Chapter 144: Breaking into the Hokage's Home!
Late at night.
Two shinobi of the Koharu clan, reeking of alcohol, stumbled and staggered their way back to the clan compound, leaning on each other for support.
One of them belched, his eyes a blurry haze. With a thick tongue, he slurred, "You were just saying that Elder Koharu has been so angry at that guy, Uchiha Ikeizumi, that she can't eat or sleep these past few days."
"Hic! So why doesn't she just deal with that Uchiha? She's a high-ranking Konoha elder, you know, and I hear she's even taken over Root…"
"Getting rid of one Uchiha should be easy, right? Even if he's that so-called Lava Release monster."
The other man shook his head, exhaling a foul, pungent breath. "You've been gone from Konoha for half a year, so you probably don't know how terrifying Uchiha Ikeizumi is. Do you know why Elder Koharu was able to take over Root? It's because Uchiha Ikeizumi killed Danzō Shimura!"
"That fight shocked all of Konoha. He practically massacred the entire Root organization from top to bottom… So much so that when Elder Koharu first took over, she had to recruit new people just to keep Root running."
"He killed a Konoha elder, and he's still living peacefully in the village. Lord Hokage hasn't made a move against him. So you can imagine, it's very difficult for Elder Koharu to take him down."
At this, he hazily recalled another topic.
He also let out a burp and said, "These days, Elder Koharu has been investigating clan members who have committed misdeeds. I heard she's planning to temporarily move those people outside the village…"
"Otherwise… if they ran into Uchiha Ikeizumi, they'd be dead for sure. There's no escaping him."
"By the way, you haven't done anything bad while you were away for half a year, have you? If you have, report it to the clan elders right away."
"That way, they can arrange for you to leave…"
He stopped abruptly mid-sentence.
His drunken, hazy eyes widened in shock as he looked up at a figure on the roof of a building ahead.
The figure stood silently on the upturned eave, a pair of crimson Sharingan gazing down upon the Koharu clan compound.
The cold stare was like that of a man looking down on corpses.
A spine-chilling sensation…
Instantly sobered the shinobi up a few degrees.
"Sharingan… an Uchiha…" He gulped nervously, squinting to try and make out the face of the person silhouetted against the moon.
"Hey! Who are you?!" The other drunken shinobi he was leaning on yelled loudly, heedless of the sleeping clan members. "Hic! This is the Koharu clan compound! How dare you, an Uchiha…"
Pshh!
A kunai suddenly pierced through his back. His frail flesh was no match for the sharp blade, and his words died in his throat at that very moment.
The blade twisted before a pale, slender hand slowly pulled it out.
Blood gushed from the entry and exit wounds with a wet "thump."
A good amount of the warm, sticky liquid splattered onto the other shinobi standing next to him.
He froze, reaching out to touch the blood on his face.
"…Blood!!!" His drunken stupor was finally shattered by terror.
He spun around in a panic and saw a young woman in a Uchiha Police Force uniform wiping blood from her blade.
A ninja cat sat perched on her shoulder; a short-haired female shinobi, slightly taller than her, stood by her side.
He heard the short-haired shinobi ask, "How… how did you know he was an evildoer?"
He heard the young woman reply, "As long as we believe in Absolute Justice with enough faith, we can receive a gift from Ikeizumi-senpai. This… is a Sharingan dōjutsu Ikeizumi-senpai implanted in me. It allows me to see the evil within others. However, I have to concentrate intently to see it, while Ikeizumi-senpai only needs a quick glance."
"In a moment, I will point out all the evildoers, and then the two of us just need to work together to execute them all. We only have tonight for this operation, so we must be quick. After we finish with the Koharu clan's evildoers, we will immediately move on to the Mitokado clan."
He heard the short-haired shinobi nod and reply, "Understood."
The Koharu clan ninja: "!!!"
"Ikeizumi-senpai?" Ikeizumi… Hiss! Is the man on the roof Uchiha Ikeizumi?!
Are these two kunoichi his subordinates?
As his fellow clan member slumped to the ground next to him, his face, flushed with drink, was now filled with horror.
Panic and fear surged through his heart simultaneously.
Just as he thought he was next, he saw the two kunoichi walk right past him.
Oh, right!
I haven't done anything bad…
Wait!
The clan members who were found to have committed misdeeds haven't been moved out yet! They're still here in the compound! Shouldn't I be yelling to wake them up right now?
As this thought flashed through his mind, the Koharu shinobi looked up nervously at Uchiha Ikeizumi, who was watching him with a pair of crimson Three-Tomoe Sharingan!
Gulp!
He swallowed hard.
If I really dared to yell, my head would probably be on the ground in the next second, right?!
