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NAJ Chapter 48: No Innocence in the Shadows
🕑 Added 2025-06-26 02:06:44 +0000 UTC[Splurt—]
A sharp blade severed both arms of a Root ninja disguised as a Konoha civilian in an instant.
Izumi followed closely behind Uchiha Keizumi, hurling two kunai forward.
The kunai landed with perfect accuracy, pinning the Root ninja’s feet to the ground.
The intense pain sent violent tremors through the man's entire body.
“Whew, that’s the third one today…” Izumi wiped the fine, crystal-like sweat from her brow. Ever since she and Keizumi-senpai had parted ways with Sasuke—
She had been accompanying Keizumi through the village, hunting the Root operatives Danzo had secretly released to spread false rumors.
Spreading rumors wasn’t a crime worthy of death on its own.
But the crimes these Root ninjas had committed in the past—those were enough to deserve execution.
In the words of Keizumi-senpai:
“Within Root, aside from the newly brainwashed war orphans, there’s not a single innocent soul. Kill them all—you won’t wrongly accuse even one.”
That was enough for Izumi. She felt no guilt.
After all, she trusted Keizumi-senpai’s judgment without question.
Watching the Root ninja collapse to the ground from blood loss, limp and drained of life—
Izumi figured he probably wouldn’t last another minute.
There was no point trying to save him.
“You finish it.”
When Keizumi’s cold voice rang out, Izumi didn’t hesitate. She drew her blade, stepped forward, and slit the man’s throat in one clean motion.
—This is the execution of Absolute Justice.
She kept repeating the words to herself.
Yet even as she did, something began to feel… strange. A faint but distinct sensation surged within her—an inexplicable strengthening of the power in her body. The eerie feeling unsettled her.
Was bloodlust her true nature after all?
Was she losing herself to the thrill of killing?
“Senpai, my body…”
Izumi decided to speak up, to tell Keizumi-senpai about the unusual changes she was feeling.
But before she could finish—
As always, he cut her off.
“It’s a gift… from Absolute Justice.”
Uchiha Keizumi spoke slowly, his tone calm and resolute.
“Without overwhelming power, how else can you carry out absolute justice in the shinobi world?”
...
Evening.
Having left the Hokage Building and on his way home, Uchiha Itachi couldn’t stop hearing the Hokage’s warning echoing in his mind—
“Itachi, don’t return so openly tonight. It’s best if no one sees you—especially not the other members of the Uchiha clan.”
Itachi understood the concern behind the Hokage's words, and a faint ripple of emotion stirred within him.
He could feel it—an overwhelming, suffocating malice closing in from all directions.
But at the very least, the Hokage still trusted him.
Following Hiruzen’s advice, Itachi waited until night had fully fallen before returning to the Uchiha compound.
He slipped quietly to his doorstep without alerting a soul.
Yet just as he was about to open the door, he hesitated.
“Sasuke…”
Itachi murmured the name softly.
If the entire village was already spreading rumors about his 'future crimes', then Sasuke must have heard them too—right?
How would Sasuke look at him now?
Would he still cling to him like always?
Would he confront him with anger?
Or would he grow distant and cold?
…
Unable to find an answer, Itachi stopped trying to guess.
He stepped into the house, and the first thing he saw was his mother.
“…Itachi,” Uchiha Mikoto forced a gentle smile. Her gaze, full of conflicting emotions, rested on her eldest son. In a hushed voice, she said, “Dinner is ready.”
Itachi entered silently, walking until he reached the dining table where Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Sasuke sat waiting.
He immediately noticed the redness in Sasuke’s eyes.
His heart tightened.
“Let’s eat,” Fugaku muttered, breaking the silence with a dull voice. He didn’t even offer the customary “I’ll begin” before starting. He hadn’t so much as looked at Itachi since he’d entered the room.
Sasuke, however, couldn’t eat a bite.
He stared at his brother, lost and pleading, his voice trembling with hope: “Onii-chan, it’s not true… right? Something like that—it could never happen… right?”
Itachi sighed inwardly.
Seeing Sasuke on the verge of tears, the hesitation in his eyes gradually gave way to cold resolve.
“It’s true.”
His voice was flat, emotionless.
“If anyone tries to disrupt the peace of Konoha, something like that will inevitably happen.”
Mikoto’s hands froze in place.
Fugaku’s chopsticks stopped mid-air.
Sasuke was stunned where he sat.
“Why…? But we… we’re a family! Father, Mother… they’re not bad people! They’re our family…” Sasuke clutched the hem of his shirt tightly, his voice shaking as he choked out the question, shattering the renewed silence.
