Chapter 120: How To Do It? Only Kill! The Anxious Daimyo of the Land of Fire (10,000-Character Chapter)
"Shizune, bring out the money we picked up last night."
Just as Shizune was lost in thought, Tsunade's sudden words startled her.
She quickly picked up the money bag from the ground and laid the bills out on the table one by one.
Shizune said, "Lady Tsunade, we followed Uchiha Chisen last night and picked up over forty-seven million ryo in cash. Fortunately, most of it was in large denominations of a thousand ryo or more, so it wasn't too much to carry."
"However..."
As she was about to open the money bag, Shizune immediately thought of something, paused her actions slightly, and hesitated, "Some of the cash has blood on it, Lady Tsunade, your hemophobia..."
Tsunade glanced at the bulging money bags.
She didn't let Shizune open them. Instead, she took a deep breath and said, "...Just leave one million ryo."
"Oh... Huh? Ah? Eh?!"
Shizune's expression couldn't quite be contained. She widened her eyes and looked at Tsunade as if she were a stranger.
"Lady Tsunade, you..."
"I haven't taken the wrong medicine."
Tsunade said, "There were seventy-nine children rescued from the basement yesterday. Over forty million ryo divided among seventy-nine children means each child only got a little over five hundred thousand ryo. This money should be enough to raise them properly from this age until they become adults."
Shizune: "!!!"
"Lady Tsunade, you're going to adopt them?!"
Shizune was indeed shocked.
Lady Tsunade, who was addicted to gambling, would surely have considered this over forty million ryo as her future gambling funds.
Going by past logic, if anyone dared to touch this money, Lady Tsunade would have punched them flying.
But Shizune hadn't expected that, without any external interference, Lady Tsunade herself would give this money away!
Tsunade rolled her eyes in exasperation and poked Shizune's cheek, scolding her like a disappointed parent, "When would I have the free time to raise so many brats? Of course, I'll send them to an orphanage! This money is for the orphanage to raise them well!"
Shizune covered her face and mumbled, "It does sound like a good deed, but with so much money... won't someone just pocket it?"
Before last night's events, Shizune wouldn't have dared to think so ill of people.
But after experiencing last night, Shizune couldn't help but instinctively assume the worst of others.
"What if..."
Shizune whispered weakly, "They encounter those scumbags who wanted to take advantage of the children's bodies again?"
Tsunade narrowed her eyes, the memories of last night flooding back.
A shadow fell over her beautiful eyes.
"Then I'll kill them!"
The moment Tsunade, one of Konoha's Legendary Sannin, spoke.
With a "crack," fine cracks appeared on the solid wood table she was supporting with one hand.
A deep palm print was seared into the sturdy, hard tabletop.
Shizune's heart tightened.
Ever since Lady Tsunade developed hemophobia, left Konoha, stopped concerning herself with ninja matters, and became addicted to gambling... Shizune hadn't seen Lady Tsunade so full of killing intent.
From the current Lady Tsunade, she saw a glimpse of the "Konoha's Princess Tsunade" whose name once echoed throughout the ninja world.
Why had Lady Tsunade changed like this?
As soon as this question popped into her mind, Shizune found the answer—it was because of Uchiha Chisen!
After Uchiha Chisen appeared in Tanzaku Town, after Uchiha Chisen revealed the evils of the ninja world to Lady Tsunade, after Uchiha Chisen demonstrated his Absolute Justice in front of Lady Tsunade.
Lady Tsunade seemed to have changed.
It was as if...
She had fallen less into self-degradation.
"Oh right, Shizune, where did that Uchiha brat and that Ninja Cat go?" Tsunade suddenly asked.
"Aren't they supposed to be leaving Tanzaku Town?"
Shizune replied, "That Ninja Cat named Kijiro said Uchiha Chisen was just passing through Tanzaku Town this time. They were carrying an S-rank ninja mission from the Hokage. I think they only came to Tanzaku Town last night to rest their feet."
"Heh, resting their feet by killing six hundred and fifty-nine people?"
Tsunade chuckled, "That brat definitely passed through Tanzaku Town on purpose. Leaving such a huge mess behind and leaving, it's the same as his behavior nine years ago, truly hasn't changed at all."
Shizune weakly corrected, "It was six hundred and forty people. Nineteen of them... were killed by you, Lady Tsunade, I couldn't stop you."
"Ahem!"
