Konoha.
The Senju Clan compound.
“Thank you for intervening and saving me, Lord Chiba.”
Uchiha Fugaku struggled to his feet.
Without bothering to brush the dust from his clothes, he turned directly toward Chiba.
The proud clan leader, who had always carried himself with authority, now bent his straight back in a deep bow.
Chiba calmly accepted the gesture.
He was qualified to receive Uchiha Fugaku’s respect.
Without his intervention, Fugaku would have died at Danzo’s hands.
Not far away, Sarutobi Hiruzen stared at the empty crater and seemed to age ten years in an instant.
Danzo was dead.
Shimura Danzo, the man who had fought with him for half his life, had died without leaving even a scrap behind.
Sarutobi Hiruzen’s aged face filled with sorrow.
A few murky tears even squeezed from his eyes.
But in his heart?
Sarutobi Hiruzen breathed an enormous sigh of relief.
At least Danzo had shown some backbone before dying.
He had focused entirely on dragging Uchiha Fugaku down with him and had no opportunity to expose Hiruzen.
The rotten accounts hidden in Konoha’s darkest corners.
The bloody, shameful dealings that could never withstand the light of day.
The dirty schemes targeting the Uchiha Clan.
All of them had been buried deep underground with Danzo’s death.
Sarutobi Hiruzen’s glorious public image had been preserved completely.
He turned around with an unsteady gait.
After two swaying steps, he looked ready to collapse at any moment.
Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura hurried over when they saw him.
One on either side, they firmly supported Konoha’s highest authority.
“Hiruzen, please don’t let your grief overwhelm you.”
Utatane Koharu softly consoled him.
Mitokado Homura also sighed while casting a wary glance at Chiba in the distance.
Chiba could not be bothered with the three old actors.
He looked around.
The leaders of the major ninja clans and their elite ninja held their breath.
No one dared meet Chiba’s gaze.
Such was the deterrence created by absolute power.
“The show’s over.
Everyone, leave.”
Chiba waved his hand as though shooing away a group of insignificant flies.
Then he turned and walked toward the newly laid stone path.
Under everyone’s gaze, Chiba entered the Senju Clan compound he had rebuilt with Wood Release.
The heavy wooden doors closed with a bang, completely cutting off the outside world’s view.
…
The Hokage’s office.
The heavy smell of tobacco made it difficult to breathe.
Every door and window was tightly shut.
Sarutobi Hiruzen sat in the broad Hokage’s chair, taking puff after puff from his pipe.
The atmosphere in the room was oppressively tense.
“Hiruzen!”
“What on earth are you thinking?”
“Senju Chiba killed a Konoha elder in public today.
That is open rebellion against the village!”
“He poses too great a threat.
We must restrict him!”
Utatane Koharu stood before the desk and slammed both hands against its surface.
“Koharu is right.”
That is the First Hokage’s power!”
“If we don’t control it, Konoha’s balance of power will be completely destroyed!”
Mitokado Homura pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose and voiced his agreement.
Bang!
Sarutobi Hiruzen abruptly slammed his pipe against the desk.
Sparks flew everywhere.
He raised his head and glared at his two longtime companions.
“Restrict him?”
“Tell me, how exactly are we supposed to do that?”
“With your mouths?”
“Which of you plans to deal with that wooden giant hundreds of meters tall?”
“The ANBU?
Root?”
“Or will you two old fossils go and fight him yourselves?”
Utatane Koharu recoiled from the rebuke.
She opened her mouth but could not utter a word.
The wooden giant that rose from the ground had not only destroyed the old Senju compound.
It had also crushed the pride of Konoha’s leadership.
That had been overwhelming power!
Before absolute strength, every conspiracy and trick appeared pale and ridiculous.
“But…”
“We can’t simply stand by and watch him place himself above the Hokage.”
Mitokado Homura swallowed, fine beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
“He is a member of the Senju Clan, after all.”
“Far too many people in this village still remember the First Hokage’s kindness!”
Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed.
That was the most dangerous part.
Chiba not only possessed overwhelming strength, but also held the most fundamental source of legitimacy in Konoha!
Moral authority was on his side!
If Chiba raised his voice and issued a call, the wavering civilian-born ninja in the village would undoubtedly rally behind him!
