Chapter 126: Justice Slays Sin! Shocking The Land Of Fire!
The vast Capital of the Land of Fire was already in a state of panic.
Many magnate families who luckily survived realized that as long as they did not commit evil deeds, they would not touch Uchiha Ikeizumi’s bad luck, nor would they be cleansed by the so-called「 Absolute Justice」.
But the problem was, who could ensure that oneself was clean? Or, who could ensure that one’s family members were clean?
Who could guarantee that oneself would not be killed? Who could guarantee that when one’s family members were killed, oneself had no emotional fluctuation at all?
However, one undeniable point was…
In this short period of time, the entire Capital of the Land of Fire indeed had no one daring to commit crimes.
Mainly because one villain after another who had committed many deeds in the past had been rooted out by Uchiha Ikeizumi. Those who committed minor deeds were thrown into prison, while those who committed major deeds lost their lives.
A day of massive bloodbath made the entire Capital of the Land of Fire immersed in a thick bloody smell every day.
It scared many people with evil intentions into losing their courage to act.
If the corpses left by Uchiha Ikeizumi were ignored. If the blood on the ground that could not be washed clean was also ignored.
Then the Capital of the Land of Fire these past few days was indeed “stable in security”!
Hm…
Stable to the point that even the Daimyo of the Land of Fire was killed.
Amid this atmosphere of fear and worry, Sarutobi Hiruzen’s mood was equally bad, because some rumors about him as the Third Hokage had begun to circulate in the capital.
Sarutobi Hiruzen personally witnessed the Daimyo of the Land of Fire being buried not long ago, when an Anbu Ninja hurriedly came to report to him: “Hokage, this is some ‘conspiracy theory’ public opinion about you that we collected outside these past few days. As you guessed, many people think this matter is related to you, Hokage.”
Sarutobi Hiruzen’s eyelids twitched. He did not know how much mental preparation he had made before taking the intelligence handed over by the Anbu Ninja.
The result was that just one glance almost made Sarutobi Hiruzen pass out.
The densely packed words on it were each and every one shocking.
——”The Daimyo’s death must be related to Konoha Village! Isn’t that Uchiha Ikeizumi a Konoha Ninja? How could he possibly break into the Daimyo’s Mansion alone with his own power? There must be other Konoha Ninjas inside helping him. Didn’t you see Konoha’s Third Hokage also appear at the Daimyo’s Mansion?”
——”I heard Konoha’s Third Hokage is some ninja hero of the Ninja World… A ninja hero who bites the Daimyo, this is the first time I’ve seen it. These ninjas are too dangerous, right? Have they been plotting for a long time?”
——”Is Konoha Village trying to break free from the control of the Daimyo’s Mansion? Is it the ambition of all Konoha Ninjas, or just the ambition of that Konoha Hokage?”
——”I heard the second son of the Konoha Hokage is one of the Daimyo’s Twelve Guardian Shinobi! The Konoha Hokage has long planted a nail inside the Daimyo’s Mansion! He has been plotting for a long time!”
——”Did His Highness the Eldest Son choose to swallow his anger so cowardly because he was also threatened by the Konoha Hokage?”
——”The Konoha Hokage wants to usurp the throne!”
“…”
“Outrageous! Outrageous!” Sarutobi Hiruzen could only keep muttering these four words.
He paced back and forth anxiously, the words on it making his old face flush red with shame.
It even made his conscience suffer intense condemnation.
But the problem was…
These were all unreliable conspiracy theories! He, Sarutobi Hiruzen, did not think that way at all! This matter had nothing to do with him!
How could traveling thousands of miles with Anbu to the Capital of the Land of Fire possibly be to collude with Uchiha Ikeizumi from inside and outside?
He was wronged!
Sarutobi Hiruzen suddenly felt a bit scared. He finally understood the terrifying public opinion pressure that Hatake Sakumo had endured back then.
One had to know that these public opinions were still based on fear of this “sinister Konoha Hokage.” Those people did not dare to say too much.
Otherwise…
Sarutobi Hiruzen felt that he would probably develop suicidal thoughts.
Wanting to prove his innocence through suicide!
Fortunately.
This irrational thought was instantly thrown to the back of his mind.
“Can the public opinion be controlled?” Sarutobi Hiruzen was at a loss to the point of even seeking advice from the several Anbu Ninjas around him.