Tsunade cleared her throat and moved past the topic. She slowly stood up and said, "Let's go. We'll pick a suitable orphanage for the children. If we can't find a good orphanage, we'll bring all these children to Konoha."
"Given that old man's character, he definitely won't ignore so many war orphans. Hmm... maybe we can even save that over forty million ryo then."
Shizune: "..."
Tsunade-sama really knows how to milk the Hokage for all he's worth!
But isn't she just milking Konoha's money? And when you think about it, Tsunade-sama's grandfather was the First Hokage.
So what does this count as...
A grandson selling his grandfather's land without a second thought?!
...
Meanwhile.
In a dense forest not far from Tanzaku City.
A person and a cat, who had been moving rapidly through the forest, inexplicably slowed down and stopped.
And less than three seconds after they stopped, rustling sounds came from behind, until Gekko Hayate, looking somewhat out of breath, appeared before them.
"Hoo..."
"Gone?"
Even though Gekko Hayate was less than ten meters away from Uchiha Chisen, he looked around in confusion.
If anyone looked closely into his eyes, they would see that the deepest part of Gekko Hayate's pupils seemed to reflect the pattern of a Sharingan!
He thought his tracking skills were superb, but without him even realizing it, he had already fallen victim to Uchiha Chisen's genjutsu.
In a daze.
Gekko Hayate felt his head sink slightly. The sudden change made his pupils contract. Just as he immediately looked up, Uchiha Chisen, who had "inexplicably" appeared before him, made him take a step back in shock.
"Don't move, meow." A voice with a strange accent suddenly sounded from above Gekko Hayate's head.
It was at this moment that Gekko Hayate felt as if his temple was being pressed by a sharp blade.
"Meow, you guy... I remember you're that one from the Gekko Clan, right?"
Kijiro's voice sounded again: "That sickly Gekko Hayate?"
As a fluffy orange cat tail slowly dangled down and swung before Gekko Hayate's eyes.
Gekko Hayate immediately realized that above his head was a talking Ninja Cat!
Without his knowledge, Uchiha Chisen had already found out he was being tracked!
And...
Gekko Hayate felt that he had likely fallen victim to genjutsu just now!
Even the genjutsu from the Sharingan had not been dispelled yet!
As long as Uchiha Chisen made a move...
He could die in an instant.
"I... I have no ill intentions."
Although Gekko Hayate was sweating profusely, it wasn't because he had suddenly surrendered. It was because from the moment he had "quietly" started tracking, he had never harbored any intention of killing Uchiha Chisen.
Or rather...
He didn't have the guts.
Gekko Hayate looked directly at Uchiha Chisen before him, his myriad of complex thoughts turning into the courage to speak: "Uchiha Chisen, I just wanted to ask you one question. It's fine even if you don't want to answer, and it's fine even if you kill me in the next second. I just want to know, why must you judge sinners who do evil by 'killing' them?"
"Could it be..."
Gekko Hayate, who no longer had any blood relatives, clenched his fist. He looked directly into Uchiha Chisen's Three-Tomoe Sharingan: "Can't you use more reasonable methods? I don't have a problem with the justice you uphold, but... shouldn't justice choose a method that everyone can agree on?"
When he saw Uchiha Chisen walking towards him.
Gekko Hayate, who thought he had mustered enough courage, found himself still a bit timid...
Because as Uchiha Chisen got closer and closer, the fear that arose in his heart grew more and more intense.
He even felt a little afraid to meet the other's gaze.
Uchiha Chisen stood within a stone's throw of Gekko Hayate.
"Is your kindness and tolerance meant to be bestowed upon evil-doers?"
Uchiha Chisen's rather cold tone rang in Gekko Hayate's ears: "When an evil-doer kills an innocent person, what kind of method do you think should be used to make him receive the punishment he deserves? How do you think justice should be done so that the innocent victims can rest in peace in the afterlife?"
"Don't hold back, answer whatever you want."
Gekko Hayate froze in place.
He had come here only wanting to ask Uchiha Chisen why he couldn't spare his only blood relative at the time?
But every word from Uchiha Chisen's mouth, like thunder in his ears, prevented him from asking the question in his heart.
"The twisted and sick ninja world not only breeds a lot of evil, but it also makes many people numb to 'evil', and even unable to feel enough indignation towards that disgusting 'evil'."
