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NAJ Chapter 38: The Weight of Absolute Justice
🕑 Added 2025-06-16 00:05:49 +0000 UTCFor a moment, Fugaku truly wished it was just his hearing playing tricks on him—and not that Uchiha Keizumi had actually harbored such a dangerous thought.
—He wanted to kill the Hokage but hadn’t found the right opportunity?!
Was that the kind of thing someone could just say out loud in broad daylight?!
Even someone as calm and composed as Fugaku nearly lost his composure.
And at that moment—
Numerous members of the Uchiha Police Force began to arrive one after another.
They quickly sealed off all the streets and alleyways, leaving Uchiha Onigawara with no route of escape.
Their sharp gazes also locked onto the two figures ahead.
But when they realized that Uchiha Keizumi was among them—
There was a noticeable flicker of surprise in their eyes.
“Uchiha Keizumi? Isn’t he… related to Uchiha Onigawara? If I remember correctly, he’s his nephew?”
One of the Uchiha Police Force members muttered to himself in confusion.
…
Uchiha Onigawara was just as stunned as Fugaku.
As a blood relative, he believed he understood Uchiha Keizumi’s extreme personality better than anyone.
But only now did he realize—
He had barely scratched the surface of Keizumi’s true nature.
This brat was extreme beyond comprehension!
He would kill fellow Uchiha without hesitation. He would even kill his own flesh and blood. And now—he’d dare kill the Hokage too!
In this vast shinobi world...
Was there anyone he wouldn’t kill?
The pain of having all ten fingers shattered sent such a jolt through his nervous system that Onigawara’s vision blurred. Every time Keizumi stepped forward, he stumbled back.
Suddenly, Onigawara twisted his mouth into a savage grin, his voice turning vicious: “…Keizumi, let’s be honest—your so-called ‘Absolute Justice’ is just an excuse to kill, isn’t it? And haven’t you killed more people in Konoha than I ever did? You and I—we’re the same! Bound by blood! Both of us born to kill!”
“Keizumi! Sooner or later, your mask will be ripped away! Sooner or later, you’ll become just like me! No—even more extreme than me! That’s the destiny etched into the blood of every Uchiha like us!”
And in the blink of an eye, Onigawara’s vision was swallowed by a torrent of molten lava.
His ten fingers, melted by the searing heat, could no longer fight back.
The two of them were now so close, he didn’t even have the chance to dodge.
“Keizumi! I’ll be waiting for you in the underworld!!!”
[—BOOM!!!]
A headless corpse collapsed backward, its strength completely drained.
Uchiha Onigawara.
Dead.
[Ding! You have successfully slain a 'Red-Name' criminal! Your chakra has slightly increased! Congratulations—You’ve obtained: Uchiha Onigawara’s Sharingan Ocular Power!]
Uchiha Keizumi’s arm, once transformed into lava, had already returned to its original form.
He stood motionless, eyes closed, unmoving like a statue.
He could clearly feel the ocular power being rapidly absorbed, digested, and fused into his own Sharingan.
The entire process lasted no more than two seconds.
To the onlookers…
It looked like he had fallen into a deathly silence after killing his own blood relative—someone who had fallen completely into the abyss of evil.
…
“This guy…” one of the Uchiha shinobi stepped forward, hesitating. “He actually killed his own blood relative… all for that so-called ‘Absolute Justice’?”
A Police Force ninja paused briefly before murmuring, “They say Uchiha Onigawara was the only blood relative Keizumi had left alive.”
“That explains it…”
“No wonder he’s been called a once-in-a-generation genius within the Uchiha clan. Someone with that kind of resolve… it’s only a matter of time before he awakens the legendary Mangekyō Sharingan, isn’t it?”
“He seems to have his eyes closed… Hey, hey, I remember his Sharingan had three tomoe. Is he… is he about to awaken it?”
“No way, that’s impossible…”
“Tch. So the ‘Absolute Justice’ he’s always muttering about wasn’t just talk after all. Even as he died, Uchiha Onigawara tried to shake Keizumi’s shinobi path—but clearly, he overestimated himself. Someone like that? There’s no way he could be swayed.”
“…”
While the crowd murmured quietly among themselves, Izumi finally arrived with Tachibana Jirō in tow, hurrying to the scene.
Her hands braced against her knees, face pale, she panted heavily.
“Meow… Keizumi-sama really committed the ultimate act of justice… against his own kin.”
Startled by the disbelief in Tachibana Jirō’s voice on her shoulder, Izumi quickly looked up—
And saw her senpai, Keizumi, standing silently before a headless corpse.