An Anbu Ninja said: “Hokage, some conspiracy theories about you have already spread out of the Capital of the Land of Fire. Moreover, the Capital of the Land of Fire is much larger than Konoha, so the difficulty of controlling the spread of public opinion is several times, even dozens of times, that of Konoha.”
“Plus, this is not Konoha Village. Even if we want to control public opinion, we need the support of the Daimyo’s Mansion. But…”
The Anbu Ninja hesitated for a moment but ultimately chose to continue: “But the current Daimyo’s Mansion definitely leans more toward Uchiha Ikeizumi between you and him.”
“Once Uchiha Ikeizumi intervenes, the public opinion still cannot be controlled.”
Sarutobi Hiruzen fell silent.
The name “Uchiha Ikeizumi” was probably not just a nightmare in the hearts of many in the Capital of the Land of Fire.
It was even more so his, Sarutobi Hiruzen’s, nightmare!
……
At the same time.
On the other side.
“Ninja Sword.” Uchiha Ikeizumi simply spat out two words, and Mitarashi Anko quickly took one out from the pile of ninja swords she was holding in her arms and handed it to Uchiha Ikeizumi.
Subsequently.
She watched wide-eyed as Uchiha Ikeizumi discarded the dulled ninja sword in hand. Then, with the new ninja sword, he executed the new villain.
Anko secretly swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
She felt that after these past days, she should be numb to Uchiha Ikeizumi’s behavior of executing justice.
But as time passed, she found that the words “numb” did not exist at all.
Anko was shocked every day, enduring psychological shocks of varying degrees every day.
She could not get numb at all!
Moreover, behind Uchiha Ikeizumi, she had also seen many villains she had never seen before, and heard countless filthy evil deeds she had never dared to imagine.
Some villains’ evil deeds, when recalled now, made her feel nauseous and even gave her nightmares at night.
Anko’s views also began to change with the passage of time.
“Perhaps… these people really do not deserve to live in this Ninja World. Their existence only sullies this land; their twisted thoughts only make sin more rampant…”
Staring at the headless corpse in front of her, the Anko from a few days ago would have felt uncomprehending, but the current Anko felt he died well!
She had long been stimulated by this group of villains’ nauseating evil deeds to lose all empathy for them.
Even if they cried and begged bitterly before dying.
She would not feel the slightest mercy or forgiveness.
But Anko suddenly felt a bit lost. She could not help but look at the ninja swords in her arms, then shift her gaze to her palms, her eyes revealing some bewilderment and fear.
“I… what evil deeds have I done for Orochimaru? Am I the same as these people? Have I also hurt many people? Do I also have no right to live in the Ninja World?”
One murmur question after another kept tormenting Anko’s conscience.
She knew she was Orochimaru’s disciple.
But Orochimaru, to prevent certain secrets from leaking, had already tampered with part of her memories. Thus, the current Anko could not recall no matter what evil deeds she had done.
“If your evil deeds were as serious as those of the villains I have slain by my hand.” At this moment, Uchiha Ikeizumi’s voice echoed faintly: “You would long have been a corpse awaiting decomposition by microorganisms.”
One sentence from Uchiha Ikeizumi woke Anko from her dream.
Right!
If she were really that kind of villain, how could she still be alive?
Anko took a deep breath, calmed her inner thoughts, and for some reason, mustered the courage to ask this increasingly fearsome old classmate from the ninja academy: “Ikeizumi, you will find Orochimaru and kill him, right?”
“Although I can’t remember those things clearly. But…”
“Will.”
Uchiha Ikeizumi coldly interrupted her.
……
The events in the Capital of the Land of Fire inevitably reached Konoha, making Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane unable to cover it up anymore.
At this point, sealing the news would be too much like trying to hide something.
Inside the Nara Clan Residence.
The clan leaders of the three ninja clans—Boar, Deer, Butterfly—were gathered together at the moment.
“Uchiha Ikeizumi really did something earth-shattering!” Nara Shikahisa’s eyes flashed with shock. He picked up a cup of tea, took a sip to calm himself, and sighed endlessly: “Inoichi, I truly acknowledge his「 Absolute Justice」 now. His pursuit of justice in the Ninja World is no joke.”
“He even killed the Daimyo of the Land of Fire and bloodbathed all the magnates in the entire Capital of the Land of Fire. It is said that Tanzaku Street was also thoroughly cleansed from top to bottom by him.”
The shock in Nara Shikahisa’s eyes could not be suppressed.
