Chapter 22: This Path Is Closed — Whoever Comes, Dies

(Huge Request for Continued Reading!!!)

Inside the Root Base.

Danzō stood with a stormy expression, his eyes fixed on the retreating figures of Hiruzen Sarutobi and the Anbu Ninja. Only when they vanished completely from sight did his composure shatter.

“Damn—bastards!!!”

All the research data on Wood Release and Sharingan had been stolen—extorted by that monkey-faced bastard. Even worse, Danzō had been forced to hand over the two remaining Three Tomoe Sharingan he hadn’t yet implanted into his body.

Those Sharingan—each one painstakingly gathered by Danzō himself during the Third Ninja World War, guarded meticulously by his Root forces—were now gone.

Not only had Uchiha Iizumi wasted one of them…

But that monkey had taken two more!

And this—this was the only explanation Danzō was allowed.

Before leaving, Hiruzen had delivered a warning—bordering on a threat.

“Danzō. Do not let me hear of anything like this again. The first time, I overlooked it—because you have served the Leaf Village. The next time… I will have no such tolerance. If this happens again, you can step down from your position as Root Leader.”

Recalling those words, Danzō’s fists clenched so hard his knuckles turned white.

“This is my Root—nurtured with my own blood and soul! Who does he think he is, threatening my authority?!”

He spat out the words, venomous and bitter.

“Damn monkey! And that cursed, evil Uchiha brat!”

At that moment, a Root informant rushed back into the base, breathless, and immediately reported his findings.

“Danzō-sama! The Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, Naruto Uzumaki, has been brought to the Investigation Corps Building by Uchiha Iizumi! It’s said to have happened under the Third Hokage’s tacit approval.”

Danzō: “???”

…

Inside the Uchiha Compound.

“Uchiha Iizumi brought the fox demon brat to the Investigation Corps Building?”

One Uchiha ninja’s eyes suddenly lit up, a dangerous gleam flashing in them. “This is an unparalleled opportunity! They say the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox was sealed inside that boy—he is the Jinchūriki!”

His voice rose with excitement. “If we control the power of the Jinchūriki, who in the village’s old guard would dare challenge us?”

He chuckled, shaking his head. “Never thought Uchiha Iizumi—so aloof, so isolated, always clashing with his own kin—would actually pull off something like this when it mattered.”

Naruto Uzumaki being the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki—this was supposed to be a secret known only to the highest Leaf officials.

But no one was truly blind. Rumors had long circulated through the village: the boy was a demon incarnate, a harbinger of disaster.

And rumors rarely sprouted from thin air.

With just a little connection, anyone could see the undeniable link between Naruto and the Nine-Tailed Fox.

At that moment, another Uchiha ninja narrowed his eyes, sneering coldly.

“I heard Naruto Uzumaki is currently in Fugaku-sama’s office. Do you really think Fugaku-sama—the man known as the ‘Fierce-Eyed Strategist’—would allow us to use the Jinchūriki to intimidate the village elders?”

Another Uchiha gritted his teeth. “Fugaku Clan Head is too indecisive! But if we gather enough clan members and apply pressure, he won’t have a choice!”

“If we gain the fox’s power, we can accelerate our coup plan—move it forward by months!”

“We should call upon Elder Setsuna!”

“…”

The group gathered there numbered over twenty—hardline Uchiha extremists, all loyal to the faction led by Uchiha Setsuna: the legendary elder who had once attempted a coup, imprisoned by the Second Hokage for years, and only recently released.

But these younger extremists were too slow.

Already, the elders led by Uchiha Setsuna had set off—racing straight toward the Investigation Corps Building.

Yet…

…

“Uchiha Iizumi… what is this?”

Uchiha Setsuna—aged roughly the same as Hiruzen Sarutobi—leaned heavily on his Root cane, glaring at the figure blocking the street.

“P-Precious Iizumi… what are you…?”

Izumi, trailing behind Uchiha Iizumi, stared in disbelief.

There, in the middle of the Uchiha Compound’s main street, Uchiha Iizumi had drawn the sword from Izumi’s waist and stood silently, blade held firm.

The air turned tense—charged with danger.

The guards accompanying the elder Uchiha stepped forward, forming a line of confrontation.

Uchiha Iizumi ignored Setsuna’s accusation.

Instead, he turned calmly to Izumi beside him.

“Newcomer. When two evils clash, their conflict may destroy each other—perhaps even annihilate both. But such a clash inevitably spills over… harming those who had nothing to do with it.”

He paused.

“Do you think Absolute Justice should stand by and watch… or should it step in?”

Izumi blinked, stunned.

She twisted a strand of hair around her finger, thinking hard.

“P-Precious Iizumi… that’s a deep question… but I think… Absolute Justice shouldn’t be so cold-hearted.”

Her voice grew firmer.

“If… if I were the one deciding… I’d choose to stop it.”

Wait—hold on.

Iizumi didn’t ask this for no reason.

And now, this stance… this defiance.

Could it be…

In his eyes… these old elders are… evil?

Then who is the other evil?

Fugaku-sama?

Or the Hokage?

Izumi swallowed hard.

“Newcomer,” Uchiha Iizumi said slowly, “you’re only half right.”

“Absolute Justice has no mercy. It must be enforced without compassion—without hesitation. The reason it must stop such conflicts is simple: it cannot allow evil to parade openly before its eyes.”

“Even if you know that letting two evils destroy each other would benefit Justice…

Allowing evil to run rampant is already a betrayal of Justice.”

“Never believe that letting one evil destroy another is a valid path. Even a single misstep—where they don’t destroy each other—could let one grow so powerful… that even Absolute Justice can no longer contain it.”

The Uchiha extremists’ coup plan?

To Uchiha Iizumi, it was not evil—just a plan.

But the way they would carry it out—their recklessness, their disregard for Justice, their twisted, pathological obsession?

That… was evil.

He knew it with certainty—because he saw it in the red-and-white grids that pulsed faintly in his vision.

Evil, laid bare.

Only then did Uchiha Iizumi finally address the stormy expression on Uchiha Setsuna’s face.

But the words he spoke made the elder’s blood boil.

“This path is closed.

Whoever comes… dies.”

…

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end