The office fell into deathly silence once more.
Only the three elders’ heavy breathing could be heard.
“Hiruzen.”
“Chiba is Tsunade’s disciple.”
“He may be deeply hostile toward us, but he should still respect her.”
“Recall Tsunade to the village immediately and have her restrain this monster!”
After a long silence, Mitokado Homura gritted his teeth and made the suggestion.
“Restrain him?”
“What kind of person do you think Tsunade is?”
“If she returns, do you think she’ll help us or her only disciple?”
Sarutobi Hiruzen sneered.
He looked at Mitokado Homura as though looking at an idiot.
Mitokado Homura was left speechless.
Given Tsunade’s explosive temper, if she learned about the village’s dirty deeds over the years, they would be fortunate if she did not tear down the Hokage Building.
“Still…”
Sarutobi Hiruzen picked up the pipe from the desk and tapped its ash against the edge.
“We’ll try it as a last resort.”
“Draft an urgent letter in the Hokage’s name and send it out of the village tonight.
Find Tsunade.”
“Even if she returns only to serve as a buffer, that’s better than allowing Chiba to run completely unchecked.”
Mitokado Homura breathed a sigh of relief and quickly nodded.
Having achieved their objective, the two advisors did not dare further provoke Sarutobi Hiruzen’s foul mood.
They turned and left the office.
The door closed once more.
The exhaustion instantly vanished from Sarutobi Hiruzen’s face.
In its place was an ice-cold determination.
Whoosh!
Three animal-masked ANBU instantly appeared before him.
“Hokage-sama!”
Sarutobi Hiruzen’s gaze was cold and gloomy.
“Immediately mobilize every ANBU elite and surround Root’s underground base!”
“Confiscate every file and scroll!”
“Especially the laboratory records involving the First Hokage’s cells and the Uchiha Sharingan!”
“Destroy them all!”
“No one can be allowed to see them—especially Senju Chiba!”
The ANBU captain trembled and immediately lowered his head to accept the order.
“Yes!”
The three ANBU vanished as afterimages.
Sarutobi Hiruzen leaned back in his chair and watched the sky outside the window gradually darken.
Danzo was dead.
He would make sure the role of scapegoat remained permanently nailed to Danzo’s coffin.
He would never allow a single drop of filth to stain his pristine white Hokage haori!
…
At the same time, in the Uchiha Clan compound.
Uchiha Shisui pushed open his front door in a daze.
Like a soulless shell, he walked straight into the inner room.
Thud.
He dropped to his knees before Uchiha Kagami’s portrait, and tears suddenly poured from his eyes.
The Will of Fire in which he had taken such pride.
The peace between the village and his clan for which he had hoped day and night.
Today, both had been torn to shreds!
The eyes of his clansmen had been embedded in Danzo’s arm.
Danzo’s eye socket had even held the Mangekyō Sharingan of his ancestor, Uchiha Kagami!
That was the elder Shisui respected most!
Konoha’s leadership had actually treated the eyes of the Uchiha Clan as consumable tools!
Was this what they called comradeship?
Was this the bond between people who entrusted their backs to one another?
Shisui clutched his hair, a suppressed, beast-like wail escaping his throat.
“Big Brother Shisui…”
A childish voice came from the veranda.
Young Uchiha Itachi stood there quietly.
His eyes were far deeper than those of his peers.
There was no fear in them.
Only a desire to understand that did not belong to someone his age.
“What happened?”
Itachi entered the room and knelt beside Shisui.
Shisui looked at Itachi.
This was the younger brother he cherished most and the genius he believed understood the Will of Fire better than anyone.
But now, Shisui did not know how to begin.
He smiled bitterly, his fingernails digging deep into his palms.
In the end, he slowly began recounting everything that had happened that day.
Chiba’s Wood Release.
The Sharingan embedded in Danzo’s arm.
And the Mangekyō Sharingan that had belonged to Uchiha Kagami.
Itachi listened quietly.
He did not interrupt or display any intense reaction.
But as Shisui continued, something rapidly crumbled within Itachi’s clear, dark eyes.
The village?
Its leaders?
Could they wantonly take one group’s organs and lives in order to protect another?
Was this the price of peace?