As Gekko Hayate remained silent, Uchiha Chisen slowly said, "Before you question why justice had to kill your closest relative, why don't you think about what he did? Why don't you think about what your mother's state of mind and feelings were before she was killed by him?"
"Gekko Hayate, personally experience the despair of your mother dying at the hands of the son she loved the most... This is my [Absolute Justice], the answer to the doubts in your heart."
The moment Uchiha Chisen's indifferent voice fell.
Gekko Hayate suddenly realized that the scene before his eyes had changed drastically. He immediately understood that this was another Sharingan genjutsu!
The gap in strength between himself and Uchiha Chisen was too great.
He had fallen victim to genjutsu twice in a row without any warning.
Wait a minute...
Gekko Hayate suddenly found something was not quite right. He felt that the scene before his eyes looked somewhat familiar.
"This is... the Gekko Clan's territory?!"
The next second, he suddenly found his body moving uncontrollably.
No, this didn't seem to be his own body. It was more like his consciousness had possessed this body!
Then whose body was this?
"Mother, why?!"
A voice he knew all too well suddenly sounded from behind Gekko Hayate: "Just because Gekko Hayate is one year older than me, all the clan's resources have to favor him? Just because he's the eldest son, does the future of the Gekko Clan have to be entrusted to that sickly guy? Is he going to become the future clan head of the Gekko Clan?"
Gekko Hayate's eyes widened.
The voice behind him... was his younger brother, "Gekko Seisui," who had already died at the hands of Uchiha Chisen!
Then...
Was the body his consciousness had possessed his mother's body?
"He's just a sickly weakling! If the future of the Gekko Clan is entrusted to him, we'll never have a chance to avenge Father! Who knows if that sickly weakling will suddenly die? Have you forgotten that you have a husband-killer?!"
Behind him, "Gekko Seisui's" voice grew increasingly agitated.
Gekko Hayate fell silent upon hearing this.
His brother...
Did he really see his elder brother that way?
"Seisui."
A woman's voice rang out from the body Gekko Hayate was inhabiting: "Don't speak disrespectfully to your elder brother. While Hayate's body is frail, his talent is higher than yours, and his personality is much more stable than yours..."
"Seisui, you are too extreme and blinded by hatred. If the Gekko Clan were entrusted to you, with your personality, it would likely drag the entire Gekko Clan into the abyss before long."
Gekko Hayate recognized the voice as his mother's.
Wait...
Was this scene replaying the scene of his mother's death?!
"I'm sorry... Seisui. The position of the Gekko Clan's future clan head belongs to your elder brother, Hayate. It was decided long ago..."
—Bang!!!
A dull thud suddenly came from the back of his head. Gekko Hayate's eyes snapped wide open as he felt a blow to the back of his head as if it were his own.
His body tilted forward uncontrollably. An intense feeling of disbelief rapidly brewed in his chest. The rusty smell of blood began to flood his nostrils, and a warm, wet sensation spread from the back of his head.
Shock.
Bewilderment.
Confusion.
Sadness.
One after another, emotions erupted uncontrollably within Gekko Hayate's heart. He was certain these were not his own emotions. Were these... his mother's emotional fluctuations?
Gekko Hayate could now truly feel all the emotions his mother experienced in her final moments.
His mother couldn't understand why her second son had suddenly attacked and killed her.
His mother began to blame herself, wondering if she hadn't done enough.
His mother desperately wished she could see her child one last time before closing her eyes, wanting to say a few more words to him.
"Hk, hk, hk..."
"Gekko Seisui's" panting voice sounded from behind him: "This... this is all your fault... You never treated me as your own son, you unilaterally gave my future to that sickly ghost! You even forgot about avenging your husband! Someone like you doesn't deserve to be my mother!"
"Wait... wait, calm down, huff, I need to calm down. I have to hide your body, no one can find it... otherwise, I'm finished. Hk, hk... I can't bury it in Konoha Village, I have to bury it outside the village..."
Gekko Hayate once again felt his mother's emotional fluctuations. She had actually wanted to tell her second son, who had killed her, not to bury her body outside the village, because it would definitely be discovered.
Once discovered, the rest of her life would be ruined.
However, she could no longer speak.
At the moment of her complete death, his mother hadn't harbored any hatred towards her second son who had killed her!
At this moment.
Gekko Hayate became enraged. This rage instantly transformed into killing intent. His killing intent was not directed at Uchiha Chisen, but at Gekko Seisui, who had become irredeemably twisted!
