In the Name of Justice, Cleansing the Shinobi World

Sarutobi Shinosuke took a deep breath. Even though he tried hard to calm himself, the "psychological shadow" Uchiha Chisen had once cast over him was still far too great.

Back then, of the three Konoha Genin under his instruction, two had died by killing their fellow disciples.

The only surviving "murderer" was now standing calmly before him.

This kept the anger in Sarutobi Shinosuke's heart from subsiding.

Anger was a grave taboo for an Anbu Ninja.

Sarutobi Shinosuke coldly stressed, "Everything I have done, from beginning to end, was for Konoha. I have never fallen into the abyss. Uchiha Chisen, you are nothing more than someone who throws 'evil' onto others for your own selfish desires! There is no need to dress up your killing habit in such grandiose terms."

"I don't understand why the Fourth Hokage ruled that your killing of your comrades back then was excessive self-defense, nor do I understand why the old man has not 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 could recognize him at a glance despite his Anbu mask.

Nor had he considered why Uchiha Chisen had appeared here.

At this moment, uncontainable killing intent spread wildly through the eyes beneath his Anbu mask. "Since you killed an Anbu Ninja from our village right in front of me... then today, I will clean house on behalf of the old man, on behalf of Konoha!"

"And..."

"I will clean house for myself as well!"

The instant Sarutobi Shinosuke's words fell, the six Anbu members behind him immediately understood.

Working in perfect coordination, they used ninja tactics to seal off every avenue of retreat for Uchiha Chisen. At the same time, they launched an attack on him with all manner of ninja tools.

Whoosh—

Whoosh—

A ninja sword and a scythe blade instantly carved two enormous, gruesome gashes into Uchiha Chisen's body.

Other Anbu Ninjas hurled a barrage of Kunai and Shuriken, all of which struck Uchiha Chisen's body with precision.

One of the Kunai even had an Exploding Tag tied to its end!

"Explode!"

BOOM!!!

The deafening blast made several Anbu Ninjas' eardrums ache. They watched as Uchiha Chisen was swallowed by fire and smoke, and by all rights, he should have been blown to pieces.

But...

"Something's wrong... my ninja sword!"

"My scythe blade... How can the temperature of his Lava Release be this high? My ninja tool was in contact with his body for less than half a second when it cut across him, yet it melted?"

Two incredulous cries suddenly rang out.

The Anbu holding the ninja sword and the Anbu holding the scythe blade both stared in shock at the ninja tools in their hands, which had melted halfway through.

Molten iron could even be seen dripping from the broken ends.

When they raised their heads and looked forward at the same time—

Surging crimson magma had already swallowed the lingering smoke from the explosion. The entire passage inside the Secret Base seemed to have been flooded with magma.

The flowing magma surged toward the Anbu Ninjas like a mudslide, melting even the ground wherever it passed.

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.

He only knew that Uchiha Chisen's Lava Release possessed an extremely terrifying temperature. For an ordinary person, touching it meant almost certain death.

Beyond that, there was no further intelligence concerning Lava Release.

Only now did Sarutobi Shinosuke realize that he did not understand this former Genin student of his in the slightest.

As the raging Magma Torrent surged toward them, Sarutobi Shinosuke calmly shouted, "Finish him in this passage! We cannot let him leave this place. Otherwise, his Lava Release Kekkei Genkai will destroy the entire base! Use Water Release against him!"

The Anbu Ninjas immediately understood.

Three Anbu Ninjas capable of Water Release began forming hand seals at once.

Just as the Magma Torrent closed to within arm's reach, they unleashed the same Water Release technique simultaneously.

"Water Release: Water Surge!!!" ×3

A torrential current like an oceanic waterspout rose from the ground out of nowhere, enveloping every Anbu Ninja within it.

Once the water had gathered to a certain extent, it surged forward like a raging flood and crashed into the magma ahead.

The instant the two collided, scalding steam flooded the passage, making all the Anbu Ninjas' expressions change drastically.

So hot!!!

Uchiha Chisen's voice, cold to the extreme, drifted through the steam-filled passage. "Teacher Shinosuke, you claim that you have not fallen into the abyss... Then let me ask you. Half a year ago, when a 'volunteer' who had willingly become a lab rat grew too afraid halfway through and changed his mind, wanting to withdraw—who killed him?"

Sarutobi Shinosuke endured the pain of the steam burns, his pupils contracting.

"A year ago, when there were not enough 'volunteers,' who gave the order to send subordinates to neighboring countries of the Land of Fire, abduct more than a dozen war orphans, and force them to become lab rats?"

Sarutobi Shinosuke's gaze turned somewhat horrified.

Uchiha Chisen was like a Hell Judge from the Underworld, each sentence piercing straight into Sarutobi Shinosuke.

"And two years ago..."

"And..."

Every word Uchiha Chisen spoke made Sarutobi Shinosuke's expression shift, while the several Anbu members beside him could not help turning astonished gazes toward their captain.

"Teacher Shinosuke, you said you wanted to clean house for Konoha... Well, what a coincidence. Today, I am here to clean house for the Shinobi World."

"Lord Hokage!" At the same time, the Anbu Ninja whom Sarutobi Shinosuke had sent back to Konoha to report finally arrived at the Sarutobi Clan compound in the middle of the night and called out loudly for Sarutobi Hiruzen.

With a swish, the sliding door of a room was pulled open.

Sarutobi Hiruzen, dressed in casual clothes, stepped outside in wooden clogs.

Holding a smoking pipe, he frowned and asked, "If I remember correctly, you seem to be one of Shinosuke's Anbu... What happened on Shinosuke's side?!"

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 most likely quite formidable, so he ordered me to return to the village and request that Lord Hokage send reinforcements."

"What?!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen's heart tightened.

After he had led people to destroy Orochimaru's Human Experiment Research Lab in Konoha years ago, he had seized a great deal of research material that Orochimaru had not yet managed to take away or destroy, and captured a large group of utterly unforgivable human experiment researchers.

He had originally intended to destroy those materials, and he had also promised Uchiha Chisen that he would secretly execute those researchers.

After all, if those evil research materials fell into the hands of ambitious people, they might give rise to another Orochimaru.

But...

At the urging of Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, Sarutobi Hiruzen had only destroyed some of the research materials that appeared excessively evil, while preserving all the rest.

At the same time, he had not fulfilled the promise he made to Uchiha Chisen. Instead, he had transferred those researchers outside the village.

What Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura had said at the time was—

"—They have committed so much irreparable evil. Death is far too easy for them. They should use their knowledge and their remaining lives to slowly repay their debts."

"—Hiruzen, you cannot act irrationally just because you made a promise to a young member of the Uchiha Clan. We know you think highly of him, but that genius with two Kekkei Genkai is still an Uchiha..."

"—Can you guarantee that the benefits Uchiha Chisen will bring Konoha in the future will exceed those Orochimaru's subordinates can bring? Their knowledge is the most precious wealth in the Shinobi World."

"—Besides, we only need to destroy the materials that cannot be tolerated. The village can make good use of the rest."

Sarutobi Hiruzen had been swayed.

Thus, at a hidden location more than ten kilometers from Konoha, a Secret Research Base had been constructed to study some of the research materials Orochimaru had left behind.

He had also handed the base over to his eldest son, Sarutobi Shinosuke, to manage.

He did not trust outsiders with it.

Sarutobi Hiruzen simply had not expected the Secret Research Base to encounter trouble after operating for only a few years.

An invading enemy capable of making Shinosuke send someone back to the village for reinforcements... was certainly no ordinary foe!

"I will personally lead people there."

Sarutobi Hiruzen said gravely.