Konoha: The Absolute Justice of the Uchiha

Chapter 162 The Wrath of the Third Generation! An Accidental Killing of Absolute Justice?

The next day, in the morning.

A piece of news suddenly spread throughout Konoha—some of the elite ninjas of the Uchiha clan had left the village, including Uchiha Izumi!

This caught almost all the major ninja clans in Konoha completely off guard.

The Uchiha clan's extremism and arrogance are almost universally acknowledged in Konoha. Furthermore, while the Konoha leadership was ostracizing the Uchiha clan, they were also secretly spreading rumors about the clan's danger.

This made the ninja clans in the village pay even closer attention to the matter.

They were afraid that the Uchiha clan might cause some trouble.

"They've left the village?" Koharu Utatane frowned. After thinking for a moment, she went straight to the Hokage Building and found Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Hiruzen, did you assign them the ninja mission?" Koharu Utatane asked bluntly as soon as she arrived, "Hiruzen, you should be aware of the 'danger' of sending Uchiha ninjas out on missions, right?"

"Most of their clan members have extreme personalities. After returning from ninja missions, most Uchiha ninjas commit crimes and are subsequently killed by Uchiha Izumi..."

"No."

Hiruzen Sarutobi interrupted her, his brow furrowed in deep thought. Clearly, as the Hokage of Konoha, he had received the information immediately.

“Ikezumi has also left the village. It seems that Ikezumi took them with him.” Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed and said, “A total of four people left the village, including Ikezumi, all of whom are Jonin of the Uchiha clan.”

"Besides, Izumi's ninja cat is also gone. If I'm not mistaken, they must have left the village to hunt down Orochimaru."

Koharu Utatane, however, raised another possibility: "Could it be that Uchiha Izumi took three elite Uchiha clan members with him in an attempt to establish his own clan and continue the Uchiha bloodline outside of Konoha?"

She instinctively assumed that Uchiha Ikezumi's actions were the most malicious.

Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at her and said, "If he's going to do that, why doesn't he take Izumi Uchiha? Sasuke Uchiha? And why doesn't he take Naruto? Why doesn't he take Neji?"

Xiaochun, who had just changed dorm rooms, was speechless.

"Hoo..." Hiruzen Sarutobi exhaled, withdrew his gaze, and said helplessly, "What we should be more worried about is that Izumi's influence within the Uchiha clan is growing. In the past, no one would have followed him out of the village to fight Orochimaru."

"At that time, he was considered an isolated outcast within the Uchiha clan. Ikezumi and Itachi were somewhat similar back then."

When Itachi Uchiha was mentioned, Koharu Utatane said, "Hiruzen, I suspect that Fugaku and we are no longer of one mind."

Hiruzen Sarutobi raised his eyelids slightly: "Why do you say that?"

Koharu Utatane said, "If he were on our side, why wouldn't he do everything in his power to stop Uchiha Ikezumi? He may seem powerless on the surface, but who knows if he's doing it on purpose?"

"The reason why Uchiha Ikezumi's absolute justice has grown so strong is now making me wonder if Fugaku planned this all along? Did he join forces with Uchiha Ikezumi?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't know how to speak up for Fugaku for the time being.

Recently, he has indeed been somewhat disappointed with Fugaku Uchiha, because the Uchiha clan has become very uncontrollable under his leadership.

"I will choose a time to meet with him and put some pressure on him."

Hiruzen Sarutobi said quietly, "I don't have much malice towards the Uchiha clan, but I can't let them get out of control, and I can't let Izumi build the Uchiha clan into an impregnable fortress."

Hearing this, Koharu Utatane's expression softened slightly.

At least in this respect...

She and Hiruzen Sarutobi share the same thoughts.

Nobody wants to tolerate the Uchiha!

after all……

Ultimately, they were all disciples of the Second Hokage.

Just then, an ANBU ninja suddenly barged in without knocking. Before Hiruzen Sarutobi could even frown and ask a question, the ninja reported rapidly, "Hokage-sama! Your daughter-in-law... that is, Sarutobi Shinnosuke's wife, Sarutobi Nadeshiko, she... she was murdered at home!"

The ANBU ninja stammered for once, which was unusual for him.

His words struck Hiruzen Sarutobi like a thunderbolt, leaving him stunned and frozen in place.

The words of the ANBU ninja exploded in his mind like detonating tags.

This caused Hiruzen Sarutobi's thoughts to immediately fall into chaos.

