Sarutobi Hiogo stepped forward and viciously slapped Sarutobi Jiro across the face!
Sarutobi Jiro was knocked straight to the ground. A handprint instantly appeared on his face, which quickly began to swell.
"Father, you..."
"You bastard! Don't think I don't know! You were the one who killed their daughter, weren't you?!"
The onlookers had not expected such a scene. For a moment, they were both shocked and strangely gratified.
"Good hit, Clan Head Hiogo!"
"A little beast like him deserves to have his own family turn on him for justice!"
"Kill him!"
"Kill him!"
Sarutobi Jiro clutched his face, his eyes wide with panic and terror, as though he no longer recognized his own father.
"Father, I... I didn't do it on purpose..."
"Not on purpose? Then why did you kill their daughter?!"
"Speak!"
Sarutobi Hiogo's overwhelming pressure erupted. Not only Sarutobi Jiro, but everyone present felt a terrifying aura crash down upon them like Mount Tai bearing down overhead, like a raging wind that left them unable to breathe.
"I... I was only practicing..."
"Th-that's right, I was only practicing our family's Fire Style Ninjutsu, the Great Fireball Technique..."
"My subordinates said that, according to legend, when the Great Fireball Technique was mastered to its peak, it could unleash flames of extreme temperature and even burn a person to ashes in an instant. They also said that my Great Fireball Technique had already reached mastery, and that I could do it too..."
The surrounding crowd seemed to understand what had happened. Their faces filled with grief and indignation, and their fists clenched involuntarily.
Sarutobi Hiogo's expression changed drastically as well. "So you used their daughter as a test subject for your ninjutsu?!"
"No, no!"
"My subordinates said something seemed to be moving in the grass, perhaps a wild rabbit or deer, and told this young master... told me to use it to test the power of the Great Fireball Technique..."
"In the end..."
"A scream rang out, and I... I realized it was a person..."
"Moreover, my Great Fireball Technique was not as powerful as they had boasted. It could not burn someone to ashes instantly at all. I could only watch helplessly as that girl screamed in agony while the flames tore at her, suffering so much she wished she were dead. She howled and screamed as she ran toward us. I... I will never forget that sight..."
Hearing him admit it himself, and hearing the horrific details of what had happened, how could the victim's family possibly endure it?
"You beast! I'll fight you to the death!"
The man who had been caring for his mother roared, his eyes bloodshot as he charged fiercely toward Sarutobi Jiro.
However...
Sarutobi Hiogo easily stopped him.
"...It is not that I cannot understand how you feel. After all, I am a father too, but..."
"Before this matter has been thoroughly investigated, please calm down and do not act rashly. In the name of the Sarutobi clan's head, I guarantee that this will be handled impartially. Please believe me, all right?"
"I... I..."
How could that father possibly calm down? Yet he also knew that he was no match for these people. Tears streaming down his face, he said bitterly, "Clan Head Hiogo, you must give us an explanation. Otherwise, my daughter... she died far too horribly..."
"She was only eleven!"
Sarutobi Hiogo righteously grasped his hand.
"Don't worry! I will definitely give you justice!"
"All right... all right... Thank you..."
Sarutobi Hiogo turned around. Facing his own son, his expression suddenly changed.
"According to what you just said..."
"You did not know there was a person in the grass?"
"In other words, you accidentally injured her?"
Sarutobi Jiro's expression changed!
He might have been arrogant and tyrannical, but he was no fool. How could he fail to understand that his father was trying to save his life with those words?!
Everyone around them was equally dumbfounded. In an instant, they understood that everything Sarutobi Hiogo had done just now had merely been an act...
In the end, he was still going to protect his own son!
Something Was Wrong
Sarutobi Hiogo's words were no different from a bolt from the blue to the victim's family!
"Clan Head Hiogo, you... what did you say..."
The victim's father asked shakily. The tears in his eyes seemed to have already run dry, leaving him dazed and numb...
Yet Sarutobi Hiogo did not pay him any attention. He simply stared fixedly at his son.
"You did not do it deliberately. You thought there was a wild rabbit in the grass, so you wanted to test the power of the Great Fireball Technique."
"So this was an accidental killing..."
"Wasn't it?!"
No matter how foolish Sarutobi Jiro was, he finally understood at this moment.
He nodded frantically and shrieked, "Y-yes!"
"Father, your son knew nothing at all. This was all just an accident!"
Sarutobi Hiogo nodded.
"So that was it..."
"It seems this was a tragedy born of an accident..."
"Alas, how heartbreaking!"
He turned and tightly gripped the father's hands like iron shackles, leaving him completely unable to move.
"As a father myself, I deeply understand your grief!"
"Rest assured, although this was only an accident and an unintended killing, I will still give you justice!"
"I will strictly discipline this little beast. I will absolutely make him pay the price and understand the sin he has committed!"
"As for your daughter... the dead cannot be brought back to life..."
"However, whatever compensation you want, I will certainly do everything in my power to provide it!"
The victim's father was completely dumbstruck.
Yet the piercing pain in his hands left him unable to say a word...
"You... you people..."
At that moment, the old woman lying on the ground crawled over regardless of everything.
"You beasts!"
"We don't want compensation! No amount of money can bring back my little granddaughter's life!"
"I... we only want that little beast to be buried with my little granddaughter..."
Her clothes were ragged, and her eyes were filled with grief, indignation, and despair. Struggling forward, she tightly clung to Sarutobi Hiogo's pant leg. Her graying hair was as disheveled as weeds.
Sarutobi Hiogo frowned. A flash of killing intent flickered through his eyes before he quickly regained his composure.
He sighed. "Grandmother, I deeply understand how you feel, but..."
"When will vengeance upon vengeance ever end?"
"Besides, Jiro only killed her by accident. He did not intend to harm your little granddaughter..."
"Rest assured, he will not receive a single bit less than the punishment he deserves!"
"However, you cannot seek to impose private punishment just because you are angry. If everyone acted this way, would the world not fall into chaos?"
"Isn't that right?"
The surrounding crowd broke into a chaotic uproar.
However.
The old woman's mournful wail still pierced the heavens.
"Is it because you are ninjas and we are commoners that we must suffer such unfair treatment?"
"Is it because you are the clan head, that beast is the clan head's son, and we are merely powerless ordinary people, that he can kill her without paying any price?"
"Is this..."
"Right?"
"Tell me. All of you, tell me..."
"Is this right?!"
She was grief-stricken. She was desperate. Her cries soared into the sky, only to sink back into the dust.
Heaven and earth fell silent.
The surroundings were utterly quiet.
No one answered.
Only Sarutobi Jiro secretly revealed a faint smile at the corner of his lips.
"Wrong!"
Within the deathly silence.