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NAJ Chapter 74: Who Decides What Justice Means?
🕑 Added 2025-07-08 22:50:28 +0000 UTCKonohagakure Police Headquarters.
Inside the office.
“…Is the report accurate?”
Upon hearing from a member of the Uchiha Police Force that 'the envoy sent by the daimyō to Konoha was killed by Uchiha Keizumi', Fugaku remained silent for a full five seconds.
It took him that long to fully digest the weight of the news.
He never would’ve imagined that, after stirring up a major incident just last night, Uchiha Keizumi would deliver yet another shocking surprise in broad daylight today!
The daimyō’s envoy.
The daimyō’s son!
Fugaku felt a wave of dizziness wash over him.
This wasn’t just a worsening of relations between the Uchiha clan and Konoha. Now, it seemed even the daimyō of the Land of Fire himself might take issue with the Uchiha.
And it was important to remember: the funding for the police force had, for years, come directly from the daimyō’s coffers.
In other words, the majority of the Uchiha clan’s income was tied to the daimyō of the Land of Fire.
For Keizumi to kill the daimyō’s son was equivalent to completely offending the man beyond repair.
And in doing so, he might very well drag the entire Uchiha clan down with him.
After all… could he honestly go to the daimyō and say, “It was solely Keizumi’s doing and has nothing to do with the Uchiha clan”?
Even if that were the truth...
Would the daimyō actually believe it?
The police officer reporting the incident replied, “That’s what everyone outside is saying. There were a lot of eyewitnesses too. And apparently, the Third Hokage was present at the scene as well. If it wasn’t true, the rumors wouldn’t have spread like this.”
Fugaku froze.
A chill ran through his chest, and his expression hardened. “Was there any direct conflict between Keizumi and the Hokage at the time?”
“I heard there wasn’t,” the officer replied.
Fugaku exhaled, releasing half the breath he’d been holding.
But the matter of 'the daimyō’s second son being killed' still hung over him like a sword suspended by a thread—its edge poised just above his head, leaving him on edge.
He had no choice but to rise to his feet and stand beneath the Uchiha clan’s emblem.
As if doing so might lend him a shred of confidence.
As if it might bring him a little peace of mind.
“But…”
The officer added, “It seems Uchiha Keizumi did have a verbal clash with the Third Hokage. Word around the village is that the daimyō’s envoy group committed a crime, so Keizumi killed all of them—over a dozen people—leaving only one survivor.”
“When the Third Hokage arrived, he said what Keizumi did was wrong. That’s when the argument broke out.”
Fugaku let out a heavy breath through his nose.
Brow furrowed, he muttered, “Keizumi truly crossed a line this time. According to the laws of the Land of Fire, members of the ruling elite are granted special immunity and pardon. Even without that law, the children of the daimyō are absolutely off-limits. They must never be killed…”
Fugaku’s voice now carried a hint of barely concealed frustration.
The problem was—what’s done was done. Not even the Hokage had been able to stop Keizumi.
What truly gave Fugaku a headache now was how the Uchiha clan was supposed to handle the political fallout with the daimyō.
How were they supposed to give him an acceptable explanation?
“Keizumi… he’s gone too far this time!”
Fugaku had lost count of how many times lately he’d felt overwhelmed and exhausted.
And every single time, it seemed to involve Keizumi.
One mess after another—all of them left him mentally drained.
Fugaku pressed his temples with growing anxiety. “This time… he crossed a line that should never, ever be crossed.”
A shinobi of the Land of Fire had killed the son of the daimyō of the Land of Fire.
If word of that reached the other nations in the ninja world—what then?
“Fugaku-sama.”
The police officer hesitated, then asked, “Did Uchiha Keizumi… truly do something wrong? He claimed the daimyō’s envoys had committed crimes. Crimes so severe that they warranted immediate execution—likely atrocities that enraged both gods and men.”
“And everything Keizumi did… he did while following what he calls his Absolute Justice. Isn’t one of our duties as the Uchiha Police Force to uphold justice?”
Fugaku shot him a sidelong glance and replied in a low, firm voice, “His actions have damaged the relationship between the Uchiha clan and the daimyō of the Land of Fire. That, in turn, could strain the village’s ties with the Uchiha.”
“His version of justice is personal. What the Uchiha Police Force must uphold is Konoha’s justice. That’s the only reason the Uchiha have been able to survive within the village all this time.”
The officer fell silent at that.
But deep down, he couldn’t help but wonder—
Was Keizumi’s justice really just his own?
That man had once declared his intent to purge all evil from the entire ninja world.
That clearly wasn’t a justice confined to just Konohagakure.
That was a higher path.
A shinobi way that reached its purest, most absolute form.
And compared to Uchiha Keizumi—who, in his pursuit of Absolute Justice, had dared to clash verbally with the Third Hokage and execute the corrupt son of the daimyō…
Fugaku—who constantly spoke of maintaining 'balance between the Uchiha and the village' and refused to even mention the future betrayal of Uchiha Itachi, who would one day destroy the clan—seemed… a little too soft.