His eyes even seemed somewhat vacant.

The brain also inevitably crashes.

Fortunately, Koharu Utatane reacted quickly. Her face was grim and horrified as she questioned the ANBU ninja, "What exactly happened? Tell me in detail!"

The ANBU ninja took a deep breath and lowered his head, saying, "When members of the Sarutobi clan were delivering food to Sarutobi Nadeshiko, they found no one responding and smelled blood coming from under the door. They immediately pushed the door open and found Sarutobi Nadeshiko's blood-soaked corpse."

Hiruzen Sarutobi slowly stood up from his chair with a stiff expression. Just as he was about to take a step, he suddenly stumbled.

Fortunately, Xiaochun, who was transferring dorms next to me, reacted quickly.

They immediately helped him up.

"Take me back to the Sarutobi clan!" Hiruzen Sarutobi said in a hoarse voice.

Both the ANBU ninja and Koharu Utatane could clearly hear the suppressed anger and killing intent in his voice. This Hokage was unusually furious, and had even begun to harbor murderous intent.

"Yes! Hokage-sama!"

……

When Koharu Utatane arrived at the Sarutobi clan's encampment with Hiruzen Sarutobi, she found the entire Sarutobi clan in a state of rage, with intense anger and indignation written on everyone's face.

"Lord Hokage!" When the Sarutobi clan ninjas saw Hiruzen Sarutobi, they rushed over and surrounded him.

They were all talking at once, their voices rising in anger, making the atmosphere at the scene extremely chaotic.

"Lord Hokage! I'm the one who discovered Shinnosuke's wife's body!" A female ninja from the Sarutobi clan said through gritted teeth, "Besides smelling blood, I also smelled a very strange odor."

"At the time, I couldn't remember what it smelled like. It wasn't until later that I belatedly realized it was the smell of sulfur!"

Another Sarutobi clan ninja's eyes turned red: "Hokage-sama! This was definitely done by Uchiha Ikezumi! Only when that magma monster uses his bloodline limit would there be this strange sulfurous smell left behind! Another member of our Sarutobi clan has died at his hands!"

The smell of sulfur? Uchiha Ikezumi?
Koharu narrowed her eyes but didn't speak. Instead, she listened carefully to the various details contained in the chatter.

"Lord Hokage! I heard that Uchiha Ikezumi left the village today with several Uchiha ninjas. He must have done something wrong, which is why he wanted to leave when no one was paying attention."

"Isn't that bastard a believer in so-called absolute justice? Sarutobi Nadeshiko is known for never doing evil, because if she had done anything wrong, that righteous bastard would have killed her long ago."

"But Sarutobi Nadeshiko hasn't left her house at all lately. How could she possibly turn into a villain?"

"The only possibility is that Uchiha Ikezumi killed the wrong person! Overwhelmed with shame, he decided to leave Konoha!"

Xiaochun, who was turning over a new room, raised an eyebrow. Could these two things be connected like this?

But upon closer examination, this possibility is not entirely out of the question.

No ability in the ninja world is 100% infallible. Even Uchiha Izumi's eyes, which can see through the evil in others, will make a mistake one day, right? If they never make a mistake, then they're gods!

Uchiha Ikezumi has a strong obsession with justice and purity. Once his absolute justice is tainted... given his extreme personality, he probably wouldn't even forgive himself.

That's his reason for leaving the village... well, it makes sense.

The premise is to ignore Orochimaru's information for a moment.

"Lord Hokage, we can't back down!" A Sarutobi clan ninja's neck veins trembled as he exclaimed, "If that magma bastard continues his rampage like this, Lord Hokage, you'll really be wiped out! Your lineage will be reduced to just Sarutobi Konohamaru!"

"And that child... Phew! We haven't told him this yet, he's still completely in the dark. But one day, he'll find out that his parents died at the hands of Uchiha Ikezumi."

"The hatred from losing his parents will drive him to attack Uchiha Ikezumi, and the only outcome for a three-year-old child to attack that magma bastard is death! Hokage-sama!"

Faced with one angry shout after another, Hiruzen Sarutobi closed his eyes. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally spoke in a trembling voice, "Take this old man... to see the corpse."

Surrounded by many members of the Sarutobi clan.

Hiruzen Sarutobi arrived at a house, which was the home of his eldest son, Shinnosuke Sarutobi.

He walked in with heavy steps, and what came into view was the body of a woman lying on the ground, her clothes disheveled.

