Chapter 105: Sasuke: I Won’t Forgive Uchiha Itachi Either!
Seeing Sasuke’s cute reaction of words denying but body being honest, Izumi suddenly felt a bit dazed. These two brothers were clearly raised by the same parents, so why were their personalities completely different?
“Let’s go.”
Uchiha Ikeizumi didn’t waste more words with the two little brats. After spitting out two words, he walked straight ahead.
“Eh?”
Naruto’s little face showed some confusion: “Where are we going?”
Izumi at the side explained for Uchiha Ikeizumi: “Senior Ikeizumi teaches「 Justice」, letting you understand the「 Justice」 method, not by standing in a classroom to lecture you.”
Back then, she had also received Senior Ikeizumi’s “hellish teaching of Justice”, which stimulated her quite a bit in the first few days.
But fortunately, as time passed, she finally understood how difficult Senior Ikeizumi’s Absolute Justice truly was.
Izumi followed behind Uchiha Ikeizumi, her crisp voice continuing: “Senior’s teaching method leans more toward direct practice. Before you arrived, Senior Kijiro’s ninja cats had already found the targets that「 Justice」 needs to hunt and judge!”
Ninja cats…
Kijiro…
Naruto and Sasuke simultaneously shifted their gazes to a big fat cat squatting comfortably on Izumi’s left shoulder.
Kijiro’s squinted eyes opened one, and it spoke human words: “You two stinky little ghosts, since you’ve made this choice, you better prepare mentally not to be scared pissless by sin. Especially, don’t get scared broken by the evil of humanity.”
Naruto said in a low voice: “The tone sounds like an old lady.”
Sasuke was just about to nod in deep agreement when he suddenly realized that if he went along with this dead last, wouldn’t that indirectly admit he really was inferior to this guy?
For some unknown reason, Sasuke, who had a surge of male rivalry psychology, lightly hummed and didn’t pick up on Naruto’s words.
As Sasuke walked behind, he gradually felt something was off.
He couldn’t help but say in shock: “This direction seems to be…”
“The Uchiha Clan.” Uchiha Ikeizumi’s very cold voice rang out: “Ninja cats in the Uchiha Clan Compound discovered a huge quantity of contraband drugs. Just this morning, three Uchiha clan members returned after completing a ninja mission; those three are the prime suspects.”
Sasuke’s face was full of shock; he never expected the incident to involve the Uchiha Clan!
Mother had once said that Uchiha Ikeizumi wouldn’t show mercy to anyone just because they were Uchiha Clan members.
As long as someone committed evil, Uchiha Ikeizumi would strike with unrelenting heavy fists, and causing deaths was very common.
At this moment, Sasuke had a much clearer understanding of the so-called “never showing mercy”…
He instantly gained a far clearer cognition.
“…Contraband drugs?”
Naruto was somewhat confused; his focus was elsewhere.
Kijiro yawned and explained: “It’s that kind of demonic stuff that, once you humans touch it, leads to family destruction and death. It wasn’t so rampant before, but after the end of the Third Shinobi World War, this demonic stuff has become increasingly rampant. I hear there’s a merchant named Kato who’s massively smuggling this stuff.”
“A month ago, I sent out five ninja cats to search for intelligence on the merchant Kato outside Konoha, even outside the Land of Fire. Once we have solid intel and confirm his location, Lord Ikeizumi will go pay him a visit.”
Kijiro paused, then continued: “The massive quantity of contraband items appearing in the Uchiha Clan Compound is most likely inextricably linked to that merchant Kato.”
“Daring to do this stuff under Lord Ikeizumi’s nose means they’ve been on missions outside Konoha too long and haven’t heard what’s been happening in Konoha in the last month.”
“They have no idea that「 Absolute Justice」 is now nearly unstoppable!”
Kijiro’s words made even Izumi suddenly realize in hindsight.
Turns out from the time she met Senior Ikeizumi until now…
Not even a month had passed!