He desperately wanted to sever the arms of Gekko Seisui that had killed his mother and ask him face-to-face why he had done it.
He even more desperately wanted to sever Gekko Seisui's head, to let this utterly twisted brother regain his senses in the underworld!
Next, Gekko Hayate, from his first-person perspective, "watched with his own eyes" as his younger brother carried their mother's corpse.
Taking advantage of the night, he used his Transparent Release Kekkei Genkai to secretly transport the body to the outskirts of Konoha.
He watched as his brother, with a ferocious expression, threw the body into a deep pit and buried it with handfuls of soil.
Until their mother's face was covered by the earth.
The memory from the Sharingan's genjutsu abruptly ended!
...
Gekko Hayate, tears streaming down his face, heard Uchiha Chisen's voice: "These are the memories of your brother and mother's bodies obtained by the Yamanaka Clan."
"You don't understand people like me who believe in [Absolute Justice]. Likewise... I don't understand people like you."
"I have answered your doubts about the ultimate means of achieving justice. Gekko Hayate, you should also tell me why you would bestow your kindness and tolerance upon a villain?"
With a "plop," Gekko Hayate, as if all strength had been drained from his body, collapsed onto his knees.
He looked down at his trembling hands.
Every word Uchiha Chisen spoke echoed in his ears.
He...
Found he couldn't answer at all!
That's right!
Why had he bestowed kindness and tolerance upon that kind of person?
Was it just because he was his brother?
Was it because of the close blood tie?
But... Seisui had become so twisted and pathological that he would even kill his own mother!
"I am terribly sorry!!!"
Gekko Hayate, tears and snot flowing uncontrollably, performed a perfect dogeza before Uchiha Chisen.
At this moment, although he still didn't understand why he had thought that way, he understood why Uchiha Chisen executed justice with such absolute methods.
If you ask how to punish those twisted villains?!
—It can only be through killing them!!!
...
Three days later.
Konoha Village.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, having been discharged from the hospital, hadn't regained much of his spirit, but the village's affairs, big and small, still required him, the Hokage of Konoha, to handle them.
Especially the mess Uchiha Chisen had stirred up in the village some time ago, which required him, the Hokage of Konoha, to personally investigate.
However, speaking of which, during the days Uchiha Chisen was away from Konoha, Sarutobi Hiruzen felt that the entire village had become much quieter, and Konoha had become more "peaceful."
It also allowed him to smoothly hold a funeral for Sarutobi Asuma.
In the past few days, although the Konoha Military Police Force had occasionally arrested criminals and thrown them in jail, at least no one had died.
And during the time Uchiha Chisen was in the village, he was merely warming up, killing one person a day.
Usually, it was several people a day, and at its peak, over ten people a day!
This had made the Konoha Funeral Hall's business incredibly brisk.
If one didn't know better, they would think Konoha was in a state of war!
However...
What Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't expect was that this rare period of peace and quiet didn't last long.
When an Anbu ninja rushed over to report some intelligence, Sarutobi Hiruzen almost bit the stem of his pipe to pieces.
"Hokage-sama!" the Anbu ninja said urgently, "Uzumaki Naruto... almost killed someone just now!"
"Cough... cough cough cough!!!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen choked, tears welling up in his eyes. After finally recovering, he looked at the Anbu ninja before him with disbelieving, slightly red eyes.
"What happened?!"
The Anbu ninja immediately replied, "Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke, following Uchiha Izumi, were 'executing justice' in Konoha Village. They discovered a criminal who had committed a crime. It seemed that the criminal's actions had angered Uzumaki Naruto, and Naruto stabbed the criminal in the abdomen with a kunai."
"Fortunately, Yamanaka Yoshinobu, the Anbu ninja monitoring Uzumaki Naruto, intervened in time. The criminal stabbed by the kunai only suffered serious injuries and was not killed by Uzumaki Naruto."
"However... Uchiha Izumi delivered the finishing blow, decapitating the criminal with one strike."
Sarutobi Hiruzen: "..."
Every word the Anbu ninja spoke made Sarutobi Hiruzen feel somewhat dazed.
What was going on? Why had Naruto become even more uncontrollable after Chisen left Konoha?
When Chisen was still in Konoha, Naruto wouldn't have dared to use a dangerous item like a kunai against a criminal, would he?