…
That night, Koharu had a nightmare.
She dreamt that she and Uchiha Ikeizumi had a complete falling out, and she led the entire Koharu clan and the Root organization in a life-or-death battle against him.
But the "lava monster" was too terrifying. She watched helplessly as one Root member after another, and one Koharu clan member after another, fell beneath his molten onslaught.
The entire Koharu clan compound became a sea of blood.
The smell of blood constantly lingered in her nostrils.
Wait a minute…
Why does the smell of blood feel so real?
Koharu suddenly opened her eyes, her heart pounding. As she breathed a sigh of relief, realizing it was just a dream, she suddenly noticed something was wrong. "Why do I still smell blood?"
She smelled blood again!
A very strong, thick scent of blood!
A growing sense of dread made her throw off her covers and get up. She hastily put on a robe and hurried out the door, where the scene before her made her freeze.
Under the moonlight, one corpse after another of the Koharu clan ninjas lay in pools of their own blood, which flowed from their wounds.
Some had their throats slit, some were stabbed through the heart, and others looked as if they had been bitten by a venomous snake on the neck.
She saw a Koharu clan Special Jonin desperately parrying an attacker's blade, only for another attacker to produce a kunai and instantly plunge it into his throat!
"Guh—!"
The Special Jonin staggered backward, one hand clutching his sword, the other his gushing neck. He stumbled a few steps and then fell limply to the ground.
Under the moonlight, Koharu recognized the two attackers and their familiar faces.
"Anko Mitarashi!!!"
"Izumi Uchiha!!!"
Koharu gritted her teeth, spitting out the two names with seething rage. Her cloudy eyes blazed with a murderous intent she had never felt before. But then, she suddenly looked up, her gaze fixed on a spot high above her.
"Uchiha Ikeizumi!!!"
Koharu saw the one person she never wanted to see again.
But when she noticed Ikeizumi's Sharingan looking her way, she was instantly gripped with fear! She knew all too well how terrifying his Mangekyō Sharingan was.
Danzō's tragic, miserable end was a vivid memory.
"Uchiha Ikeizumi! What are you doing?!" Instinctively averting her eyes to avoid his gaze, Koharu gritted her teeth and demanded, her face twisted in rage.
"Dispensing justice." The four simple words echoed clearly in the bloody silence of the night.
The veins on Koharu's forehead throbbed wildly.
She wanted nothing more than to glare hatefully at Ikeizumi, but her fear of his Mangekyō kept her in check… so she could only direct her fierce, resentful gaze at Anko and Izumi instead.
"Anko! You… I personally promoted you, an outstanding Konoha Special Jonin! Are you… are you betraying me?"
Koharu's voice was filled with furious accusation.
Anko was silent for a moment. Then she took a deep breath, her expression serious. "Elder Koharu, as a high-ranking Konoha elder, you turned a blind eye to the violent misdeeds of some of your own clan members. Before you question whether I'm betraying you, shouldn't you question yourself? Are you truly loyal to the Will of Fire?"
"Where the leaves dance, the fire burns. The flames of the leaves will illuminate the village and nurture new sprouts—this is the Will of Fire laid down by the First Hokage. But if some of those leaves have become蛀虫(boring insects) that gnaw at the tree trunk and the young shoots, shouldn't those rotten leaves be cut away?"
"Did you do that as a high-ranking elder? If you did, why are there so many evildoers in the Koharu clan? Do you really believe in the Will of Fire?"
Koharu: "???"
Koharu was stunned. Her questions were met with a barrage of questions from Anko!
A Konoha junior… was questioning her, a Konoha elder, about her loyalty to the Will of Fire?
What right did a former student of Orochimaru have to question her?
And when had she ever been disloyal to the Will of Fire?
Just as Koharu was about to snap back, Ikeizumi's voice came from the rooftops, making her stiffen. "So, are you going to stop the dispensing of justice?"
"Those who stand in the way of justice will be killed without mercy."
This single sentence… filled Koharu with both rage and terror.
"…You!!!"
Just then, many of the Koharu clan shinobi, like Koharu herself, were awakened by the commotion. They rushed out and were met with the sight of blood and corpses, filling them with the same rage and shock Koharu had felt moments before.
But when they noticed Uchiha Ikeizumi, their anger faltered.
"Elder Koharu?"
One of the clan members gulped nervously, looking at Koharu with a questioning gaze.
He seemed to be saying—
Just give the word, Elder Koharu, and we'll fight to the death, even if our enemy is Uchiha Ikeizumi.
Koharu: "…"
The last flicker of rationality amidst her rage told Koharu that even if the entire clan charged together, they still might not be a match for that fanatical justice-seeking brat.
