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NAJ Chapter 80: The Moment Naruto Chose
🕑 Added 2025-07-12 20:18:47 +0000 UTC“Why was the Uchiha clan forced to relocate to this remote compound? Wasn’t it because of your weakness as clan head?”
“Faced with the village’s constant pressure, your response was to keep retreating. When confronted by the higher-ups of Konoha, you chose to become their obedient lapdog. And when the clan grew restless, you turned on your own people, loudly questioning why they disobeyed, why they ignored your efforts, why they ruined your plans…”
Keizumi’s voice was flat and cold. “You’re the head of the Uchiha clan. I don’t care enough to interfere with your decisions. I have no interest in whether the balance between the village and the Uchiha exists or not. I don’t interfere with you, and you don’t interfere with me.”
“Otherwise… I’ll have no choice but to see you as an obstacle to Absolute Justice. And anyone who stands in the way of Absolute Justice—I will treat them as an enemy of justice.”
Fugaku’s pupils tightened slightly, and the muscles in his face grew tense.
In that moment, he sensed it—there was a flicker of killing intent in Keizumi’s eyes.
And this was the first time Fugaku had ever heard, directly from Keizumi himself, what the young man truly thought of him.
Weak… a roadblock…
So that’s how Keizumi saw him?
Did that mean his thoughts were no different from those of the radical Uchiha?
Fugaku had always believed Keizumi was a unique kind of Uchiha.
Someone who thought differently from the radicals.
Sigh.
Maybe it was Keizumi’s past actions that had given him the wrong impression—had made him see the boy through rose-colored lenses.
Fugaku’s expression calmed.
He now believed he was finally seeing Uchiha Keizumi’s true nature.
“Don’t assume that just because someone bears the Uchiha name, they’ll follow the orders of a coward like you, Fugaku. My Absolute Justice isn’t limited to the Uchiha clan—nor to this tiny village of Konoha. Don’t try to understand justice with the vision of a frog trapped in a well.”
“And besides…”
Keizumi’s tone shifted as he turned his gaze toward Naruto.
Naruto stood awkwardly in place, overwhelmed by the clash unfolding before him—especially since he now realized the conflict had something to do with him.
“Uzumaki Naruto, do you want to seek justice for the dead?”
Keizumi’s sudden question took Naruto by surprise.
He remembered what this terrifying man had said earlier—Remember the belief you hold now. That belief… is called justice.
If there was no justice…
Would that family of four have died in vain? Would the murderer get away without consequences?
Was that something he could accept?
Naruto didn’t need more than a second to answer himself—he didn’t want to see a killer go unpunished!
He nodded vigorously.
“I do!!!”
Keizumi glanced sideways at Fugaku. The air in the room grew palpably heavier, so thick with tension it made Naruto break into a cold sweat. Keizumi’s voice came sharp and clear: “Are you going to stop someone from believing in justice?”
But just then—
A black ninja cat darted in, flustered and breathless. “Keizumi-sama! Boss Jirō! The Third just arrived with a whole group!”
Before the words had even finished echoing—
Sarutobi Hiruzen stepped into the morgue, followed closely by Utatane Koharu—and then came wave after wave of ANBU pouring in behind them.
Although the morgue of the Police Force was decently spacious, with so many corpses already laid out inside, the sudden crowd made it feel like there was hardly any room left to stand.
“Hokage-ojiichan!”
Naruto shouted out in surprise and joy, just about to say something else—when suddenly, a memory surfaced.
The excitement that had just lit up his young face froze in place.
Naruto remembered…
That fat, chubby orange cat had once told him—the Hokage had covered for someone who intentionally spread the rumor that Naruto was the reincarnation of the Nine-Tails. The Hokage had known all along why everyone in the village shunned him… yet had kept it from him.
“Uzumaki Naruto, come over here!” Utatane Koharu called out, cutting in before Sarutobi Hiruzen could speak.
Naruto turned toward the old woman, startled—he didn’t even know who she was.
Hiruzen then forced a gentle smile and said, “Come here, Naruto. Don’t be afraid. Hokage-ojiichan is here now.”
Hiruzen assumed Naruto was scared—probably thinking that Keizumi had dragged him here against his will, just like last time.
But what stunned the elderly Hokage was…
Naruto, who usually clung to him so dearly, was now standing frozen in place. He didn’t move an inch. His face was filled with conflict.
That made Hiruzen frown slightly. He couldn’t figure out what had changed in Naruto in such a short amount of time.
“Hokage-sama.”
“Koharu-sama.”
Fugaku took a deep breath, trying to steady his thoughts, and gave a respectful greeting to the two high-ranking Konoha officials.
Afraid the Hokage might misunderstand the situation, he quickly explained, “There must be some kind of misunderstanding. Uzumaki Naruto being brought into the Police Force—please rest assured, I will see that he is safely returned.”
“Misunderstanding?”
Koharu narrowed her eyes. “This same incident has now happened twice—and not even a month apart. Are you sure it’s just a misunderstanding, Fugaku?”
Fugaku fell silent.
How was he supposed to know that Uchiha Keizumi had dragged Naruto in again?!
