Farewell, Teacher Shinosuke

Sarutobi Shinosuke had been constantly dividing his attention to control the Chakra within his body, using it to mitigate the effects of the Sharingan Genjutsu. Throughout it all, he had avoided making eye contact with Uchiha Chisen.

Yet he had still fallen victim to the other party's "Sharingan Genjutsu"!

When he saw the last Anbu Ninja fall at Uchiha Chisen's hands—

Sarutobi Shinosuke's face was filled with both shock and horror, as well as utter ugliness.

The former Genin had now grown to the point where even he, his Jonin instructor, could no longer suppress him.

Sarutobi Shinosuke realized that he had become an old wave washed up on the beach.

The half-broken Ninja Sword left in his hand gave him no sense of security whatsoever.

Uchiha Chisen asked, "Teacher Shinosuke, even now, are you still stubbornly clinging to your delusions?"

Sarutobi Shinosuke fell silent for a moment, then suddenly let out a derisive chuckle.

"Uchiha Chisen."

He tossed aside the half-melted Ninja Sword in his hand and straightened up. His expression turned solemn as he properly formed a Seal of Confrontation, saying, "Tonight, I'll correct that mistaken justice of yours. A ninja's justice begins with the village's interests. Justice that benefits the village is true justice."

"And your justice is nothing more than self-centered justice. No one in the entire Shinobi World will recognize your justice, because everything you're doing now is practically making an enemy of the entire world!"

Uchiha Chisen remained where he stood, less than ten meters away from Sarutobi Shinosuke.

He too formed a standard Seal of Confrontation.

"Teacher Shinosuke. My heart and actions are clear as a mirror; everything I do is justice—this saying... I remember telling you long, long ago, when I was still a Genin."

Uchiha Chisen spoke calmly.

"Ha..." Sarutobi Shinosuke sighed. "You really are beyond saving. Someone like you will destroy Konoha someday."

Uchiha Chisen said, "Teacher Shinosuke, you've taken me too extremely. You aren't even willing to spend a little effort getting to know your student. Your understanding of me is worse than that of a Konoha Military Police Force trainee who followed me for only a few days."

Sarutobi Shinosuke narrowed his eyes. "Then I'm afraid I won't have the chance to understand you in the future, because you'll be buried deep in the Underworld."

As soon as he finished speaking—

Sarutobi Shinosuke rapidly formed hand seals. His chest suddenly swelled as he opened his mouth and spat, "Fire Style: Red Earth Spider!!!"

Roaring flames spewed from his mouth and transformed into a gigantic spider that charged straight at Uchiha Chisen.

Uchiha Chisen did not rely on the Lava Release Chakra Warrior Body to ignore the flames.

He formed hand seals as well.

"Fire Style..."

"Great Fire Annihilation!!!"

Flames even more overwhelming in scale and temperature than Sarutobi Shinosuke's Fire Style burst from Uchiha Chisen's mouth. The blazing inferno engulfed the incoming fire spider almost instantly, then swept toward Sarutobi Shinosuke with crushing force.

Sarutobi Shinosuke immediately dodged around a corner. The terrifying flames swept past the tip of his nose, and even his eyelashes curled from the scorching heat.

"Tch, are you still holding back in a battle between teacher and student?! Uchiha Chisen! Has your self-centered justice gone soft now?"

Sarutobi Shinosuke gritted his teeth, bit through his right thumb, and pressed one hand against the ground.

Dense summoning runes spread across the floor.

"Summoning Technique!"

"Great Ape!!!"

Bang—

After a puff of white smoke, an enormous ape over three meters tall, its entire body covered in red fur, suddenly appeared. This was Sarutobi Shinosuke's strongest summoned beast, a muscular ape with strength comparable to a Konoha Jonin—Great Ape!

The moment Great Ape appeared, it saw the field of magma and sea of flames before it, as well as Uchiha Chisen ahead.