Naruto, who had no clear concept of this, curiously asked: “How many people has that contraband drug hurt?”
“…Countless.”
Kijiro’s tone was slightly less flippant as it said: “Just in Konoha alone, last year, civilians and ninjas who died from contraband drugs totaled six or more. The number still suffering from it can’t even be fully counted.”
Naruto’s eyes widened in shock: “Ninjas get hurt by it too?”
Kijiro said: “There are always naive guys who think their ninja resilience and will can resist that physiological and psychological dependency, but in reality, they can’t resist at all.”
“You two little ghosts, just remember this. When you encounter contraband drug traffickers, whether producers, smugglers, or sellers, execute them all in the name of Justice!”
By the time they finished speaking, they had already entered the Uchiha Clan Compound.
Naruto never expected that in such a short time…
He’d visited this place three times!
Sasuke beside him was silent the whole way, but it was clear from his fair little face that he was deeply conflicted. He seemed to want to say something but held back.
Sasuke suddenly keenly noticed that the man called Uchiha Ikeizumi seemed to glance toward him.
It startled him abruptly.
Making him even more afraid to speak.
But unexpectedly, Uchiha Ikeizumi suddenly spoke: “You think that since they are fellow Uchiha Clan members, even if your own clansmen do wrong, you shouldn’t dispose of them with such extreme methods. At least leave them a way to live, right? Uchiha Sasuke.”
Sasuke: “!!!”
He instantly looked up in shock, staring at Uchiha Ikeizumi’s back ahead with a horrified expression like seeing a ghost in broad daylight.
Because what Uchiha Ikeizumi said was exactly what was in his heart!
It was as if the voice deep in his heart had been heard!
Uchiha Ikeizumi said indifferently: “The evil of the Ninja World is divided into nine grades. Minor evil, like Uzumaki Naruto’s pranks, only needs slightly harsher punishment than usual to correct the mistake. Medium evil, like theft or brawling, can be locked in Konoha Prison for forced reform. Major evil, such as malicious murder, trafficking of contraband drugs, human trafficking, etc…. must be corrected with killing!”
“Justice allows no compromise, no forgiveness. Uchiha Sasuke, do you think you have the right to forgive those villains who should pay with their lives, on behalf of the pitiful innocents whose families were destroyed?”
Uchiha Ikeizumi’s footsteps had already stopped; he turned around, looking down at Uchiha Sasuke.
“If your brother Uchiha Itachi started a Night of the Uchiha Clan Downfall tonight, slaughtering almost the entire Uchiha Clan from top to bottom. Women, elders, children… even your father, your mother… none would escape death.”
“At that time… the entire Uchiha Clan would have only you and Uchiha Itachi surviving. Would you forgive Uchiha Itachi on behalf of the already dead Uchiha Clan members?”
“Would you forgive your father’s killer? Would you pardon your mother’s killer? If suddenly someone stood before you and said—Uchiha Itachi is your brother; shouldn’t you forgive him? Even if he did wrong, it’s no big deal, right?”
“In that case… would you follow that person’s words and choose to forgive Uchiha Itachi, who killed off the entire Uchiha Clan?”
Uchiha Ikeizumi’s successive questions made Sasuke’s eyes widen as he involuntarily retreated several steps.
At this moment, he was locking eyes with Uchiha Ikeizumi.
For some reason, even Sasuke didn’t know why, but Uchiha Ikeizumi’s words began constructing scenes in his mind.
In a brief daze, Sasuke felt the entire scene before his eyes undergo earth-shattering changes.
He quietly found himself in the darkness of night.
He remembered the buildings appearing before him were those within the Uchiha Clan.
Sasuke’s bewildered gaze wandered around.
And his eyes widened more and more at this moment.
—Under the moonlight, blood, corpses, darkness, screams, pleas… all sorts of horrifying scenes converged into an extremely terrifying sight. Every lifelike corpse had a gruesome death, with blood as if soaking the ground red.
