Fugaku was, after all, the current head of the Uchiha clan. However resentful the Uchiha shinobi behind him might be, they could only fall silent when faced with their clan head's severe tone.
"Danzo-sama."
Before turning away, Fugaku said in a low, restrained voice, "The Uchiha clan has no designs on the village. There is no need for the village to keep distrusting us."
With that—
Without giving Danzō a chance to speak, Fugaku clenched his teeth and left, leaving behind only the sight of his receding back.
Fugaku let out a silent sigh.
He knew he had backed down yet again—and in front of so many clansn. Worse, this retreat might leave Uchiha Chizumi isolated and without support.
Yet Fugaku believed that if he did not back down, the rift between the village and the Uchiha would beco impossible to nd.
The village already distrusted the Uchiha.
If they now clashed violently with the Root shinobi…
Could the Uchiha still remain in Konoha?
"I'm sorry, Chizumi…" Fugaku looked up at the full moon and murmured, "I'm doing this for the bigger picture. As long as the Uchiha can coexist peacefully with the village, I will shoulder whatever bla or infamy cos our way."
In Fugaku's eyes, the situation was clear:
The Uchiha seed strong, but compared with the whole village they were rely a mantis trying to stop a cart.
"I am doing this only to protect the Uchiha clan."
So of the guilt in his eyes faded.
…
"Hmph, Uchiha…" Danzō's gaze grew ever more sinister, though he was not irrational enough to try to detain Fugaku by force.
"Danzo-sama, the Hokage's party has returned!" a Root shinobi suddenly reported.
Danzō started. "So soon?!"
After only a few minutes of waiting, Sarutobi Hiruzen indeed returned to the village with a squad of Anbu.
"Hmm?"
Sothing felt off to Danzō: many Anbu were carrying "corpses" on their backs.
Even that old monkey himself was holding a "corpse."
So many dead!
In the moonlight his eyes moved from body to body, yet he did not see the hated face he most wanted to find.
Most of the dead wore Anbu gear; a few looked like researchers. Their deaths were grueso—many bodies were missing parts, torn to pieces.
Danzō also caught a faint sll of burnt flesh.
"Hiruzen, where is Uchiha Chizumi?!" Danzō's brow furrowed deeply as he blurted the question.
Sarutobi Hiruzen lifted his eyelids and glanced at Danzō, then walked straight past him without a word, ignoring every Root shinobi as though they were air.
Danzō's temper flared.
"Hiruzen!"
"Danzo-sama," an Anbu suddenly blocked his way and said quietly, "The Hokage has just suffered the loss of his son. Please do not disturb him."
Loss of his son?
Danzō's pupils contracted.
So the corpse in that monkey's arms was Sarutobi Shinnosuke? The Hokage's eldest son was dead—killed by Uchiha Chizumi?
Danzō's breathing quickened.
That was a blood feud. Surely the old monkey had already ordered the Anbu to kill Chizumi in revenge?
"As for Uchiha Chizumi…" the Anbu hesitated, then added, "He left the secret research facility and should be back in the village by now. Maybe he couldn't be bothered to use the main gate and just scaled the wall."
Danzō froze.
"What do you an?"
His sinister eyes were full of disbelief; the surge of emotion twisted his aged face. He gnashed his teeth and demanded, "Are you saying… Hiruzen let that innately evil Uchiha brat go? Even after that brat killed his eldest son?"
"Yes," the Anbu replied flatly.
Danzō was stunned.
He knew the monkey was old now, long past his forr ambition and full of hesitation.
But he never imagined the fool would still waver when faced with his son's murderer!
How could he let the killer go?
Was he a saint?!
"Hiruzen!" Danzō could no longer restrain himself. Face dark with fury, he nearly burst into profanity but forced himself to shout instead at Hiruzen's back: "What are you thinking? That inherently evil Uchiha brat killed your son—and so many Anbu! And you still want to keep such a scourge in the village?!"
He simply could not understand.
Sarutobi Hiruzen paused.
"I…"
He clenched his teeth so hard blood seeped from his gums as he looked down at Shinnosuke's face.
"I… am upholding Shinnosuke's final Will of Fire. He did not want to see the village, in the absence of external enemies, destroy itself through internal strife.
"That is his dying wish.
"I…" Hiruzen drew a deep breath. "I must fulfill it. And Uchiha Chizumi… Uchiha Chizumi did not kill the wrong people—that was Shinnosuke's own judgnt."
Danzō stared, wondering if his ears were failing with age.
He thought Shinnosuke must have gone mad—and Hiruzen, crazed with grief, had gone mad as well.
Damn it…
Was anyone in Konoha still sane?
…
Elsewhere
Having followed Uchiha Chizumi back to the village, Izumi dragged her exhausted body toward the Uchiha compound. Partway there the two had parted ways.
"Ah, I'm so tired…"
Walking the dim streets, she felt utterly spent—body and soul.
She had lost count of how many people Chizumi‑senpai had killed that night. When that rain of magma fell, surely almost no one in the secret facility survived.
Even the Hokage's eldest son had been killed.
So this is "Absolute Justice," huh…
Even the Hokage's son enjoys no privilege before justice.
"Maybe… that's why, no matter how tired I am, I still grit my teeth and try to keep up with him."
She was muttering to herself when she almost bumped into a tall figure.
Luckily she reacted in ti and stepped back.
Looking up hurriedly, she blurted, "Clan Head Fugaku?"
Fugaku stopped as well; he recognized the young Uchiha.
"Izumi?"
Realizing sothing, he asked, "Has Chizumi returned?"
Izumi answered quickly, "Chizumi‑senpai should already be ho."
"…I see." Fugaku let out a breath of relief.
Chizumi was alive—he had co back.
Another pang of guilt struck Fugaku.
…
At the sa ti
Back ho, Uchiha Chizumi turned his attention to the last "legacy" left by his forr jōnin instructor, Sarutobi Shinnosuke—the "loot" dropped from slaying those red‑nad villains.
~~~
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