Are You Going to Become a Rogue Ninja, Uchiha Chisen?

Root Base.

"Lord Danzo, Uchiha Chisen is most likely at the Secret Research Base outside the village!" A Root Ninja reported to Danzo, kneeling on one knee with his head lowered.

He added, "It's the Secret Base outside the village that the Third Hokage had built several years ago. It 'keeps' many researchers left behind by Orochimaru."

With the Root Ninja's reminder, Danzo recalled it as well.

Monkey had indeed established such a base outside the village.

Back then, he had wanted to get involved too. After all, he, Danzo, deserved at least a third of the credit for all the research materials and personnel Orochimaru had left behind.

Yet that old bastard Monkey had ruthlessly refused him.

Monkey had even joined forces with Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura to pressure Danzo, forcing him to abandon that idea.

Over the past few years.

It wasn't as if Danzo had never considered sending Root personnel to infiltrate it. Unfortunately, Monkey had kept the Secret Research Base under extremely tight watch, never leaving him any chance to act.

"Heh."

Danzo suddenly took pleasure in others' misfortune, a mocking curl appearing at the corner of his lips.

Watching the Magma falling in the distance, he sneered to himself, "That innately evil Uchiha brat... has finally developed evil intentions toward the 'Hokage.' Monkey, this old man warned you long ago. If you didn't get rid of him, you would regret it."

The Root Ninja kneeling on the ground hesitantly asked, "Lord Danzo, should Root intervene?"

Danzo narrowed his eyes.

Killing intent surged within him.

He had long wanted nothing more than to tear Uchiha Chisen into pieces.

"No."

Danzo said with a sinister gaze, "Let Uchiha Chisen make trouble. The bigger the trouble he causes, the deeper his conflict with Monkey will become. If this old man remembers correctly, that base is guarded by Sarutobi Shinosuke. Heh heh... that innately evil Uchiha brat is now clashing with Monkey's eldest son!"

"What we need to do... is stop everyone who intends to intervene and halt the conflict."

"Pass on this old man's order!"

"—All Root personnel are to mobilize! Guard every exit from Konoha. Aside from those Anbu Ninja at Monkey's side, no one is to be allowed out of the village!"

"Yes!"

The Root Ninjas swiftly turned into streaks of afterimages and departed from the Root Base.

"Dad, that was some kind of ninjutsu, right?"

On a rooftop within the Nara Clan compound.

Though only seven years old, Nara Shikamaru already wore a world-weary expression. Coupled with those dead-fish eyes so unlike those of children his age, he made people question his true age.

"Mm."

Standing on the roof with his son, Nara Shikaku had one hand half tucked into his pocket. His gaze was profound as he said, "It's Lava Release."

"...Lava Release?" Shikamaru froze.

Nara Shikaku slowly said, "You've heard the name Uchiha Chisen, haven't you?"

Shikamaru nodded. "I have. He seems like a very troublesome person. A lot of people in the village are afraid of him, though some people seem to respect him a great deal."

"So..."

Shikamaru asked, "Was that ninjutsu used by Uchiha Chisen?"

Nara Shikaku nodded. "Most likely. And in that direction... Lord Hokage will probably have a headache tonight."

He did not choose to go over and see what was happening.

He could already tell that it was a muddy mess not to be touched.

The Nara Clan was better off not inviting trouble.

"I heard Hiruzen has personally set out with the Anbu."

Utatane Koharu sought out Mitokado Homura's home in the middle of the night.

She said to Mitokado Homura, "This old woman knew that Uchiha Chisen was a disaster. With that so-called [Absolute Justice] of his... every person in the research base is probably a thorn in his side."

"Unfortunately, Hiruzen repeatedly indulged him in the past. This old woman cannot understand what use such an uncontrollable Uchiha could possibly have, for Hiruzen to value him so highly."

Mitokado Homura stood with his hands behind his back and said in a low voice, "He is indeed a disaster, but he is also a double-edged sword. Hiruzen indulges him because Uchiha Chisen's [Absolute Justice] is extreme enough."

"At the very least... none of us can deny that Uchiha Chisen has made some ill-intentioned people restrain themselves considerably."

Utatane Koharu said, "But he has gone too far this time. He even dared to strike at a place like the Secret Research Base!"

