Chapter 45: Absolute Justice won't spare relatives

"Huff… huff…"

A bedraggled figure pressed himself into the corner of an alley inside the Uchiha compound, fighting to steady his breathing and suppress his presence.

A bead of sweat slid slowly down his cheek; the crow's‑feet at the corner of his eye tightened as he squinted.

A pair of scarlet, three‑tomoe Sharingan kept a careful watch on every movement around him.

"It's been three whole minutes—why hasn't that guy shown up to extract me? We agreed on this exact window!"

Uchiha Oniwa ground out the words under his breath, audible only to himself. Frustration and anxiety laced every syllable.

Spotting a flicker of motion not far away, he edged deeper into the shadows, wedging himself into a tangle of blind spots that barely concealed him.

"Damn it, where are you?"

To break out of the holding cells in the Police Force building, he had killed one of the Uchiha officers; the entire force would already be swarming the district.

If that man did not appear soon, capture was inevitable.

A memory flashed through Oniwa's mind. After his crimes were exposed and he was suspended by Anbu for investigation, a young man in a strange mask had sought him out:

"Heh‑heh… Uchiha Oniwa, after torturing two of your own comrades, do you honestly think those naïve Konoha shinobi will still stomach your existence? Twenty years in prison? Thirty? Life? That's all that awaits you."

"I'll be frank. Because your special bloodline has value, our master wants you. He promises your taste for slaughter will be fully indulged among us."

"All you need to do is leave Konoha. Is there anything in this village left to love? Defect, and I'll pick you up at the perfect moment."

"Oh, and one more thing—you won't find our master's name unfamiliar."

At first, Oniwa hadn't known who the man was. But anyone who could slip past the surveillance tailing him and meet face‑to‑face had to be formidable.

Then he noticed a tiny white snake curling from the man's sleeve—and knew exactly whose olive branch it was.

Proud as any Uchiha, Oniwa had no intention of serving under a Konoha missing‑nin. Once the "spy" Orochimaru had planted inside the village escorted him out, Oniwa fully intended to kill the spy and vanish.

"Tch… my 'special bloodline,' huh?"

Narrowing his eyes, he muttered, "They're really after Chizumi's Lava Release, but they don't dare touch that brat—so they're settling for me?"

Why his disturbingly eccentric nephew possessed two kekkei genkai was a mystery; neither Oniwa nor his late sister or brother‑in‑law had ever awakened Lava Release.

But that hardly stopped Oniwa from using Orochimaru's agent to flee.

Only…

"Where the hell is he?"

Just as Oniwa gnashed his teeth in fury, his Sharingan caught a single crimson "raindrop" falling from above.

Splish.

A blood‑red blotch blossomed on the damp ground at his feet, making Oniwa's eyes narrow sharply. He jerked his gaze upward—

—just in time to see a dark mass plummeting toward him.

Lightning‑quick, he caught it to keep the noise from drawing the police patrols.

"What the—"

His pupils shrank: he was holding a still‑warm corpse.

Blood gushed from the severed throat; the mask slipped off, revealing a face frozen in terror. Cold sweat drenched Oniwa's back. He didn't know the man, but he knew that mask—the very spy Orochimaru had planted, the one who had contacted him half a month ago.

"I ran into him on my way to find you," a sudden voice said. "His 'evil' was like a lightbulb in the dark—impossible to ignore."

Alarm bells exploded in Oniwa's mind.

Abandoning stealth, he flickered to a spot with room to maneuver and looked up.

Two sets of three‑tomoe Sharingan met in mid‑air.

He recognized the newcomer instantly.

"Chizumi?!!"

Oniwa had met many extreme Uchiha, himself included—but next to Uchiha Chizumi he still felt like a green child, even though he was twenty years older.

Hands already half‑formed into seals, Oniwa felt the corpse at his feet darken his mood, while the killing intent in Chizumi's eyes chilled him to the marrow.

Drawing a deep breath, he demanded, "Chizumi… you came for me?"

"Yes."

So curt, so final—Oniwa's heart dropped.

Gritting his teeth, he tried again. "We're blood relative! Chizumi, leave Konoha with me. You know what people think of you here—no one accepts your ninja way. Even the clan rejects you. Why stay?"

"You're our clan's dual‑kekkei‑genkai prodigy, and I'm no slouch. Together, there's nowhere in the shinobi world we can't go. We could carry the Uchiha bloodline beyond Konoha!"

But the more he spoke, the more he felt his invitation sink like a stone.

Desperate, he added, "Think of your late mother! I'm her little brother—your only living kin!"

"Are you finished?"

Chizumi looked down, expressionless.

"…Finished." Oniwa swallowed hard.

"'Evil' is evil," Chizumi said coldly. "The Absolute Justice I follow won't pardon you just because we share blood. And in any case, I hold no right to forgive you."

Damn this kid—he's extreme beyond words!

Oniwa's face twisted. He cursed choosing this hiding place; anywhere else and he might have avoided this merciless devil.

Chizumi's voice remained flat: "Uchiha Oniwa, the only thing beyond saving is you. In my eyes you're revolting."

Oniwa's disbelief showed plainly—could his thoughts truly be read that easily?

And this accursed brat—

"Fire Style… Great Fireball Technique!"

He formed the seals in a blur; a massive ball of flame roared upward toward Chizumi.

~~~

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