Sarutobi Shinosuke took a deep breath. Even as he tried to calm himself, the psychological scars Uchiha Chisen had left him with were still far too deep.
Two of the three Konoha Genin he had once instructed had died fighting their own teammate.
The sole surviving "murderer" now stood before him, utterly composed.
That made it impossible for Sarutobi Shinosuke to suppress the anger in his heart.
Anger was a grave taboo for an Anbu Ninja.
Sarutobi Shinosuke stressed coldly, "Everything I've done has always been for Konoha, and I have never fallen into the abyss. Uchiha Chisen, you're nothing more than someone who brands others 'evil' to serve his own selfish desires! Don't dress up your taste for murder in such noble language."
"I don't understand why the Fourth Hokage ruled your killing of your teammates excessive self-defense, nor why the old man hasn't dealt with you all these years."
"However..."
Sarutobi Shinosuke glanced at the Anbu corpse on the ground.
He had not even considered why Uchiha Chisen had recognized him at a glance despite his Anbu mask.
Nor had he wondered why Uchiha Chisen was here.
At that moment, barely containable killing intent flooded the eyes beneath his Anbu mask. "Since you killed an Anbu Ninja from our own village right in front of me... I'll purge you today on behalf of the old man and Konoha!"
"And..."
"I'll purge you on my own behalf, too!"
The instant Sarutobi Shinosuke finished speaking, the six Anbu operatives behind him understood what to do.
Moving in practiced coordination with the tactical footwork unique to shinobi, they blocked every escape route available to Uchiha Chisen while attacking him with an assortment of Ninja Tools.
Whoosh-
Whoosh-
A Ninja Sword and a sickle blade instantly slashed two hideous, gaping wounds across Uchiha Chisen's body.
Other Anbu Ninja hurled volleys of Kunai and Shuriken, every one striking Uchiha Chisen's body with precision.
An Exploding Tag was wrapped around the end of one of the Kunai!
"Detonate!"
BOOOOM!!!
The deafening explosion made the Anbu Ninja's eardrums ache. They watched Uchiha Chisen disappear into flames and smoke. By all rights, he should have been blown to pieces.
But...
"Something's wrong... my Ninja Sword!"
"My sickle blade... how can his Lava Release be this hot? My weapon touched his body for less than half a second as it cut through him, and it melted?"
Two cries of disbelief suddenly rang out.
The Anbu wielding the Ninja Sword and the one holding the sickle blade stared in shock at their half-melted weapons.
Molten iron still dripped from the broken edges.
And when they both looked up ahead...
Churning, crimson magma had swallowed the thick smoke from the explosion. The entire passage inside the secret base seemed to have filled with magma.
The flowing magma surged toward the Anbu Ninja like a mudslide, melting even the floor in its path.
Sarutobi Shinosuke's expression darkened. "Lava Release..."
Although he had once been Uchiha Chisen's Jonin instructor, Sarutobi Shinosuke had rarely seen him use Lava Release.
All he knew was that Uchiha Chisen's Lava Release reached terrifying temperatures. For an ordinary person, merely touching it was practically instant death.
Beyond that, he had no further intelligence on his Lava Release.
Only then did Sarutobi Shinosuke realize he knew nothing at all about his former Genin student.
As the raging Magma Torrent surged toward them, Sarutobi Shinosuke commanded steadily, "Finish him inside this passage! We can't let him leave here, or his Lava Release kekkei genkai will destroy the entire base! Use Water Style against him!"
The Anbu Ninja immediately understood.
Three Anbu Ninja who knew water release ninjutsu began forming Hand Seals at once.
Just as the Magma Torrent came within striking distance, they unleashed the same water release ninjutsu together.
"Water Style: Water Surge!!!" ×3
A raging torrent rose from the ground out of nowhere like a waterspout, enveloping all the Anbu Ninja.
Once enough water had gathered, it swept toward the magma ahead like a surging flood.
