Konoha: The Absolute Justice of the Uchiha

Chapter 149 "Neji, did you betray the Hyuga clan? Orochimaru's ambition!"
"Father, the one who died was just an elder from the branch family. There are many other elders in the Hyuga branch family. Just because of his death, Father has to go into hiding?"

Inside the Hyuga clan's residence.

The eldest son of the clan elder "Hyuga Jinsuke" was full of resentment, constantly muttering complaints in his heart in front of his father.

He muttered to himself, "If it were ten or twenty years ago, when there was no such thing as absolute justice, why would we need to run away from the limelight because of something like this?"

“That old man, Hyuga Yokogari, did something he shouldn’t have done. Trying to break the Caged Bird Seal is a major taboo for their branch family.”

"What's wrong with making a big mistake and paying the price? Besides, he was just unlucky and his illness relapsed."

Beside him, Hyuga Jinsuke's second son also spoke up: "Father, Uchiha Ikezumi should be reasonable, right? He claims to be righteous, and rules are justice. In our Hyuga clan, the clan rules are naturally justice as well. Even if he interferes, according to the rules, he should be on our side, shouldn't he?"

Hyuga Jinsuke rubbed his temples and said to his second son, "You've been in charge of the Hyuga clan's business operations outside Konoha, and you only recently returned to the village. You don't know that kid Uchiha Ikezumi very well."

Hinata Jinsuke exhaled a breath of stale air, his wrinkled old face showing deep apprehension.

"His stance of 'absolute justice' is not based on the rules of any particular place. His stance is solely his own."

"He was an extremely extreme Uchiha. He wouldn't listen to any advice from others and was extremely stubborn."

"Most importantly..."

"He's still very strong!"

This is the most important point. Uchiha Ikezumi possessed the power to easily take Hyuga Jinsuke's life, which is why he listened to Hyuga Hiashi's advice and prepared to lay low.

Even though he was already over eighty years old and might not have many years left to live, he still did not want to die prematurely.

What's more.

He needs to die a natural death, not be killed by an Uchiha. Even before he is killed, he might very well be branded a "murderer."

Punishing branch family ninjas who violated the family rules turned out to be their own fault?

What a joke!
Hyuga Jinsuke could not accept it.

at the same time.

On the other side of the Hyuga clan's territory.

After Mitokado Homura negotiated with several elders of the branch family, he went to find Hyuga Hiashi again and learned from Hiashi that Hyuga Jinsuke was about to leave Konoha as an explanation to the branch family.

This also prevented Uchiha Ikezumi from getting involved in the matter.

After all, the main person involved has left.

We can't keep targeting the other innocent members of the Hyuga clan, can we?
"Hiashi, is this how your Hyuga clan handles things?" Mitokado Homura gave Hyuga Hiashi a deep look and said, "You should know that this is not the right way to solve things. The Hyuga clan is doing this more like escaping reality."

"Advisor Mitomon, this is a solution that the three head elders of our Hyuga clan have jointly discussed and agreed upon."

Hiashi Hyuga sat upright and solemnly explained, "Doing this will indeed make many branch family members very dissatisfied. They will feel that our main family is just going through the motions. But if we don't do this, some main family members will be dissatisfied."

"Hyuga Jinsuke's decision to temporarily leave Konoha is essentially a choice to leave the stage at the center of the Hyuga clan's power, a kind of retirement. This is the biggest concession the main family has made."

Hiashi Hyuga paused, then said meaningfully, "Ten or twenty years ago, it would have been impossible for the main family to make concessions to the branch family."

Mitokado remained silent.

He roughly understood what Hyuga Hiashi meant—the three elders of the Hyuga main family believed that the retirement of one main family elder was already a concession made by the main family through gritted teeth and a pinched nose. If the branch family was dissatisfied with this, then those people from the branch family were ungrateful.

The reason the Hyuga main family conceded was entirely because Uchiha Ikezumi's "absolute justice" overwhelmed the Hyuga clan, forcing them to reason with the branch family.