Mitokado Homura said, "This time, we should persuade Hiruzen to harden his heart. In the past, Uchiha Chisen was relatively weak and still within the village's control. We could still seize hold of this double-edged sword and put it to good use. But now..."

Wariness flashed through his eyes. "His wings have gradually grown in."

The last Uchiha who had made the two of them feel he was becoming uncontrollable was named "Uchiha Shisui."

Uchiha Shisui had made them wary because of those eyes.

The primary reason Uchiha Chisen made them wary...

Was that absolute justice that took no account whatsoever of the village's politics.

BOOM!!!

BOOM!!!

BOOM!!!

The constantly falling Magma made the entire Secret Research Base shake violently. Raging flames had already begun to burn, and some of the falling Magma had even punched through the ceiling above the Secret Base.

Inside the base, Sarutobi Shinosuke realized that the facility had likely been damaged beyond recognition.

The entire base was nearly ruined, and much of the important research equipment had probably been melted by the Magma.

"Uchiha Chisen! Have you lost your mind?!"

Sarutobi Shinosuke tore off the obstructive Anbu mask from his face.

At that moment, the steam filling the air had scalded his facial skin, leaving it flushed with an unnatural redness.

His face, which bore some resemblance to Sarutobi Hiruzen's, was filled with rage.

"This is Konoha's base! I don't know why you know about those matters, but I can tell you that everything my subordinates and I have done was for Konoha!"

"We have lived up to the Will of Fire, to the ancestors who have passed on, and to every person in Konoha!"

"None of the people who died because of what we did were from Konoha. They weren't even from the Land of Fire! Uchiha Chisen, what business is it of yours?!"

"Where is your loyalty to Konoha in your [Absolute Justice]? Are you going to become a rogue ninja, Uchiha Chisen?!"

Sarutobi Shinosuke roared furiously.

Uchiha Chisen rose to his feet. The surrounding Magma could not harm him in the slightest as he calmly stared ahead.

Drop after drop of molten Magma dripped from his body.

"Teacher Shinosuke, the [Absolute Justice] I believe in was never born from loyalty to Konoha. Whether I am a rogue ninja is not something you can define with a single sentence."

Uchiha Chisen began walking forward.

"Only because you were once my Jonin instructor am I saying this much to you, so that you may die understanding."

Uchiha Chisen suddenly used the Body Flicker Technique and appeared before an Anbu Ninja in an instant. As the other man's pupils shrank in terror, one hand had already sliced away half of the Anbu Ninja's head.

—This was the Anbu Ninja whose feet had been burned away by the Magma. He no longer even had the ability to dodge.

"I believe in [Absolute Justice] because I think the Shinobi World has become sick and twisted. This diseased Shinobi World breeds countless forms of 'evil,' filling it with suffering and tragedy..."

Uchiha Chisen's body suddenly turned transparent, as though he had vanished from the world.

—This was his first time using the Gekko Clan's Transparent Release!

The remaining Anbu Ninjas hurriedly looked around in panic.

They tried to find any trace of Uchiha Chisen, who had suddenly disappeared.

Until his voice sounded behind one of the Anbu Ninjas.

"And this evil includes, but is not limited to, Daimyo who impose crushing taxes, higher-ups drunk on power, beasts who slaughter their entire clans, brain-damaged lapdogs... including what you have done, Teacher Shinosuke."

"Urgh!!!"

An Anbu Ninja suddenly let out a muffled groan and looked down in horror at the inexplicable hole that had opened in his chest.

"When [Justice] is absolute enough..."

A Magma bullet Uchiha Chisen fired from afar instantly swallowed an Anbu Ninja who was trying to form hand seals.

"Only then can the 'evil' of the Shinobi World be purged."

Magma surged from Uchiha Chisen's arms, rushing like a torrential tsunami toward three other Anbu Ninjas, who could see nothing and could only feel a wave of heat bearing down on them.

When only Sarutobi Shinosuke remained before him, gripping half a Ninja Sword with shock and terror covering his face...

Uchiha Chisen finally released Transparent Release.

"I... was caught in your Sharingan Genjutsu?"

Sarutobi Shinosuke's eyes widened. He could not believe someone could possess three Kekkei Genkai, and instinctively thought he might have fallen under Genjutsu.

I got carried away while writing. One chapter is nearly three thousand words already, ah—

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