Absolute Justice: Uchiha’s Crusade

Izumi followed cautiously behind Uchiha Keizumi, guilt weighing heavily on her shoulders. She hadn't been able to help at all that night.

She had wanted to charge into the circle of Root ninja just like Fugaku had—but not to stand on the Hokage's side against Keizumi-senpai. She wanted to fight for Keizumi-senpai.

But it was just wishful thinking. With her scrawny arms, short legs, and meager strength, there was no way she could break through the encirclement of elite ANBU.

Just not being a burden to senpai was already her limit.

When she looked up at Keizumi's profile, she noticed the two vivid trails of blood still staining his cheeks. Alarmed, she hurriedly fished out a delicately scented white handkerchief from her pocket.

She was just about to summon her courage and offer it to him…

When she suddenly heard footsteps approaching from behind.

"Tch…" came a scornful voice from the orange-furred ninja cat crouched on her shoulder. "Here comes that cat-repellent bastard. His stench alone makes my fur stand on end, nya."

Moments later, Fugaku's voice called out from behind: "Keizumi…"

Izumi's brow furrowed at once.

Tonight…

Her impression of Uchiha Fugaku had hit rock bottom. She couldn't fathom how, as clan head, he could choose to stand against senpai amid such conflict.

From behind, Fugaku saw that Uchiha Keizumi didn't stop walking—as if he hadn't heard him at all.

A flicker of helplessness flashed across his usually expressionless face.

"Keizumi," Fugaku called toward the figure ahead, his voice steady but weighted, "just like you, I don't want to see the future of the Uchiha end in the tragedy of a clan massacre."

"And the root of that tragedy... lies in the conflict between the village and the Uchiha Clan."

"The only way to prevent that tragedy is to eliminate the conflict beforehand. That's the peace I pursue as the head of the Uchiha Clan.

If I used your words... isn't that a form of justice too?"

Uchiha Keizumi's voice rang out slowly: "So you want me to accept your pathetic compromise and cowardice toward the evils of the shinobi world?"

"You calling that 'justice'—am I supposed to keep a straight face?"

He added coldly, "I almost laughed."

Fugaku fell silent.

It was clear now—someone like Keizumi, who followed an extreme path of Absolute Justice, would never understand his ideals.

Uchiha Keizumi paid him no further mind.

He continued walking on his own.

Izumi quickly followed behind, carrying Tachibana Jirō in her arms.

Through the system notifications from his golden finger, Uchiha Keizumi could tell exactly how many Sharingan Danzō had burned through in order to survive by using the secret technique Izanagi.

Tonight, four total death notifications had appeared, each marking a moment when Danzō was 'killed'.

Two of those deaths had come from Keizumi's own Lava Release.

The other two were certainly caused by the Heaven's Punishment Flame.

But after the second flame kill, the notifications stopped.

That meant Danzō had found some way to evade the Heaven's Punishment Flame.

However, such evasion could never truly free him from it.

Danzō had already been deeply marked by the Mangekyō Sharingan—

Every single second, he would pay the price for his sins.

Keizumi could vaguely sense the position of the brand.

Danzō's soul would be burned for eternity.

Whether in life or death, whether in the shinobi world or the Pure Land, there would be no escape from this soul-searing torment.

"Uchiha Izumi."

Keizumi's voice startled her. She flinched as she clutched the handkerchief in her hand.

She immediately shouted, "Yes!!"

Uchiha Keizumi asked calmly: "If one day I give you the chance to personally kill Shimura Danzō—Would you dare raise your blade of justice against a former high-ranking official of Konoha?"

Izumi didn't hesitate in the slightest.

"I would!!!"

Then, she heard Keizumi-senpai say something she didn't quite understand: "You'd best be prepared in advance. The unspeakable evil that clings to Danzō—like a rotting dragon's hoard—is exactly the kind of 'treasure' [Absolute Justice] needs."

Uchiha Keizumi glanced at the visibly uneasy girl beside him, his tone utterly emotionless.

"Whether the new seedling of [Absolute Justice] can grow strong… depends on what you manage to extract from that dragon's hoard."

In Keizumi's eyes, Danzō's nature had changed.

If he could die at the hands of the new seedling of [Absolute Justice], that alone would be the only worthwhile contribution he ever made to the shinobi world.

Only now did Izumi begin to realize something.

"Senpai… Danzō is still alive?"

Uchiha Keizumi replied, "Barely clinging to life through a few petty tricks. But more than likely, he's worse off than dead—completely crippled."

Izumi muttered, as if grasping the implication, "Then… he'll never be able to commit evil again…"

Keizumi suddenly asked, "Rookie. A criminal undergoing unending torture, completely incapable of further harm—do you think justice still needs to eliminate someone like that?"

Izumi flinched. She realized Keizumi-senpai was testing her.

"Yes. It has to be done!"

