobi world needs you to carry out absolute justice."
…
Land of Rain.
Biwa Jūzō felt his situation turning dangerous. Konan—the woman bullying him at work—acted as if she didn't mind his closeness with Uchiha Chizumi, but who knew what the schemer really thought?
Especially after he realized Akatsuki had already put Chizumi on a wanted list—and kept that from him.
Jūzō knew he could be discarded at any time, added to the organization's kill list whenever they felt like "cleaning house." In a group this extreme, who needs a reason?
"Uchiha Chizumi, we can't stay in the Land of Rain!" Jūzō said decisively to Chizumi's wood clone. "I can't guarantee when they'll mark me as an enemy too. I'm out in the open; they're in the dark. If they want me dead, it'll be easy."
The wood clone glanced at him. "Where you go has nothing to do with the real body. He hasn't restricted your freedom. Why do you feel the need to report to him?"
The words made Jūzō pause.
He stood there in silence for a full ten seconds, then rose without expression, hefted the Executioner's Blade onto his shoulder—slightly embarrassed—and turned to leave without another word.
He'd barely taken a few steps when a voice rang out: "Scorpion-sama, we've found the target. Are you sure we don't need to wait for support from the others?"
A second voice followed: "No need to make a production out of one Konoha shinobi. Besides, we already have most of the intel on him. His dōjutsu won't work on my puppets.
"And I don't like waiting."
Jūzō and the wood clone turned toward the sound.
Two figures stood not far away, their eyes locked on Jūzō and the clone.
"…That guy!"
Jūzō's pupils shrank. He recognized one of them, gripped the Executioner's Blade, dropped into a fighting stance, and watched them with wary dread.
"That one's a core officer in Akatsuki. He's always wrapped in heavy clothing, so I don't know what he really looks like. I only know his codename—'Jewel.'"
He quickly shared what intel he had with the clone. With no allies but Chizumi's construct, he had to.
"The other one isn't core—he's jewel's subordinate. When I first joined, he tried to chat me up to pry things out of me. Said his name was Kabuto, but never gave a surname.
"Guys like that are dyed-in-the-wool schemers. They look kind and a little clumsy, but how many 'kind' people make it into this outfit? The clumsy ones died long ago."
The wood clone spoke, calm as ever: "One is Sasori of the Red Sand. The other is Yakushi Kabuto."
Jūzō blinked.
Huh?
How did he know?
Then it clicked—of course. Uchiha Chizumi knew Akatsuki better than he did, a supposed insider.
The clone continued, even laying bare their secrets: "Sasori on the left is from Sunagakure, a prodigy puppeteer. The 'body' you see is a puppet; his true body is inside it.
"Kabuto on the right is Orochimaru's plant in Akatsuki. Orochimaru put him under Sasori to spy on the organization."
"Obviously, Sasori doesn't know that. He really thinks Kabuto is a trusted subordinate."
Jūzō: "???"
Uh… isn't that a bit too detailed? If you start listing their weaknesses too, I might actually have a shot at assassinating them.
He drew a steadying breath, set the static in his head aside, and asked, "So they're here to hunt you?"
"They might have added you to the list," the clone said. "Otherwise why didn't they notify you beforehand to coordinate an inside-outside pincer on me?"
"…Next time could you phrase that a little gentler?" Jūzō muttered. "You make me sound like an idiot. I'm just rattled—give me a second and I'd have figured it out."
…
Meanwhile, inside the Kamui dimension.
"Obito! Obito!" The swirl-faced White Zetsu started yelling the moment Obito stepped into Kamui space. "Black Zetsu isn't talking!"
Obito blinked, then his expression darkened, a shadow in his eyes. "So he didn't make it through? Looks like Uchiha Chizumi's eye technique doesn't just inflict endless agony—it can kill. I'll have to be even more careful of that Mangekyō."
"Huh?"
The swirl-faced White Zetsu scratched at hair it didn't have. "That's not what I meant!"
A voice rose slowly behind Obito, heavy with exhaustion and listlessness.
"Uchiha Chizumi's left-eye Mangekyō finally wore off. I didn't die, but I was almost tortured to death… There aren't words to describe that pain. In short… I never want to endure his eye again…"
Obito turned to see a puddle of black liquid sagging on the ground, only a pair of eyes and a mouth visible. Black Zetsu's tongue lolled and its eyes were rolled back.
It was the first time Obito had seen it look so utterly wrecked.
If it had been flashing a double peace sign, the picture would've been complete.
Obito shook his head, cursing the weird manga he'd peeked at when he was younger for leaving such odd ideas lodged in his brain.
After a long pause, Black Zetsu spoke again. "Obito… Uchiha Chizumi must be eliminated. He'll become the greatest obstacle to our plan."
Obito gave a soft snort. "I don't need the reminder. Akatsuki has already marked him as a top-priority target."
Black Zetsu paused. "You've made the right call."
Translation: you finally used your head—took you long enough.
Naturally, Obito missed the subtext and even lifted his chin a bit at the "praise."
…
Elsewhere.
"What about him, Sasori-sama?"
Kabuto pushed up his round frames; the glare on the lenses hid whatever lay in his eyes.
"If he stays out of the way, ignore him. If he gets in the way, we eliminate him with the rest," Sasori said coolly.
He manipulated Hiruko to produce two scrolls, snapped them open, and tossed them forward. Two puffs of white smoke, and a pair of grotesque puppets appeared.
Sasori's voice followed: "That slimy snake wants Uchiha Chizumi's body? Dream on. A body with multiple kekkei genkai—who would hand that to an artless hack like him to 'study'?
"Once I kill Uchiha Chizumi, I'll use his body to craft a puppet closer to perfection. Heh. Let's use these two to test his methods."
While Sasori trashed Orochimaru aloud, a flicker crossed Kabuto's face, too brief to catch.
Tsk… the one Orochimaru-sama truly doesn't rate is you, Sasori of the Red Sand.
He's been playing you in the palm of his hand, and you haven't noticed a thing.
You're still too green.