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NAJ Chapter 56: Justice Is Watching
🕑 Added 2025-06-29 23:54:37 +0000 UTCUchiha Shisui—
A name carved into the memories of many, one that refuses to fade.
A genius of the Uchiha Clan, taken too soon—
Cut down in the prime of youth, as if the heavens themselves were jealous of his brilliance.
For years, Shisui’s death had been the subject of endless speculation.
And yet—no definitive answer was ever found.
Until now.
“You brat! Don’t you dare slander me!”
Danzō’s voice rose in panic.
The Kotoamatsukami he had obtained from Shisui’s Sharingan—
It was, without a doubt, one of his deepest, darkest secrets.
Even when fighting Uchiha Keizumi, he hadn’t dared to use that godlike ability.
Clenching his teeth, Danzō shouted: “I did not kill Uchiha Shisui!”
Uchiha Keizumi took two slow steps forward, eyes fixed on Danzō’s.
That gaze made Danzō uneasy.
Without realizing it, he looked away—unable to meet Keizumi’s eyes head-on.
Even Danzō himself found that unbelievable.
How could I be afraid of this brat!?
Keizumi spoke again, his tone distant—like reading a record only he could see: “One year ago. You set up Uchiha Shisui, orchestrated an ambush, and gravely wounded him. You stole one of his eyes. Your actions… ultimately drove Uchiha Shisui to leap to his death.”
Danzō’s breath nearly caught in his throat. Cold sweat began to seep from his palms.
He saw through it. Completely!
Even Fugaku—who had desperately tried to smooth things over—now turned toward Danzō in disbelief.
“And what about Hatake Sakumo?” Keizumi continued, not lingering on Shisui’s death.
He threw out a name that no one present had expected.
Kakashi, hidden within the crowd of Anbu, stiffened.
His head turned, almost involuntarily, toward Uchiha Keizumi.
Hatake Sakumo…
It had been years since Kakashi last heard anyone in the village speak that name aloud.
“Years ago. You deliberately manipulated public opinion within the village. You ordered your men to smear Hatake Sakumo’s name. Under relentless pressure from that vilification… Hatake Sakumo took his own life.”
Danzō’s fingers began to tremble.
His expression was as if he’d seen a ghost.
Uchiha Keizumi’s voice wasn’t loud, yet everyone gathered at the scene could hear him clearly.
“Besides Uchiha Shisui… was Hatake Sakumo also indirectly killed because of Danzō?”
An older Konoha jōnin froze in shock. He had once worked alongside Hatake Sakumo, and all he had known was that, back then, Sakumo had been subjected to relentless verbal abuse due to certain incidents.
He had no idea that someone had deliberately orchestrated a wave of negative public opinion against Sakumo from the shadows!
At that moment…
Several members of the Anbu couldn’t help but cast their gaze toward Hatake Kakashi—for as captain of an Anbu division, Kakashi was none other than Sakumo’s son.
Sarutobi Hiruzen’s gaze darkened. After glaring fiercely at Danzō with cold eyes, he turned and looked to his right rear—at Kakashi.
He saw that Kakashi, who usually looked listless and indifferent, had clenched his fists at some point.
“Kakashi!”
Hiruzen suddenly called out a warning. The situation was chaotic enough already—if Kakashi lost control and acted on the anger in his heart, things would only become even more troublesome.
“…Hokage-sama, I’m calm.” Kakashi paused for half a second before replying with only that single sentence.
No one could see what expression lay beneath his Anbu mask.
Hiruzen sighed inwardly.
Even he could hear the fluctuation in Kakashi’s tone.
How could he possibly be calm?
The fact that Uchiha Keizumi was exposing Danzō’s past actions in front of everyone was something even Hiruzen hadn’t anticipated.
Couldn’t Keizumi at least think about maintaining the village’s delicate balance?
Putting Danzō on the pyre like this…
There was no way this could end cleanly!
…
“Years ago, in order to research the First Hokage’s Wood Release cells, you and Orochimaru conducted extreme experiments, resulting in the deaths of a large number of volunteers. Even after the project was officially shut down, you continued in secret, collaborating with Orochimaru to abduct infants for your tests—leading directly or indirectly to the deaths of 67 innocent babies.”
Uchiha Keizumi, as if seeing through every evil deed, slowly read out crimes invisible to the eyes of others.
“How do you explain this?”
“And also—”
“That’s enough!!!” Danzō cut in with a furious glare, shouting hoarsely, “These are nothing but the one-sided words of a wicked brat! Uchiha Keizumi! What proof do you have that you can truly see the evil of the past and future? What evidence do you have that what you're saying is even true?!”
