Uchiha Chisen's scorching crimson lava was not something a ninja's fragile, glass-cannon body could block.
The ferocious Magma Demon Dog, without any surprise, pierced Sarutobi Shinosuke's chest.
It then rapidly burned his body and internal organs to charcoal.
This also caused Shinosuke's already wide eyes to widen even further.
He opened his mouth, and a mouthful of congealed blood came gushing out.
The gaping hole in his chest, which had almost snapped him in half, already foretold the final outcome of this battle.
As Uchiha Chisen slowly withdrew his arm, Sarutobi Shinosuke's body lost its support and he collapsed to his knees, then heavily onto the ground.
"Shinosuke!!!"
A figure rushed over at high speed and immediately cradled the fallen Shinosuke in his arms.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes were filled with tears, his breathing growing rapid. His aged, wrinkle-covered hands trembled uncontrollably, as if trying to preserve his eldest son's life in this manner.
"Cough… cough cough…"
Sarutobi Shinosuke, clinging to his last breath, slowly turned his head. His blurred vision fell upon Uchiha Chisen, who stood nearby.
"Cough… cough… your justice…" he said intermittently, "is truly… decisive, isn't it… In your eyes, what I did was so morally corrupt? Thinking about it carefully, hah, it really wasn't anything good…"
"Chisen…"
"The only mistake is that our stances are different. You can't… stand against the entire ninja world alone. Your justice… many people can't tolerate it. You need to make your justice become Konoha's justice! However, you fellow… never seem to listen to my admonishments."
"Old man…"
"Cough cough… You don't need to hand me over to the Yamanaka Clan to search my memories. Everything this brat tells you next is true. He, as always, can see through good and evil."
"Even though I was burned to death by lava…"
"But my body is so cold…"
"…It's really so cold."
As Sarutobi Shinosuke closed his eyes with all his might, his breathing completely ceased.
Until the very last moment of his life, he still held a dissenting opinion regarding Uchiha Chisen's "justice."
He didn't believe Uchiha Chisen was wrong.
But…
He also didn't believe it was right.
"Chi… Chisen…" The pain of losing his son caused Sarutobi Hiruzen's aged body to tremble.
He looked up and met Uchiha Chisen's gaze, his teeth clenched tightly, his pupils trembling slightly, and his whites bloodshot.
What Sarutobi Hiruzen said at this moment was almost forced out: "Was it necessary to make things so rigid? Couldn't anything be discussed with me, the Hokage? Was it necessary… was it necessary to kill Shinosuke?"
"He was my eldest son! Your former guidance jonin! Chisen! Even if your justice made you so cold-blooded that you never cared about the master-disciple bond, couldn't you at least consider me!"
One question after another, from unbearable grief at the beginning to an enraged roar at the end.
Sarutobi Hiruzen could no longer distinguish his own emotions.
He found it even harder to decide how to handle this matter.
"Third Hokage, I am a member of the Konoha Military Police Force." Uchiha Chisen gazed at Sarutobi Shinosuke's corpse. Illuminated by the surrounding firelight and the crimson glow of the lava, his expression was unreadable.
He said slowly, "When I saw my former guidance jonin fall into the abyss, all I could do was let him die with understanding. That's all."
Sarutobi Hiruzen remained silent for an unknown amount of time.
Under the watchful eyes of the large group of Anbu elite ninja behind him, he staggered to his feet and picked up his eldest son.
Could he say Uchiha Chisen was wrong? Shinosuke, at the moment of his death, had already said Chisen wasn't wrong.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's heart was filled with anger.
It even carried a chilling killing intent.
He was the Hokage of the village, and more importantly, a father. Countless thoughts of ordering the Anbu ninjas behind him to swarm forward and kill Uchiha Chisen on the spot flashed through his mind.
However…
Shinosuke's dying words had already blocked such actions. Shinosuke admitted that what he had done, while good for the village, was a morally corrupt sin.
Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't tell… were these the ramblings of Sarutobi Shinosuke in his dying delirium?
Or were they words spoken with his final shred of rationality?
If it was the latter, then Shinosuke's intention was likely to grant legitimacy to Uchiha Chisen's killing of him with the justification of [Absolute Justice], wasn't it?
Shinosuke…
He had fulfilled his final duty as a guidance jonin.
He hadn't been able to protect his two errant genin disciples back then, and now he was trying to protect his last disciple.
Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed deeply.
'Is this the dying wish you left for me, Shinosuke?'
Sarutobi Hiruzen's mind was a jumble of thoughts.
He had lived for so many years, even had a grandchild, yet he suddenly felt bewildered by how complex human nature could be.
He clenched his fist, then relaxed it.
Clenched it, then relaxed it…
He repeated this for an unknown amount of time.
"Uchiha Chisen. Tomorrow, give me a detailed action report. Just submit it to the Anbu, no need to see me."
He finally spoke these words.
"Hokage-sama!" A Sarutobi Clan Anbu ninja paused, then anxiously called out beside Sarutobi Hiruzen, "Sarutobi Shinosuke was one of your right-hand men!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes dropped.
"Hokage-sama..." Just as this Sarutobi Clan Anbu ninja was about to frantically say something more, a hand suddenly rested on his shoulder. He looked back in surprise.
Hatake Kakashi, also wearing an Anbu mask, shook his head slightly.
"Let the Hokage-sama calm down alone."
Kakashi said with a complex expression, "Senior Shinosuke's words before he died were already his last testament. And the Hokage-sama heard Senior Shinosuke's last words. Although his stance differed from Uchiha Chisen's, in the final moments of his life, he still expressed his respect for this former student."
"He was willing to become fallen leaves, burning to ashes, to nurture the student he saw as the most rebellious. Senior Sarutobi Shinosuke truly embodied Konoha's Will of Fire. He was also using his life to tell his student that Konoha's Will of Fire was not much inferior to Absolute Justice."
With that said.
Kakashi's gaze fell upon Uchiha Chisen, and he noticed that this "teacher-slayer" had already turned and left.
The sound of Uchiha Chisen's departing footsteps was clear.
But the Hokage-sama did not call out to stop him, nor did he order them, the Anbu ninjas, to pursue him. He simply held Sarutobi Shinosuke's gradually cooling corpse in his arms.
Senior Sarutobi Shinosuke and Uchiha Chisen did nothing wrong.
—This was a thought that suddenly appeared in Kakashi's mind.
Then the question arose, what was wrong?
If neither of them was wrong, was the ninja world itself at fault?
Kakashi couldn't figure it out.
...
"Let's head back to the village, rookie."
Uchiha Chisen said slowly, "Tonight will be a sleepless night."
"Yes, Senior."
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