Fortunately, there would still co a day when the suffering ended and sweetness followed. As long as [Absolute Justice] was carried out thoroughly across the Land of Water, the country could be reborn—and when that day ca, it would also be ti for her, a butcher with blood on her hands, to step down after her mission was complete.
Uchiha Chizumi stared into i Terumi's eyes for a long mont. Even under the gaze of those blood-red pupils, i didn't flinch or look away in the slightest. She was in pain, but she had already prepared herself to sacrifice everything.
"Summoning Jutsu!" Uchiha Chizumi, after a long ti, called forth the Slug Sage—this ti summoning an ultra-colossal slug in one go, several tis larger than a tailed beast. Standing on Kirigakure's soil, it looked like a real hill.
"Chizumi-sama, what are your orders?" The gigantic slug extended its feelers and "looked" around. It had been a long ti since a contractor had summoned it at such an enormous size, and it felt a little unaccustod.
In truth, every slug in Shikkotsu Forest was a part of the Slug Sage. But because their sizes differed, so did their "personalities"—and naturally, the way they carried themselves when speaking with a contractor also differed.
"Slug Sage. She has volunteered to carry out [Absolute Justice] in the Land of Water in my place. I want you to help supervise the execution of justice," Uchiha Chizumi said. He wouldn't simply "let it go" just because he chose to trust i—that wasn't how justice should work.
"I see. How would you like to do that?" The slug's feelers twitched slightly, curious as it "looked" toward i.
It agreed with Chizumi's ideals, but its millennia of experience had taught it this: people who could truly accept [Absolute Justice] were exceedingly rare. Even those who kept themselves clean were few—let alone those who accepted the creed and still made up their minds to follow it.
A self-motivated follower like Uchiha Izumi was already extraordinarily rare. It hadn't expected the Land of Water to produce humans who not only agreed, but were willing to follow Chizumi-sama as well.
"I want you to split into enough small slugs to replace my eyes—so Kirigakure's shinobi can carry them as they cleanse the evil entrenched in this land!" Chizumi gazed out at Kirigakure through the curtain of rain. Granted, a large part of the infamy of the "Bloody Mist" could be blad on Uchiha Obito.
But even before Obito arrived, the Land of Water's shinobi had already been notorious for bloodshed and brutal thods—so much so that it had produced monsters like the first generation of the Seven Ninja Swordsn, lunatics who killed for fun.
That alone showed how deeply rooted evil was in this land. So no matter how resolute i appeared, Chizumi would not lightly place everything in her hands.
"Understood. I will cooperate fully."
The slug's imnse body slowly rippled, splitting into several hundred pillow-sized little slugs. Three of them crawled onto the shoulders of Genji, i, and Ao respectively.
i and Ao both stiffened like boards, yet they didn't dare voice the slightest objection as they watched the little slugs climb onto them.
On the battlefield, no matter what terrifying enemy she faced, i would never feel fear. But this slug represented Uchiha Chizumi's will. Even if her instincts as a woman rejected a soft-bodied creature like this, she didn't dare show even a hint of disgust.
"Please bear with it a little. I'll try not to touch you," the small slug on i's shoulder said softly, as if sensing her discomfort.
"You can talk?!" i glanced at the slug on her shoulder, a little shaken. She had assud it was simply the giant slug's offspring—at most, a living "eye" for Chizumi. She hadn't expected it to possess the ability to think and communicate.
Good thing she found out now. Otherwise, if soone tried to pull sothing later and the slugs saw it, the opportunity she had fought so hard to secure—having Kirigakure carry out [Absolute Justice]—would go straight down the drain.
"Long ti no see, Katsuyu-sama," Genji greeted, his expression complicated, before Katsuyu could answer. Then he spoke as if introducing her—or reminding i and Ao of sothing: "Katsuyu-sama is the summoning beast of Konoha's Princess Tsunade. Each little slug is effectively a clone of Katsuyu-sama."
Compared with younger-generation shinobi like i and Ao, Genji—who had lived since the Warring States era—clearly knew far more about Konoha.
"That's right. All slugs are —though different slugs can have different personalities, you know~" The little slug on Genji's shoulder was noticeably more lively, its tiny feelers trembling nonstop.
i forced a strained smile. Genji's words were clearly ant as a warning to her and Ao. This old man might not have the decisive ruthlessness of past Mizukage—or of i herself—but he was still a pillar of Kirigakure.
"Go. Gather every Kirigakure shinobi you believe can enforce justice, and bring them here!" Only after Katsuyu finished exchanging greetings did Uchiha Chizumi look at i. Under the gaze of those blood-red eyes, i felt as if she'd been pricked by needles, her whole body trembling slightly. "The Slug Sage will take the place of my eyes and watch as [Absolute Justice] descends upon this nation!"
"…Yes, Chizumi-sama!" After a mont of silence, i took a deep breath and answered firmly.
At this point, there was no room left for regret. Compared with letting Chizumi unleash a massacre across the Land of Water and completely shatter Kirigakure's future, i would rather shoulder even more infamy—because that way, the Land of Water and Kirigakure might still have a chance to endure.
Watching i and Ao's figures gradually fade into the rain, Genji sighed quietly. Then he bent at the waist and spoke to Chizumi in a slightly humble tone. "This isn't a place to talk. Why not co to my humble ho and speak there? What do you say, my lord?"
"There is no need." Chizumi glanced at the white status box above Genji's head. Over a long life, this elder of the Land of Water could hardly be called spotless—yet he was still marked in white, and his "evilness" was even slightly lower than i's, who had once injured civilians by mistake.
—Given Kirigakure's environnt and Genji's status, that was practically a miracle.
Though [Absolute Justice] allowed not the slightest compromise, every one of Genji's recorded cris was followed by a record of restitution—most had even earned the victims' forgiveness. Reaching that point was, at least, comndable.
Since arriving in the Land of Water, Chizumi had seen far too many people who were barely human. Even he couldn't help but regard Genji a little differently—and his normally cold tone softened just slightly.
"Thank you for your understanding," Genji said, looking at Chizumi with mild surprise. He had seen countless proud, arrogant Uchiha. He'd assud Chizumi-sama would be a second Uchiha Madara—yet it seed the reality was not quite that.
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