In the past...

There's no need to reason with them.

"Hiashi, I'll say it again," Mitokado Homura said earnestly, "Don't escalate things; it won't be good for anyone."

"clear."

Hinata nodded.

……

“Retirement is the biggest concession to the branch family.” Hiruzen Sarutobi leaned back in his chair, let out a deep breath, and murmured, “The rules of the Hyuga clan are really full of outdated and corrupt ideas. If you didn’t know better, you would think that we had gone back to the time before Konoha was founded.”

Homura Mitokado, who had somehow returned to the Hokage Building, spoke up: "Hiruzen, is it enough for us to just give him a heads-up? Are you sure you don't want to interfere in the name of the Hokage?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head and said, "We can't get involved."

"The Hyuga clan may seem more 'obedient' than the Uchiha clan, and less 'xenophobic' than the Uchiha clan. However, their deeply ingrained ideas are more outdated than those of the Uchiha clan."

"I can still cultivate Uchiha clan members like Shisui and Itachi who are loyal to Konoha. Konoha can use them to infiltrate the Uchiha clan."

"but……"

Hiruzen Sarutobi paused for a moment, then continued, "I have never been able to train a Hyuga main family ninja to infiltrate the Hyuga main family. Konoha can only extend its reach to the Hyuga branch family, but the Hyuga main family is like an iron barrel, impossible to penetrate no matter what."

"If I could interfere with the Hyuga main family, I could force them to change some of their illogical family rules in the name of the Hokage. But over the years, the Hyuga clan's family rules have never been changed."

In Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes, some of the Hyuga clan's outdated rules were indirectly weakening Konoha's power.

The Caged Bird Seal severely limited the growth potential of many exceptionally talented Hyuga ninjas. How many Hyuga branch family ninjas died on the battlefield because of the Caged Bird Seal's flaws?
If it were possible to change things, he would have forced the Hyuga clan to change it long ago.

Mitokado Homura changed the subject: "Hiruzen, there's one more thing. Kirigakure's rogue ninja, Amegakure's envoy, Kibi no Juzo, abandoned the other Amegakure envoys and seems to have left Konoha alone."

Hiruzen Sarutobi raised an eyebrow: "He doesn't seem to have ever met me before? And he's already left?"

Mitokado Homura said, "I guess he came to Konoha for another purpose, not just to represent Amegakure in exchanges with Konoha."

"Then we contacted the fact that he was arrested by Uchiha Ikezumi's subordinates and taken to the police force not long after he arrived in Konoha."

Mitomon Homura continued, "Perhaps he came for Ikezumi, but we don't know his specific purpose yet."

Hiruzen Sarutobi narrowed his eyes: "I remember Jiraiya was present when I interrogated Juzo Biwa, wasn't he?"

Mito Monohan nodded.

"Phew! Let Jiraiya come over; he should know something."

……

"Jiraiya and Izumi Uchiha should not be the children of prophecy either."

Looking at the Uchiha girl who had just caught a domestic abuser not far ahead, Shima, standing on Jiraiya's shoulder, said, "Although she has a relatively correct sense of good and evil, she seems to lack her own opinions."

"She relies too much on Uchiha Izumi's 'Absolute Justice' as her ninja way, and she is not like the prophesied child in the master's dream, but more like a puppet of 'Absolute Justice'."

"Besides..."

Shima shook his head: "If this child had only recently come to believe in absolute justice, there would still be hope. But she has been too deeply poisoned by this extreme justice, and her worship of Uchiha Ikezumi has reached an unparalleled level."

"Under these circumstances, you probably wouldn't be able to take her as your apprentice, let alone teach her how to properly change the ninja world."

Standing on the other shoulder, Fukasaku the sage also spoke up: "Next, Jiraiya."

Jiraiya let out a deep breath, and his gaze shifted away from Uchiha Izumi.

"Next up, Uchiha... uh..."

When Jiraiya took out the list he had made, he paused for a moment.