Choza Akimichi pondered and said: “Shikahisa, is this trouble for our Ino-Shika-Cho trio? After all, Ikeizumi has offended all the magnates, which will inevitably implicate us.”
Nara Shikahisa shook his head and said: “If it were trouble, I wouldn’t say I acknowledge his「 Absolute Justice」.”
He said: “Ikeizumi has deterred everyone in the Capital of the Land of Fire who is dissatisfied with him with absolute power. Even the Daimyo’s eldest son has given up on avenging his father. Do you know what this means, Choza?”
Nara Shikahisa answered his own question: “It means that the upper-class magnates of the entire Capital of the Land of Fire have tacitly chosen to turn the page on this matter first, including the Daimyo of the Land of Fire’s group of heirs.”
“They will not trouble Uchiha Ikeizumi because of this, much less implicate the Ino-Shika-Cho trio.”
Choza Akimichi rubbed his three-layer chin in thought: “In other words, does it mean they were scared to death by Ikeizumi? To the point that they have submitted to Ikeizumi?”
Yamanaka Inoichi interjected: “They just think Ikeizumi won the struggle, so they will side with the winner. As for the killed Daimyo of the Land of Fire, he is already a loser in their eyes.”
He continued expressionlessly: “But one day, if Ikeizumi’s Absolute Justice wanes, that group will unhesitatingly turn around, point the spear at Ikeizumi, and reopen old accounts.”
Nara Shikahisa smiled: “That’s the scheming of ‘big shots.’ Whatever, for now, it’s not a bad thing.”
“It’s just that Hokage and the others will probably have headaches.”
……
“Can’t hide it anymore.” Homura Mitokado sighed heavily. Standing on the Hokage’s Office Building, he overlooked the crowds coming and going below, listening to the faint bursts of exclamations and discussions from below. He said helplessly: “In less than half a day, the entire village will know what Uchiha Ikeizumi did in the Capital of the Land of Fire.”
“In a few days, his name and his extreme Absolute Justice will spread throughout the Land of Fire. It will also reach the ears of many foreign village spies, and thus spread to other ninja villages.”
Beside him, Koharu Utatane rubbed her brow, her old face gloomy, and said: “Besides the rumors about that kid, some rumors about Hiruzen have also reached Konoha…”
Thinking of those ridiculous rumors.
Koharu Utatane’s brow twitched.
She said helplessly: “Some people think Uchiha Ikeizumi killed the Daimyo of the Land of Fire under Hiruzen’s instigation behind the scenes. After all, in outsiders’ eyes, that kid is a Konoha Ninja. Those outsiders do not know how big the rift is between that kid and us.”
“This kind of rumor, this kind of conspiracy theory, is bad news whether for Hiruzen or for Konoha. It will inevitably arouse wariness toward Konoha and the Hokage from many people.”
Koharu Utatane gnashed her teeth: “That bastard kid’s extreme behavior has put Konoha almost in opposition to all magnates!”
“Those big shots who control various assets and have influence over all aspects of the Land of Fire will probably find it hard to trust us in the future.”
“In their eyes, we even dare to assassinate the Daimyo of the Land of Fire—what is there we wouldn’t dare to do?!”
“Konoha’s reputation has been ruined by him in one fell swoop!”
Koharu Utatane’s tone was full of indignation. Her thoughts were similar to Sarutobi Hiruzen’s, both worrying that these rumors would bring extremely bad influence to Konoha.
Homura Mitokado was also utterly helpless: “The news cannot be sealed at all, and the rumors cannot be suppressed. Even if Konoha steps forward to refute them, how many people will believe it?”
“And there is one very important matter.”
Homura Mitokado said gravely: “Now that Ikeizumi’s「 Absolute Justice」 ideology is known throughout the Land of Fire because of this incident, who knows how many people will be brainwashed by his extreme thoughts.”
“Especially the young people in the Ninja World, even Konoha’s ninja academy students, might be influenced by「 Absolute Justice」.”
“If many, many people all believe in this black-and-white extreme ideology, the entire Land of Fire will be thrown into chaos!”
At this point, whether Homura Mitokado or Koharu Utatane fell silent.
They were just Konoha’s senior advisors; proposing problems was what they were best at, solving problems was what Sarutobi Hiruzen had to do.
If asked to propose solutions…
They could only think of “kill Uchiha Ikeizumi”!
But this was the most unreliable.
……
Konoha.
Inside the Uchiha Clan Compound.
