Sarutobi Shōtarō must die

"Father, Uncle, save me!"

Sarutobi Shōtarō woke from his unconscious state. He had heard everything they had said earlier.

As he spoke, he scrambled to his knees and pleaded, just as his father had.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed at the sight of his nephew.

It seemed Uchiha Jin really had made no mistake. His nephew really had murdered a family of three.

Although he desperately wanted to get his nephew off the hook, there was nothing he could do at this point.

The Uchiha Clan were dead set on killing Shōtarō.

"Lord Hokage."

Uchiha Fugaku spoke at just the right moment. "Uchiha Law Enforcement operates according to the village's rules and regulations. Please do not interfere with our internal handling of this case."

The grand elder had put Hiruzen Sarutobi on the spot, and Fugaku's words undoubtedly gave him a way out.

"I'm sorry, elder brother."

At those words, the Sarutobi Elder slumped helplessly to the floor, his face deathly pale.

"It's over. It's over."

His son was done for.

It seemed he would not be able to save his only remaining bloodline.

"Uncle, Father, I don't want to die!"

Hearing this, Sarutobi Shōtarō wet himself in terror. He knelt on the floor and clung to Hiruzen Sarutobi's leg.

"I know I was wrong! I'll never do it again!"

In the midst of adolescence, he had been filled with desire for the opposite sex.

The noodle shop owner's wife had been exactly his type. At first, he had managed to suppress his desire.

But as time passed, he could no longer hold himself back.

Overcome by lust, he had gone to rape the owner's wife, then killed her husband and daughter while he was at it.

Sarutobi Shōtarō had thought he had committed the crime flawlessly.

Even if the village's Anbu came, they would find no useful clues.

Who could have imagined that he would be identified as the murderer just by passing by to see what was happening?

Even now, he still did not understand how that Uchiha Clan brat had found out.

He could guarantee that no one had seen what happened that night!

Now was not the time to think about how he had been discovered. He needed to find a way to get his uncle to save him.

He was still young. He really did not want to die!

If he had a chance to do it all over again, he would never have gone to rape the owner's wife.

Hiruzen Sarutobi closed his eyes without speaking, letting his nephew tug endlessly at his trouser leg.

The culprit had been caught with the evidence.

And the Uchiha Clan were determined to bring his nephew to justice.

He truly could not think of any way to save him.

In the end, amid Sarutobi Shōtarō's despairing cries, Uchiha Jin dragged him off to a cell.

Only the grand elder, slumped on the floor, a grim-faced Hiruzen Sarutobi, and a visibly awkward Uchiha Fugaku remained in the interrogation room.

Deep down, all three felt this was no great matter.

Only three civilians had died. They could simply claim that spies from an enemy nation had killed them.

They truly had not expected Uchiha Jin to refuse to show them any consideration.

"Lord Hokage, would you like to stay for tea?"

Uchiha Fugaku asked.

"Hmph. No need."

Hiruzen Sarutobi snorted and helped the grand elder, whose legs had gone weak, out of the room.

Watching the two leave, Fugaku shook his head and sighed softly.

What a mess.

In truth, he did not want to offend the Hokage. Even though the village targeted the Uchiha Clan, he had no intention of resisting.

But more and more voices of discontent were rising within the clan.

Even as clan leader, he had to listen to what the overwhelming majority of his clansmen wanted. He could not simply do as he pleased.

And Uchiha Jin's actions would certainly satisfy those discontented clansmen.

That would keep things quiet for a while.

Besides, the one dying was the Hokage's nephew, not his own son.

And the Uchiha Clan were in the right. Even if Hiruzen Sarutobi was upset, he could only swallow his resentment.

Half an hour later, in the office.

"Jin, do you really intend to kill Sarutobi Shōtarō?"

Uchiha Fugaku looked at him gravely, wanting to know what this genius of the clan was thinking.

"Yes."

"Can you tell me why?"

At that, Uchiha Jin gave him a strange look, as though he were looking at an idiot.

Uchiha Fugaku felt offended.

"Murdering civilians carries the death penalty. Isn't that the village's rule?"

Uchiha Fugaku: "..."

So this kid had refused to give the Hokage any face and insisted on killing Sarutobi Shōtarō because he was strictly enforcing the village's laws!

He had thought Jin was acting on instructions from the clan's Hawk Faction elders.

Forget it. The reason doesn't matter at all.

"The Hokage won't let this rest. I think he'll send someone to negotiate with you, or pressure the Uchiha Clan into releasing Shōtarō."

Uchiha Fugaku took the initiative to explain the complications to him.

"I want to hear your thoughts."

After all, Sarutobi Shōtarō was Hiruzen Sarutobi's nephew.

Some things had been difficult to arrange in the interrogation room, or he had not had time to devise a strategy.

Once he returned to his office and thought it through, he would certainly negotiate with the Uchiha Clan.

Normally, the clan should quit while it was ahead. Offending the Hokage was hardly a good thing, after all.

But the village leadership had targeted the Uchiha Clan for years.

Whether they offended the Hokage or not seemed to make little difference.

In Uchiha Fugaku's view, as long as Uchiha Jin stood by his decision, he would stand behind his clansman!

Although he did not want conflict with the village, endlessly enduring everything served no purpose.

Striking back when appropriate was the right choice!

"I have nothing to add. Sarutobi Shōtarō must die."

Uchiha Jin did not hesitate at all. "Clan leader, you can submit the execution request to the Hokage."

The village's laws had been drafted and revised by Tobirama Senju when Hashirama Senju founded the village.

During Tobirama's tenure, many more laws had been added.

One stipulated that if a ninja slaughtered civilians under particularly egregious circumstances, they had to be publicly executed so the villagers could witness the process, with the aim of maintaining public confidence.

Any ninja who deliberately killed civilians was to be sentenced to death, with no room for appeals for mercy.

After all, civilians were a vulnerable group within the village, with no chance of resisting a ninja.

If ninja who harmed civilians were not severely punished, civilians would lose trust in ninja, leading to a continuous outflow of population and commerce.

If the matter escalated, the daimyo might even hold the Hokage accountable and cut Konoha's military funding.

The Uchiha Konoha Military Police Force needed the Hokage's permission to execute a prisoner.

They could not carry it out privately.

"All right."

Uchiha Fugaku nodded and began writing the execution request.

The Hokage's office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's face was livid as he looked at the execution request delivered by the Konoha Military Police Force Troops.

All it needed was his signature and seal.

Then the Uchiha Clan could execute Sarutobi Shōtarō in public!

"Hiruzen, don't sign it!"

The Sarutobi Elder looked anxious, afraid that he would sign it.

If he did, his son would truly be doomed!

"Grand elder, I don't want to either."

Hiruzen Sarutobi set down the document and shook his head, his pipe between his teeth.

"Think of another way. As long as he can stay alive, that's enough. Hiruzen, I'm begging you..."

The grand elder knelt on the floor, once again casting aside his dignity as an elder.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed at the sight.

Although Sarutobi Shōtarō's murder of civilians was a grave offense, he was still his nephew.

Naturally, he had to help if he could. He could hardly watch him die, could he?