"Fugaku."
A hand came down on his shoulder, urging him to calm down. Hiruzen, his expression complicated, turned to Izumi and asked, "Are you saying Itachi had colluded with Akatsuki's Uchiha Obito?"
Izumi pulled her wary gaze away from Fugaku. Just moments ago, she had feared the Uchiha clan head might lash out at Keizumi-senpai in his agitation. Fortunately, the man who had spent his whole life compromising had once again chosen to compromise.
She quickly nodded. "Yes!"
Hiruzen fell silent.
He could already guess Itachi's intentions—surely Itachi believed that by his own strength alone, he could neither confront Keizumi's Absolute Justice, nor bring about the Uchiha's annihilation.
He needed outside power. And as the Hokage, Hiruzen would never permit him to destroy the Uchiha. So he could not seek power from within the village. He could only reach beyond it.
Itachi had chosen Akatsuki. He had chosen Uchiha Obito.
"Phew…"
Hiruzen let out a slow, heavy breath. He had advised Itachi many times, reminded and warned him again and again. Normally, Itachi had listened. Why now, when it truly mattered, was he so stubborn?
Again and again, Itachi had told him, "I understand. I know."
But what exactly had he understood? What had he truly known?
Itachi…
…had he really understood at all?
Suppressing his helpless frustration, Hiruzen forced himself to accept the fact that Konoha had lost yet another powerful asset. His face heavy, he said, "And Itachi's body? Return his body to Fugaku, so he may take it home…"
The twitching muscles on Fugaku's face froze. His eyes shifted toward the Uchiha girl.
"Vaporized," Izumi answered. "Not a single cell remained."
After a pause, she added softly, as if to console him: "If you truly wish to bury him, you could use his clothing to make a cenotaph."
No sooner had she said this than she heard Tachibana Jirō's voice: "Rookie, take the other rookie and let's get moving, meow. No need to waste time babbling on with these people."
Izumi quickly turned her head.
She saw that both Keizumi-senpai and Jirō-senpai had already turned away, ignoring the Hokage and Fugaku alike.
They were leaving.
"Understood!" Izumi hurried to support the still-unconscious Mitarashi Anko, lifting her onto her back before following after them.
Hiruzen: "…"
Fugaku: "…"
Unable to help himself, Hiruzen glanced at Fugaku, whose whole body was trembling slightly. He frowned, cleared his throat, and said, "Fugaku, I do not wish to see serious infighting break out within the Uchiha clan."
"An Uchiha clan torn by internal strife will become dangerously unstable, and that is no good for Konoha. Fugaku, don't do something that neither I nor anyone else wishes to see."
"As for Itachi…"
Hiruzen's tone deepened. "Itachi chose to collaborate with Akatsuki, to turn against the shinobi of his own village. That is something many cannot tolerate—indeed, it is an act of a rogue ninja."
"Fugaku, if this matter spreads, there will be no benefit for the Uchiha clan. For you, even less so. And for Itachi's reputation, it will inflict an even more grievous blow."
At that moment, Hiruzen could not help but think of his own second son, Sarutobi Asuma.
Asuma had merely colluded with comrades from the Twelve Guardian Ninja. Even for that alone, many in the village had despised him.
And Itachi—out of nowhere, he had chosen to ally with Akatsuki.
Akatsuki, Uchiha Obito, the masked man… quite possibly the very one who had incited the Nine-Tails' attack on Konoha all those years ago! Hiruzen could not fathom why Itachi would cooperate with such people.
"…Yes, Hokage-sama."
Fugaku fell silent for several seconds.
In the end, he lowered his head.
…
Half an hour later.
Uchiha Fugaku could not even say what feelings weighed on him as he walked back to the Uchiha compound.
When he finally stood before his home, he lifted his eyelids slightly and saw his wife and younger son, already waiting at the door.
Uchiha Mikoto immediately noticed how wrong his mood was.
Even on the day she learned Sasuke had embraced [Absolute Justice], Fugaku had not shown such an expression.
"What's wrong?" Mikoto asked quickly.
"Itachi…"
Fugaku lowered his eyes. "He chose the path Keizumi once foretold. He wanted first to kill Uchiha Izumi, the girl who embraced Absolute Justice. Then Keizumi appeared. And then Itachi…"
"…is dead."
Speaking in that low, heavy voice, Fugaku brushed past Mikoto without even sparing Sasuke a glance, and walked straight into the house.
He left only the lonely silhouette of his back to his wife and son.
Within his sleeves, his clenched fists had already gone pale.
The veins stood out on the backs of his hands, quivering faintly.