He took out a pen, crossed out the name "Uchiha Itachi," and then said, "Next, Uchiha Sasuke. He's also close to Ikezumi, and both of them are members of the Uchiha clan, so they might even be related by blood."

……

"Kakashi-senpai, should we send someone to inform the Hokage? After all, something like this has happened to the Hyuga clan, and it has even dragged Uchiha Izumi into it. I'm afraid the Hyuga clan is going to be in trouble today."

Hidden in the shadows, the ANBU ninja Yamanaka Yoshinobu watched as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki followed Uchiha Ikezumi to the Hyuga clan. He couldn't help but whisper to Kakashi beside him.

This is the only spot where they can truly hide, which is why both Yamanaka Yoshinobu and Kakashi are standing here.

One's task is to monitor the Jinchuriki, and the other's task is to supervise them.

Kakashi, with his lifeless eyes, fixed his gaze on Yamanaka Yoshinobu.

At this moment, silence is better than sound.

Yamanaka Yoshinobu: "..."

He immediately realized that as a junior member of the Anbu, he should have taken the initiative to report to the Hokage, instead of trying to make Kakashi-senpai go through the trouble of making a trip to the Hokage Building under the pretext of seeking Kakashi-senpai's opinion.

"I go!"

He vanished in an instant.

“The Hyuga clan… Caged Bird…” Kakashi murmured as he watched the figures of Uchiha Ikezumi, Uzumaki Naruto, and the others recede into the distance. “If I remember correctly, the father of that child named Hyuga Neji was Hyuga Hizashi of the Hyuga branch family, right? That means he was also a child who lost his father at a young age.”

"I remember that Hyuga Hizashi died voluntarily for the sake of the Hyuga main family, but this child mistakenly believes that the main family forced his father to be a scapegoat. He must have connected today's events with his own situation, which is why he chose to seek help from Absolute Justice."

Kakashi naturally knew the hidden details of some things from back then.

"call……"

For some unknown reason, a shadow fell over his eyes.

……

Inside the Hyuga clan's residence.

After giving his eldest and second sons some important instructions, Hyuga Jinsuke, leaning on his cane and escorted by a special Jonin from the Hyuga main clan, prepared to temporarily leave Konoha Village.

As he walked along the road, Hyuga Jinsuke clearly noticed that many of the branch family ninjas looked at him with deep resentment.

He simply scoffed at this. This blatant mockery infuriated the branch family ninja even more.

Watching Hyuga Jinsuke walk away on his cane, a Hyuga branch family ninja's face was ashen, his teeth almost grinding to powder.

"He's a complete old bastard! The way he looked at us just now was clearly discrimination against the Hyuga branch family! He doesn't even consider the lives of us Hyuga branch family members to be human lives!"

Seeing that he was losing control of his emotions, another branch family ninja immediately stepped forward and reached out to pull him back.

"Calm down, he's one of the elders of the Zong family!"

"Damn it, so what if they're elders of the Zong family? Are only the Zong family allowed to be high and mighty? Have they forgotten that we were once part of them too? Have they forgotten that we are connected by blood? After being branded as caged birds, are we supposed to endure the Zong family's attitude? I don't understand!"

“Nobody understands. But… the existence of the caged bird has already determined that the branch family is merely an appendage of the main family. Moreover, the main family members with such a wicked personality as Hyuga Jinsuke should only be a minority.”

"Stop talking. If we accidentally break the family rules, that old bastard will activate the Caged Bird Seal again." Hearing the faint indignant comments behind him, Hyuga Jinsuke did indeed want to activate the Caged Bird Seal again.

Because he could keenly sense that a junior member of the Hyuga branch family harbored murderous intent towards him.

In the past, he would have definitely taught the other party a lesson.

Make it clear to the other party that there are some thoughts that even branch family ninjas cannot entertain. The destiny of the branch family is to protect the main family, even if it means risking their own lives. This was true in the past, it is true now, and it will certainly be true in the future.

just.

It's best to avoid any unnecessary complications today.

