Sarutobi Hiruzen eventually returned to the Sarutobi clan compound. He couldn't live in the Hokage's office forever.
It was just as he expected.
Back among the Sarutobi, he could feel a chill from part of the clan. Even a perfunctory "Hokage-sama" sounded reluctant, like they were being forced to say it.
He didn't get angry.
He knew he hadn't been thinking from the Sarutobi clan's point of view. He hadn't handled the clan's grudges—or his own—and instead had let the "enemy's" power keep growing.
But there was one thing Hiruzen knew that the other Sarutobi didn't:
He'd "indulged" Uchiha Chizumi for one simple reason—he no longer had the power to restrain him.
His clansmen misunderstood what it meant to be Hokage. They thought the Hokage commanded Konoha's greatest strength. In their eyes, if the Hokage wanted to deal with Uchiha Chizumi, it wouldn't take much effort.
That misunderstanding explained their cold attitude.
"Hiruzen—why?" An elderly voice made him stop in his tracks.
He turned and saw an elder of the clan, a man in his eighties.
"Shinnosuke was killed. Asuma was killed. Nadeshiko was killed…" the old man rasped. "All three were your blood. Why are you still doing nothing?"
Hiruzen recognized him. By seniority the man was like an uncle, and he'd watched Shinnosuke and Asuma grow up. He clearly had feelings for them.
Hiruzen was silent for a few seconds, then said slowly, "What the village needs is balance, not pointless conflict. If I were only the head of the Sarutobi clan, perhaps I would gather every ounce of strength I could and seek revenge for my own kin."
"But besides that, I am also the Hokage of Konoha. A Hokage cannot act on a whim. He cannot throw the village into chaos, nor weaken it over a private vendetta."
"Balance, stability, peace, and prosperity—those are what a capable Hokage should pursue after taking office."
He hadn't finished when another voice cut in.
"If you really were a capable Hokage, would that Uchiha Chizumi bastard have been able to kill so many people in the village? In Konoha alone he's killed close to a thousand, hasn't he?"
A young Sarutobi, eyes red, glared at Hiruzen. "Nearly a thousand people in Konoha have been killed in the name of so-called justice under your leadership. Is that your 'capable Hokage,' Hokage-sama?"
Hiruzen froze.
The young man, agitated, blurted: "You want to be a good Hokage, but you're not—you don't have what it takes! If you did, Uchiha Chizumi wouldn't even be preaching 'Absolute Justice'!"
"If that's the case, why not at least be a hard-line Hokage? At least then you'd stick up for us!"
Question after question from his own clan left Hiruzen standing there, stunned.
"I… am not… a good Hokage?" he murmured.
…
Yakushi Kabuto had tried the Summoning Jutsu over a dozen times. He'd gone from shock, to bafflement, to panic, to calm. He'd realized something must have happened at Ryūchi Cave.
Maybe… something had happened to Orochimaru-sama as well. If Orochimaru was fine, and Ryūchi Cave had changed so drastically, he would have passed the intel to Kabuto through special channels.
Since nothing had come, Orochimaru's situation likely wasn't good either.
"So… what exactly happened?"
Kabuto wondered if Orochimaru's plan to embed him in the Akatsuki had been exposed.
Had the Akatsuki decided that since Orochimaru dared plant a spy, he wasn't loyal—and moved to quietly eliminate him?
The thought made Kabuto's skin crawl.
That would mean his true identity had been uncovered.
Yet the Akatsuki hadn't immediately taken him down.
Did they consider him no threat? Or did they have other designs?
"Wait… I think I'm overlooking something." A glint flashed on Kabuto's lenses as a thought clicked.
"Orochimaru-sama has been coveting Uchiha Chizumi's body, planning to use that man as his next vessel."
"And Uchiha Chizumi's 'Absolute Justice' would, beyond any doubt, mark Orochimaru-sama as an enemy."
"Orochimaru wants to hunt Uchiha Chizumi; Uchiha Chizumi has every reason to hunt Orochimaru."
"Add to that: the 'Uchiha Chizumi' Sasori met earlier was only a Wood Clone, not the real body. Doesn't that suggest Chizumi's true body is searching for Orochimaru-sama—maybe they've already fought, and the outcome's already decided?"
"The unknown disturbance at Ryūchi Cave could be related. If so, everything lines up…"
Kabuto muttered to himself.
…
Today, the Akatsuki convened another "online meeting"—because Biwa Jūzō had defected, and the Uchiha Chizumi in the Land of Rain was only a clone.
It was, again, a hologram-jutsu meeting focused on Uchiha Chizumi.
But they quickly realized someone was missing.
—The one who'd shown keen interest in Chizumi last time and proposed capturing him alive—or at least getting the corpse—Orochimaru, code-named "Kū," was absent.
Hidden behind the scenes, Nagato frowned.
Controlling the Deva Path, he asked in a low voice, "Does anyone know where 'Kū' went? Why hasn't he responded to my summoning?"
Silence.
No one knew where Orochimaru was.
No one knew what he was doing.