Stopping him.
Was a death sentence.
"Uchiha Ikeizumi…" Koharu gnashed her teeth so hard they might crack. "I will never forget this unforgettable night of bloodshed!"
But she found that Ikeizumi was ignoring her completely.
She heard him speak to Izumi, Anko, and the ninja cat in a calm tone, "Next stop, the Mitokado clan. Once we're done with them, we'll move on to the Sarutobi clan."
"Understood, senpai!"
Izumi was the first to reply without hesitation.
Koharu froze.
The Mitokado clan…
The Sarutobi clan…
Wait!
He couldn't be thinking of…
After watching the "murderers" who had broken into the Koharu clan compound and killed many of her clan members leave, Koharu finally came to her senses. She immediately barked orders, "You, go and collect the bodies! Do not hand them over to the Yamanaka clan, and do not hand them over to the Police Force!"
"And you! Go to the Mitokado clan! Get there as fast as you can, you must notify Homura Mitokado before that fanatical brat Uchiha Ikeizumi gets there!"
"You… go to the Root base! By my order, rally every single Root member immediately!"
"The rest of you, come with me to find Hiruzen! Uchiha Ikeizumi has gone mad. We must stop his madness! Otherwise, the order of this entire village will be ruined! That brat is Konoha's biggest蛀虫(boring insect)!"
"Yes, Elder Koharu!" The remaining Koharu clan ninjas, faces filled with lingering fear, immediately sprang into action.
…
"Faster, faster!" Three Koharu clan Chunin rushed frantically toward the Mitokado clan compound. They wished they had an extra pair of legs and didn't dare to stop even as they panted.
The scenery around them blurred as they sped by.
The three ninjas leaped and bounded from rooftop to rooftop.
After what seemed like an eternity, the Mitokado clan compound finally appeared before them.
"Huff, huff…" One of the ninjas, out of breath, stammered, "Did we… did we beat him? Did we get here before Uchiha Ikeizumi?"
However.
The foul stench of blood carried on the breeze that blew past them was the harbinger of bad news.
The faces of the three Koharu clan ninjas changed.
They each swallowed hard, exchanged a look, and then gritted their teeth and ran forward.
They found the main gate to the Mitokado clan compound standing wide open.
Through the gate, they could see the scene inside.
The three of them froze in place.
"You're too late…" A grim-faced Homura Mitokado glanced at the three Koharu ninjas. He sighed deeply, looking as if he had aged several years.
He sighed resignedly. "I had already discreetly investigated whether any of my clan members had committed misdeeds. I warned them many times not to conceal anything."
"But some of them were still too hopeful… and this is the result of that hope." Homura sighed again, his sad, gloomy eyes falling upon the seven corpses laid out neatly on the ground.
"Just go find Hiruzen…"
Homura waved his hand wearily. "If the Sarutobi clan doesn't want to suffer the same fate as us, they'll need to gather more ninjas there to stop Uchiha Ikeizumi."
Homura spoke with a feeble voice, sounding less like a high-ranking Konoha elder and more like a disheartened old man.
The three Koharu clan ninjas could almost sense a hint of fear in the elder's voice.
Lord Homura must have been terrified!
…
"Lady Tsunade, didn't we agree… that this money would be used to help the orphans of the Land of Fire until they grew up? But… Lady Tsunade, you've already lost a whopping ten million ryo at the Konoha casino tonight!"
In the dead of night, the only places still open in Konoha were probably entertainment venues like casinos.
Shizune, with her pig, Tonton, in her arms, had a pained look on her face as she lectured Tsunade from behind, "Lady Tsunade, if you keep gambling, you're going to lose all those tens of millions of ryo."
"Relax, relax!"
Tsunade waved her hand in annoyance. "As long as those orphans are in Konoha, the old geezer will definitely pay to raise them. We don't need to spend our money. Besides… huh?!"
Just as Tsunade was about to say more, a flash of movement in her peripheral vision made her shift her gaze.
"Is that…"
Tsunade's eyes narrowed. The frustration of losing ten million ryo at the casino dissipated slightly as curiosity took over. "Is that brat Uchiha Ikeizumi? Who are those two kunoichi following him? What's that kid doing out so late at night?"
"Uchiha Ikeizumi?" Shizune froze, following Tsunade's gaze.
She only caught a glimpse of a few disappearing figures in the distance.
Then, Shizune suddenly sniffed the air. "Lady Tsunade, I smell blood!"
"Shizune, follow me." Tsunade said, and in a flash of motion, disappeared from in front of her.
"Eh?"
Shizune was taken aback. "Lady Tsunade, wait for me!"
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