Hiruzen Sarutobi had been puzzling over why Uchiha Jin had refused to join the Anbu.
He had even thought it was the Uchiha Clan's decision.
But now, seeing the fervor in the boy's eyes, he suddenly realized he might have gotten it wrong.
Uchiha Jin had insisted on killing Sarutobi Shōtarō not because Shōtarō was his nephew and Jin wanted to target him.
He had simply wanted to seek justice for the victims.
Even if the murderer was the Hokage's nephew, he showed no fear...
He admitted he had misjudged him.
Shisui Uchiha wore an odd expression beneath his mask.
Setting aside the clan and the village, he and Jin could be considered good friends.
They had known each other for so many years.
Since when had he become so righteous?
Before, he had either been training to grow stronger or warning Shisui not to blindly believe in the Will of Fire.
He had never shown any desire to become an outstanding member of the Konoha Military Police Force Troops.
What exactly had happened in just a few days?
Uchiha Jin paid neither of them any mind and continued voicing his views.
"In my opinion, anyone who breaks the village's laws must pay the price! Even you, Hokage, are no exception!"
He pointed at the red health bar above the Hokage's head, his expression serious, without the slightest hint of a joke.
The judgment aura he had gained from killing Sarutobi Shōtarō began to activate.
With the boy pointing at him, Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly felt a chill down his spine, and goosebumps rose all over his body.
He felt as though he had been seen through!
"Enough!"
The prickling sensation made him deeply uncomfortable, and he instinctively interrupted the boy in a low voice.
As Uchiha Jin fell silent, that unease disappeared.
Realizing he had just lost his composure, he himself froze.
He had no idea what had just happened!
Shisui Uchiha looked up blankly, unable to understand why Lord Hokage had interrupted Jin.
His words might have been a little extreme, but there did not seem to be anything wrong with them!
Law enforcers ought to have that sort of fearlessness toward power. Only then could they seek justice for the victims!
"Sorry."
After recovering from that state, Hiruzen Sarutobi looked apologetic, then turned to Jin and nodded in satisfaction.
"Jin, you're right. I agree with your views!"
Was this single-minded desire to seek justice for the victims not also a form of the Will of Fire?
If he could truly do it, whether he joined the Anbu no longer mattered.
Because someone like that would only follow the justice in his heart.
"But before that..." Hiruzen Sarutobi paused, his expression turning serious. "Can you tell me what justice is?"
He wanted to know how the boy defined justice.
There was no set standard for such a thing.
If he went down the wrong path, it would be troublesome.
What if this boy's idea of justice was leading his clan in a coup to overthrow the leadership?
Would that not be a disaster?
Over the years, factional divisions in Konoha had grown severe, suspicion between the village and the Uchiha Clan had deepened, and Shimura Danzō had constantly been scheming behind the scenes.
And Hiruzen Sarutobi was preparing to retire.
That made asking about his views on justice very important!
Put plainly, he was probing Jin's true nature and allegiances.
"There is no ambiguous justice in the Shinobi World, nor any hypocrisy that tolerates evil for the greater good."
Uchiha Jin responded after a moment of silence.
"What people call allegiances, clans, and the greater good have always been compromises made by the weak and excuses for the wicked to escape punishment."
"My understanding of justice is simple: punish evil and promote good. The guilty must be punished, and the wicked must die!"
"Protecting the village and preserving peace have never been about buying false stability through forbearance, compromise, and sacrificing the few. Tolerating those who usurp power and slaughter at will, allowing schemers to plot in the shadows, forgiving friends and clansmen who commit evil-these things may seem to maintain a balance, but in truth, they nurture hatred and brew even greater disasters!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression froze at those words.
He felt as though everything Jin had said toward the end had been directed at him.
Did this boy consider the village's Hokage an evildoer too?
"Good people deserve protection. The wicked do not deserve tolerance. The principle I follow as I walk the Shinobi World is to slay all who commit evil."
"With every evil eliminated, the Shinobi World gains a little more stability, and the innocent suffer a little less."
Uchiha Jin activated his Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
"No sacrifices, no compromises, no trading patient endurance for peace. Slaying every villain is the greatest Will of Fire; rooting out evil completely is the purest justice!"
"If a clan commits evil, I will punish that clan. If the leadership commits evil, I will execute the leadership."
"My justice does not favor the village or show partiality to a clan. It protects only the innocent and slays only the wicked."
Those words left Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shisui Uchiha rooted to the spot.
They had truly never imagined that Jin's idea of justice would be so insane.
What an extremist lunatic!
Hiruzen Sarutobi puffed away at his pipe, his pupils sharply contracting, and remained silent for a long time.
He admitted that Uchiha Jin's so-called justice overturned everyone's understanding.
Did such extreme justice truly align with the village's Will of Fire?
"Jin, your justice is too sharp, too absolute. There has never been absolute black and white in the Shinobi World. Indiscriminate killing will only breed more hatred."
Compared with those emotionally stable red-eyed freaks, he feared this madman who believed in absolute justice even more.
After all, by Jin's explanation, he himself was an evildoer.
Who knew whether this boy might one day draw his blade against him in the name of justice?
And so he began to consider persuading him otherwise.
According to the Second Hokage's research on the Uchiha Clan, an Uchiha with such firm convictions was even more dangerous.
No one could guarantee what he might do for those convictions.
That included, but was not limited to, destroying the village and turning his blade on its leadership. Even slaughtering his own clansmen was not beyond the realm of possibility.
The mental state of Uchiha clansmen was simply that unfathomable.
Otherwise, the Second Hokage would not have kept the Uchiha Clan under long-term surveillance.
"Kindness that allows evil to flourish is the greatest cruelty to its victims."
Uchiha Jin retorted coldly.
"Without slaying the wicked and righting wrongs, so-called peace and justice are nothing but a betrayal of the innocent."
"Third, if there's nothing else, I'll return to work."
With that, he turned and left under Hiruzen Sarutobi's conflicted gaze.
"Shisui, what do you think of Jin's views?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi kept puffing on his pipe, the curling smoke obscuring his expression.
In all these years.
This was the first time he had seen such an extreme Uchiha.
Fortunately, his views posed no threat to the village for now. Whether continuing to leave him unchecked would prove good or bad was uncertain.
"Lord Hokage..."
Shisui Uchiha opened his mouth, unsure where to begin.
He felt that Jin had changed greatly during the time since he had joined the Anbu.
It seemed he would have to find time to have a heart-to-heart with him.
"Never mind. You may go."
Seeing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi waved a hand, and Shisui Uchiha rose and left.
Only an aged old man remained in the office.
Jin's words had truly shaken him deeply.
"Absolute justice?"
"Then let me see how you uphold justice."
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