Just then, Hyuga Jinsuke noticed that the Hyuga main family's special Jonin who was protecting him suddenly stopped in his tracks.

He frowned and turned to look, only to find that the main family's special ninja was staring in one direction with a look of horror and shock.

Hyuga Jinsuke followed the gaze.

this moment.

Hinata Jinsuke nearly stopped breathing! The wooden crutch he was using to support himself fell to the ground with a "thud".

His white eyes were wide open.

One name, in particular, couldn't help but slip out.

"Uchiha Ikezumi!!!"

……

"Heh heh, they killed Uchiha Itachi... Interesting." In an underground research base somewhere in Konoha, Orochimaru showed an expression of great interest, then muttered to himself, "Sarutobi-sensei, your indulgence of Uchiha Ikezumi really makes me jealous!"

Clearly, it was a spy Orochimaru had recently placed in Konoha who used a special technique to transmit some information to him.

Orochimaru also learned that Jiraiya and Tsunade were both in Konoha because of this.

This made him scoff, a sinister smile playing on his lips, and he said in a hoarse voice, "It seems the plan will have to be delayed a little."

He gently moved his hand away, revealing a piece of paper that had been pressed against his palm, with the words "Konoha Destruction Plan, Version Two" written on it.

He crumpled the paper into a ball, and underneath it was another piece of paper.

The inscription read: "After killing Hiruzen Sarutobi, how should we exert pressure on various factions in Konoha to seize control of the village and use its power to research the secrets of immortality..."

All that could be seen was a dense pile of text, on which were written many questions that Orochimaru had not yet been able to answer.

Orochimaru stared at it for half a second, then put it into a scroll.

"But Jiraiya and Tsunade are not my biggest obstacles."

"The biggest obstacle is actually the container that I value the most."

"Ho ho..."

"Uchiha Izumi, you're getting more and more difficult to deal with!"

His smile grew increasingly sinister.

And it is fraught with dangerous dangers.

……

"Orochimaru must not get along with many people in the Akatsuki. Although I am only a newcomer to the Akatsuki, I can occasionally find out which one of them is the most unsociable."

Pipa Juzo, carrying the Executioner's Blade, said, "It's obvious that Orochimaru is the loner."

Pipa Juzo was getting a little hoarse from talking. In the past, he was the most aloof person in the group.

but.

After discovering that someone was even more indifferent than him, he found the eerily silent atmosphere unbearable.

"Why aren't you saying a word?" Juzo Biwa couldn't help but say, "Don't tell me you're not interested in Orochimaru. I've heard about what he's done. In your eyes of absolute justice, he's definitely on your kill list, isn't he?"

"Your information is completely useless," the wooden clone said indifferently. "You'd better tell me something I don't know."

Pipa Juzo: "..."

Ironically, as a member of Akatsuki, he found that he knew far less about the organization than Uchiha Izumi, making him feel like an outsider.

"you……"

Just as Pipa Juzo was about to say something, he suddenly seemed to smell a bloody murderous intent, and his pupils suddenly contracted to needle size.

Pipa Juzo quickly drew his Executioner's Blade and used it to block the attack.

Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
Three shuriken, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, landed on the back of the Executioner's Blade, each scattering a faint spark.

"Tch!" Juzo Biwa's gaze turned cold as he reminded his wood clone beside him, "Someone's watching us. Or rather, they're watching me. It shouldn't be Obito Uchiha or those two humanoid creatures; if it were them, I might already be injured."

As soon as he finished speaking, layers of white mist suddenly rose from all around, and the thick fog made Pipa Juzo suddenly grin.

"Ha! I know who it is..."

"The Blood Mist Ninja of Kirigakure! It seems they intend to eliminate rogue ninja."

"Hey!"

Suddenly, Juzo Biwa realized something important: "You're just a wooden clone of his. I shouldn't have to worry about protecting you, should I?"

"No need."

The instant the words "Wood Clone" were uttered, it instantly drew its ninja sword from its waist and easily parried a sharp kunai that flew from a tricky angle.