Sasuke’s pupils were trembling.
Because under the brighter moonlight, he clearly saw the familiar faces on those corpses, frozen in fear and despair—they were Uchiha Clan members!
Elders.
Youths.
Children.
Infants.
All present!
A sudden scream as if right beside him made Sasuke’s hair stand on end; he turned his head in panic.
He saw a Uchiha Clan peer about his age being grabbed by the hair by a man who had pushed his mask to one side of his head, lifted up, with a ninja sword already piercing the peer’s chest, taking his life.
The ninja sword was slowly withdrawn.
The corpse was thrown to the ground.
At this moment, the trembling Sasuke finally saw the man’s face—Uchiha Itachi!!!
Before Sasuke could shout, the scene suddenly shifted.
—Sasuke found himself inside a house, dim yellow light giving him no sense of security; faint footsteps and dragging sounds scared him into turning his head quickly.
Sasuke was shocked to see his brother Uchiha Itachi dragging a dying woman. He also noticed Uchiha Itachi seemed unable to see him, passing right in front of him.
He saw Uchiha Itachi dragging the woman with one hand, holding a bloodstained kunai in the other, and every few steps in the room, slashing a wound on the woman’s body with the kunai in hand.
“Aaaahhh—”
The woman’s hoarse screams, heartbreaking to hear and tear-inducing, caused a faint sound from a wardrobe in the room.
Uchiha Itachi in view slit the woman’s throat with the kunai.
Then walked to the wardrobe and expressionlessly opened it.
Sasuke saw a little girl hiding in the wardrobe!
“Brother! Stop!!!” Sasuke wanted to shout this, but found he couldn’t make a sound. He could only watch helplessly as Uchiha Itachi dragged the terrified little girl from the wardrobe and ended her life with the kunai.
The scene before his eyes changed again.
Full of grief and indignation, Sasuke saw Uchiha Ikeizumi, Uchiha Izumi, Uzumaki Naruto, and Kijiro in his view.
Uchiha Itachi was gone.
Blood, corpses, screams—all vanished completely.
Sasuke was stunned in place.
“Did you see it?” Uchiha Ikeizumi’s Three-Tomoe Sharingan slowly returned to normal, and he said: “If such a thing really happened, do you have the right to forgive or pardon him on behalf of others? Give your answer, Uchiha Sasuke.”
Sasuke snapped back to reality as if from a dream: “This is… an Illusion Technique?”
He was somewhat dazed; this Illusion Technique was too real, so real it felt like these tragedies would really happen in the future.
He couldn’t imagine his brother doing such things.
But if it really happened, did he have the right to forgive Uchiha Itachi on behalf of the slaughtered clan members?
Sasuke remembered the peer whose body was pierced by the ninja sword.
Remembered the infant split in two on the ground.
Remembered the woman tormented in pain, and the little girl who couldn’t help making a sound upon hearing her mother being tortured.
“Patter”—tears flowed uncontrollably.
His blurred vision made Sasuke realize he seemed to be crying.
He hurriedly wiped his wet eyes with his hand.
Sasuke lowered his head and quietly gave his reply: “I… have no right to forgive him on behalf of others. Even… if this really happened, I myself wouldn’t forgive him…”
He suddenly understood something, opened his reddened eyes to look at Uchiha Ikeizumi; his fear of Uchiha Ikeizumi seemed to fade a bit, replaced by a courageous thirst for knowledge: “Those three clan members who brought a large amount of contraband drugs to Konoha… did they also bring such pain to others?”
“Yes.” Just a single word in reply.
It made Sasuke feel deeply ashamed, wishing he could find a hole to crawl into.
“…Sorry.”
He apologized in a low voice.
“Eh?!” Naruto, completely unaware of what happened, was baffled. He didn’t understand why Teacher Ikeizumi just asked this arrogant guy some questions, and then the guy inexplicably lowered his head in apology.
