Chapter 80: The Scales of Judgment
Uchiha Kazuo saw the trap now with perfect, horrifying clarity, but it was far too late. Jiraiya and a crowd of their peers had witnessed the aftermath. His only defense was the flimsy claim of provocation.
Kagenori merely spread his hands, the picture of injured reason. "Oh, please. You sought me out. You threatened me. And now you claim I insulted you? That I deliberately angered you into attacking? Are all Uchiha as shameless as you, lying so brazenly?"
"That wasn't a threat, it was a warning!" Kazuo insisted, his face flushing a deep, mortified red.
Kagenori turned his calm gaze to Jiraiya. "Lord Jiraiya, in your judgment, are the words 'You are only here temporarily. You will have to return to Konoha sooner or later' a warning, or a threat?"
Jiraiya's expression darkened as he looked at Uchiha Kazuo. It was unmistakably a threat, veiled only by the thinnest of pretenses.
Kazuo opened his mouth to explain further, but Jiraiya cut him off, his voice sharp and authoritative. "I will ask you one simple question. Did you throw the first blow?"
"Yes, but—" Kazuo began, desperation creeping into his tone.
"Enough!" Jiraiya's voice brooked no argument. "You sought Kagenori out, you threatened him, and you initiated combat. What more is there to say? At a time when unity is paramount, you are fixated on your petty clan squabbles. Is this the conduct of a Jonin? You will come with me to see Orochimaru immediately. He will decide your punishment for this… indiscretion."
Uchiha Kazuo felt a numb coldness seep into his bones. The boy was diabolical. The endless insults, the goading about his clan—it was all a performance designed for this exact audience. No matter his defense, the facts were indisputable: he had attacked a fellow officer. And the judgment would come from Orochimaru, the one man in the camp known for his merciless, utilitarian justice. His fate was sealed.
As he turned to follow a grim-faced Jiraiya, Kagenori's voice, laced with a sinister calm, rang out again, aimed at the four remaining Uchiha.
"You four! Listen carefully. The Cloud-nin squad of ten—you will engage them first. I will be observing the perimeter, ensuring there is no larger ambush. I will not intervene initially."
He paused, letting the weight of the order sink in. "You will not retreat until I give the command. Not a single step. Even if it means your deaths, you will hold your ground. Is that understood?"
Uchiha Kyosuke and the others stared at him, their faces masks of stunned horror. A head-on assault against a squad of ten, half of them Chunin, led by a Tokubetsu Jonin? It was a suicide mission.
Uchiha Kazuo whirled around, his eyes burning with fury. He remembered Kagenori's earlier promise: 'The more you threaten me here, the more I will return these to those four people twofold.' This was the retaliation. He was torturing the four to torment him.
"KAGENORI!" he roared, his voice raw.
Kagenori met his gaze, his expression utterly placid. "Yes? Did you have something else to say to me?"
Even Jiraiya found this too cruel. He was now certain Kagenori had engineered the entire confrontation. "Kagenori, that's enough. Stop punishing your team for his mistake. He will face his consequences."
"Lord Jiraiya," Kagenori replied, his tone deceptively reasonable, "this is not a punishment. Every mission carries the risk of death. If we are not prepared to sacrifice, what kind of shinobi are we? I am not sending them to die. I am having them initiate contact while I secure the area. I will support them the moment I confirm there is no ambush. I give you my word: as long as I am breathing, they will not die. Is that not assurance enough?"
The three able-bodied Uchiha and the injured Jinno felt a wave of sheer helplessness. Their clansman's rashness had guaranteed them a living nightmare. Their future under this commander looked bleak indeed.
Jiraiya sighed, recognizing the unassailable, cold logic in the boy's words. "Kagenori… no matter what, always leave room for a path of retreat."
Kagenori gave a shallow, polite nod. "Of course, Lord Jiraiya."
As Jiraiya led a seething Uchiha Kazuo away, the other shinobi looked at Kagenori with a new, deeply unsettled respect. The unanimous thought passing through their minds was a silent vow: Do not provoke that one. He is a fox who will lead you to your own destruction.
Kagenori turned his attention back to his team. A small, chilling smile touched his lips. "Now then. Follow me."
That smile sent a shiver down the spines of Uchiha Kyosuke, Keiichi, Ryuhei, and Jinno. They had done nothing wrong, yet they were the ones paying the price. With heavy hearts and no other choice, they fell into step behind their new captain.
Jiraiya presented a stoic Uchiha Kazuo to Orochimaru, relaying the events without embellishment.
Orochimaru's golden eyes regarded the Uchiha Jonin with icy disdain. "The Uchiha continue to impress. To prioritize your wounded pride during a war… such magnificent arrogance."
Uchiha Kazuo kept his head bowed, knowing any defense was futile. Orochimaru was Kagenori's master; the verdict was a foregone conclusion. Still, he was confident he wouldn't be shipped back to Konoha in disgrace like Yorito. He was a Jonin; his strength was a resource the camp could not afford to waste.
He was correct. Orochimaru's punishment was not dismissal.
"Uchiha Kazuo," Orochimaru hissed, "for the foreseeable future, you will be assigned to every assault on Cloud-nin strongholds. You will serve in the vanguard. Dismissed."
Uchiha Kazuo's pupils contracted. To be placed in the vanguard was to be used as a spear point—the first to meet the enemy's fiercest resistance. The mortality rate for such a position was terrifyingly high. He swallowed hard, a bitter taste in his mouth. "Yes, Lord Orochimaru," he muttered, and turned to leave.
Once he was gone, Jiraiya turned to his old teammate, his brow furrowed with concern. "Aren't you worried, Orochimaru? Kagenori is making an enemy of the entire Uchiha clan. The retaliation when he returns to Konoha could be severe."
Orochimaru didn't look at all concerned. A faint, knowing smile played on his lips. "Kagenori and the Uchiha were destined for conflict from the moment he was born. Do not underestimate him, Jiraiya. He rarely acts without being certain of the outcome. In other words…" His smile widened slightly. "He is not afraid of the Uchiha's revenge at all."