……

Ding--

The kunai pierced deep into the ground, less than ten centimeters in front of Hyuga Jinsuke's heels. If it had moved forward even slightly, it would have pierced right through his feet.

Hyuga Jinsuke looked up at Uchiha Ikezumi in front of him with fear and unease.

His aging and frail body couldn't help but take a step back.

"How can it be……"

Even though they had already immediately confined all the Hyuga clan ninjas to the Hyuga clan's territory, preventing the branch family ninjas from involving Uchiha Ikezumi, they also gave Hyuga Jinsuke more time to evacuate Konoha.

But why...

Uchiha Ikezumi has appeared? And he just happened to be blocking Hyuga Jinsuke's way out the door!

and many more!

"Hyuga Neji!!!"

Hyuga Jinsuke suddenly noticed Hyuga Neji following behind Uchiha Ikezumi, and even saw another junior member of the Hyuga clan's branch family next to Neji—this… seems to be the grandson of the branch family elder "Hyuga Yokogari" who passed away last night!

He understood.

He instantly realized what was happening.

—The grandson of Hyuga Neji and Hyuga Yokogari joined forces and informed Uchiha Ikezumi about this matter!
Hinata Jinsuke's old face suddenly became extremely interesting.

There was anger and annoyance directed at Neji, as well as shock and fear upon seeing Uchiha Ikezumi. Although Hyuga Jinsuke was an elder of the Hyuga main family, he felt no confidence or sense of security whatsoever when facing Uchiha Ikezumi.

"Hyuga Neji, did you betray Elder Jinsuke?!"

At this time.

The main branch clan's special Jonin, responsible for protecting Hyuga Jinsuke, rebuked Neji with an incredulous expression: "Do you know what you're doing? The branch family's destiny is to protect the main branch! But what you're doing now is plotting against the main branch elders!"

"What is your status in the Hyuga clan? What is your generation? Didn't your father teach you how, as a branch family ninja of the Hyuga clan, you should selflessly protect the Hyuga clan?"

Hyuga Neji, who had been expressionless, suddenly showed a hint of hatred on his face after hearing these words.

Neji took a deep breath.

He once believed that one could not escape the fate that was in his destiny.

It wasn't until he witnessed firsthand how Uchiha Ikezumi used her immense power to make the Hyuga clan bow down to her.

It was that witnessing that made Neji, who had sealed his heart, suddenly have a rebellious idea—the fate and cage that the main family imposed on the branch family could be broken!

After he took the initiative to learn about absolute justice, Neji realized a truth: the Hyuga main family's act of using the Caged Bird Seal to bind the branch family was itself an unjust act!
Neji was unaware of the deeper meaning of the Caged Bird Seal; all he knew was that the branch family ninjas suffered oppression and pain because of it.

The Caged Bird Seal made it even harder for every branch family ninja to breathe.

They didn't even dare to entertain the thought of resistance.

once.

Father only harbored a slight murderous intent towards Hinata, and before he could even take any action, Hiashi Hyuga decisively activated the Caged Bird Seal.

"Is so-called selfless protection just being a scapegoat for the main family generation after generation, being imprisoned in a cage generation after generation, like a bird that can never fly away?"

Neji gritted his teeth and slowly tore off the bandage from his forehead.

They brazenly displayed the spell of the caged bird.

"I'm not here to lecture your main family on family rules and principles." Neji turned to the Hyuga branch family junior beside him and said, "This is the guy who killed your grandfather, right?"

"……Um."

The younger members of the Hyuga branch family nodded weakly.

Neji exhaled and gritted his teeth, saying, "I'm here to demand justice for the branch family elder you killed! What right did you have to take his life? Are the lives of our Hyuga clan branch family members just expendable resources in the eyes of your main family?"

He paused, then said firmly, "And I firmly believe that the absolute justice of the Uchiha will judge every evil person! It will also seek justice for the innocent, so that they can rest in peace in the Pure Land."

……

……

(End of this chapter)