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NAJ Chapter 26: Cold Justice, Burning Grief
🕑 Added 2025-06-10 00:44:22 +0000 UTCInside the ruined secret research base, the battle between Uchiha Keizumi, Sarutobi Shinnosuke, and the summoned Great Ape had reached its peak.
âROAR!!!â
The Great Ape lifted a concrete pillar weighing over ten tonnes. With a thunderous bellow, he charged forward, brandishing the massive column toward Uchiha Keizumi.
Meanwhile, Sarutobi Shinnosuke circled around to Keizumiâs rear. Gritting his teeth, lightning began to surge from the center of his right palm.
âLightning ReleaseâŚâ
âBlade of Lightning Technique!â
Blinding currents of electricity formed a blade two meters long, which slashed down hard toward Keizumiâs back. At the same time, the giant concrete pillar came crashing forward, threatening to flatten everything in its path.
[Slash!!!]
[Boom!!!]
The blade of lightning cleaved Keizumi cleanly in two. At the same time, the massive column crashed down with a heavy thud, smashing the lower half of his bisected body deep into the ground.
âShinnosuke, be careful! Something's offâit doesnât feel right!â the Great Ape suddenly shouted a warning.
Shinnosukeâs eyes widened.
Because the Uchiha Keizumi he had just split in two⌠was now slowly standing up, molten chakra writhing where his body should have been torn apart.
âHydrification Technique?â Shinnosuke froze in disbelief. He had already lost count of how many hidden techniques Keizumi had revealed.
âShinnosuke! Dodge, now!!!â the Great Ape shouted in a panic.
âIf you were good with Water Release, maybe this fight couldâve lasted a little longer,â Keizumi muttered.
His right arm flexed, and his five fingers bent slightlyâhis entire limb taking on the shape of a grotesque magma hound, its gaping jaws snapping open as it lunged toward Shinnosukeâs chest.
âFarewell⌠Shinnosuke-sensei.â
âShinnosuke! Get out of the way!!!â
This time, the voice came from the long-delayed arrival of the Third Hokageâdesperately shouting, panic-stricken.
The searing, crimson magma summoned by Uchiha Keizumi was not something the fragile, glass-cannon-like bodies of shinobi could ever hope to withstand.
The ferocious Magma Hound tore through Sarutobi Shinnosukeâs chest without resistance.
It incinerated his flesh and organs in an instant, reducing them to charred remains.
His eyes, already wide open, bulged even further in agony.
He opened his mouth and coughed up a mouthful of thick, congealed blood.
The massive hole blown through his torsoânearly severing him in halfâleft no doubt as to the battleâs outcome.
When Uchiha Keizumi slowly pulled his arm back, Sarutobi Shinnosukeâs body collapsed at once, all strength gone. He dropped to his knees, then crashed heavily to the ground.
âShinnosuke!!!â
A figure rushed over at full speed, immediately cradling the fallen Shinnosuke in his arms.
Sarutobi Hiruzenâs eyes filled with tears, his breathing turned ragged, and his wrinkled hands trembled violently as he tried in vain to cling to his eldest sonâs slipping life.
âCough... cough...â
Barely hanging on to his last breath, Sarutobi Shinnosuke slowly turned his head, his blurred gaze landing on Uchiha Keizumi, who stood right beside him.
âCough... cough... Your justice...â he gasped in broken phrases. âTruly... decisive. So, all those things I did... you saw them as that corrupt, huh? Now that I think about it... yeah, none of it was exactly nobleâŚâ
âKeizumi...â
âItâs just that... our stances differ. You canât... you canât take on the entire shinobi world alone. Your justice... most people canât accept it. You have to make your justice... become Konohaâs justice. But you... you never did listen to me anyway.â
âOld manâŚâ
âCough... cough... And donât bother handing me over to the Yamanaka Clan to probe my memories. Everything that brat told youâitâs all true. He still sees right through good and evil, just like always.â
âIâm dying from magma burns...â
âBut why⌠does my body feel so coldâŚâ
ââŚSo coldâŚâ
As Sarutobi Shinnosuke used the last of his strength to slowly close his eyes, his breath faded into stillness.
Even in his final moments, he could not agree with Uchiha Keizumiâs idea of 'justice'.
He didnât think Keizumi was wrong.
But...
He didnât think he was right, either.
âKei... Keizumi...â The agony of losing his son made Sarutobi Hiruzenâs aged frame tremble violently.
He looked up, locking eyes with Uchiha Keizumi. His jaw clenched tight, pupils quivering, bloodshot veins creeping across the whites of his eyes.