His outburst was sudden—and betrayed his panic.
Danzō could already feel it—the piercing gazes converging on him, filled with hostility, anger, or suspicion.
That bone-chilling sensation of standing against the world…
It made the hair on his arms stand on end.
He barked at the surrounding crowd, his voice sharp and defensive: “You’re really going to believe this brat’s one-sided story? Not even a shred of doubt whether what he’s saying is true or false? I’ve dedicated the majority of my life to Konohagakure, and yet you’d believe him over me?”
“Keizumi-senpai never lies!!”
A sudden voice cut in, making Danzō’s eyelids twitch.
He realized the speaker was yet another one of the Uchiha brats!
Unable to listen any longer, Izumi bit her teeth and stepped forward, summoning all her courage. She confronted one of Konoha’s highest authorities directly: “Keizumi-senpai has never misjudged anyone’s evil—not once! You don’t get to slander him with a few dismissive words!”
Danzō’s fury only grew.
He could endure harsh words from Sarutobi Hiruzen or Uchiha Keizumi—he was used to biting his tongue around them.
But this little Uchiha runt, who probably hadn’t even finished growing, had no right to stand up to him like this!
“Fugaku! Control your clan!” Danzō snapped, as if merely acknowledging Izumi was beneath him.
As expected, the Uchiha brats were utterly disrespectful!
“The one who needs controlling… is you, Danzō.”
Sarutobi Hiruzen’s cold tone left Danzō seething with rage.
“Monkey, you—”
But before Danzō could finish his sentence, Hiruzen turned away, face stiff with tension, and asked Uchiha Keizumi: “Keizumi… can you guarantee what you’ve said is true? Shisui, Sakumo… were their deaths truly connected to Danzō?”
“Third Hokage—is that an interruption?”
Keizumi didn’t answer the question. Instead, he asked one of his own: “Are you trying to cut me off before I expose even more of Shimura Danzō’s past crimes? That way, you can do your utmost, as Hokage, to keep protecting him—am I right?”
Hiruzen froze, a twitch involuntarily pulling at the corner of his eye.
“You misunderstand me,” he replied stiffly. He truly wanted this confrontation to end in the most stable way possible.
Not with the village torn apart like this.
But who would’ve thought Keizumi would refuse to cooperate at all?
The most troubling part was… while many of Danzō’s actions had been hidden from him, there were some that Sarutobi Hiruzen had known about—and had quietly allowed.
He, Sarutobi Hiruzen, stood in the sunlight as Hokage.
Shimura Danzō had always stood in the shadows as the Root of Konoha.
Only together had they built the strength Konoha possessed today.
If some of Danzō’s actions were tied to him…
A flicker of shadow—barely perceptible to the naked eye—passed through Sarutobi Hiruzen’s eyes.
Uchiha Keizumi glanced at him and clearly caught the faint trace of discontent on the Third Hokage’s face. But he paid it no mind. His tone remained cold as he continued: “Three years ago…”
One by one, the heinous crimes linked to Danzō spilled from Keizumi’s mouth.
The Konoha shinobi listening were chilled to the bone.
Hiruzen’s expression grew increasingly helpless.
And Danzō—his composure was on the verge of collapse. No matter how stubbornly he accused Uchiha Keizumi of lying, deep down, he had to admit: this wicked little Uchiha… was telling the truth.
Some of those dark deeds, Danzō had nearly forgotten himself. Yet Keizumi could recount them with unnerving clarity, forcing him to dredge up memories long buried.
He could feel the eyes of many Konoha shinobi on him—gazes that now looked at him as if he were human scum dragged from the sewers.
Damn it.
Damn it!
Damn it!!!
How did it come to this?!
…
“Now then, Third Hokage…”
Keizumi abruptly stopped recounting Danzō’s past crimes and turned to face Hiruzen. His expression was calm, his voice low and unwavering: “As Hokage of Konohagakure—how do you intend to deal with Shimura Danzō?”
Hiruzen’s old face darkened. He said nothing.
“Third Hokage… if Danzō lives, there can be no justice. Are you really going to shield this man—a man who deserves a thousand cuts?”
“Or is justice, in your eyes, merely a tool of politics? Something you can pick up when it suits you… and discard when it doesn’t?”
Hiruzen’s breath quickened.
Now he understood.
Uchiha Keizumi wasn’t just putting Danzō on the pyre.
He was putting him, Sarutobi Hiruzen, on it as well.
The Hokage could feel it—many of the eyes that had been aimed at Danzō were now turning toward him.
He, as Hokage, would have to give an answer.
“…Monkey!”
Danzō’s furious gaze also fell on Sarutobi Hiruzen.