And worse…
The thought that Keizumi was trying to instill his ideas of justice in Naruto sent a chill down Fugaku’s spine. If the Hokage found out about that—then even if the entire Uchiha clan leapt into the Konoha River, it still wouldn’t wash away the suspicion!
The doubt in Koharu’s eyes and the sharpness in her voice made it clear: this time, it would be nearly impossible to explain things away.
Fugaku turned to Keizumi, his expression silent but full of meaning—as if saying:
See? All the trouble you bring down on the Uchiha ends up on my shoulders. I, the clan head, have to bear the pressure you create. If not for me, the Uchiha wouldn’t even make it to the day Itachi turns on us—we’d already be torn apart by Konoha before then.
Keizumi didn’t even glance in his direction.
That made Fugaku’s eyelid twitch involuntarily.
“Uzumaki Naruto, what are you doing just standing there?” Utatane Koharu, noticing that Naruto still hadn’t moved, first gave Uchiha Keizumi a wary glance, then turned back to Naruto with a deep frown.
Naruto suddenly realized that nearly everyone present had their eyes on him—just a seven-year-old kid.
And this attention… was far greater than anything he’d drawn with his pranks around the village.
“I…”
Naruto mustered his courage and turned to Sarutobi Hiruzen. “Hokage-ojiichan, I don’t want to go back just yet!”
The stiff smile Hiruzen had forced onto his face froze instantly.
Fugaku’s palms began to sweat.
Koharu’s eyes widened with disbelief as she stared at Naruto.
Even the ANBU around them shifted, startled by what they’d just heard.
Naruto took a deep breath and shouted, “Hokage-ojiichan, I don’t understand why so many people in Konoha could harbor such malice toward their fellow villagers! I can’t understand what kind of twisted, sick 'evil' could drive someone to slaughter an entire family so cruelly and mercilessly!”
“I don’t want to see those murderers walk free. I don’t want to see innocent victims die without justice! This isn’t the Konoha I know. This isn’t the shinobi world I believe in!”
“I… I want to find out who committed this monstrous act in the village! I want to make them pay!”
“This is… what I want to do.”
The more Naruto spoke, the clearer his thoughts became. His speech was broken and awkward—not because he lacked conviction, but because he lacked the words to express it.
Until the words Keizumi once spoke to him resurfaced in his mind.
In that moment, everything clicked. His thoughts came together. His courage solidified into action.
And the look on his young face turned firm and resolute.
“Hokage-ojiichan, this is my belief! This is my justice!” Naruto bit down and declared, unwavering.
Sarutobi Hiruzen: “???”
His eyes flew wide open. Without thinking, he slowly turned his head, staring at Uchiha Keizumi—who stood beside Naruto—with a look of utter disbelief and shock.
In Hiruzen’s eyes, the word justice had already become inextricably tied to Uchiha Keizumi.
So when he heard Naruto’s emotional outburst just now…
Hiruzen immediately realized he had come too late.
And he also realized—what Keizumi truly intended to do with Naruto.
There was no way to fully describe what he felt in that moment. Maybe it was shock, maybe anger, or maybe regret... but one thing he was certain of—
He absolutely could not allow Naruto to embrace any kind of so-called 'justice'!
Especially not Uchiha Keizumi’s brand of Absolute Justice!
He tugged slightly at the stiff, frozen smile on his aged face, and with a tone of earnest concern, said to Naruto: “Naruto, capturing murderers and criminals is a job for Konoha’s police force. That’s their duty—they’ll get to the bottom of everything.”
“You’re still young, just a child. You only entered the Academy less than two months ago. This is the adult world, and it’s not something you should be getting involved in. Let’s talk about it again once you’ve grown up.”
“But…” Just as Naruto tried to speak up—
A sharp, oddly pitched voice suddenly cut in, “Oh, now you remember that a seven-year-old brat is still just a child, nya?”
Hiruzen furrowed his brow and turned his gaze toward the speaker—
Only to freeze in place when he realized that the one talking… was a ninja cat.
An orange-furred ninja cat…
If he wasn’t mistaken, it belonged to Keizumi.
A creeping sense of dread welled up inside him.
“Nya, that Uchiha Itachi guy got thrown onto a battlefield in the middle of the Great Ninja War when he was only four. And back then, not a single person said a brat that age was still a child.”
Jirō, the orange cat, wore a face full of disdain, making no effort to hide his scorn.
“Uzumaki Naruto’s already seven years old—three years older than Itachi was back then. And just because he wants to follow Keizumi-sama and carry out justice, now you people say he’s too young?”
“Your real intentions are obvious—even a ninja cat like me can see right through them! You humans really are devious to the core, nya!”
Hiruzen: “…”
He hadn’t expected that one day, he’d be openly mocked by a cat.
But he was the Third Hokage, after all. If he stooped to argue with a cat… that would be beyond humiliating!
The worst part was, he didn’t even know how to respond.
Was he supposed to just bluntly say that Naruto was a jinchūriki?
No.
That secret—at the very least—could not be told to Naruto.
Not yet.
He was still too young.