Fugaku hated himself for compromising yet again, hated himself for failing to fulfill the duty of a father—to avenge his slain eldest son.
Yet the one thing he did not hate was that he had taught Itachi wrongly.
Fugaku did not believe his way of raising his children had been mistaken. Sending Itachi to the battlefield at four years old—he thought there was nothing wrong with that. Only by doing so could he test his son's measure, only that way could he draw out the full potential of the Uchiha.
His younger son, Uchiha Sasuke—this child who had never truly experienced war—was, to him, a perfect counterexample.
Even if he had awakened his eyes out of the trauma Itachi gave him, he was still inferior to Itachi.
"Itachi… is dead…"
Sasuke, of course, had no idea that in this very moment his father still despised his natural talent. He was utterly stunned, overwhelmed by the weight of Fugaku's words.
"Killed… by Keizumi-sensei…"
Sasuke had wanted to stop Uchiha Itachi from falling into the abyss, and so he had yearned for the power of Absolute Justice. But he had never expected that before he could gain greater strength, Itachi would already be beyond saving.
Unlike Fugaku, Sasuke felt not the slightest hatred. He was simply stunned, bewildered.
He couldn't help but look toward Uchiha Mikoto.
He noticed that his mother's reaction was much the same as his own, perhaps even stronger—for her eyes seemed to be tinged with red.
After all, Uchiha Itachi was still her flesh and blood, the child she had raised with her own hands. How could there not be any feeling?
"Fugaku! Where is Itachi's body?"
Mikoto suddenly called out, stopping her husband.
Fugaku's steps faltered. He took three deep breaths before silently speaking a single phrase: "Nothing remains."
Mikoto's delicate face froze.
Fugaku turned back to face his wife, speaking frankly: "Were you also going to ask about Keizumi? He's completely unscathed. Itachi gave everything he had—even summoned Susanoo—yet he couldn't so much as scratch Keizumi. And I…"
"Phew! I did not strike at Keizumi. I suppressed the hatred in my heart. Under Keizumi's relentless questioning, I chose silence. Under the Hokage's warning, I chose compromise."
"Perhaps Keizumi wasn't entirely wrong in his judgment. I am indecisive, and I do compromise."
Fugaku braced himself, ready to meet the disappointment in his wife's eyes.
But Uchiha Mikoto merely inclined her head, sighing with a complicated tone: "Itachi chose the wrong path. Keizumi only made him pay for that mistake. Fugaku, rather than saying you retreated or compromised this time, it would be better to say… this time, you finally understood what is right and what is wrong."
Fugaku was stunned.
"In your eyes, Itachi was wrong, and Keizumi was right? Even though Itachi died at Keizumi's hand tonight, you still think so?" He asked her.
"Yes." Mikoto nodded.
Fugaku: "…"
His expression went blank for a moment.
…
"Why do I feel like ever since I came to Konoha, my luck's only gotten worse?"
Jūzō squatted in a small tavern in Konoha.
Yes—he had returned. And he had even reclaimed his lost Kubikiribōchō.
Because Jūzō feared that if he strayed too far from Konoha, away from the powerful thigh that was Uchiha Keizumi, he would end up running into Uchiha Obito and the others again.
On his own, there was no way he could stand against those three.
Jūzō let out a boozy breath, grabbed his cup, and drank heavily, his head lowered.
Then he glanced toward the distance, where all was now calm.
He muttered inwardly: "How do these Konoha civilians even manage to live in such a 'harsh' environment?"
The clash of two Susanoo had been plain as day to Jūzō. He had never witnessed such a terrifying technique before. In that moment, he truly thought Konoha was about to be obliterated by the shockwaves of those two colossal 'monsters.'
He had even been ready to flee for his life.
But to his surprise, the other 'giant monster' had fallen so easily.
With a single strike, the battle had ended.
"Come to think of it…" Jūzō muttered as he stared into the sake in his cup, "I never did thank Uchiha Keizumi. That Lava Release beast saved my life tonight, after all."
Just then—
From the reflection in his drink, Jūzō suddenly saw a blurred figure appear behind him. His pupils shrank at once, and he nearly snatched up the Kubikiribōchō at his side.
The moment that shadow made any move, he was ready to swing the blade backward without hesitation.
"It's me."
That familiar voice froze Jūzō's actions.
Before he could even turn his head, the man had already taken a seat beside him.
Cold sweat ran down Jūzō's back.
"Ha, my mistake." He immediately released the Kubikiribōchō, signaling no hostility. He knew that as one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, to flinch like this before Uchiha Keizumi looked pitifully weak. But he knew even more clearly—facing this man as an enemy was no different from suicide.
His life still had value.
He could not die here in Konoha.
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