She nodded firmly, her young face serious and resolute. "If we don't kill evildoers, we can't bring justice to the innocent! We're only enforcers of justice—we don't have the right to forgive on behalf of the victims!"

"Correct. You barely qualify as a believer of [Absolute Justice]," Keizumi said.

Uchiha Keizumi never withheld praise.

Even if his voice was cold as ice.

…

At that very moment—

Having finally breathed a sigh of relief, Sarutobi Hiruzen did not return to the Sarutobi compound. Instead, he made his way straight to the Konoha ANBU base.

An ANBU operative had told him that Danzō had been brought there—but his condition was… off.

As soon as Hiruzen stepped inside, he heard faint, tortured screams echoing through the halls.

The voice sounded strangely familiar.

When he reached a sealed chamber, Hiruzen froze completely.

Because what he saw… was 0.5 of a Danzō.

At that moment, Danzō looked as though he was enduring a pain beyond human comprehension. His entire body was bound tightly to a hospital bed by thick restraints.

Sarutobi Hiruzen had never seen Danzō in such a pitiful state. The Wood Release cells and Sharingan that had been transplanted into his body seemed to have completely lost their function, offering no escape from the agony wracking him.

From the sound of it, Danzō had probably been screaming in torment for a long time.

His voice was nearly gone.

"Hokage-sama, we still don't know what exactly is happening to Shimura Danzō," one of the ANBU whispered. "We may need to call in the medical corps for a closer look."

"Our current guess is that this has something to do with Uchiha Keizumi's ocular jutsu. And for some unknown reason, several of the Sharingan implanted in Danzō's arm have closed."

Sarutobi Hiruzen fell silent.

A chill crept down his spine.

This ANBU might not know the secret behind the Sharingan's Izanagi, but as the Third Hokage, Hiruzen certainly did.

He was almost certain that Danzō had used Izanagi multiple times tonight.

And yet—even a forbidden technique of the Uchiha clan could not free him from the twisted powers of Uchiha Keizumi's Mangekyō Sharingan?

What if Keizumi turned that power on him?

Would he, Sarutobi Hiruzen, have any means of escaping such torment?

The unsettling thought surfaced in his mind before he could stop it.

Staring at Danzō—now little more than a broken husk—Hiruzen suddenly felt that death might, in fact, be a relief. An end to the suffering. A clean escape.

He exhaled heavily, then gave a grave order: "Summon the most skilled medics from the medical corps. Now."

"Yes, Hokage-sama!"

Just as the ANBU turned to leave, Hiruzen suddenly called out, remembering something.

"Wait. Call for Itachi as well. His understanding of the Sharingan surpasses all of ours. He might know how to resolve this."

Hiruzen felt that he had done all he could for Danzō.

If Danzō didn't survive this, then so be it. Hiruzen would use his death as a way to placate the bloodline limit clans of the village—after all, Danzō's actions had left many of them in a state of fear and unrest.

This too… was for Konoha.

…

A dozen or so minutes later.

Led by an ANBU operative, several elite medical-nin from Konoha's medical corps arrived at the secret chamber within the ANBU base.

"This is…"

One of them narrowed their eyes in shock, instantly recognizing the man lying on the bed in such a dire state—Shimura Danzō.

"Can he be healed?"

The sudden voice made the medical-nin snap their heads around.

"Hokage-sama!"

Only then did they realize in shock that the Hokage had been standing in a shadowed corner of the chamber all along.

One of the medical-nin quickly responded, "We need to examine Danzō-sama's condition before we can determine a treatment plan. Hokage-sama, forgive me for asking… what exactly happened to him?"

"Sharingan ocular jutsu."

Sarutobi Hiruzen's voice was grave. "Is it possible to eliminate the negative effects caused by this Uchiha technique?"

The medical-nin exchanged uncertain glances.

"We can only try," one finally said. None of them dared to offer a definitive answer—after all, the damage inflicted by a Sharingan's jutsu wasn't limited to the body. A vague reply was all they could manage.

Before long, footsteps echoed again through the chamber of the ANBU base.

The newcomer was none other than Uchiha Itachi—wearing his ANBU mask.

He spared a quick glance at the group of medical-nin before letting his eyes rest for two seconds on what remained of Shimura Danzō's broken body.

Then, turning to Sarutobi Hiruzen, he offered a respectful nod. "Hokage-sama."

Itachi spoke first: "Danzō-sama… he was affected by Uchiha Keizumi's Mangekyō Sharingan technique, wasn't he?"

Itachi hadn't been present when the ANBU had surrounded Uchiha Keizumi. With his name already disgraced within Konoha, it wouldn't have been appropriate for him to appear in public—especially when so many members of the Uchiha clan were at the scene.

Had he shown himself then, the Uchiha Police Force might have sparked a direct conflict with him.

Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded. "Itachi, you try as well. See if you can find a solution."

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

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