Uchiha Itachi stared at his younger brother, slowly realizing that Sasuke’s deep dependence on him—his frail, clinging nature—would never allow him to grow into a truly exceptional shinobi.
And yet, in the future he had seen, he would choose to spare only Sasuke while wiping out the entire Uchiha clan.
That could only mean one thing—
That his future self wanted Sasuke to inherit his will, to carry on the duty of protecting Konohagakure.
But right now, in Itachi’s eyes, Sasuke’s spirit was still far too weak—far too soft.
Steeling himself, suppressing every flicker of tenderness, Itachi spoke coldly, his words deliberate and cruel: “Sasuke… you don’t know the real me.”
Sasuke’s eyes widened in utter confusion.
“In my heart, there is no such thing as family. I have something I must accomplish—no matter who tries to stop me, I will kill them in the end.”
Just after sitting down, Itachi rose to his feet again.
He turned and walked away without looking back.
But just before leaving, he added coldly: “When the time comes, you’ll be no exception either, Sasuke. The future will bend to my will.”
“You’re too weak, Sasuke. You’re just a pitiful little shadow, clinging to me day and night. With that fragile, pathetic heart of yours, there’s no chance you’ll ever stop me.”
“You foolish little otōto… Live out this last year of your life in fear and trembling, barely clinging to it.”
“One year from now, I’ll send you along with the rest of them—”
[—Smack!!!]
Itachi never got to finish.
Uchiha Mikoto had already slapped him across the face.
The blow was light—far softer than the one from Keizumi.
“Itachi, take back everything you just said… Apologize to Sasuke.”
Her voice trembled through clenched teeth, tears pooling in her eyes. A hazy veil clouded her gaze as she looked at her own son—someone she had once known so well, now feeling like a complete stranger.
Itachi took a deep breath.
But he didn’t apologize.
Instead, he said quietly, “Father knows why I’m making this choice. Mother… you may not understand me now, but when the time comes—
I know you will.”
Sasuke sat frozen, watching everything unfold.
And then, as his brother’s figure disappeared into the darkness outside, an avalanche of turbulent, crushing emotions overwhelmed his mind.
His vision swam. He felt dizzy.
Just before losing consciousness, he vaguely heard his mother’s panicked voice calling his name.
Then, everything went black.
...
Meanwhile—
Root Base.
Shimura Danzō had just received troubling news from one of his subordinates: not a single member of the team he’d dispatched earlier—tasked with inciting negative public opinion against Uchiha Itachi—had returned.
Eight ANBU operatives. Each of them no weaker than an elite chūnin, some even tokubetsu jōnin.
And the mission itself? Hardly dangerous.
Yet now, they had vanished—without a trace, without a sound.
Danzō’s face darkened, his brows knitting into a deep furrow.
Whatever satisfaction he’d felt earlier from secretly smearing the Uchiha name had long since evaporated. Clenching his jaw, he barked at his subordinate: “What are you waiting for? Go investigate—bring every last one of them back!”
“Yes, Danzō-sama!”
“Wait!”
Danzō suddenly stopped him, a grim thought rising in his mind.
His expression turned even darker.
A vein pulsed at his temple, and he ground the words out through clenched teeth: “Check with the Yamanaka Clan. Immediately.”
The Root ninja blinked in confusion. “The Yamanaka…?”
Danzō growled, voice razor-sharp: “I’m starting to believe this is connected to that innately evil Uchiha brat. If he truly possesses the power to see both past and future crimes, then to him, my men would have been completely exposed. No matter how carefully they disguised themselves, he would have seen through it all.”
Danzō was now convinced—
All eight Root operatives were likely dead.
It fit the pattern of that twisted Uchiha child.
Whenever Uchiha Keizumi killed someone, their body was usually delivered straight to the Yamanaka Clan.
Because Keizumi rarely bothered with interrogations.
To him, the moment he deemed someone evil, they were executed on the spot.
And if the Police Force wanted any criminal evidence from the corpse, they had to rely on the Yamanaka’s secret techniques.
…
Danzō had guessed right.
At the Yamanaka compound, Yamanaka Inoichi stood over eight corpses, each draped in a white sheet, a splitting headache forming behind his eyes.
“…Sigh.”
He let out a long, heavy breath.
It looked like tonight would bring him yet another pile of secrets he wished he’d never known.
He had no idea how things had come to this.
But ever since Uchiha Keizumi had started enforcing his brand of Absolute Justice across Konohagakure, the Yamanaka Clan had, strangely enough, become the Uchiha’s closest allies among the shinobi clans.
Even if their relationship was purely transactional—more business than personal—they still got along better than most others did with the Uchiha.
Far better, in fact.
Comments
Jay Singh
Of course they would, he would never doubt Keizumi given his track record
