"Eh? A ninja mission?!"
"And it's an S-rank one at that!"
Izumi hadn't expected Hokage to assign Uchiha Keizumi an S-rank mission.
After all, since graduating from the Ninja Academy, the highest-level missions she'd ever been exposed to were C-rank. S-rank missions were sothing that only existed in legends to a genin like her.
"ow, Keizumi-sama, let go with you!"
Tachibana Jirō volunteered without hesitation. "The rookie has grown—barely. She might not be able to operate independently yet, but when it cos to dealing with low-level criminals, her skills are more than enough."
"Perfect timing, too. While she's dealing with the small fry, she can bring those two brats along for so real experience. That way they'll develop a deeper understanding of [Absolute Justice], ow!"
Izumi chid in quietly, "Tachibana Jirō-senpai… you just don't want to babysit the kids, do you?"
The cat's eyes widened in mock shock as it stared at her. "Who are you and what have you done with the real Izumi, ow?!"
"…???"
Tachibana Jirō tilted his head, frowning. "Usually it's only and Keizumi-sama who can read your thoughts. How co you're reading mine now?"
Izumi's mouth twitched. "…You sure admitted that fast."
"Jirō, you're coming with ," Uchiha Keizumi said coldly. "Uchiha Izumi, you'll stay in Konoha and continue executing justice. If you encounter any Red-Na criminals beyond your capabilities, mark them down—I'll deal with them myself."
"[Absolute Justice] isn't blind justice that sends you rushing off to die. Rember to keep yourself alive. There are still countless innocent victims who need you to stand up for them."
She instinctively felt that Keizumi-senpai wasn't expressing concern—he was simply stating cold, logical fact.
Still, Izumi couldn't help but feel… cared for.
She imdiately responded, "Understood, Senpai!"
"Jirō, we're going."
"ow? You're not going to make any preparations?"
"No need."
...
As the central figure behind several recent controversies in Konoha…
The mont Uchiha Keizumi stepped out through the village gates, news of his sudden departure began spreading like wildfire.
"Keizumi left the village?" In the Uchiha compound, Uchiha Setsuna furrowed his brows, montarily baffled.
"I heard he went to the Hokage's office before he left," a radical mber of the Uchiha clan reported. "Not long after that, he departed from Konoha."
Setsuna's frown deepened. He was desperate to figure out what Uchiha Keizumi was up to this ti.
Every ti he recalled his grandson's brutal death at Keizumi's hands…
That seething desire for revenge would begin boiling up again.
"Keep digging," Setsuna muttered, narrowing his eyes. "If possible, tail him—find out where he's headed."
"Yes, Elder Setsuna!"
...
"Keizumi has left the village…"
In the Police Force office, Fugaku couldn't help but take a deep breath. He stood up and looked out the window, muttering to himself, "Hokage-sama has finally unleashed this vicious tiger."
To be honest, Keizumi leaving the village… was a relief to Fugaku.
Because as long as Keizumi stayed in Konoha, he would stir up more trouble—and the Uchiha clan would always be at risk of being dragged into the ss.
However—
When Fugaku recalled what his eldest son, Uchiha Itachi, was planning to do, he suddenly felt hesitant about letting Uchiha Keizumi leave the village.
"Keizumi… he's the only one capable of making Itachi hesitate. If he's not in Konoha, then what cos next... could it really lead the Uchiha clan toward that tragic future?"
Fugaku rubbed his brow, expression deeply conflicted.
...
Inside the Hokage Office—
Upon hearing the news, Koharu rushed over from the Root base in a hurry.
"Hiruzen, do you have any idea what it ans to let Uchiha Keizumi out into the world?"
Her eyes bore into Hiruzen as she spoke in a low, grave voice: "Don't forget—he had the guts to kill even the Daimyō's second son! If he encounters any nobles out there, what do you think will happen?"
"You know perfectly well how those nobles treat ordinary people. In Uchiha Keizumi's eyes—under that extre [Absolute Justice] of his—most of the Fire Country's nobility deserve to die."
"You already failed to explain the death of the Daimyō's son. What will you do if more people end up dead?"
It was true that Koharu had always disliked Uchiha Keizumi.
She saw [Absolute Justice] as a thorn in Konoha's side—sothing dangerous and intolerable.
But even so, she understood clearly: only by keeping Keizumi confined within Konoha could [Absolute Justice] be kept under control. At the very least, they could prevent that dangerous ideology from spreading throughout the entire Land of Fire.
Without saying a word, Hiruzen handed her a docunt—a scroll bearing the seal of the Daimyō.
He spoke slowly, "This ca from the Daimyō himself. He already knows his son died in Konoha."
Koharu froze in place.
...
"Looks like I can finally take so ti off…"
With his usual dead-fish eyes, Kakashi let out a sigh of relief. So long as Uchiha Keizumi wasn't in the village, he wouldn't be able to approach Uzumaki Naruto—aning Kakashi no longer had to keep watch over the boy.
"Uchiha Keizumi, huh?" Beside him, Might Guy stroked his chin, then suddenly flashed a grin so dazzling it nearly blinded Kakashi.