"Shinosuke, this doesn't look too good! Should I excuse myself from this conflict between teacher and student?"

Great Ape spoke in a deep, muffled voice tinged with teasing.

Sarutobi Shinosuke took a deep breath. "Great Ape, this is a matter of life and death. Don't make such bad jokes."

Great Ape stood behind Sarutobi Shinosuke.

Facing Uchiha Chisen in a standoff.

"Uchiha Chisen's so-called Absolute Justice has already become a threat to Konoha," Sarutobi Shinosuke said grimly.

Great Ape said, "Shouldn't you have expected this long ago? Though you were always unwilling to understand this student of yours, judging by the personality and way he conducted himself, this confrontation was bound to happen sooner or later, wasn't it... But, Shinosuke... do you really think this child was wrong?"

Sarutobi Shinosuke was silent for half a second before saying, "Justice that brings no benefit to Konoha is wrong. A ninja should stand from the village's perspective. Great Ape, let's settle this here today."

"...Understood."

Elsewhere, Sarutobi Hiruzen was hurrying toward the Secret Research Base with a group of Anbu Ninja when he could already see the base, devastated beyond recognition by magma.

He could also see the Dense Forest ahead, which had become a sea of fire.

Though he had yet to fully approach, he could smell the faint scent of sulfur permeating the air.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's heart sank.

"Go put out the fire immediately!" he decisively ordered. "Do not let the blaze spread into Konoha! At the same time... immediately stop this unnecessary conflict and hold both sides back!"

"Yes, Lord Hokage!"

The Anbu Ninja forcibly increased their speed. They all knew that the person stationed at the Secret Research Base was the Hokage's eldest son.

They also knew that the person who had forcibly broken into the Secret Research Base was a Uchiha Clan genius whom the Hokage thought highly of.

It seemed—

The Hokage was unwilling to give up either of them.

He wanted to replicate how he had stopped the conflict between Uchiha Chisen and Shimura Danzō, and put an end to tonight's...

Conflict that was likely already too late to stop.

Inside the Secret Research Base, the battle between Uchiha Chisen, Sarutobi Shinosuke, and the summoned beast Great Ape had reached its most intense stage.

"Roar!!!"

Great Ape lifted a concrete pillar weighing more than ten tons. With an angry roar, it hoisted the pillar and charged toward Uchiha Chisen.

Meanwhile, Sarutobi Shinosuke circled behind Uchiha Chisen. As he clenched his teeth, lightning surged in his right palm.

"Lightning Style..."

"Lightning Blade Technique!"

Dazzling lightning formed into a two-meter-long blade and slashed heavily down toward Uchiha Chisen's back; the massive concrete pillar, nearly wide enough to cover Uchiha Chisen, also came crashing in from the front.

Swish!!!

Bang!!!

The Lightning Blade split Uchiha Chisen's body in two; the concrete pillar smashed down with a bang, driving the lower half of Uchiha Chisen's severed body brutally into the ground.

"Shinosuke, be careful! That didn't feel right! There's something strange about his body!" Great Ape suddenly warned.

Sarutobi Shinosuke's eyes abruptly widened.

Because he saw Uchiha Chisen, whom he had cut in half, slowly "stand" back up as magma writhed through his body.

"Water Transformation Technique?" Sarutobi Shinosuke froze. He could no longer tell how many trump cards Uchiha Chisen had revealed.

"Shinosuke! Dodge!!!" Great Ape shouted anxiously.

"If you were skilled in Water Style, you could have kept fighting me for a little longer." Uchiha Chisen curled the fingers of his right hand slightly. His arm seemed to transform into a gigantic Magma Demon Dog, its ferocious maw opening wide as it viciously "bit" toward Sarutobi Shinosuke's chest.

"Farewell, Teacher Shinosuke."

"Shinosuke! Dodge!!!" This was the panicked shout of the Third Hokage, who had arrived too late.