Chapter 19: The Hokage is Also an Enemy of Justice

Chapter 19: The Hokage is Also an Enemy of Justice

Hiruzen Sarutobi left with two ANBU squads, leaving Kakashi and six ANBU members to handle the aftermath.

"Lava Release Kekkei Genkai… the destructive power is truly exaggerated!"

Breathing in the sulfur smell that even his mask couldn't block, Kakashi's gaze wandered in all directions.

A look of shock passed through his dead-fish eyes.

In his sight—the ground ahead was covered with gradually cooling magma. The earth was scorched by the lava, leaving craters of varying sizes and depths. Nearly half a block of houses seemed to have been erased into thin air, and the pervasive high temperature in the air still made Kakashi feel uncomfortable.

Magma continued to drip down the edges of many building ruins; an uninformed person might even think they had arrived at an active volcano!

Kakashi also saw the bodies of two Root ninja.

One was left with only half a body, the other half missing.

The second had a large hole in his chest and was also cut in half at the waist.

Kakashi rubbed his chin, looking troubled.

Those two bodies were easy enough to deal with… just clean them up and hand them over to Root.

But how was he supposed to clean up this devastated street?

Uchiha Ikeizumi was truly reckless!

However…

Perhaps, he was one of the few ninja in the village who still remembered the Fourth Hokage!

Kakashi recalled Uchiha Ikeizumi's words.

—"Only then can we be worthy of the Fourth's sacrifice."

Absolute Justice, huh…

It was quite admirable, he thought.

Just as Kakashi was deep in thought, he suddenly saw a small, stumbling figure picking herself up not far away. She appeared to be wearing the Uchiha Police Force uniform as well.

Watching the Uchiha girl quickly follow in the direction Uchiha Ikeizumi had gone.

Kakashi thought for a moment.

Then chose to ignore it.

...

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

"I… I won't ever dare again… Can you please put me down, (dattebayo)? I can actually walk by myself."

"Um… can you not keep me locked up for so long, (dattebayo)? Iruka-sensei will be very disappointed if he finds out."

"I really know I was wrong…"

Naruto's voice grew less confident with each sentence, becoming softer and softer, until finally, his tone was choked with sobs.

Large tears rolled uncontrollably down his small face.

Naruto truly regretted it.

He knew he had caused a huge disaster this time; one prank had caused half a block of Konoha to be erased into thin air!

That meant many people had become homeless because of his prank.

And it seemed people had even died because of it!

But he found that the man holding him aloft didn't bother to pay him any attention!

"Ike… Senior Ikeizumi, wait for me!" A weak shout echoed from behind Uchiha Ikeizumi and Naruto.

Uchiha Ikeizumi slowed his steps, and a girl quickly caught up.

Her face was pale.

Her steps were also very unsteady.

"I'm sorry, Senior, I… after using my Sharingan earlier, I used too much chakra and accidentally fainted…" Izumi was so ashamed she wished she could disappear into the ground, feeling she was too much of a burden.

On the night of the Nine-Tails attack, she awakened her eyes at five years old, and it was a Three-Tomoe Sharingan—an unprecedented talent for an Uchiha.

But…

What was surprisingly disappointing was that Izumi had too little chakra. Her chakra and dōjutsu power simply couldn't sustain her Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

If chakra were measured in "one Kakashi," Izumi's chakra would at most be 0.01 Kakashi.

Among her peers graduating from the Ninja Academy, her chakra reserves were among the lowest, if not the very lowest.

"Uchiha Izumi."

"Present!!!" Faced with Senior Ikeizumi calling her name, Uchiha Izumi's instinct made her quickly perk up.

"I'll ask you two questions to test you. What do you think of what just happened?" Uchiha Ikeizumi glanced at the weak girl beside him.

"Just now?"

Izumi was startled.

She vaguely recalled the conflict between Senior Ikeizumi and Konoha's Root before she accidentally fainted. Then, after waking up, she recalled the conflict between Senior Ikeizumi and the Hokage-sama.

The cause of the conflict was clearly just a child pulling a prank, leading to a small disturbance in the village.

Yet, it had ultimately escalated into so many contradictions and conflicts.

Was this…

Worth it?

As that thought flashed through Izumi's mind, she suddenly remembered Senior Ikeizumi's constant talk of [Absolute Justice], and recalled the many "evils" that had spawned from the ninja world's sickness, which she couldn't comprehend.

—Fathers killing their daughters; sons killing their mothers.

Just these two incidents, which shook her worldview, were enough to completely change Izumi's perception of the ninja world.

And of Senior Ikeizumi's [Absolute Justice].

She gained a deeper understanding.

"I think… Senior did nothing wrong." Izumi tried to take a deep breath, her small face serious: "No matter how small the evil, if it's not managed, not punished, and indulged in blindly, it will eventually evolve into a greater evil."

Izumi cleared her thoughts and continued, "Senior, I have always wanted to protect Konoha Village. But before, I didn't know how to protect Konoha."

"Until I met Senior, I roughly understood what to do. As long as I do my best and use my strength to eradicate evil in Konoha, the village will get better one day."

"This is my understanding of [Absolute Justice]!"

Uchiha Ikeizumi said flatly, "Newbie, you're no longer at zero points; you have at least ten."

Izumi timidly asked, "Senior, what's the perfect score?"

"A thousand."

Izumi: "…"

Well, at least it wasn't a negative score.

"Senior, what's the second question?" Izumi tentatively asked again.

Uchiha Ikeizumi said, "What are your thoughts on my 'retreat' just now?"

Izumi was taken aback.

"Senior, I don't think that was a retreat!" Izumi bit her lip, her small face serious: "In all of Konoha, perhaps only Senior, you, silently uphold [Absolute Justice]. Even when other seniors in the Police Force constantly misunderstand you, Senior, you have always maintained justice alone from beginning to end."

"If Senior had insisted on a physical confrontation with the Hokage-sama and them at that moment, Konoha's [Justice]…" Izumi took a deep breath, her courage gradually growing: "…might have been left unguarded, and it would probably be very difficult for another person like Senior to appear in the village."

"You're being too circuitous."

Uchiha Ikeizumi interrupted her: "To implement [Absolute Justice], one needs absolute power, otherwise it will be like just now."

"You must remember this frustration, remember this anger, remember how the 'evil' of the ninja world revels above our heads."

Izumi nodded heavily.

"One day, I will cleanse them all in the name of [Absolute Justice]," Uchiha Ikeizumi declared with honesty and integrity, saying something that left Izumi dumbfounded: "Including the Hokage!"

"This is the third lesson I'm teaching you. Politicians only care about their power and the so-called path of balance. In their eyes, the concept of [Justice] is expendable."

"The Hokage is also an enemy of Justice."

Izumi's brain crashed.

Uchiha Ikeizumi, still holding Naruto aloft, temporarily focused on the "rewards" for killing three red-named criminals.

Yes.

Three!

Danzo, who had rewritten unfavorable reality with "Izanagi," was counted as having been killed once by Ikeizumi's golden finger.

....

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