The words he forced out were as strained as his grief: âDid it really have to come to this? Couldnât you have come to me, the Hokage, and talked it over? Was it truly necessary... to kill Shinnosuke?â
âHe was my eldest son! Your former jĹnin instructor! Keizumi! Even if your so-called justice has made you cold enough to disregard the bond between sensei and studentâcouldnât you at least consider me, just once?!â
One accusation after another, beginning in sorrow, ending in a roar of rage.
At this point, Sarutobi Hiruzen could no longer even recognize what emotion he was feeling.
Nor could he decide how to deal with what had just happened.
âThird Hokage, Iâm a member of the Police Force,â Uchiha Keizumi said, staring down at Shinnosukeâs corpse. The light of the surrounding fire and molten glow reflected off his face, making it impossible to read his expression.
He spoke slowly: âWhen I saw my former instructor fall into darkness, all I could do⌠was let him die understanding why. Thatâs all.â
Sarutobi Hiruzen stood in silence for a long time.
Under the watchful gaze of the elite ANBU gathered behind him, he slowly staggered to his feet and lifted his sonâs body into his arms.
Could he truly say that Uchiha Keizumi was wrong?
Even Shinnosuke, in his dying breath, had said Keizumi wasnât.
But Sarutobi Hiruzen still burned with fury.
Fury⌠tinged with murderous intent.
He was not just the Hokage of a village.
He was a father.
And in this moment, he had countless urges to give the orderâlet the ANBU behind him charge and cut Uchiha Keizumi down on the spot.
But...
Shinnosukeâs final words had already made such an act impossible.
He had admitted that, although his actions had been beneficial to the village, they were morally corrupt on a personal level.
Sarutobi Hiruzen couldnât tell...
Was this just the nonsense of a dying man, his mind clouded by pain?
Or were those words spoken with the last remnants of his clarity?
If it was the latter, then perhaps Shinnosukeâs true intent had been to legitimize Uchiha Keizumiâs act of killing himâto grant it the justification of absolute justice.
Shinnosuke...
He had fulfilled the final duty of a jĹnin instructor.
He had once failed to protect two genin who had made grave mistakes. Now, it seemed he was trying to protect the last one.
Sarutobi Hiruzen let out a deep sigh.
'Is this the legacy youâve chosen to leave me, Shinnosuke?'
His thoughts were a chaotic mess.
Despite living so many years... despite having grandchildren now... he suddenly found himself confused by how complicated human nature could be.
He clenched his fist, then released it.
Clenched it again, and let go...
He repeated this over and overâno one knew for how long.
âUchiha Keizumi. Tomorrow, submit a detailed action report. Hand it to the ANBU. Thereâs no need for you to see me.â
At last, he spoke.
âHokage-sama!â one of the ANBU from the Sarutobi clan exclaimed, startled. His voice brimmed with urgency as he shouted from Hiruzenâs side, âSarutobi Shinnosuke was one of your closest aides!â
Hiruzen lowered his gaze.
âHokage-samaâŚâ The ANBU member was about to continue when a hand landed on his shoulder. He turned around in surprise.
It was Hatake Kakashi, also wearing an ANBU mask, who gently shook his head.
âLet the Hokage-sama have a moment to himself.â
Kakashiâs voice was quiet but heavy.
âShinnosuke-senpaiâs final words... they were a kind of farewell. And the Hokage-sama... he heard it too. Though he and Uchiha Keizumi stand on different sides, in the end, Shinnosuke still showed deep respect for his former student.â
âHe was willing to become a fallen leaf, burnt to ash, in order to nurture the growth of the one he once saw as the most rebellious of them all. Sarutobi Shinnosuke-senpai truly embodied Konohaâs Will of Fire. And with his death, he showed his student that the Will of Fire... is not so different from absolute justice.â
With that...
Kakashiâs gaze drifted to Uchiha Keizumiâonly to find the 'sensei-slayer' had already turned and walked away.
The sound of Keizumiâs footsteps echoed clearly in the quiet.
But the Hokage said nothing to stop him.
He didnât order the ANBU to pursue him.
He simply continued holding Sarutobi Shinnosukeâs gradually cooling body in his arms.
'Neither Sarutobi Shinnosuke-senpai nor Uchiha Keizumi were wrong.'
âThat thought suddenly appeared in Kakashiâs mind.
And that raised a deeper question:
Then what was wrong?
If neither of them was wrong,
...was it this shinobi world itself?
Kakashi couldnât find the answer.
âŚ
âLetâs return to the village, rookie,â Uchiha Keizumi said quietly. âTonight will be a sleepless night.â
âYes, senpai.â
