Chapter 52: Justice Will Gaze Upon All Sinners

Chapter 52: Justice Will Gaze Upon All Sinners

Izumi's impure Uchiha bloodline and personality, distinctly different from other Uchihas, destined her to have very few friends her age within the large Uchiha clan.

One could say that she was Uchiha Itachi's only friend; and Uchiha Itachi was her only friend.

However.

Izumi now found her trusted friend to be too unfamiliar. She had never imagined Itachi harboring such extreme thoughts.

She had once naively believed that a person who loved the village and peace would perhaps have a personality similar to her own.

Someone who, even if they awakened the power of the Sharingan, wouldn't be an Uchiha with an extreme, pathological personality.

Izumi hadn't expected to be so utterly wrong.

Even after just slapping Uchiha Itachi hard across the face, she felt not a shred of regret.

She even wished she could slap the other side of Uchiha Itachi's face as well.

That way, the palm prints on both sides of his face would look more symmetrical.

After all…

The future Uchiha Itachi, for his so-called beliefs and capacity, would kill her mother, who was her sole remaining family, and would even kill Uchiha Izumi herself, as well as everyone else in the Uchiha clan.

"…Izumi, you are too naive." Uchiha Itachi didn't cover his face, even though it stung.

He gazed at Izumi, saying, "The [Absolute Justice] you and Uchiha Ikeizumi believe in isn't absolute. If you truly wish to execute justice with thorough means, then you should stop the people within the Uchiha clan now. Their intention to launch a coup is clear for anyone to see."

"A coup would only plunge Konoha into civil strife, leaving Konoha vulnerable to external enemies. There are only two ways to prevent this. Someone once tried the first method, but unfortunately, before they could truly act… they were eliminated."

"The first method could only be accomplished by him. After his passing, only one option remains. All I'm doing is becoming the one who bears everything."

"And my actions are what protect the justice of Konoha."

Izumi wiped a tear.

She almost laughed, exasperated.

"You really don't understand anything, yet you're spouting what you consider to be correct nonsense in front of me and Senior Ikeizumi." Izumi's eyes had lost the last vestiges of hope she held for Uchiha Itachi.

The way she looked at him was as if she were staring at a mental patient who had just escaped from Konoha Hospital.

It was a look compounded by anger, sorrow, disappointment, sarcasm, and various other emotions, creating an expression she herself couldn't quite define.

"You haven't even finished six years of Ninja Academy,"

Izumi sighed, "Yes… it should be so. I shouldn't have held any expectations for you, Uchiha Itachi."

She stepped back a few paces.

Creating distance between herself and Uchiha Itachi, she stood beside Uchiha Ikeizumi.

Izumi pursed her lips, and said earnestly, "You and I are strangers now, Uchiha Itachi. Your extreme ideas, in my eyes, are the future enemies of [Absolute Justice]."

"I finally understand why Senior suggested to Clan Head Fugaku that he take you to see a psychologist. Senior is indeed always right."

"You are an incorrigible illiterate, a self-pitying chuunibyo fantasist, a twisted-minded Uchiha."

She gritted her teeth and said in a low voice, "I remember you priding yourself on being completely different from other Uchihas. You said you befriended me because you felt I was also completely different from other Uchihas."

"But…"

"In my eyes, you are no different from those extreme clan members who want to start a coup; you are just like them."

After her lengthy speech, Izumi fell silent.

She no longer wished to speak another word to Uchiha Itachi.

She was utterly disappointed and intended to sever this friendship.

Differing values.

No longer companions.

Uchiha Itachi did not offer much rebuttal. When he decided something was correct, no matter what happened, he would believe his initial decision was faultless.

When he spoke his first sentence, he would hold it as his core belief, always convinced he was right.

No matter how others refuted him.

He stuck to his guns.

Unwavering.

Uchiha Itachi also retreated a few steps. He ignored Izumi and instead spoke to Uchiha Ikeizumi: "I hope you don't become my enemy. Even if your justice isn't pure in my eyes, I must admit, Konoha needs you."

"If you don't stand on their side, my future self won't lay hands on you. The premise is, you must trust the village, and also trust Hokage-sama, trust the true justice of Konoha."

Uchiha Ikeizumi, seemingly pondering something, suddenly lifted his eyelids and asked in a low voice, "Did you say something?"

Itachi froze.

"No," Uchiha Itachi turned, leaving them with a solitary figure, his face still bearing traces of tears from moments ago.

"Although I have no ill will towards you, our respective positions are different, so you too are my future enemy, Uchiha Ikeizumi."

Uchiha Itachi walked out.

At this moment.

Uchiha Fugaku, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly took two steps forward and stood before Uchiha Ikeizumi.

His eyes had already turned crimson, with bizarre patterns distinctly different from the Three-Tomoe Sharingan appearing in his pupils. An indescribably powerful doujutsu seemed to freeze the surrounding air, instantly making the atmosphere tense.

"Ikeizumi…"

Fugaku displayed his Mangekyo Sharingan, belonging to him as the Uchiha clan head, before Uchiha Ikeizumi.

"I'm sorry, Itachi… he is my child, after all. If you lay hands on him, I will stop you, even if it costs me my life."

"I also cannot see where the future Uchiha can go. Everything Itachi does in the future might truly be the only option."

Fugaku apologized, "Perhaps you also possess legendary power, but stopping you and giving Itachi some leeway will be enough."

"Since Itachi has chosen his path, let's let him walk it. Time will prove who is right and who is wrong."

Izumi looked in astonishment at Clan Head Fugaku, who had just uttered such astonishing words.

She vaguely understood why Uchiha Itachi was so outrageous.

It was hereditary…

Right?!!!

Uchiha Ikeizumi spoke: "I've found that arrogant and selfish people always have one characteristic—they think they can guess others' intentions and then act out of self-pity. Your eldest son is like this, and so are you."

Fugaku remained silent.

"Judge by deeds, not by intentions—this is a mandatory lesson for justice. I used to be naive too, but normal people grow after making mistakes. Only beasts stubbornly stick to their opinions, unchanging."

"If justice were executed by intentions, [Absolute Justice] would be the greatest evil in the ninja world. From the elderly down to infants, the entire ninja world would have to be purged to uphold justice."

"If I did that, then I would be no different from Uchiha Itachi, and [Absolute Justice] would be tainted with disgusting filth."

Uchiha Ikeizumi seemed to be speaking to Fugaku.

And also to Izumi.

"Fugaku, pray that you can protect your precious son, and pray that today's conversation can bring about a slight change in the future."

Uchiha Ikeizumi gazed unflinchingly into those Mangekyo Sharingan, saying, "The second before he makes a move, in my eyes, he will transform into the evil of this world, a person destined to die. [Absolute Justice]… will completely snuff him out."

"Justice will gaze upon all sinners awaiting judgment."

"Including him."

"Including you."

...

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