Konoha Village.
Senju clan compound.
“Thank you, Lord Chiba, for saving my life.”
Fugaku Uchiha struggled to his feet.
Disregarding the dust clinging to his clothes, he bowed deeply toward Chiba.
This proud clan head, who usually carried himself with towering authority, now bent his spine in genuine deference.
Chiba accepted the gesture calmly.
He was well entitled to Fugaku’s gratitude.
If he hadn’t intervened, Fugaku would have been dragged into the abyss of death by Danzo’s Reverse Four Symbols Seal.
Not far away, Hiruzen Sarutobi stood motionless.
Looking at the hollow, massive crater, he seemed to age ten years in a single instant.
Danzo was dead.
Shimura Danzo, the man who had strived and schemed against him for half a lifetime, was gone—reduced to absolute nothingness.
Deep sorrow washed over Hiruzen’s weathered face, and a few turbid tears even squeezed from his eyes.
Yet in the deepest recesses of his heart, Hiruzen let out a massive sigh of relief.
In his final moments, Danzo had actually done something right: by focusing entirely on dragging Fugaku Uchiha down with him, he hadn’t had the chance to drag Hiruzen into the mud or expose him as an accomplice.
All the dark accounts of Konoha…
The unspeakable, blood-soaked transactions…
The dirty, covert operations directed against the Uchiha clan…
All of it had been buried deep underground alongside Danzo’s death.
His glorious image as the Hokage had been thoroughly preserved.
Stumbling slightly, Hiruzen turned around.
He took two shaky steps forward as if he might collapse at any moment.
Seeing this, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado quickly hurried forward, taking hold of the village’s supreme authority figure on either side.
“Hiruzen, control your grief,” Koharu whispered softly in comfort.
Homura sighed heavily, casting a wary, cautious glance at Chiba in the distance.
Chiba didn’t even bother to glance at these three old actors.
He swept his gaze across the surroundings.
The heads of the major shinobi clans and the gathered elite ninjas all held their breath.
Not a single person dared to make eye contact with Chiba.
This was the absolute deterrence born of sheer power.
“The show is over. Scatter,” Chiba said with a casual wave of his hand, as if shooing away a swarm of irrelevant flies.
Then, he turned and walked onto the newly paved stone path.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone present, Chiba stepped back into the Senju compound he had just rebuilt with his Mokuton.
The heavy wooden gates slammed shut with a heavy thud, completely shutting out the outside world.
Hokage’s Office.
The suffocating reek of tobacco filled the room, windows and doors tightly sealed.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in the spacious Hokage’s chair, taking drag after drag from his pipe.
The atmosphere inside the room was heavy to the point of suffocation.
“Hiruzen!”
“What on earth are you thinking?!”
“Senju Chiba publicly executed a Konoha elder today! That is open treason!”
“His threat is far too immense—we must restrict him!”
Koharu Utatane stood in front of the desk, slamming her hands down forcefully onto the wood.
“Koharu is right,” Homura Mitokado agreed, adjusting his glasses.
“His Mokuton is simply too dangerous—that is the power of Lord First! If left unchecked, the balance of Konoha will be completely shattered!”
Bang!
Hiruzen slammed his pipe heavily against the desk, sending sparks flying in all directions.
He snapped his head up, glaring furiously at his two long-time advisors.
“Restrict him?”
“Tell me, then—how do we restrict him?!”
“With your mouths?!”
“That Wood Human standing hundreds of meters tall—which one of you is going to face it?”
“The Anbu? Root?”
“Or are you two old bones going to march out there yourselves?”
Koharu recoiled a step from the outburst.
She opened her mouth, but not a single word came out.
The colossal Wood Human that had risen from the earth had not only crushed the old structures of the Senju compound—it had utterly shattered the pride of Konoha’s high command.
It was overwhelming, insurmountable power.
In the face of absolute strength, any petty scheme or political intrigue was rendered pathetically useless.
“But…” Homura swallowed hard, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
“We can’t just stand by and watch him place himself above the Hokage! He belongs to the Senju clan. There are still far too many people in this village who remember Lord First’s benevolence!”
Hiruzen let out a long sigh.
That was the most fatal aspect of all.
Chiba not only possessed the ultimate fist, but he also held the absolute core legitimacy of Konoha!
Moral righteousness was entirely on his side!