This matter involved the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, so Sarutobi Hiruzen had to set aside his official duties. He stood up, his old face grim, and said, "Take me to see."
"Yes, Hokage-sama!"
Soon.
Led by an Anbu ninja, Sarutobi Hiruzen arrived at the Nara Clan's compound.
He stood before the gates of the Nara Clan's compound.
Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't help but fall silent for a moment.
The events that transpired at the Konoha Hospital a few days ago flashed through his mind.
It was precisely the combined pressure from the Ino-Shika-Cho that had forced him to swallow his pride, causing many clan members to look at him, the Third Hokage, with peculiar expressions.
A barely perceptible gloom flickered across Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes.
However, he quickly concealed it.
"Hokage-sama."
"Hokage-sama."
Nara Shikaku and Yamanaka Inoichi, who were within the Nara Clan's compound, greeted Sarutobi Hiruzen in perfect unison.
It was as if they had already known that the Third Hokage would definitely come.
Sarutobi Hiruzen took a deep breath.
He nodded slightly at them.
Soon...
He saw Naruto, his face bruised and his hands stained with blood; he saw Sasuke with minor abrasions on his knees; he also saw Uchiha Izumi standing beside the two children; and Yamanaka Yoshinobu, who was monitoring the Jinchuriki from not far away.
Furthermore, he saw a corpse lying on the ground, and a ninja from the Yamanaka Clan was using a Yamanaka Clan secret technique on the body.
Sarutobi Hiruzen was about to reprimand Izumi—How did you watch these two children? How did you let them do something so dangerous? Is this how your and Chisen's so-called [Absolute Justice] allowed a child to almost become a murderer?
However, the very next second, he suddenly realized that this Uchiha girl was only twelve years old; she was also a child.
"Cough!"
After a dry cough, Sarutobi Hiruzen forced out a kind and gentle smile. He half-crouched down and said to Naruto, whose expression was dejected, "Naruto, Hokage-grandpa already knows. Can you tell Hokage-grandpa why you hurt that person?"
He thought the dejected look on Naruto's little face was a sign of guilt.
However...
Naruto, before his eyes, replied, "Hokage-grandpa! That guy was no different from a beast! This morning, Izumi-senpai said the Ninja Cat found a case, and could let me and Sasuke experience how [Absolute Justice] handles cases."
"Then we discovered that bastard beast... he actually... actually..." At this point, Naruto, filled with righteous indignation, found himself unable to describe it further.
Just then, Izumi's voice slowly sounded, "The criminal was a Konoha genin. He defiled his own daughter."
"Upon realizing that the Konoha Military Police Force ninjas were coming to arrest him, the criminal held his naked daughter by the neck with a knife, attempting to threaten the Konoha Military Police Force ninjas with his daughter's life."
"I had just used my Sharingan to control him when Naruto snatched a kunai from my ninja pouch and stabbed the criminal in the abdomen."
"The pain caused the criminal to break free from the genjutsu. He kicked Naruto over, and Sasuke went to help, only to be pushed down by him as well."
"The Anbu ninja responsible for monitoring Naruto stepped in to stop Naruto, who was gritting his teeth and trying to rush forward again."
"I severed the criminal's head with a single strike."
"Third Hokage, this is the cause, process, and result of the incident. Instead of questioning Naruto about why he hurt that person, you should be praising Naruto's sense of justice. He truly has excellent potential to believe in [Absolute Justice]."
After the girl's clear voice fell, the Yamanaka Clan ninja, who was responsible for examining the corpse's memories, also stood up.
The notebook in his hand recorded some of the criminal's transgressions.
The Yamanaka Clan ninja, whose eyes held a hint of gloom from having viewed memories that were too challenging to one's worldview and morality, also stood by Uchiha Izumi's side and said, "That's indeed how it happened."
"At the moment his crimes were exposed, he even intended to kill his own daughter, the one he defiled, trying to drag someone down with him."
Sarutobi Hiruzen: "..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen fell silent again. He also realized that his initial approach of questioning Naruto first was somewhat incorrect.
After all...
Who could have imagined that such a villain would emerge in Konoha Village again?
Logically, shouldn't such incidents have subsided a bit after Uchiha Chisen, who could see through the evil of others, was no longer in Konoha Village? Why does it feel like the pace has only slowed down slightly, with no signs of stopping at all?!
Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at the corpse covered in blood.
The expression on his old face was quite complex.
My Konoha...
