Chisen, isn't this basically rebellion?

"Uchiha Chisen..." Uchiha Setsuna's aged face darkened as he spat out each word through gritted teeth. "He's been brainwashed by the Senju's will of fire, just like that Uchiha Itachi!"

"He isn't loyal to the Uchiha Clan. He's loyal to Konoha, to the Senju Clan! He's a traitor to the Uchiha!"

To an extremist Hawk Elder like Uchiha Setsuna, any clansman who refused to support the coup was a spineless coward.

Any Uchiha who openly sided with the Hokage had been brainwashed by the will of fire and was all but beyond saving.

As for Uchiha Chisen...

Uchiha Setsuna maliciously assumed he was a combination of both types, perhaps even far worse than either.

Because the murderous intent that bastard Uchiha Chisen had just shown toward him had definitely been real.

He had truly wanted to kill him!

"Elder Setsuna," a member of the Uchiha Hawks beside him said. "Uchiha Chisen may well become the greatest obstacle to our plan, just like Uchiha Itachi."

"That man might never have been on our side to begin with. He's never stood with the Uchiha."

Uchiha Setsuna snorted coldly.

There was no telling what he was plotting.

Elsewhere.

After leaving the Root Base, Sarutobi Hiruzen did not return to the Hokage Building. Instead, he went to Konoha Prison and waited in silence.

Before long, a member of the Konoha Military Police Force arrived.

The officer was bringing the offending Uzumaki Naruto to Konoha Prison-on Fugaku's orders.

"Lord... Hokage?"

The officer inevitably grew nervous at the sight of Sarutobi Hiruzen and the Anbu ninjas gathered around him.

After all, he was a ninja of the Uchiha Clan, and the brat he was holding was the rumored Demon Fox Incarnation.

"It's all right."

Sarutobi Hiruzen gestured for him to relax. Rather than pressuring him, he said with a genial smile, "I've always trusted the Uchiha Clan. I believe you won't do anything out of line. Judging by the current situation, Fugaku made the right choice. You're on Fugaku's side as well, aren't you?"

The officer lowered his head. "Yes, Patriarch Fugaku ordered me to transfer Uzumaki Naruto to Konoha Prison promptly, so certain members of our clan couldn't get near him."

Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded in satisfaction.

He continued, "You can leave Naruto with me."

The officer hesitated. "But if I hand him over to you, Lord Hokage, what about Uchiha Chisen..."

Uchiha Chisen was someone even Patriarch Fugaku could not keep in check.

He was still rather wary of Uchiha Chisen.

Sarutobi Hiruzen said, "There's no conflict here. Chisen only wanted to teach Naruto a lesson by having him locked up in Konoha Prison. And haven't you brought Naruto here now?"

"As Konoha's Hokage, I have the authority to exercise my prerogative, pardon Naruto, and take him out of Konoha Prison. Even if Chisen is unhappy about it, he'll come to me, not you."

"...Yes, Lord Hokage." After a moment's thought, the officer let go of Naruto.

"Grandpa Hokage!!!"

"Waaah..."

After spending the entire day on edge, Naruto was finally being "rescued." He practically sobbed as he threw himself toward Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Sarutobi Hiruzen stroked Naruto's little head. His tone grew grave as he instructed the Anbu ninjas behind him, "Keep a closer eye on Root for the time being. I suspect Danzo won't let this go. That man isn't one to swallow an insult, especially when the one who made him suffer was a prodigy of the Uchiha Clan."

"Yes, Lord Hokage."

Before anyone knew it, evening had arrived.

Uchiha Chisen, who had inadvertently thrown Konoha's political situation into turmoil, had taken Izumi on several leisurely rounds through the village.

He acted as though the upheaval had nothing to do with him.

Uchiha Chisen's composure helped Izumi, who had been anxious all along, calm down a little as well.

"Rookie, give me the count."

"Yes, Chisen!" Izumi perked up and reported, "Including Uzumaki Naruto, today... we identified nine 'evildoers' in total. Three disturbed public order in Konoha, two were involved in theft, two were fighting, and..."

At this point, Izumi's voice grew somewhat cautious. "And two obstructed law enforcement. Of the nine 'evildoers,' seven were arrested and imprisoned, and two were killed on the spot."

The two evildoers Izumi said had been killed on the spot for obstructing law enforcement...

Were the two Root ninjas who had died at Uchiha Chisen's hands.

Uchiha Chisen glanced at her. "You left out quite a few."

"Huh?"

Izumi froze in confusion. She didn't think she had missed any!

She had even recorded everything that had happened that day in her little notebook.

But...

Under Chisen's gaze, Izumi suddenly lost some of her confidence. No matter how she tried, she couldn't summon the courage to say, "I didn't miss any, did I?"

"I... I missed some?"

Izumi asked meekly.

"Shimura Danzō, Sarutobi Hiruzen, that Uchiha Setsuna, and..." Like Yama calling the roll, Uchiha Chisen calmly listed one name after another.

His expression was cold as he said, "All of these people stood against justice today. Yet because our justice wasn't strong enough, they remain free to act outside the law."

"These 'evils' that need to be purged..."

"You left out every one of them."

Izumi listened in terror. Hadn't Chisen just named practically every faction's senior figures in the village?

He hadn't even spared several elders of their own Uchiha Clan.

If all the people Chisen named were to be "purged"...

Wouldn't that amount to...

Rebellion?!

"Write them down too," Uchiha Chisen said flatly.

"O... okay, Chisen." Izumi could only take out her little notebook and record what he had just said.

But she noticed that even her fingertips seemed to tremble as she wrote. Especially after putting down the name of the Hokage, "Sarutobi Hiruzen," she felt she could no longer get off this boat.

If those Anbu ninjas discovered this little notebook...

Yikes!

She felt she would spend the rest of her life in Konoha Prison.

As Izumi walked alongside Uchiha Chisen and took notes, she suddenly caught a small figure entering her peripheral vision at the street corner ahead.

Izumi's bright eyes widened a little.

She watched helplessly as the little figure suddenly rounded the corner and collided with Chisen.

Thump!

Unsurprisingly, the child landed on his backside, and the things he had been carrying scattered across the ground.

"Ugh-"

Izumi heard a child's pained groan.

"Sasuke, watch where you're going." Then she heard a gentle voice from farther ahead, its tone apologetic. "I'm sorry. This child was too careless. Sorry for the trouble."

"Oh? You're..."

"Chisen?"