…
Meanwhile, at the Police Force Headquarters.
“Lord Fugaku, the Jinchuriki… was brought in by Uchiha Ikeizumi again. And some Anbu ninjas, probably monitoring the Jinchuriki, they sneaked in too.”
When these words reached his ears, Fugaku felt completely numb.
This was the third time, right? When would he take a break!
Even if you’re not tired, Ikeizumi.
I’m already tired!
However.
When the next sentence came, it stunned Fugaku: “Moreover… Lord Fugaku, your second son Uchiha Sasuke seems to be with Uchiha Ikeizumi.”
Fugaku: “???”
Sasuke?!
Fugaku racked his brains but couldn’t figure out what strange connection Sasuke had with Uchiha Ikeizumi.
In his impression, the two were completely unrelated.
Fugaku’s brows furrowed, a flash of worry between them; he instinctively thought—could Sasuke have done something wrong and been caught by Uchiha Ikeizumi?!
Though this second son’s talent made him extremely frustrated, feeling he wasn’t even a tenth of Itachi.
But he was still his son no matter what.
Fugaku stood up and said in a deep voice: “Where is Ikeizumi? Take me to see!”
As for the Anbu who sneaked into the Uchiha Clan Compound to monitor the Jinchuriki.
They were gorgeously ignored by Fugaku.
…
The other side of the Uchiha Compound.
In the underground secret room of a house.
Three Uchiha Clan ninjas gathered here; one with arms crossed, frowning at the piles of goods ahead: “Hayata, over a ton of drugs—can Konoha digest that? It’ll take quite some time to clear them all!”
“Don’t worry.” The youth named Uchiha Hayata smirked and said: “We don’t need to consume them in Konoha; we just need to pass them on. How they’re consumed is others’ business, not ours.”
Another frowned: “Better to be careful; if Uchiha Fugaku finds out, we’re in trouble.”
“Hmph!”
Uchiha Hayata sneered: “Afraid of what? We’re doing this to raise enough funds for the Uchiha Clan! With those funds, we can buy massive explosive tags to turn into military capital for overthrowing the Hokage someday.”
“If Clan Leader Uchiha Fugaku makes trouble over this small matter, it just proves he’s a guy who leans outwards! And it also gives the perfect…”
“Opportunity for me to directly urge my grandfather to call a clan election on this basis and choose a new clan leader.”
“Ha, true.” The other said: “Your grandfather is Elder Setsuna; weak Fugaku definitely won’t do anything to you.”
“By the way.” The man frowned slightly, hesitating: “Haven’t been back for months… why does Konoha feel weird? And I keep hearing people talking about that dangerous guy; think he’ll come trouble us? That guy yaps about justice all day.”
Uchiha Hayata dismissed it: “You’re overthinking. As for that guy you mentioned, tch, as long as we don’t spill it, how would he know what we did?”
Clearly, all three Uchiha Clan ninjas were young radicals.
Just as Uchiha Hayata was about to say more.
Sudden footsteps from above made the three pupils contract.
Where did the footsteps come from? Someone pried the door open?—This was the thought that flashed in all three minds at the same time.
The three immediately exchanged glances; just as they prepared to go up from the underground secret room, they found the footsteps getting closer.
Meaning… whoever sneaked in for whatever reason was even heading down to the underground secret room!
An ominous premonition instantly filled their hearts.
When they saw who came down, Uchiha Hayata’s mind blared alarms, and he exclaimed in disbelief: “Hiss! Uchiha Ikeizumi?!!”
Then.
They saw three more people come down behind Uchiha Ikeizumi—three little ghosts, no less.
One was a girl in Police Force uniform.
One was a blond little ghost.
The other…
Hm?!
Upon seeing Sasuke’s childish little face, Uchiha Hayata and the other two were stunned. They knew what the clan leader Uchiha Fugaku’s eldest and second sons looked like.
…
…
