"Wood Release…"
At some point, Kakashi had quietly slipped into the Hyūga compound. Now, those dull eyes of his widened in disbelief.
He was certain this was no genjutsu. He had truly witnessed Uchiha Keizumi wield Wood Release.
Alongside the Sharingan and Lava Release—now Wood Release as well?
"That's three special kekkei genkai…"
"And all of them incredibly powerful!"
Kakashi's heart gave a subtle jolt. In all his memory, Keizumi had never used Wood Release before. At least, from his own eyes, this was the very first time.
So the question arose—where had Uchiha Keizumi obtained Wood Release?
It wasn't only Kakashi who couldn't make sense of it.
Hyūga Hiashi was equally bewildered.
He couldn't help but raise a hand to wipe his cheek, then lower his gaze to the smear of blood upon his fingertips. His eyes shifted to the severed head on the ground, then to the blood-soaked "wooden spectacle" still standing.
The shock within him refused to fade.
What's more—
What Hiashi had never imagined was that Uchiha Keizumi would execute, right before his very eyes, a respected elder of the Hyūga Main House!
And all of this had been witnessed by other clansmen!
Looking around, there were at least twenty to thirty already present—
—and more Hyūga were rushing toward the scene.
At that moment—
Hiashi noticed Keizumi's gaze turn upon him. That indifferent stare sent a chill through his chest.
Before Hiashi could even think of words to break the silence—
—a sudden, grief-stricken cry tore through the air.
"Father!!!"
Hyūga Jinsuke's second son came running in a panic, but just as he was about to step onto the ground soaked with blood and scattered flesh, he froze. His eyes locked, blank with shock, on the massive severed head lying before him.
Only minutes ago, his father had been instructing both him and his Branch House brother about Main House affairs.
Yet now—barely ten minutes later—all that remained of his father was a head!
"Hm? An unexpected bonus."
Uchiha Keizumi's cold, detached voice cut through the silence.
Jinsuke's second son hadn't even processed what was happening.
Hyūga Hiashi's pupils contracted sharply.
…
At that same moment—
The massive Kubikiribōchō swept down, its gleaming edge reflected in the eyes of a Kiri ANBU. In the blink of an eye, it flashed past his face.
[Shhk—]
The heavy blade cleaved through with ease, taking half the ANBU's skull in a single stroke.
Juzo's eyes shifted to the side. There, Uchiha Keizumi's Wood Clone was surrounded by two Kiri ANBU, attacking from within a thick veil of mist. Each of them wielded strange shinobi tools as they lunged toward the clone.
"Damn it!"
Juzo jammed the Kubikiribōchō into the ground and quickly formed hand seals, preparing to intervene.
But just then, from the Wood Clone's left wrist, a scroll sprang forth.
The scroll unfurled instantly. As the clone leapt into the air, its hands slapped hard against the open seals.
In an instant, blazing-hot magma surged from the scroll, pouring down like a flood. The molten torrent swallowed one Kiri ANBU whole.
He didn't even have time to scream. His body and his weapon were instantly vaporized in the molten surge.
When the magma struck the ground, it ignited flames across the surface.
The other Kiri ANBU's eyes shrank. The scalding air ahead made him squint as he hastily stopped and leapt backward, terror etched across his face.
Juzo's seals finished at last. He spat forth several water bullets that tore through the air like projectiles, piercing straight into the fleeing ANBU's body and bursting in sprays of blood.
With a muffled groan, the Kiri ANBU collapsed to his knees, coughing blood that soaked the inside of his mask.
Before he could stumble back to his feet, the heavy Kubikiribōchō was already pressed against his shoulder.
Juzo's cold voice sounded behind him: "Did the Fourth send you to hunt me down?!"
As the surrounding mist slowly thinned, the kneeling Kiri ANBU coughed violently. His mask slipped free, revealing a bloodstained face twisted in a cruel grin.
"Kh… kh…"
"Biwa Juzo! Blood Mist Village will never tolerate traitors! We didn't expect your comrade here to be so strong—that was our squad's mistake. But even if we don't return in time, the Fourth will know we failed. He'll send more ANBU squads after you."
[Shhk—]
Without hesitation, Juzo slashed through the man's neck. His taut face showed a trace of weariness and sorrow as he muttered, "The village's Blood Mist policy… in the end, it completely brainwashed some of them. They've become nothing but inhuman tools of slaughter."
Letting out a slow breath, Juzo turned toward the Wood Clone. "Seems Uchiha Keizumi left a lot of tricks within you."
The clone leapt down from a tree, carefully avoiding the magma on the ground.