The instant the two collided, scalding steam filled the passage, making every Anbu Ninja's expression change sharply.
So hot!!!
Uchiha Chisen's utterly cold voice drifted through the steam-filled passage. "Instructor Shinosuke, you believe you haven't fallen into the abyss... then let me ask you something. Six months ago, when a 'volunteer' who had willingly agreed to become a guinea pig grew too frightened, changed his mind, and wanted to withdraw, who killed him?"
Sarutobi Shinosuke's pupils contracted as he endured the pain of the steam burning him.
"A year ago, when there weren't enough 'volunteers,' who ordered his subordinates to go to a country neighboring the Land of Fire, abduct more than a dozen war orphans, and force them to become guinea pigs?"
Horror began to creep into Sarutobi Shinosuke's eyes.
Uchiha Chisen was like a Hell Judge from the underworld, each sentence stabbing straight into Sarutobi Shinosuke.
"And two years ago..."
"And..."
Every sentence Uchiha Chisen spoke made Sarutobi Shinosuke's expression shift, while the Anbu operatives beside him could not help turning astonished looks on their captain.
"Instructor Shinosuke, you said you wanted to purge Konoha of its filth... what a coincidence. Today, I'm here to purge the Shinobi World of its filth."
"Lord Hokage!" Meanwhile, the Anbu Ninja Sarutobi Shinosuke had sent back to Konoha with a message finally reached the Sarutobi Clan compound after traveling through the night and called loudly for Sarutobi Hiruzen.
With a swish, the sliding door of a house opened.
Dressed in casual clothes, Sarutobi Hiruzen stepped outside in wooden clogs.
Holding his pipe, he frowned and asked, "If I remember correctly, you're one of Shinosuke's Anbu... what happened on his end?!"
The Anbu Ninja gathered his thoughts and quickly said, "Lord Hokage, an enemy has attacked the secret base outside the village. Captain Shinosuke said the enemy is very likely formidable, so he ordered me to return to the village and ask you to send reinforcements."
"What?!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen's heart tightened.
Years ago, after he had led men to destroy Orochimaru's Human Experiment Research Lab in Konoha, they had seized a large amount of research that Orochimaru had not managed to take away or destroy, along with capturing many researchers whose human experiments were unforgivable.
He had originally intended to destroy those documents, and had promised the boy, Uchiha Chisen, that he would secretly execute those researchers.
After all, if such evil research fell into the hands of someone ambitious, it might give rise to another Orochimaru.
But...
Following Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura's persuasion and advice, Sarutobi Hiruzen had destroyed only some of the research that seemed excessively evil, keeping all the rest.
He had also failed to fulfill his promise to Uchiha Chisen, instead relocating the researchers outside the village.
As Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura had put it at the time-"They've committed so many irreparable evils that death would be too easy for them. They should use their knowledge and the time they have left to repay their debts, little by little."
-"Hiruzen, you can't act irrationally simply because you made a promise to a boy from the Uchiha Clan. We know you think highly of him, but that genius with two kekkei genkai still bears the name Uchiha..."
-"Can you guarantee that Uchiha Chisen will bring Konoha more benefits in the future than Orochimaru's subordinates can? Their knowledge is the Shinobi World's most precious treasure."
-"Besides, we need only destroy the material we find intolerable. The village can make good use of the rest."
Sarutobi Hiruzen had been swayed.
And so, a Secret Research Base had been built in a secluded location a little over ten kilometers outside Konoha to study some of the research Orochimaru had left behind.
He had entrusted management of the base to his eldest son, Sarutobi Shinosuke.
He did not feel comfortable leaving it to an outsider.
Yet Sarutobi Hiruzen had never expected trouble to strike the Secret Research Base after only a few years of operation.
An attacker who had forced Shinosuke to send someone back to the village for reinforcements... was probably no ordinary enemy!
"I'll lead a team there myself."
Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke gravely.
Before you continue