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NAJ Chapter 49: Root vs. Justice
🕑 Added 2025-06-27 00:09:59 +0000 UTCJust as Yamanaka Inoichi was about to call over some clansmen to help with the task, two figures suddenly burst into the Yamanaka Clan compound, cutting him off directly.
“…Root?!”
The masks worn by Root operatives were quite distinctive, and Inoichi recognized the strange pattern immediately.
His brow furrowed.
He grew wary.
“Why has Root suddenly barged in uninvited?” Inoichi asked with a blank expression. He didn’t want to get entangled with Root—he knew all too well about Danzō’s ambition for the Hokage seat.
Danzō’s desire to become Hokage was as much of an “open secret” as the Uchiha Clan’s plan for a coup—anyone could guess it.
The Yamanaka Clan ultimately stood on the side of the Hokage.
Naturally, they harbored resistance toward Danzō and his power-hungry aspirations.
Of course, Inoichi also wanted to keep some distance from the Uchiha Clan and their coup plans. Unfortunately, Uchiha Keizumi kept sending corpses to the Police Force every day, and Inoichi, no matter how much he wanted to stay out of it, had to interact with them due to the autopsy work.
At that moment, the Root ninja on the left spoke coldly: “Clan Leader Inoichi, all eight of these bodies belong to Root. The Yamanaka Clan has no right to explore the secrets within their minds.”
The Root ninja on the right added, “You’re not permitted to touch these corpses. Our personnel will come to collect them.”
Inoichi’s pupils constricted slightly—barely noticeably.
All eight bodies were Root shinobi? Had Uchiha Keizumi clashed with Root again?
“…Fine.”
Since Danzō was willing to clean up this mess himself, Inoichi was more than happy not to bring trouble upon himself.
…
Before long—
Sure enough, more Root operatives arrived at the Yamanaka Clan’s compound.
And to Inoichi’s surprise, the one leading them was none other than Shimura Danzō himself!
Danzō stood beside Inoichi, silently staring down at the eight corpses covered with white cloths. A breeze swept through the night, lifting one of the shrouds just enough to reveal a familiar face beneath.
Danzō drew in a deep breath.
“U! CHI! HA! KEI! ZU! MI!”
The veins on the backs of his hands bulged as his fists clenched tightly. He squeezed Uchiha Keizumi’s name through gritted teeth.
Inoichi, standing nearby, could clearly sense the seething fury boiling within this Konoha elder.
He also noticed Danzō suddenly whip his head around to glare at him.
Inoichi: “???”
“I haven’t even begun examining their memories,” he said, feeling unjustly blamed. The misplaced anger left him visibly irritated, and his explanation came out colder than usual.
Yamanaka Inoichi, while speaking, happened to glance at Danzō’s left ear—and noticed it was missing.
Danzō, meanwhile, gave Inoichi a long, penetrating stare.
Once he replaced the Monkey on that seat, every member of the Yamanaka Clan—top to bottom—would be marked with the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal. Only then could he begin to rest easy.
They knew far too much.
Of course, these thoughts stayed locked in Danzō’s mind.
Watching as his Root operatives began lifting the bodies one by one, he turned and calmly walked out of the Yamanaka Clan compound.
But just then, something felt… off.
“Wait!”
Danzō’s brow tightened. He barked the command immediately, halting the subordinates who were preparing to carry the corpses back to the Root base.
His sharp eyes scanned the surroundings, sweeping across the dark night in every direction.
The Root shinobi, seeing Danzō’s sudden shift, instantly went on alert as well.
[Tap... tap... tap...]
The faint sound of approaching footsteps echoed in the quiet night, growing clearer with every step. All eyes locked onto the dense darkness ahead.
The Root ninja dropped the corpses without hesitation, drawing their blades in unison and forming a protective circle around Danzō.
As the source of the footsteps stepped out of the shadows and into the pale light of the moon, the outline of a face slowly emerged—and Danzō’s expression twisted into a scowl.
His teeth clenched.
He growled the name like a curse.
“Uchiha Keizumi!!!”
…
“Daddy, what’s all that noise outside…?”
Little Ino, dressed in her cute pajamas and holding a plush toy in one hand, rubbed her eyes as she walked out of the bedroom barefoot.
Inoichi had just been rattled by Danzō’s sudden, almost deranged shout of “Uchiha Keizumi!” from outside the door.
And now, seeing his daughter awakened and wandering into the hallway—
He immediately understood the severity of the situation.
“Ino, get back to the bedroom! No—go straight to the underground shelter beneath the clan compound!” Inoichi said sternly. “No matter what you hear, don’t come out!”
