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NAJ Chapter 27: Justice Isn’t Always Peace
🕑 Added 2025-06-11 04:53:40 +0000 UTCUchiha Fugaku, after all, was the current head of the Uchiha clan. No matter how dissatisfied the group of Uchiha behind him were, in the face of his stern tone, they could only fall silent.
“Danzō-sama.”
Fugaku, keeping a tense expression, spoke in a low voice before turning to leave: “The Uchiha clan harbors no ulterior motives toward the village. There’s no need for the village to keep treating us with such distrust.”
With those words spoken—
Before Danzō could respond, Fugaku clenched his jaw and turned away, leaving behind only the silhouette of his gradually retreating figure.
Fugaku sighed silently in his heart.
He knew that once again, he had backed down—right in front of so many of his clansmen… And this time, his retreat might very well leave Uchiha Keizumi completely isolated.
But Fugaku felt that if he didn’t back down, then the relationship between the village and the Uchiha would be truly beyond repair.
The village already didn’t trust the Uchiha clan.
And now, if they clashed with the Root ninja using force...
Could the Uchiha still have a foothold in Konoha?
“…I’m sorry, Keizumi…” Fugaku looked up at the full moon in the sky and muttered, “I’m doing this for the greater good. As long as the Uchiha can coexist peacefully with the village, let all the blame and curses fall on me alone.”
Fugaku believed he saw things clearly.
The Uchiha seemed strong—but compared to the entire village, they were just like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.
“I’m doing this only to protect the Uchiha.”
A trace of guilt faded from his eyes.
…
“Hmph. The Uchiha…” Danzō’s gaze grew increasingly dark and vicious, but not to the extent of losing his mind and trying to forcibly detain Fugaku.
"Danzō-sama, the Hokage has returned!” Just then, a Root ninja suddenly reported.
Danzō froze. “That fast?!”
He had only waited a few short minutes—sure enough, Sarutobi Hiruzen returned to Konoha with a group of ANBU.
“Hmm?”
Danzō suddenly noticed something off—many of the ANBU were carrying corpses on their backs.
Even that monkey was holding a 'corpse' in his arms.
So many dead people!
By moonlight, his gaze swept over the bodies one by one, but he didn’t find the face he most wanted to see—that hateful brat.
Most of the bodies wore the garb of ANBU operatives, with a few looking like research personnel.
And the way they’d died was downright gruesome! Many corpses were missing parts, scattered and dismembered in horrific ways.
Danzō also caught a faint whiff of something scorched.
“Hiruzen, where is Uchiha Keizumi?!” Danzō’s brow furrowed deeply as he couldn’t hold back and demanded an answer.
Sarutobi Hiruzen lifted his eyelids and cast a brief glance at Danzō.
But he said nothing—he simply walked right past Danzō, ignoring every single Root ninja, treating them all as if they were air.
This made Danzō’s temper flare.
“Hiruzen!”
“Danzō-sama.” At that moment, an ANBU suddenly stepped in front of him and said in a low voice, “The Hokage has just experienced the grief of losing his son. Please don’t disturb him.”
Lost… his son?
Danzō’s pupils contracted slightly.
That meant—the corpse Hiruzen was carrying… was Sarutobi Shinnosuke? The monkey’s eldest son was dead? Killed by Uchiha Keizumi?
Danzō’s breath quickened slightly.
That was a blood feud, wasn’t it? That monkey must’ve already flown into a rage and ordered the ANBU to swarm Keizumi and tear him apart, right?
“As for Uchiha Keizumi…” the ANBU hesitated, then continued, “He left the secret research base. He should be back in the village already—probably just climbed straight over the wall to avoid hassle instead of going around to the main gate.”
Danzō froze.
“…What did you say?”
His sinister eyes filled with disbelief. His expression couldn’t even hold together from the emotional turbulence. Clenching his teeth with hatred, Danzō demanded through gritted teeth: “Are you saying… Hiruzen let that inherently evil Uchiha brat go?! Even after that wicked Uchiha killed his own son?!”
“Yes,” the ANBU replied plainly.
Danzō was dumbfounded.
He knew that the monkey was already old. Long gone were the lofty ambitions and bold decisiveness of his youth. Now, the man was hesitant and indecisive in everything.
But he never imagined that even when faced with the murder of his own son, that damned monkey would still be this weak and indecisive!
How could he possibly let the killer of his own child go?
What was he, some kind of saint?!
“Hiruzen!” Danzō couldn’t hold his emotions back any longer. His expression was so dark he was on the verge of cursing aloud, but in the end, he barely restrained himself and shouted at Hiruzen’s retreating back, “What the hell are you thinking?! That inherently evil Uchiha brat killed your son! He even slaughtered so many ANBU! And yet you still plan to keep that menace in the village?!”
Danzō simply couldn’t comprehend it!
Sarutobi Hiruzen paused for a moment mid-step.
“This old man…”
Hiruzen clenched his teeth so tightly that blood seeped from his gums. He lowered his head, gazing silently at the face of Sarutobi Shinnosuke cradled in his arms.
“This old man… is upholding Shinnosuke’s final Will of Fire. He didn’t want to see the village, in the absence of any external threat, destroy itself through internal strife and infighting.”
“That… was his dying wish.”
“I…” Hiruzen took a deep breath. “Must see his final wish fulfilled. And as for Uchiha Keizumi… Uchiha Keizumi didn’t… kill the wrong person—this was also something Shinnosuke said.”
Danzō was utterly dumbfounded, wondering if old age had finally caught up to him and his ears were going bad.
He thought Sarutobi Shinnosuke—killed by Uchiha Keizumi—must have gone insane!
And now Hiruzen, mourning the death of his son, had gone insane too!
Damn it…
Was there anyone left in this village who was still sane?
…
Elsewhere—
Following Uchiha Keizumi back into the village, Izumi dragged her exhausted body once again into the Uchiha clan compound. Along the way, she and Keizumi had gone their separate ways.
“Ah… so tired…”
Walking alone along a dimly lit street, Izumi felt a wave of despair wash over her.
This was exhaustion of both body and spirit.
She’d lost count of how many people Keizumi-senpai had killed tonight. Especially in that moment when the rain of lava came crashing down—surely no one in that secret research base had survived, right?
And even the Hokage’s eldest son had been killed by Keizumi-senpai.
So this… was absolute justice?
Not even the identity of the Hokage’s son could serve as a shield in the face of justice.
“Maybe… that’s why, no matter how tired I get, I still grit my teeth and try to follow in his footsteps.”
Izumi was murmuring to herself—
When she nearly walked straight into a tall figure.
Luckily, she reacted quickly and came to an abrupt halt.
She hurriedly took two steps back.
Looking up in a rush, Izumi froze—then blurted out in surprise, “Clan Head Fugaku?!”
Fugaku also froze. He recognized this Uchiha girl.
“Izumi?”
Then something struck him. “Did Keizumi come back?”
Izumi quickly replied, “Keizumi-senpai should already be home.”
“…I see.” Fugaku let out a breath of relief.
Keizumi—he’d come back alive.
And then, a fresh wave of guilt welled up in Fugaku’s heart.
…
Meanwhile—
Back home, Uchiha Keizumi was now focusing his attention on the final “legacy” left to him by Sarutobi Shinnosuke, the former jōnin who had once been his instructor—
A reward dropped from a red-named criminal upon death.