Many Uchiha Clan Members were originally shocked that several elders in the clan wanted to impeach Clan Leader Fugaku and try to elect a new Uchiha Clan Head.
But they did not expect.
Another piece of news that shocked them even more reached them.
“The Ikeizumi-sama that Izumi follows killed the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, the reason being… the Daimyo of the Land of Fire committed many evil deeds.” Uchiha Hazuki was immediately shocked. She knew her daughter’s superior did not have good relations within the Uchiha Clan; sometimes his actions seemed extreme in the eyes of Uchiha Clan Members.
But after a few brief encounters, she felt Uchiha Ikeizumi seemed quite normal, not as scary as the rumors.
But Uchiha Hazuki found that she seemed to have been too hasty.
Killing the Daimyo… this was a nation-shaking event!
Since Uchiha Ikeizumi did this, in the eyes of Hokage, was he considered a rogue ninja of Konoha? Since Izumi followed this Ikeizumi-sama, was Izumi also a rogue ninja?
No, killing the Daimyo of the Land of Fire should not be called “rogue ninja,” because this was equivalent to treason, right?
It sounded even more serious than being a rogue ninja…
Uchiha Hazuki suddenly worried about her daughter.
This was the most normal thought for an ordinary Uchiha like her.
……
Inside the Police Force Headquarters.
“Ikeizumi… Hah!” Fugaku did not expect the Uchiha Clan’s waves to be one unresolved and another rising. He was troubled by the radical faction elders led by Uchiha Setsuna impeaching him from power.
Uchiha Ikeizumi in the Capital of the Land of Fire had created an even more explosive event for him, this Uchiha Clan Leader!
Upon learning this news, Fugaku’s scalp went numb.
As if ten thousand silver needles were pricking his cerebral cortex.
“Ikeizumi… that’s the Daimyo!!!”
“The Daimyo… cannot be killed!!!”
Fugaku let out a murmur of despair, staring blankly at his desk with lifeless eyes.
This time…
The Uchiha Clan thoroughly had no chance of turning things around. After all, no matter what, Ikeizumi was a Uchiha Clan Member, and the Uchiha had not completely cut ties with him.
After Ikeizumi killed the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, Fugaku believed Konoha’s higher-ups would definitely think this matter was related to the Uchiha Clan.
They would take Ikeizumi’s extreme wicked behavior as the Uchiha Clan’s ambition that could no longer be suppressed!
At that time.
All ninja clans in Konoha would target the Uchiha Clan.
Because in those people’s eyes, the Uchiha Clan even dared to kill the Daimyo. Why wouldn’t they dare to kill the Hokage in the future? Why wouldn’t they dare to kill their ninja clans? They would definitely think that!
A pained expression appeared on Fugaku’s paralyzed face.
He had clearly put in so much effort for the Uchiha Clan, just to keep it going.
Why were Uchiha Setsuna, Uchiha Ikeizumi… one after another, burying the Uchiha Clan?!
“How did it turn out like this…”
Fugaku murmured in a daze.
……
“U!chi!ha! Ikei!zumi!”
At the same time, Uchiha Setsuna on the other side was almost exploding with anger.
He panted heavily like bellows, hands tightly gripping his wooden cane, eyes blazing with fury: “How dare that bastard extreme kid? How does he dare?!”
“How did that Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen manage him? How could he allow this extreme kid to kill the Daimyo?!”
“Hah, hah, hah…”
Uchiha Setsuna gasped for breath and sat down supporting himself with the chair.
His old face was as black as the bottom of a pot.
“My coup plan had the most important item: gaining the support of the Land of Fire Daimyo and the magnates. As long as Sarutobi Hiruzen is ousted, with the support of the Daimyo and magnates, the Uchiha Clan could steadily sit in the Hokage position.”
“But…”
Uchiha Setsuna was so angry his liver hurt: “That bastard kid, for his extreme Absolute Justice… not only killed Lord Daimyo, but also killed numerous magnates in the Capital of the Land of Fire! Even, many magnates were exterminated by him!”
Uchiha Setsuna simply could not imagine, after such a thing happened, who would still support the Uchiha becoming Konoha Hokage?
That bastard kid had implicated him from thousands of miles away!
……
PS: Today I was in a daze all day, wrote only five thousand words after a whole day, feels like those special days of the month have come again. Today’s five thousand word update, treat it as taking half a day off lightly.
Ah! Tomorrow resume ten thousand word updates!
Charge!!!