Even if he didn’t agree with Keizumi’s ideals—wasn’t it wrong for him to denounce a fellow clansman?
In that moment—
This member of the Uchiha Police Force, someone usually aligned with Fugaku’s more moderate stance—felt a small but growing sense of doubt toward his leader.
...
Meanwhile—
A group of Uchiha elders from the radical faction had gathered together.
And Uchiha Setsuna, known for his deep hostility toward Uchiha Keizumi, fell into an eerie silence upon hearing about the major incident that had occurred in Konoha that very morning.
The others were silent as well.
Eventually—
An elder wearing a black eye patch hesitated, then finally broke the tense silence with a conflicted tone: “That kid… Keizumi… don’t you think he might’ve gone a little too far today?”
Another elder picked up the thread: “I heard that Gyokuzenin Kyōsuke, the second son, was the daimyō’s most beloved child. Now that he’s been killed in Konoha, the four old men up in the top ranks must be panicking.”
Uchiha Setsuna’s lip twitched. He finally spoke up.
“And the Uchiha clan isn’t panicking? You think we can withstand the pressure coming from the daimyō’s side?”
The group immediately fell silent.
Because yes…
Even as radical as they were, all their plans had always revolved around launching a coup within Konoha—seizing power from the village government and replacing the Hokage.
But they had never once considered targeting the daimyō, the man who was essentially Konoha’s primary financial backer.
And besides—
If their coup succeeded, they would still need the daimyō to publicly legitimize their new rule. That was part of the plan.
Yet none of them had ever expected—
That Uchiha Keizumi’s so-called Absolute Justice would turn out to be even more extreme than all the years they had spent plotting rebellion.
“Now do you all finally understand why I’ve been saying all along that Keizumi is the most dangerous outlier among us?”
A storm of gloom swirled in Setsuna’s eyes as he spoke in a cold, steady voice: “In that brat’s eyes, if we’re considered evil—he’d kill us too. And when he finally raises his blade against us… he won’t even hesitate.”
“A brat capable of slaughtering his own kin—
How is he any different from that little bastard Uchiha Itachi?!”
...
Residence of the Nara Clan.
Yamanaka Inoichi, currently taking temporary refuge there with his family, was sitting down for a game of shōgi with the clan head, Nara Shikaku.
“…I still can’t beat you.”
Staring at the checkmate position on his side of the board, Inoichi gave a tired smile and shook his head.
“Looks like we’ll be needing the Nara clan’s help for a while. Otherwise, I honestly don’t know how I’m going to take care of so many of our people.”
Shikaku looked across the board, his gaze landing not on the pieces, but on his old friend’s face—
A face etched with a weariness even deeper than his own.
After a moment of thought—
Nara Shikaku asked, “Inoichi, are you sure Uchiha Keizumi is someone the Yamanaka clan can count on? You must’ve heard a bit about what he did today.”
Yamanaka Inoichi shook his head and replied, “I never intended for Keizumi to become the Yamanaka clan’s shield.”
Shikaku was taken aback.
Then, on that usually stern and rigid face of Inoichi, a faint smile emerged as he continued, “I simply made a decision that, in my eyes, is the right one for the future of the Yamanaka clan.”
“That’s not like you,” Shikaku said, shaking his head. “You’re not the kind of man who would gamble an entire shinobi clan on a single move.”
Inoichi replied, “Uchiha Keizumi is the most unusual Uchiha I’ve ever encountered. Yes, he has that same extreme temperament typical of the clan—but his extremity is rooted in what he calls Absolute Justice. And the blade he wields is only ever aimed at the evil within the shinobi world.”
He picked up a shōgi piece and lowered his gaze, speaking with quiet conviction, “Shikaku, Keizumi is going to change the shinobi world into something entirely different from what it is now. I’ve known him for ten years—and in that time, I’ve come to understand him.”
“He’s usually reclusive… but there’s always been something about him I couldn’t quite put into words. Until last night—when he clashed with Danzō and still went out of his way to avoid involving the Yamanaka compound.”
“That was when I finally understood.”
Shikaku frowned slightly. “Understood what?”
“If you truly take the time to understand him… you’ll know, too.”
But Inoichi didn’t explain any further.
Shikaku didn’t press the issue.
He stared down at the board, and the tension in his brow slowly eased.
Konoha’s tactician let out a soft, resigned sigh of amusement.
“Ino–Shika–Chō—our clans have always been an inseparable trio within Konoha. Since you’ve already staked the entire Yamanaka clan on this choice, then I’ll do my part and look into Uchiha Keizumi properly. I’ll try to understand his Absolute Justice.”
“And as for how I’ll come to understand it…”
Shikaku paused, then added, “That’ll depend on how Keizumi proves the value of his justice in the midst of this chaos.”
Just then—
Footsteps heavier than most began approaching.
—Akimichi Chōza, the clan head of the Akimichi, had arrived as well.