"Justice! Youth! Passion! Don't you think it fits, Kakashi?"
"I've heard a lot of stories about him. Sure, so of his actions are a bit extre, but isn't that just another form of burning youthful spirit?"
He slapped Kakashi on the shoulder with fiery enthusiasm.
Kakashi winced in pain, eyelid twitching uncontrollably.
Guy, still brimming with energy, exclaid, "Kakashi! Why not quit the ANBU and co join in the baptism of youth?!"
Ever since Kakashi had joined the ANBU, his deanor had grown darker and more withdrawn.
Might Guy had always wanted to drag him out of that gloom—he'd even brought it up with the Third Hokage, asking to join the ANBU himself so he could be assigned to a team with Kakashi.
Of course…
That request had been politely rejected.
After all, putting a man who shouted about hot-blooded youth into the ANBU might just change the whole "vibe" of the unit soday.
"Sigh…"
Kakashi suddenly felt that this guy was even more troubleso than Uchiha Keizumi instilling [Absolute Justice] in the jinchūriki.
...
Outside Konoha.
Sowhere in the wilderness—
A ninja crow flapped its wings and landed on a shinobi's shoulder. In a sharp, piercing voice, the bird spoke human words: "Uchiha Keizumi has left the village! Uchiha Keizumi has left the village! He's headed this way! He's headed this way!"
"Tch. So it's finally happening…"
Kazuma stood up from his cross-legged position on the ground, flexed his wrists, then rolled his ankles. As he brushed his fingers across his tool pouch, a sinister glint flashed in his eyes.
"Asuma, don't drag down."
Asuma stubbed out his cigarette and replied in a low voice, "I want to kill him even more than you do. So spare the useless talk."
"Asuma," Chiriku suddenly asked from beside him, "if things go wrong… will we have backup? Uchiha Keizumi doesn't know much about us, but we don't know much about him either. This operation is extrely risky."
"No."
Asuma shook his head. "The old man doesn't know about this mission. Even if he senses sothing's happening outside the village and sends ANBU to investigate… by the ti they arrive, it'll all be over."
His expression turned stern. "Everyone—get ready!"
[Whoosh—]
Two figures—one large, one small—sped through the dense forest outside Konoha. Their movent was so fast that even a tokubetsu jōnin would struggle to catch a glimpse.
Tachibana Jirō suddenly slowed down a little.
A wealth of emotion played across the furry face of the ninja cat. It turned toward Uchiha Keizumi and said, "Keizumi-sama, sothing feels… off. It's not completely silent around us, but the way the sounds are behaving... sothing's not right."
Tachibana Jirō had followed Uchiha Keizumi through the Third Great Ninja War—had crawled through blood-soaked battlefields and lived to tell the tale.
Its instincts were screaming now, telling it that danger was near.
Its wary eyes scanned the surroundings carefully, but it found nothing out of place.
"…ow? Was I mistaken?!"
"No, you weren't."
Keizumi's speed dropped slightly as well. A few breaths later, he ca to a full stop—and Tachibana Jirō imdiately followed suit.
Uchiha Keizumi gazed calmly ahead.
Though his Sharingan was not active, his eyes seed to pick up on sothing invisible to normal sight.
He raised one hand and lightly rested it on the hilt of his ninjatō.
Then he said sothing that made Tachibana Jirō's fur stand on end.
"Looks like soone wants to kill outside the village—without the Third Hokage's knowledge."
The cat's thoughts of "foreign spies" were instantly dispelled.
Because that particular detail—'without the Third Hokage's knowledge'—spoke volus.
There was no way the enemy could be outsiders.
"Keizumi-sama, who is it?" Tachibana Jirō asked, every strand of fur now standing on end in alarm.
"Not 'who.' They."
Keizumi's voice remained cold. "Sarutobi Asuma, Chiriku, Kazuma… all elite jōnin. Tch. They really are taking seriously. The entire Twelve Guardian Ninja—out in force. Well, minus the one I already killed—Nauma."
And just as those words left Keizumi's mouth, a strange noise suddenly echoed from all directions.
Countless razor-thin steel wires shot out from impossible angles, snapping through the air to form a massive web, attempting to ensnare Uchiha Keizumi!
At that sa instant, the killing intent hidden in the shadows could no longer be concealed.
Three figures appeared on the treetops from three separate directions—forming a loose triangle around Keizumi.
Three of the Twelve Guardian Ninja were the first to reveal themselves. Each one stood atop a cluster of steel wires, with countless more wires spreading outward and intertwining midair.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Binding Fang Technique!!!"
Without so much as a word of warning, the three swiftly ford hand seals and shouted in unison.
In an instant—
Blinding arcs of lightning surged through the wires, forming a vast web of electricity that crashed down upon Uchiha Keizumi like a tidal wave.
Within a 100-ter radius centered on Keizumi and Tachibana Jirō, everything was consud by a blazing net of thunderous arcs!
Each jagged bolt slashed downward like the fangs of a ravenous beast. Where the lightning raged, even towering trees were instantly reduced to splinters by its destructive power!
And at that exact mont, six more figures appeared at once.
Leading them was Kazuma—alongside five more of the Twelve Guardian Ninja.
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