Molten lava still trickled across the ground.
She gasped. “That… that body, could it be—?”
“It’s Uchiha Onigawara,” Tachibana Jirō confirmed. “The head is completely gone, and the neck’s burnt to a crisp. No doubt—killed by Keizumi-sama’s Lava Release, meow.”
“Meow… that was the only blood relative Keizumi-sama had left. Now… he’s truly alone in this world.”
Izumi bit her lip lightly.
“Do you think Keizumi-senpai is in pain right now?”
She muttered under her breath.
She couldn’t begin to imagine what it would feel like—having to kill one’s own family.
Would it be sorrow?
Pain?
Regret?
Grief?
“Ah—” she hastily wiped her damp eyes and turned away, only to find herself facing Jirō’s judgmental stare.
“Rookie, your empathy level is way too high. Good thing Keizumi-sama didn’t look over here—he might’ve docked your points, meow.”
Izumi murmured in protest, “But… maybe it’s people with strong empathy who truly understand how rare and precious justice and fairness really are.”
She took a deep breath.
While none of the Police Force shinobi—including Fugaku—stepped forward, she made the choice to approach Uchiha Keizumi on her own.
“…Keizumi-senpai?” Izumi called out softly, summoning her courage as she stepped up beside him.
“You’re just in time, rookie.”
To her surprise, Keizumi-senpai’s tone wasn’t tinged with sorrow—it was the same calm, detached voice as always, as if he had grown completely numb.
Uchiha Keizumi asked, “Which lesson was this, the one I taught you?”
Izumi straightened up immediately and answered, “Lesson Four! No matter how righteous their excuse may sound, anyone who commits evil must be brought to justice without hesitation. Even if—”
She had a remarkable memory.
Whatever Keizumi-senpai said, she could remember after hearing it just once.
Her voice wavered slightly with emotion—but then she thought of the many people who had always failed to understand the kind of justice her senpai upheld.
So she raised her voice with all her might and declared: “Even if it means turning the blade of justice against those we know best, those closest to us!”
“We must strike without hesitation! Without the slightest mercy!”
“Justice must be carried out with absolute, uncompromising force!!”
“To purge the shinobi world of evil!!!”
Uchiha Keizumi glanced briefly at her, face flushed from shouting so fiercely, then turned toward Uchiha Fugaku in the distance.
“I’ll leave the aftermath to you.”
Fugaku could still hear the echo of the girl’s resolute, commanding voice in his ears.
His gaze lingered on Keizumi and Izumi, filled with a tangle of emotions.
So Keizumi had finally passed on his 'shinobi path' to the next generation…
But could the evil in the shinobi world really be purged?
—Keizumi, as long as people exist, evil will never stop breeding. Of all people, you should know that best.
He didn’t say the words aloud.
But he knew that from this day forward, many within the Uchiha clan would begin to see Keizumi in a different light.
...
Night had fallen.
In just half a day, news of Uchiha Keizumi killing Uchiha Onigawara—his last remaining blood relative—had spread rapidly, passed from mouth to mouth, stirring intense discussion.
It caused quite a commotion, especially within the Uchiha clan.
After finishing his official duties for the day, Fugaku returned home and found that his eldest son, Uchiha Itachi, had also come back from his Anbu mission.
At that moment, Uchiha Itachi was playing with his younger brother, Sasuke.
Or rather, Sasuke was clinging to him nonstop.
“I heard about it,” Itachi said as he gently pushed Sasuke’s hands away. He looked toward his father—someone he often disagreed with—and spoke first: “Whether it was Uchiha Keizumi killing the Hokage’s son some time ago, or him killing Uchiha Onigawara today… I know everything.”
Fugaku looked at the child who had always made him feel proud.
Even if Itachi’s views were different from his own.
He still believed that Uchiha Itachi would one day shoulder the burden of the entire clan.
That he would lead the Uchiha to a brighter future.
At that moment, Itachi continued, “Back when Shisui was still alive, he once told me that Uchiha Keizumi’s capacity far exceeded anything we could imagine. Looking at the current situation, Shisui was right.”
“After today, perhaps many Uchihas with more extreme temperaments will begin to follow that man’s [Absolute Justice].”
“Father.”
Uchiha Itachi gazed intently at the silent Fugaku, and said with deliberate weight, “That’s not a good thing—for the clan or for Konoha. Uchiha Keizumi’s [Absolute Justice] is indeed admirable and worthy of respect. But…”
“…his version of justice, which disregards the village’s bigger picture, is far too extreme. His stance exists outside the village framework—you can see that clearly too, can’t you, Father?”