It spoke: "You've already joined Akatsuki, yet the Fourth Mizukage still wants you dead. To say it's his command would be misleading. It's more accurate to say this was arranged by Uchiha Obito."
Juzo froze, baffled. "What does this have to do with Uchiha Obito?"
The clone replied, "Your Fourth Mizukage has long been under the control of Uchiha Obito, bound by the power of his Mangekyō Sharingan. The reason Kirigakure became the Blood Mist Village is because Obito pulled the strings, manipulating the Fourth to revive the Blood Mist policy."
"This ANBU squad was meant as his insurance. If he failed to kill you the first time and you managed to escape, then this backup squad was to finish the job."
Juzo: "!!!"
The Fourth Mizukage… controlled by Uchiha Obito?
The true culprit behind the Blood Mist policy was Uchiha Obito?
He stood stunned.
Instinctively, Juzo wanted to demand proof. But then he reconsidered—Uchiha Keizumi knew more about Akatsuki than he did, lacking only its precise location. In that case, if Keizumi claimed the Fourth Mizukage was being controlled by Obito, it made sense.
He believed it.
Clutching the handle of the Kubikiribōchō, Juzo's face flickered with shadow and light, his eyes hardening with murderous intent.
"So all the tragedies of Kirigakure began with that cowardly bastard?!"
His teeth ground so hard they nearly shattered.
For years, he had known all too well the agony the Blood Mist policy had brought upon Kirigakure. Across the entire village, even the whole Land of Water, the air reeked constantly of blood. Civil life had become a pitiful, unbearable sight.
Students forced to kill each other just to graduate, bloodline clans massacred nearly to extinction, crushing oppression and closed borders…
They had turned the Land of Water and Kirigakure into the darkest place in the shinobi world.
It was precisely because he could no longer endure the Blood Mist policy that Juzo chose to defect from Kirigakure. If even one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen couldn't bear it, it showed just how twisted the village had become.
Staring down at the corpse by his feet, its neck still spilling blood—
"Uchiha Keizumi." Juzo's eyes flickered with confusion. He let out a rough exhale and spoke: "You should have some idea of why Kirigakure is called the Village of the Bloody Mist, shouldn't you?"
"If you were a shinobi of Kirigakure, if you had personally witnessed the village step by step into that blood-soaked abyss… then you, who follow the nindō of [Absolute Justice]—what would you do?"
The Wood Clone of Uchiha Keizumi replied: "You're asking me this question… because you're seeking my acknowledgment, aren't you?"
Juzo froze.
It was as if the other could read his mind. He hadn't said a word, yet the Wood Clone seemed to know exactly what he was thinking.
"The true body would never make a coward's choice like yours," the clone said coldly. "Running away only keeps you from seeing the sins of Kirigakure for a time, but it does nothing to erase them. And since he follows [Absolute Justice], the word 'escape' has no place in his dictionary of justice."
"The true body will use every possible means to slaughter every last trace of the Bloody Mist's crimes. With the most absolute, most iron-blooded methods, he will purge all of Kirigakure—and even the entire Land of Water."
"Given how severe and extreme things are within Kirigakure, the true body will not hesitate to employ harsher measures than those in Konoha. In chaotic times, only the heaviest hand can set things straight."
"To correct the wrong, one must go too far!"
Juzo fell silent. As one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, he had chosen to defect from the Bloody Mist. In his own eyes, that decision proved he possessed a strength of character few others had.
That strength had kept him from being corrupted by the Blood Mist policy, from becoming nothing but a tool with eyes full only of slaughter.
But in Uchiha Keizumi's eyes, his so-called strength was nothing more than cowardice—an escape…
Juzo instinctively wanted to refute it, to defend himself.
But when he opened his mouth, no words came.
"Escape…"
"Cowardice…"
"Haa…"
Slowly, Juzo slung the Kubikiribōchō onto his back. His expression was complex as he looked at the Wood Clone. "Perhaps one day, you should take a trip to Kirigakure. If you truly want to change this shinobi world with your vision of justice, then start by sweeping clean the darkest place of all with your [Absolute Justice]."
"Kirigakure… the Land of Water…"
He paused, then continued: "The situation there is ten, even a hundred times worse than in Konoha or the Land of Fire. You cannot imagine the extent to which human nature has been twisted. From nobles and shinobi down to commoners and beggars—the entire Land of Water is sick, and the sickness runs terminally deep."
He let out a bitter laugh. "Uchiha Keizumi, if I had met you earlier, perhaps I wouldn't have joined Akatsuki at all. Because though you are extreme, I can see it clearly—your extremity is aimed only at the sins of the shinobi world."
"Your creed of [Absolute Justice]…"
"…it appeals to me more."
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