What has happened to it?!
...
Meanwhile.
The border of the Land of Fire.
"Chisen... I didn't expect the Hokage to entrust you with transporting classified information." Morino Ibiki, whose appearance was extremely intimidating, had a complex expression on his face. He said, "We haven't seen each other in many years, have we? The last time we met, you were only eleven years old, and you handed over several criminals to me, telling me to use torture to pry open their mouths and make them confess their crimes."
"Later... after you became good friends with the Yamanaka clan, you no longer needed my harsh interrogations. By directly using the Yamanaka clan's secret techniques, you could learn about the hidden criminal secrets of those criminals."
Saying this, Morino Ibiki's gaze fell upon Kijiro again. "This Ninja Cat, isn't that the little tagalong who was by your side during the Third Shinobi World War?"
"You should speak respectfully even to a cat, meow! I am Lord Chisen's most capable assistant!"
Kijiro immediately retorted, "There's a difference between an assistant and a tagalong. The current tagalong is the newcomer, Uchiha Izumi!"
"Newcomer...?" Morino Ibiki showed a hint of confusion.
Kijiro said, "A newcomer who acknowledges Lord Chisen's [Absolute Justice], though a bit too green."
Morino Ibiki was somewhat surprised. "Acknowledges Chisen's [Absolute Justice]? Heh, interesting."
With his hands in his pockets, he looked at Uchiha Chisen and asked, "Chisen, are you finally done trying to go it alone?"
Uchiha Chisen replied, "With one person's [Absolute Justice] alone, it's impossible to eradicate all the evil in the entire shinobi world."
Morino Ibiki slowly exhaled, looked up at the blue sky, and murmured, "I really want to see what kind of shinobi world it would be if there were no evil, or rather, if evil were suppressed to a great extent..."
"Chisen, your actions in Konoha a while ago even reached me. Killing a former Jonin instructor, killing your only blood relative..."
"Hmph! Your conviction and capacity should have been admired by many like-minded people. Unfortunately, you're just too bad at expressing your emotions."
Uchiha Chisen said, "Whether they admire me or not, whether they believe in [Absolute Justice] or not, it doesn't matter to me. As long as they firmly believe that justice and fairness still exist in the shinobi world, that's enough."
Morino Ibiki sighed, "You're still such an idealist."
"That's right..."
"If not for idealism, who would persist in justice at all costs, even at the cost of their own life? I hope that when I return to Konoha, those old friends will still be alive!"
After muttering to himself, Morino Ibiki tucked the scroll containing the classified documents into his *bosom*, and suddenly asked Uchiha Chisen, "Are you heading back to the village now?"
Uchiha Chisen calmly replied, "I'm going to the Capital of the Land of Fire first."
Morino Ibiki was taken aback. "The Capital of the Land of Fire? Did the Hokage give you two ninja missions?"
Uchiha Chisen shook his head. "It's not a ninja mission."
"It's best if you don't get curious," Uchiha Chisen added. "The moment you ask for the truth, you might have to risk your life to stop me from going to the Capital of the Land of Fire."
Morino Ibiki narrowed his eyes, and various possibilities flashed through his mind, including some very bold speculations.
"Heh, forget it."
Morino Ibiki said, "Dying at the hands of an enemy is one thing, but dying at the hands of a fellow ninja is just too frustrating."
He did not indulge his curiosity.
Instead, he suppressed it.
...
Inside the Capital of the Land of Fire.
The Daimyo of the Land of Fire was starting to feel that something was not quite right. Regardless of whether Asuma and the others had succeeded, they should have sent a summoning beast back to report the current situation.
Didn't they send a summoning beast earlier to inform him that they were about to make their move?
Why, after several days, was there still no news?
The Daimyo of the Land of Fire paced back and forth in his chambers, agitated.
The food placed in the room had clearly gone cold, yet he hadn't touched any of it.
His anxiety caused a slight cold sweat to break out on his forehead.
Furthermore, the mission of the Twelve Guardian Ninja was to protect his personal safety as the Daimyo of the Land of Fire.
Without the protection of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire lived in constant fear every day.
He was afraid that one morning he would wake up and not see his young and beautiful concubines, but rather ninjas sent by an enemy country to assassinate him! He certainly didn't expect those samurai, who could only swing their katanas a few times, to be able to protect his personal safety!
Knock!
Knock!
Knock!
