Meanwhile.
Sarutobi Hiruzen saw that the sky had gone completely dark. He rubbed his aching brow and let out a heavy sigh. But the gloom lingering on his aged face was not so easily dispelled.
All he had wanted today was to let Sarutobi Shinosuke finish his final journey in peace.
Who could have imagined that Uchiha Chisen would suddenly intervene?
Sarutobi Hiruzen had deeply mixed feelings about everything Uchiha Chisen had done today.
In his public capacity, he ought to support Uchiha Chisen in carrying out justice. After all, Yamada Binjiro's actions had trampled every limit set by the laws of the Land of Fire. Even if Chisen's methods had been somewhat extreme, ordering his subordinate to kill the man outright...
Sarutobi Hiruzen still felt that Uchiha Chisen had done nothing wrong.
And yet.
In his private capacity, he was Sarutobi Shinosuke's father. Having such a jarring disruption at his eldest son's funeral was a tremendous provocation and emotional blow to a father.
Not to mention, Chisen was the one who had killed Shinosuke!
"Phew..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen murmured, "But Konoha can't withstand a civil war we haven't prepared for at all. There are fewer and fewer pillars left in the village who can shoulder the burden... Chisen is one of the few among the younger generation who can."
"Even if members of the Uchiha Clan cannot become Hokage, he could still take Danzo's place someday, or Homura's, or Koharu's."
It was this dilemma, with no way forward in either direction.
That left him unable to make sense of his own emotions.
Sarutobi Hiruzen pulled his troubled feelings together.
He prepared to leave the Hokage Building.
But just then, an Anbu ninja suddenly leaped through the open window. Dropping to one knee before Sarutobi Hiruzen, he reported rapidly, "Lord Hokage, Uchiha Chisen killed his only close relative, Uchiha Onigawara, today."
Sarutobi Hiruzen stopped in his tracks.
"Uchiha Onigawara... is he the one suspected of torturing two Anbu comrades to death during a mission outside the village?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen was no stranger to the name Uchiha Onigawara.
The man had once been a member of the Anbu.
And Hiruzen himself had ordered Uchiha Onigawara's temporary suspension pending an investigation.
"Yes." The Anbu ninja nodded.
Sarutobi Hiruzen murmured, "If Chisen killed him, then that means I did not accuse him unjustly."
Something suddenly occurred to him, and he asked outright, "Was Uchiha Onigawara Chisen's only living close relative?"
"Yes."
The Anbu ninja's answer was exactly the same as before, though there was a barely perceptible shift in his emotions.
Clearly, Uchiha Chisen's actions had shocked even a battle-hardened Anbu ninja.
Sarutobi Hiruzen fell silent as well.
"[Absolute Justice] that spares not even one's own kin..." Only after an indeterminate silence did he utter those words, his expression conflicted.
Sarutobi Hiruzen dimly began to understand what Uchiha Chisen's [Absolute Justice] truly meant.
"Phew..."
"Chisen, it is precisely because you are so outstanding, and so steadfast in upholding justice, that I cannot treat you as my enemy merely because of the hatred Shinosuke's death has brought me..."
"Hmph! A Naturally Evil Uchiha Brat indeed! Someone who won't spare even his own blood relative is nothing more than an emotionless killing machine. The evil blood flowing through the Uchiha Clan should never have existed in this world!"
Elsewhere, Danzo had also received word from a Root ninja.
"The eyes of the Uchiha Clan conceal an evil power beyond anything ordinary people can imagine. Only an exceptionally powerful psychological shock offers any chance of awakening it."
Danzo narrowed his eyes, suspicion and danger flickering in his gaze.
He was interpreting Uchiha Chisen's actions in the most malicious light possible.
He suddenly thought of Uchiha Shisui.
Shisui's eyes possessed the most evil power spoken of in the Uchiha Clan's legends. And it was precisely because Uchiha Shisui's possession of that power was itself a crime-a "crime" so great that the entire Konoha High Council feared him-that Danzo had been unable to resist making an attempt on his life.
And trying to seize his Mangekyō Sharingan!
Now... Danzo began to suspect that Uchiha Chisen might have awakened a Mangekyō Sharingan similar to Uchiha Shisui's.
Had he also gained that evil power, the mere description of which sent chills down one's spine?
He felt the faint twinges of pain that still came from his left ear now and then.
Apprehension stirred in Danzo's heart, but his anger also rose uncontrollably. Almost grinding his teeth to pieces, he muttered, "Monkey, if you hadn't stopped me that day, I would have snuffed out this evil Uchiha Brat who threatens the village before he ever had a chance to grow!"
His anger was not directed solely at Uchiha Chisen.
It spilled over onto Sarutobi Hiruzen as well.
Danzo knew perfectly well that the chances of Uchiha Chisen awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan were not particularly high. Otherwise, after waiting all these years, he would not have encountered only a single Uchiha Shisui.
But once that suspicion surfaced in his mind, he could no longer suppress it.
Like weeds, it kept taking root and sprouting within him.
His expression shifted darkly.
"Uchiha Chisen..."
"Sharingan..."
"Today was my second time killing someone!" Izumi soaked her entire body in the bathtub, her hair drifting across the steaming surface behind her head.
Only a small part of her head remained above water, and her muttering came out as a string of bubbles.
Izumi remembered her first kill very clearly. She had been uneasy the entire night.
Even after returning home, she had worried that the Anbu would arrest her.
Now, she seemed to have gotten somewhat used to it.
She realized that she no longer felt the slightest unease. Even the discomfort of killing someone had faded long ago.
"And..."
She gently pressed a hand to her chest and lifted her head out of the water, murmuring in confusion, "Why do I feel secretly pleased? I'm not some deranged murderer. Surely this strange feeling isn't because I killed someone?"
Izumi stood up and stepped out of the bathtub. After briefly rinsing the suds off her body, a flash of inspiration crossed her mind.
She suddenly understood.
"-It's acknowledgment!"
She realized that she felt secretly pleased because she had discovered that other people in the Uchiha Clan, besides herself, were acknowledging Chisen's [Absolute Justice]!
And there were quite a few of them!
After all, on her way home after saying goodbye to Chisen today, she had heard many people talking about him.
And their comments had not been negative!
Even if his excessively extreme methods had merely inspired a strange worship of his strength.
Still...
At least it was a good start.
"Father, I would like to meet with Uchiha Chisen."
At the dinner table, Uchiha Itachi spoke to Fugaku with a solemn expression.
Before you continue