If Chiba were to raise his banner, those neutral civilian ninjas in the village would instantly flock to his support!
The office fell into a dead silence once more, with only the heavy breathing of the three old men echoing in the room.
“Hiruzen,” Homura spoke up after a long pause, gritting his teeth.
“Chiba is Tsunade’s disciple. He holds immense hostility toward us, but he must still carry some respect for her. Recall Tsunade to the village immediately and have her restrain this monster!”
“Restrain him?” Hiruzen let out a cold laugh, looking at Homura as if he were an absolute fool.
“Do you truly not know Tsunade’s temperament? If she returns and discovers what has been going on, do you think she will side with us… or her only disciple?”
Homura choked on his words.
With Tsunade’s explosive temper, if she learned about the filthy deeds committed by the village leadership over the years, it would be a miracle if she didn’t tear down the Hokage Residence herself.
“However…” Hiruzen picked up his pipe from the desk, tapping out the dead ashes against the rim.
“Treat a dead horse as a living one. Draft an urgent message in the name of the Hokage and send it out tonight to track down Tsunade.”
“Even if her return merely serves as a buffer, it is still better than letting Chiba snap completely.”
Homura breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly nodded in agreement.
Seeing that their objective was met, the two advisors didn’t dare push Hiruzen’s patience any further and quickly took their leave.
As the door clicked shut, the heavy exhaustion on Hiruzen’s face vanished instantly.
In its place was a cold, ruthless resolve.
He pressed a hidden bell beneath the desk.
Swish!
Three Anbu operatives wearing animal masks appeared instantly before the desk.
“Lord Hokage!”
Hiruzen’s eyes were icy cold.
“Gather all Anbu elites immediately and surround Root’s underground base! Seize all records and scrolls! Especially any laboratory logs concerning Hashirama’s cells and the Uchiha Sharingan—destroy them all!”
“Under no circumstances is anyone, especially Senju Chiba, to lay eyes on those documents!”
The Anbu captain shuddered, immediately bowing his head in obedience.
“Understood!”
The three Anbu transformed into afterimages and vanished into thin air.
Hiruzen leaned back into his chair, gazing out at the darkening sky outside the window.
Danzo was dead.
This pot of black guilt had to be permanently welded onto Danzo’s coffin lid.
He would never allow even a single drop of mud to splash onto his pristine white Hokage robe!
At the exact same time.
Uchiha clan compound.
Shisui pushed open the front door of his home like a husk that had lost its soul, walking straight into the inner room.
Thud.
He fell directly to his knees before the portrait of Kagami Uchiha, tears bursting uncontrollably from his eyes.
The Will of Fire he took such pride in…
The peace between village and clan that he had prayed for day and night…
Had been ripped into bloody shreds today!
Danzo’s arm had been embedded with the eyes of his fellow clansmen.
And inside Danzo’s right eye socket was the Mangekyo of his ancestor, Kagami!
That was the elder he revered above all else!
The village leadership had treated the eyes of the Uchiha clan as nothing more than disposable consumables!
Were these the so-called “comrades”?
Was this the “bond” that one could trust with their back?
Shisui clutched his hair, a suppressed, beast-like wail tearing from his throat.
“Shisui-niisan…”
A young, soft voice sounded from the doorway.
Young Itachi Uchiha stood there quietly.
His gaze was far deeper and more profound than that of any child his age.
There was no fear in his eyes—only an earnest desire for truth that belied his years.
“What happened?”
Itachi entered the room and knelt down beside Shisui.
Shisui looked at Itachi.
This was his most beloved younger brother figure, the prodigy he believed understood the Will of Fire better than anyone.
Yet now, Shisui didn’t even know how to begin.
He let out a bitter, miserable smile, his fingernails digging deep into his palms until blood dripped down.
Even so, he slowly began to speak, recounting everything that had transpired today.
From Chiba’s Mokuton…
To the armful of Sharingan on Danzo…
To the Mangekyo that belonged to Kagami Uchiha.
Itachi listened quietly.
He didn’t interrupt, nor did he display any intense emotional outburst.
Yet as Shisui’s narrative unfolded…
Deep within Itachi’s clear, dark eyes, something was rapidly crumbling into dust.
The village?
The high command?
To protect one group of people, they could freely harvest the organs and lives of another?
Was this the true price of peace?
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