A faint knocking sound startled the Daimyo of the Land of Fire. Fortunately, a familiar voice came from outside: "Father... may I come in?!"
The Daimyo recognized it as his eldest son's voice.
While he breathed a slight sigh of relief, he tried his best to calm himself and said in a deep voice, "Enter!"
A young man with a short beard on his chin walked in. After respectfully bowing to the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, he got straight to the point and asked, "Father, has Kosuke's body... been brought back?!"
"..." The Daimyo of the Land of Fire's silence gave his eldest son the answer.
The eldest son asked in astonishment, "All eleven of the Twelve Guardian Ninja were dispatched, and they couldn't even bring back Kosuke's body? This..."
The Daimyo of the Land of Fire said in a deep voice, "It's not that they can't bring him back, it's just that we haven't received any news yet. Asuma and Kazuma's abilities... I trust them very much."
As these words were spoken...
Even the Land of Fire's Daimyo lacked a bit of confidence himself.
"Father, with Asuma and so many others going to Konoha Village, I'm afraid... it's not just to retrieve Kosuke's body, is it?"
The eldest son's question caused the Land of Fire's Daimyo to close his eyes and nod.
"I also told them to kill that murderer named Uchiha Chisen."
"They should have completed the mission. Perhaps they were just in too much of a hurry during their travels and didn't have time to send back word."
...
Konoha Village.
Sarutobi Hiruzen frantically found Naruto, but less than half an hour later, he silently returned to the Hokage Building.
He felt both relieved and worried.
He was relieved that Naruto's injuring of someone wasn't due to the Nine-Tails within him losing control.
He was worried that Naruto, for the sake of so-called justice, dared to stab a criminal in the abdomen at such a young age!
If the position had been slightly higher, piercing the heart, it would have been a killing!
Had [Absolute Justice] completely brainwashed him?
The question was, how many days had it only been?
Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't understand.
What was the difference between Konoha's decades of the [Will of Fire] and Uchiha Chisen's [Absolute Justice]? Why hadn't Naruto shown such resolve for the Will of Fire?
"Sigh!" Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed, feeling like ever since Uchiha Chisen had grown powerful, his life as Konoha's Third Hokage had been filled with daily troubles.
Suddenly.
The urgent knocking on the door made Sarutobi Hiruzen, who wanted some quiet time alone, frown deeply.
Suppressing a trace of annoyance, he had just said "Come in" when two Konoha ninja pushed open the door and filed in.
"Chishou? Kaneshi?"
Upon seeing the three dusty figures before him, Sarutobi Hiruzen's slightly furrowed brow relaxed. He forced a smile and said, "It seems you've completed the A-rank ninja mission I assigned you, but..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes flashed with surprise. "Why is Hayate missing?"
He had a bad feeling. After all, among the younger generation of the Gekko Clan who had been targeted by Uchiha Chisen, only Gekko Hayate remained!
If Gekko Hayate died during the ninja mission...
Then Sarutobi Hiruzen felt it would be difficult to explain to the Gekko Clan.
The Konoha ninja named "Chishou," panting lightly, said, "Hay... Hayate returned to Konoha a day after us."
This statement immediately relieved Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"Without losing any comrades, it means you completed this mission perfectly. Young people like you, sooner or later, will..."
Just as Sarutobi Hiruzen was about to deliver some perfunctory praise.
He was hastily interrupted by "Chishou," who had finally caught his breath: "Hokage-sama! The Land of Fire... something big has happened!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen felt another bad premonition. He clasped his hands behind his back and said in a deep voice, "Don't rush, speak slowly."
"Chishou" continued rapidly, "While returning to the village, the three of us passed through Tanzaku Town and found the entire town engulfed in flames. When we entered, we saw bodies everywhere! The number of bodies was no less than a hundred!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression instantly turned serious.
Tanzaku Town... this famous pleasure district of the Land of Fire was often frequented by many powerful figures.
If something happened here, it would definitely affect those powerful figures.
This was indeed a major event.
Chishou's expression couldn't hide his horror as he continued, "After simple investigation and inquiry in Tanzaku Town, we discovered that the perpetrator of this bloody massacre in Tanzaku Town... is Uchiha Chisen!"
"Hokage-sama! Uchiha Chisen massacred the entire Tanzaku Town! Too many people died! The hundred bodies were just our initial estimate; we don't know the exact number."
Sarutobi Hiruzen: "???"
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