“…Huh?” Ino blinked, still too drowsy to grasp what was happening.
“Now, go!” Inoichi barked.
Startled, Ino flinched.
Her father’s harsh tone made her eyes brim with tears, but she dared not ask anything more. She turned and ran as fast as she could toward the hidden chamber.
“Whew…”
Watching his daughter’s small figure disappear down the hallway, Inoichi exhaled part of his tension—but his chest remained tight as he turned his eyes back toward the chaos outside the compound.
“What a cursedly chaotic night…”
If he was right, Uchiha Keizumi must have anticipated that Danzō would bring Root to the Yamanaka Clan’s compound to retrieve the corpses.
And what Uchiha Keizumi did—was wait silently outside the Yamanaka Clan’s residence, waiting for Danzō to come!
—He was hunting Shimura Danzō.
Yamanaka Inoichi knew that Danzō and Uchiha Keizumi had once clashed in open combat.
That time, it was the Hokage himself who had stepped in to stop the fight.
“Perhaps… in Uchiha Keizumi’s eyes, under his so-called ‘Absolute Justice,’ every last member of Root deserves to be purged? This is bad—I have to inform the Hokage immediately.”
Inoichi rubbed his temples, his headache growing worse by the second.
…
Danzō’s expression was dark as ink. He could almost feel his old injury—where his left ear used to be—begin to throb again.
He remembered it clearly…
It was Uchiha Keizumi who had exposed his secret dealings to the Monkey, causing him to lose several Three-Tomoe Sharingan, and even forcing him to hand over some of his research to Hiruzen.
“You accursed Uchiha brat, born evil! After what happened last time, you still dare show your face before me alone? Just because you have Lava Release now, you think you’re untouchable? That damned arrogance of the Uchiha Clan… it disgusts me!”
Murderous intent surged in Danzō’s cold, vulture-like eyes. As he spoke, the Root shinobi around him grew restless, ready to strike.
Keizumi’s gaze locked with Danzō’s in midair.
“I’ve been waiting for you for over two hours, ‘Danzō-sama',” he said calmly.
That detached tone only made Danzō laugh in fury.
“You lured me here on purpose, didn’t you?” he asked coldly.
Molten lava dripped from Keizumi’s fingertips, the orange-red glow casting flickering shadows across his face.
He replied in a low, chilling voice, “If I hadn’t, how else was I supposed to drag a filthy rat like you out of Konoha’s sewers?”
[Crack—]
Fissures split open beneath Danzō’s feet.
Even though he knew Hiruzen had warned him not to engage Uchiha Keizumi in combat again—
Danzō knew better.
If he didn’t kill this twisted, dangerously extreme Uchiha…
Konoha would never know peace.
And neither would he—he’d never sleep again.
“Kill him!!”
Danzō barked the order.
...
Just as Yamanaka Inoichi stepped out, ready to inform the Third Hokage, he caught sight of Danzō leading eight Root shinobi—who, at that very moment, were launching an assault on the lone Uchiha Keizumi.
Four Root shinobi took up positions in the four cardinal directions, trapping Uchiha Keizumi within their formation.
All four simultaneously formed hand seals and activated a sealing technique unknown even to Yamanaka Inoichi.
In an instant—
From each corner, a ghostly green beam of light shot skyward, extending up to a height of over 10 meters before halting. These beams connected to form barriers on the front, back, left, and right—then expanded upward and downward to seal off the top and bottom as well.
Thus, a sizeable translucent green chakra cube took shape, imprisoning Uchiha Keizumi within its bounds.
The remaining four Root shinobi closed in with ninja blades in hand.
Each blade was wreathed in Wind Release chakra.
Invisible blades of wind danced through the air, flooding Keizumi’s vision with flashing arcs.
Though the weapons hadn’t physically touched his body, the wind-infused chakra had already torn into him, leaving behind a series of grotesque, savage 'wounds'.
Then, one Root ninja spotted an opening and sliced clean through Keizumi’s right arm, sending it flying through the air.
“Now’s our chance!”
Another Root ninja swiftly pulled a sealing scroll from his waist, unfurled it in one motion, bit his thumb, and slapped his palm onto the scroll, chanting in a low voice:
“Evil-Sealing Method!”
A powerful suction erupted from the scroll, drawing the severed arm in and sealing it inside.
The other Root shinobi immediately leapt back, widening the gap between themselves and Uchiha Keizumi.
Their hit-and-retreat tactics were perfectly synchronized.
It was as if they had rehearsed this countless times before.
