Chapter 49: Recognition of Absolute Justice (Please continue reading!)

At the same time, Hiruzen Sarutobi, sensing the sky had darkened completely, rubbed his strained brow and let out a heavy sigh. Yet the grim shadow lingering on his aged face refused to fade.

He had hoped for Hiruzen Shintetsu to pass peacefully, without turmoil, in his final moments.

Who could have foreseen that Uchiha Iizumi would suddenly appear like a storm from nowhere?

Facing what Uchiha Iizumi had done today, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt an overwhelming mix of emotions.

Officially, he should have supported Iizumi’s execution of Justice. After all, Yamada Toshikuro’s crimes had shattered the very foundation of Fire Country’s laws. Even if Iizumi’s methods were extreme—directly ordering his subordinates to kill the man—Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn’t bring himself to condemn him.

But personally…

He was Shintetsu’s father.

To have such a disruptive, jarring event occur during his son’s funeral—especially one where the killer was none other than Iizumi—was an unbearable affront. A deep wound to a father’s heart.

“Hmph…” Hiruzen Sarutobi murmured. “But the Leaf Village can’t afford an internal war with no preparation. The pillars holding up the village are growing fewer by the day… Iizumi is one of the few young ones who can truly carry the weight.”

“Even if the Uchiha clan never produces a Hokage, he could one day replace Danzō, or Fire, or Konoha’s own small spring.”

It was this painful contradiction—being caught between duty and fatherhood—that left even Hiruzen Sarutobi unable to define his own feelings.

Shaking off the turmoil, he turned to leave the Hokage Tower.

Just then, an Anbu Ninja suddenly leapt through the open window, landing in a half-kneel before him. His voice was rapid, urgent:

“Hokage-sama! Uchiha Iizumi has killed his sole remaining blood relative—Uchiha Oniwa.”

Hiruzen Sarutobi froze mid-step.

“Uchiha Oniwa… the one suspected of brutally murdering two Anbu comrades during a mission outside the village?”

Hiruzen wasn’t unfamiliar with the name. Oniwa had once been an Anbu operative himself. In fact, it was Hiruzen who had ordered his temporary suspension for investigation.

“Yes,” the Anbu confirmed, nodding. His tone remained steady, but a barely perceptible tremor betrayed the depth of his shock.

Hiruzen let out a slow breath. “If Iizumi killed him… then I wasn’t wrong to suspect him.”

Then, a sudden thought struck him. “Is Oniwa the only living relative Iizumi has left?”

“Yes,” the Anbu replied—exactly as before. But this time, the hesitation in his voice was unmistakable.

Even a seasoned Anbu Ninja was shaken by Iizumi’s actions.

Hiruzen fell silent.

After a long pause, he finally spoke, voice thick with emotion:

“Absolute Justice… that which spares no kin…”

He finally understood.

That was what Iizumi’s Absolute Justice truly meant.

“Hmph… Iizumi,” he whispered, eyes closing. “It’s because you’re so exceptional… so unwavering in your sense of Justice… that I can’t let my grief over Shintetsu turn you into my enemy.”

…

“Hmph! Just as I thought—pure evil, that Uchiha brat! How dare he kill even his own blood? He’s nothing but a heartless killing machine. The cursed blood of the Uchiha line has no place in this world!”

Elsewhere, Danzō received the news through Root operatives.

“The Uchiha eyes contain powers beyond imagination. Such power can only be awakened under extreme mental strain—rare, but possible.”

Danzō narrowed his eyes, his gaze sharp with suspicion and danger.

He interpreted Iizumi’s actions through the worst possible lens.

His mind drifted to Uchiha Shisui.

Shisui’s eyes were said to hold the most sinister power within the Uchiha legend. And because of that, because he was deemed a threat too great for the village’s leadership to tolerate, Danzō had finally taken action—killing Shisui and attempting to steal his Mangekyō Sharingan.

Now… Danzō began to suspect:

Had Iizumi awakened something like Shisui’s Mangekyō?

Did he now possess that same terrifying, soul-chilling power?

A faint, persistent sting pulsed in his left ear.

As fear stirred in his heart, fury surged beneath it. He clenched his teeth, whispering through gritted jaws:

“Monkey… if you hadn’t stopped me that day, I would’ve crushed this threat to the village in its cradle!”

His rage wasn’t just aimed at Iizumi.

It was also directed at Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Though Danzō knew deep down the odds of Iizumi awakening the Mangekyō were slim—after all, it had taken decades to produce just one such prodigy in Shisui—once the suspicion took root, it refused to die.

Like weeds, it sprouted and spread in the dark corners of his mind.

“Uchiha Iizumi…”

“Sharingan…”

…

“Today’s the second time I’ve killed someone.”

Izumi floated in the bathtub, her long hair drifting like ink across the steaming water. Only her face remained above the surface, her lips moving silently beneath the bubbles—muttering soft, gurgling sounds.

She remembered clearly the first time.

She’d been restless all night. Even after returning home, she’d feared the Anbu would come for her.

Now… it felt almost routine.

She no longer felt the slightest unease. The discomfort of killing had vanished long ago.

“And…” she murmured, placing a hand over her chest, her head rising from the water. “Why do I… feel a strange sense of joy?”

She frowned. “I’m not a monster. I’m not some serial killer. This can’t be from the act of killing itself…”

Then, a sudden flash of insight.

She gasped.

“—Recognition!”

It hit her.

That’s why she felt joy.

Because she realized—someone else in the Uchiha clan had finally acknowledged Iizumi’s Absolute Justice.

And not just one person.

Many.

During her walk home after saying goodbye to Iizumi, she’d overheard people talking about her.

Not with condemnation.

Not with fear.

But with awe. With admiration.

Even if their feelings were born from a twisted, predatory fascination with her extreme methods—

It was still a start.

…

“Father,” Uchiha Itachi said solemnly at the dinner table, “I wish to meet with Uchiha Iizumi.”

…

…

Recommended by a friend: New Hokage novel!

《Hokage: Starting as Tsunade’s God Gift》

A young man named Bai Mu is reborn into the world of Hokage Ninja, but without a physical body. Luckily, his soul can bind to a host. As long as the host completes his missions and serves him, he gains power over all things across realms—until he regains his flesh and ascends to true invincibility.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end