It's clear that she had just finished showering and was about to get dressed when she was alive. But she was only half-dressed when she was ambushed and collapsed in a pool of blood.

Sarutobi Nadeshiko was originally an elite member of the Anbu, and before the incident involving Sarutobi Shinnosuke, she was Sarutobi Hiruzen's right-hand woman.

The person who could kill her instantly would be at least an elite Jonin.

Even elite Jonin would have to resort to sneak attacks to achieve this.

of course……

If the opponent possessed strength at the "Kage" level, then in a direct confrontation, they would also have the power to instantly kill her. Coincidentally, Uchiha Izumi happened to possess this power.

“Hiruzen, it does smell of sulfur, and it’s very strong.” Koharu Utatane, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up: “In addition, some of the wooden furniture in the room has charred marks, as if it was baked by some kind of high-temperature substance.”

Then, Koharu Utatane walked past Hiruzen Sarutobi, took a few steps forward, squatted down, and gently pinched the floor with her hand.

She picked up a piece of black substance, stood up, and handed it to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

“Cooled-down igneous rock,” Koharu Utatane said subtly. “The sulfurous smell is coming from it. And there are quite a few fragments of this igneous rock near the corpse.”

At this point, Koharu Utatane continued, "I'm probably the only relatively calm person here. Hiruzen, you can listen to my initial analysis of this matter." "I think there's an 80% chance that the person who killed Sarutobi Nadeshiko was Uchiha Ikezumi. But his leaving the village today and his killing of Sarutobi Nadeshiko are unrelated."

"Because people like him will not feel any remorse after killing someone. Unless he truly realizes that he has done something wrong, he will not admit his mistake."

Koharu, turning the bed, said in a deep voice, "To use an inappropriate analogy, it would be..."

"For him, killing Sarutobi Nadeshiko was a trivial matter of absolute justice, not worth his attention. Hunting Orochimaru was the real main course, the real challenge."

"Therefore, after killing Sarutobi Nadeshiko, he left the village without hesitation, preparing to hunt Orochimaru."

The dormitory was in a small village and her major was not relevant to the job, so her analysis was a mess, but it was still possible for everyone to understand what she meant.

—The possibility that Uchiha Ikezumi is the murderer is extremely high!
—There is only a tiny possibility that the murderer is someone else!
The entire Sarutobi clan favored the former.

Because absolute justice had caused the Sarutobi clan a lot of trouble.

Moreover, Uchiha Ikezumi has a "previous record"!

How many outstanding young members of the Sarutobi clan have died at the hands of the enemy?
How many outstanding heirs have died under the judgment of absolute justice?
There were so many that we almost couldn't count them all!

As for the "Sarutobi Sakurako" incident, it had already been largely ignored by most of the clansmen amidst the fervent anger of the crowd.

"...Send out the Anbu!" Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep breath, his voice heavy, his old face cold as he spoke, "Kakashi and Yamato will each lead an Anbu squad to catch up with Uchiha Izumi and those three Uchiha Jonin! Bring them...all back to Konoha for me!"

"The roots."

Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at Koharu Utatane beside him and issued another order: "Interrogate Izumi Uchiha, Sasuke Uchiha, Anko Mitarashi, and Neji Hyuga! I need to know whether this matter is related to Izumi or not."

He selectively ignored Naruto Uzumaki, then added, "And his ninja cats, take them to Root for interrogation too!"

Koharu looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was almost consumed by rage in his chest.

She could tell that Hiruzen had been pushed to his limit. After enduring it several times, the Third Hokage finally couldn't take it anymore.

Hiruzen... he reverted to his tough demeanor from his youth.

This is the tough attitude that the Third Hokage of Konoha should have!

Xiaochun, suppressing her excitement, asked with a serious expression, "They might not be so obedient. In this situation, can the root take comparative measures?"

"Okay." Hiruzen Sarutobi's two words reassured Koharu Utatane once again.

"clear."

Utane Koharu nodded.

She turned and left.

Hiruzen Sarutobi did not watch him leave, but stared intently at his daughter-in-law's corpse, gazing at the blood-soaked knife wound on her back.

Judging from the shape of the blade, it seems to be a standard ninja sword of Konoha, and it was also the ninja sword that Uchiha Izumi liked to use the most.

……

Not long after, at the Ninja Academy.

"Ah... so boring..."