Then the projection of "Uchiha Tobi" gave the slightest wobble, his head tilting as if someone at his side were speaking to him.
The tiny motion didn't escape the others; more than a few eyes turned his way.
"'Kū's' hideout has been destroyed," Obito said, straightening up. "There's cooled lava everywhere, and a lot of charred corpses—likely his men. The whole area is a wasteland where nothing could survive. Draw your own conclusions."
Sasori clicked his tongue. "Looks like he ran into Uchiha Chizumi's real body. Maybe he's being chased all over the shinobi world right now. That snake's best skill is running, after all."
It was obvious Sasori had a very low opinion of Orochimaru.
"There's another possibility—more likely," Konan said coolly. "Uchiha Chizumi hunted down Kū, and Kū is already dead. He would be the first Akatsuki member to fall to Uchiha Chizumi. We're trying to hunt him—he's hunting us."
Her words were followed by several seconds of heavy silence.
Deva Path Pain spoke: "I'll keep trying to contact Kū. If there's no reply within three days, we'll assume he truly died at Uchiha Chizumi's hands. Our target may be far more dangerous than we imagined."
"If anyone encounters him next time, do not fight alone. Contact the others. At least three members must engage. No accidents."
"Just a single clone nearly made 'Gyoku' stumble. Do not underestimate him."
Sasori clicked his tongue again, clearly displeased, but said nothing.
It was the truth. To shake off those eerie black flames, he'd nearly had to dismantle Hiruko.
…
With one person missing, the meeting ended hastily.
"Do you think Orochimaru is dead?" Nagato, seated in his wheelchair, drew a long breath and lifted his eyes to Konan at his side.
"More than whether he's dead, I care about Uchiha Obito's intelligence network," Konan replied, face cold. "When none of us knew, he already knew Orochimaru had been attacked by Uchiha Chizumi."
"He seemed to be listening to someone just now. If I'm not wrong, that was 'Gai.' Uchiha Obito has many secrets. 'Gai' has even more—we don't know his real name, or why he exists in such a strange form."
"They're both very dangerous."
Nagato cut her off. "The key is Uchiha Chizumi, not Obito and Gai."
Konan was silent a moment, then said, "Nagato, do you really think that a man with designs that grand will let the Akatsuki be after he uses us to achieve his goal? He'll treat us like a disposable piece—tossed aside at any time."
"If that day comes, won't you regret it?"
"I don't care," Nagato said quietly.
…
"Haa—Konoha! I finally made it!"
Biwa Jūzō felt like he was about to collapse.
He hadn't stopped for two days, squeezing every last drop of stamina and chakra out of himself, terrified the Akatsuki would catch up.
Reaching his destination at last, he let himself relax, dropping the blood-mist cool and even bracing himself against a tree to catch his breath.
After a brief recovery,
he chose not to walk into Konoha openly—he worried there might be Akatsuki eyes inside the village.
He slipped in quietly instead.
"At this point my only option is to throw in with that guy. I just don't know if he'll take me in. I'm not from Konoha, after all. If he turns me away, I'll be left roaming the ninja world, running from the Akatsuki everywhere I go."
Jūzō muttered to himself.
…
Inside Konoha,
Hiruzen—fresh from being snubbed by his clan—was met by a breathless Anbu with a piece of news that made his scalp prickle: the Konoha Police and the Anbu had clashed! They were facing off in the middle of the village streets!
"What on earth happened?!"
He hadn't even gotten home yet. The Anbu's report—and his reaction—were seen by other Sarutobi around him.
But in an emergency like this, Hiruzen didn't care.
Face set, he asked, "Why would the Anbu and the Police be at odds?"
The Anbu were the one remaining "card" Hiruzen held with any confidence.
Because of that card, he still had a sliver of nerve to face Uchiha Chizumi.
If something happened to the Anbu, he'd be a Hokage in name only.
Half the other clans in Konoha already didn't support him.
In that situation…
If he lost the Anbu too, it was over.
The kneeling Anbu hesitated, then said, "The Police believe we Anbu are sheltering many murderers. They claim some of the people killed by Anbu weren't killed for the village, and not all of them were guilty. They intend to conduct a sweeping investigation."
"Basically, they want every Anbu to go to the Yamanaka clan for a mind probe. But there are too many secrets in our memories. We absolutely cannot let the Police do as they please. And so… the clash broke out."
Hiruzen's frown deepened.
In the past, the Police would never have done something like this.
Under Uchiha Fugaku, the Police treated the Anbu like a plague—sidestepping them whenever possible.
But under Uchiha Chizumi…
This was too domineering. Too reckless.
Letting the Police run wild like this inside the village would cause a disaster.
Chizumi wasn't suited to lead the Police. He wasn't suited to lead at all—only to be a sharp blade.
Thoughts flashed through Hiruzen's mind.
He knew he had to go in person.
"Wait… is Chizumi there?" he asked suddenly.
"It seems Uchiha Chizumi is already on his way," the Anbu replied.
Hiruzen drew in a sharp breath.