Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned."A rogue ninja is someone who betrays the village and flees."
Chiba replied steadily,"The moment someone betrays the village, they become a rogue ninja. Must we really wait until they escape before acting? Wouldn't that already be too late?"
"Hokage-sama, when Orochimaru was discovered conducting forbidden human experiments, wasn't he already a rogue ninja?"
"Did we really have to wait until he left Konoha before it counted?"
Hiruzen nearly choked.
Of all examples Chiba could have chosen… he had picked Orochimaru.
Wasn't that a direct strike at his greatest stain?
He had known Orochimaru had fallen into darkness—yet because of their bond as master and student, he had let him go.
Chiba's words left him momentarily speechless.
He could hardly say:Yes, one must flee the village before becoming a rogue ninja. That is why I released Orochimaru.
Hiruzen took a slow draw from his pipe and exhaled quietly.
"Even if you were justified in dealing with Hio, the matter of Jiro still cannot be explained away."
"Even if he deserved punishment, he should not have been executed publicly without interrogation."
Chiba fell silent for a moment.
"Hokage-sama… then you acknowledge Sarutobi Hio as a rogue ninja."
"In that case, how could I trust him to judge his own son impartially?"
"If I had spared Sarutobi Jiro, would Hio not have shielded him?"
"Precisely because it was done publicly, the villagers and shinobi who witnessed it applauded. They felt that justice still existed in Konoha."
"Otherwise… if Hio and his son had been allowed to run rampant, the people would have lost faith in the village entirely."
Shinnosuke scoffed.
"Smooth words."
"These are not smooth words," Chiba replied calmly. "They are my honest thoughts."
"If the people no longer believe justice exists within the village…"
"Then the village has no future."
He met Hiruzen's gaze.
"Wouldn't you agree, Hokage-sama?"
Hiruzen said nothing.
After a long silence, he spoke heavily.
"Regardless, Chiba, you have stirred this matter too greatly."
"Even if I understand your reasoning, the villagers and shinobi may not."
"Here is what we will do. You will step down from the Police Force for the time being."
"Keep a low profile. Once the situation cools down, you may resume your duties."
He turned to Fugaku.
"Clan Head Fugaku, what do you think?"
Fugaku frowned slightly.
"Hokage-sama, this…"
Chiba interrupted lightly.
"Very well. I accept the Hokage's arrangement."
With that, he turned and walked toward the door.
Fugaku sighed.
"Then let it be so…"
He followed behind him.
Shinnosuke watched their departing figures, his expression dark.
"Hokage-sama… are we truly letting him go like this?"
"The clan will not let this rest."
Hiruzen's eyes grew cold.
"Of course we will not let him go."
"It is simply not yet time to eliminate him."
"Then what should we do?"
Hiruzen pondered for a moment.
"If I recall correctly, Uchiha Chiba has no family… and very few friends."
"Indeed. With his temperament, even among the Uchiha he is considered extreme. Few would dare approach him."
"Though he does have quite a number of fervent followers…"
A faint glimmer passed through Hiruzen's eyes.
"Then we begin with those followers."
"You mean…"
"The Police Force… encountering certain incidents or dangers would not be unusual."
Shinnosuke immediately understood.
"I see."
…
Chiba formally handed over his duties in the Police Force.
Under the complicated gazes of those around him, he left quietly.
After returning home, he felt neither sorrow nor anger.
He simply resumed his training.
Killing Sarutobi Hio had earned him one hundred merit points—the highest reward he had ever received.
He invested all of them into strengthening his Sharingan.
His ocular power had now reached 473 points, placing him halfway toward awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Even at the Three-Tomoe stage, his ocular power far surpassed that of ordinary shinobi.
The Sharingan thrived on extreme emotions.
Although Chiba claimed to be cold and detached, his unwavering pursuit of absolute justice was itself an intense emotion.
Under the banner of that conviction, his ocular power could erupt with terrifying strength.
The Sharingan possessed three core abilities:
Insight.Copying.Genjutsu.
Chiba naturally possessed all three.
However, every Uchiha's Sharingan developed differently.
Chiba's greatest strength lay in insight.
In battle, he could perceive every movement of his opponent and even anticipate actions before they occurred.
His copying ability, by comparison, was fairly ordinary.
He was not particularly skilled at casting genjutsu—
But he excelled at breaking it.
Of course, his "lack" of skill was only relative to his extraordinary perception.
The Sharingan was still the Sharingan.
His genjutsu remained formidable.
As he trained, he replayed the earlier battle in his mind.
Sarutobi Hio had not been weak.
Chiba's swift victory had relied on three key factors.
First—the Sharingan's overwhelming insight, allowing him to evade attacks and predict movements with precision.
Second—the unexpected power of Lightning Release: False Darkness, whose destructive force had been tremendous.
And third—
His swordsmanship.
"The Sharingan's insight and my refined swordsmanship… these are my current foundations."
"If I want to advance further…"
"Beyond ocular power, chakra, and ninjutsu…"
"There is another path I have long anticipated."
He wanted—
To infuse Lightning Release into his blade.
To forge a truly powerful lightning-based combat style.
Lightning Release swordsmanship.
Techniques like Sasuke's Chidori Blade or Danzō's Vacuum Blade followed similar principles.
Fire Release could also be fused with swordsmanship—Shisui's flame-enhanced strikes proved that.
But for Chiba, lightning suited him far better.
"Since I'm suspended for now…"
"I'll focus on developing Lightning Release swordsmanship."
"Justice without strength…"
"Is worthless."
…
In the days following Uchiha Chiba's suspension, the village gradually appeared to calm down.
Hiruzen could remove him from the Police Force—
But he could not silence public opinion.
In the eyes of many villagers and shinobi, Uchiha Chiba was no longer a twisted extremist.
Instead, he had become something else.
An anti-hero willing to go to any lengths for justice.
Within the Uchiha clan, his fervent supporters only grew in number.
Their emotions intensified.
That undercurrent—like dark flames smoldering beneath the surface—filled Hiruzen with deep unease.
And so—
A scheme targeting Chiba slowly began to unfold.
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