As Iruka Umino rambled on about academics on the podium, Naruto held a book up in front of him, buried his head in the table, and let out a low, mournful wail.

Sasuke glanced at him but said nothing, continuing to stare at the ceiling, seemingly lost in thought.

Like Naruto, Sasuke also disliked boring academic classes.

Every word Iruka said went in one ear and out the other; he couldn't hear a word he said.

But just then, a sudden voice interrupted Iruka on the podium.

This also drew the attention of all the students in Irukaban.

"Uchiha Sasuke, you're here, right?"

Sasuke snapped out of his daze, and when he looked in the direction of the sound, he saw a masked ninja standing outside the classroom door, which had been opened by the ninja at some point.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow: "I am..."

Just as he was about to stand up, Naruto suddenly pressed him down.

Sasuke looked at Naruto in confusion, only to be shocked to find that Naruto's face was full of seriousness.

"This isn't the Dark Bureau, this is Root!"

Naruto, his small face wary, said, "I've seen this kind of mask before!"

Roots...

Sasuke felt a chill run down his spine.

Iruka quickly took two steps forward, blocking the Root ninja's path. He coughed twice, forced a smile, and asked, "Root ninja, what brings you to see my student?"

"Nothing to do with you."

The Root ninja shoved Iruka aside, and just as Iruka was about to brush the other's hand away, a ninja sword was placed against his neck.

It was as if any further movement from him would result in his head being severed from his body.

Iruka was so shocked that he broke out in a cold sweat.

"Get out of the way."

The Root ninja moved his ninja sword aside, walked up to Uchiha Sasuke, looked down at the short Sasuke, and said, "This is the Hokage's order, requiring you to come to Root."

"Reason?" Naruto immediately interjected.

"No reason!" The Root ninja grabbed Sasuke and lifted him up.

The speed was so fast that Sasuke didn't even have time to react.

"Wait a minute!" Iruka shouted hurriedly, only to find that the Root ninja had vanished in a flash, along with Uchiha Sasuke, who was being held by the other's hand.

This made Iruka grit his teeth.

I was filled with immense worry.

"...I smell trouble." Nara Shikamaru, who had taken in all of this, suppressed his shock and muttered, "Being taken away by Root means something big must have happened."

"Sasuke-kun...?" Sakura was still in a daze.

Yamanaka Ino frowned slightly, stood up, and said directly to Iruka, "Teacher Iruka, I need to go back and see my father. Please grant me half a day's leave."

Before Iruka could speak, Yamanaka Ino walked straight out the door.

But the instant she stepped into the corridor, she heard a loud bang.

Turning around, I saw a small figure crash through the window of the ninja academy classroom and fall heavily against the wall of the corridor.

“Hyuga Neji?” Ino immediately recognized him.

"Cough...cough cough..." Neji coughed painfully, but before he could get up, a large hand grabbed his hair and lifted him up.

A cold voice followed: "Don't think that just because you have Uchiha Ikezumi backing you, I won't dare to lay a hand on you, brat. And don't think you can defy me. This time, it's the Hokage's highest order. Even your backer, Uchiha Ikezumi, has to give the Hokage some face."

"Heh, besides, you're just a brat. It seems that your Hyuga branch family's recent decision to send the main family to prison has made you arrogant."

—Another Root ninja!!!
A look of horror crossed Yamanaka Ino's young face.

Ino forced herself to calm down, instead of letting her blood boil and rushing forward to try to rescue Hyuga Neji.

That was an extremely irrational act. He couldn't possibly be a match for an adult ninja, let alone a Root ninja.

She could only watch helplessly as the powerless Hyuga Neji was taken away by the other party.

"We must inform Father immediately!"

……

"Jiraiya, something's not right! Why was that kid named Uchiha Sasuke taken away? And Hyuga Neji, whom we confirmed wasn't the Child of Prophecy, was also taken away."

Standing on Jiraiya's shoulder, Fukasaku said with a puzzled look, "Those two Konoha ninjas are a bit too brutal. I don't think they're any good people."

“…Those are Root ninjas.” Jiraiya, who was squatting on a tree, looked slightly serious.

In the past few days, Jiraiya has been observing Uchiha Sasuke, trying to see if this child is the "Child of Prophecy".
While observing Sasuke, he could also observe Minato's child, Naruto Uzumaki, which could be considered killing two birds with one stone.

What Jiraiya didn't expect was...

Such an unexpected turn of events happened today.

……

……

(End of this chapter)