Naruto: Uchiha's Absolute Justice

Chapter 40: Justice Already Delayed Cannot Be Delayed Further

The next day.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had changed into mourning clothes early. Today was the day his eldest son, Shin'nosuke Sarutobi, was to be buried. Perhaps the heavens were not in a good mood, as a drizzling rain poured down.

"Let's go, to the Konoha Cemetery."

Hiruzen Sarutobi said heavily, then walked ahead, letting the rain fall on him.

Behind him followed Shin'nosuke Sarutobi's wife, Nadeshiko Sarutobi, and their son, Konohamaru Sarutobi.

At the same time, many members of the Sarutobi clan followed closely.

Besides them.

There were only a few close friends of Shin'nosuke Sarutobi from when he was alive.

The funeral of the Hokage's eldest son should have invited more people.

However…

The negative rumors about Shin'nosuke Sarutobi in the village grew increasingly intense. Even though Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, intended to curb public opinion, he found it impossible to control.

The more public opinion was suppressed, the more the villagers believed the rumors were true.

This was also considered a traditional art of Konoha's troublesome citizens.

Under such circumstances, it was not suitable to make the funeral too grand.

After all, in the eyes of many Konoha villagers—if an "evil person" who committed wrongdoing by relying on his father being the Konoha Hokage was to be given a grand funeral after death… wouldn't that be too unfair to the victims?

Helplessly.

Considering the negative public opinion in the village, Hiruzen Sarutobi could only try to keep everything simple, inviting only some of Shin'nosuke's friends from when he was alive.

Not long after.

Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others arrived at the Konoha Cemetery, and the Konoha Funeral Home had already transported Shin'nosuke Sarutobi's coffin there.

"Hokage-sama, can I see him one last time?"

Nadeshiko Sarutobi held Konohamaru's small hand, tears welling in her eyes.

"Mm." Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded heavily.

"Mom, why is Father lying here…" Three-year-old Konohamaru was bewildered.

He could barely speak properly.

Nadeshiko Sarutobi's tears finally couldn't be held back. She cried, saying, "Konohamaru, your father is sleeping. However, this time he'll be sleeping for a very, very long time. When you grow up, you'll understand why he's sleeping for so long."

...

Not far away.

Several staff members of the Konoha Funeral Home were whispering.

"That woman is the Hokage-sama's daughter-in-law? She's so beautiful… Hey, Yamada, are you staring blankly? I advise you not to have any improper thoughts. Maybe she's a ninja; she could crush you with one finger."

"Yamada? Why have you been so strange these past two days? You don't even respond when called. You haven't really fallen for the Hokage-sama's widowed daughter-in-law, have you?"

Yamada suddenly jolted, quickly retorting, "You, don't talk nonsense! If the Hokage-sama hears you, you'll get me into big trouble."

He suppressed his uneasy thoughts, then added, "It should be about time. Is it time to bury the coffin?"

His companions nodded in agreement: "Indeed."

However.

Just as the funeral home staff were about to walk over, an unexpected commotion suddenly occurred.

They faintly heard people arguing.

"Hey! Uchiha Ikeizumi! What are you doing here? You're not welcome here today!"

"Uchiha Police Force is enforcing the law. No unauthorized personnel shall obstruct. Otherwise, they will be killed without question."

"You!!!"

"Uchiha Ikeizumi? Sounds familiar…" A funeral home staff member mumbled, stroking his short beard. Then, he noticed the "Yamada" next to him looked a bit strange. He asked in confusion: "Hey, Yamada, why is your face so pale!?"

"No… nothing…" Yamada's lips trembled slightly.

His forced smile was uglier than a cry: "I just got rained on. Maybe… maybe I caught a bit of a cold…"

Yamada was roaring "impossible" wildly in his heart.

There was no way his actions from four years ago had been exposed!

Perhaps…

Perhaps it was just a coincidence.

After all, Konoha Village was only so big. It was perfectly reasonable for that plague god of the Uchiha Police Force to be anywhere, right? It was just bad luck today that he ran into him, which was also perfectly reasonable, right?

Besides, he had handled it so cleanly back then. For four consecutive years, no one from the Police Force had come looking for trouble.

How could it be exposed?!

....

On the other side.

Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others also noticed the commotion. When he vaguely heard the name "Uchiha Ikeizumi," the expression on Hiruzen Sarutobi's face visibly darkened slightly.

When he saw his daughter-in-law, who was kneeling beside the coffin, suddenly stand up silently…

Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart skipped a beat.

He feared that Nadeshiko Sarutobi, who had just experienced the pain of losing her husband, would make an irrational move.

He said, "I'll go take a look. Nadeshiko, you stay here and just see Shin'nosuke off on his final journey."

Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep breath, and with two ANBU guards, quickly rushed towards the direction of the commotion.

Indeed.

He saw the person he least wanted to see during this period.

—Uchiha Ikeizumi!

"Hokage-sama." The Sarutobi clan ninja who had been blocking Uchiha Ikeizumi immediately made way upon seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi appear and respectfully greeted him.

Hiruzen Sarutobi slowly walked forward. He stood before Uchiha Ikeizumi, with barely two meters separating them.

"Ikeizumi…"

Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a complex expression, "You should know that, having done what you did, you shouldn't be here. Your presence will only provoke many people and cause unnecessary conflict."

"If you wish to pay respects to Shin'nosuke…"

The drizzling rain obscured Hiruzen Sarutobi's gaze. He paused, then continued, "You can come tomorrow. As for today… let's just leave it."

Upon seeing Uchiha Ikeizumi appear at Shin'nosuke's funeral, the anger in Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart had actually subsided a bit.

At least, Uchiha Ikeizumi still remembered their past teacher-student relationship.

At least, he was still willing to come and send Shin'nosuke off on his final journey.

It seemed Uchiha Ikeizumi hadn't reached the point of being so extreme that he disowned all ties. It was just that his [Absolute Justice] was truly too extreme.

Before, when Uchiha Ikeizumi's "blade" hadn't fallen on Hiruzen Sarutobi, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt that even if Uchiha Ikeizumi was a double-edged sword, as long as he used him well, Uchiha Ikeizumi would be an extremely excellent elite ninja of Konoha.

But.

When Uchiha Ikeizumi, this double-edged sword, wounded Hiruzen Sarutobi.

He suddenly felt that Uchiha Ikeizumi's [Absolute Justice] was so extreme that it made him extremely uncomfortable.

However.

Uchiha Ikeizumi's reply caught Hiruzen Sarutobi by surprise: "Third Hokage, I may one day come to pay respects to Shin'nosuke-sensei, but not today. I am here to execute justice."

A warning bell suddenly rang in Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart, and the two ANBU guards who followed close behind him also narrowed their eyes.

The atmosphere on site immediately became tense with Uchiha Ikeizumi's words.

Executing… justice?!

What did that mean?

"Izumi Uchiha." At this moment, Uchiha Ikeizumi spoke.

"Here!!!" The young girl's loud shout almost made Hiruzen Sarutobi think that Uchiha Ikeizumi was about to break ties with Konoha.

Until he saw Izumi walk out from behind Uchiha Ikeizumi.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's aged face darkened slightly; he couldn't understand why this Uchiha girl suddenly shouted.

Uchiha Ikeizumi said, "You speak."

"Yes! Senior Ikeizumi!"

Izumi gathered her courage, suppressed her nervousness, and proactively said to the Hokage, "Hokage-sama, Senior Ikeizumi has uncovered an extremely heinous case of murder and dismemberment. Yesterday and this morning, Senior has already screened many suspects, and now only one last suspect remains uninvestigated—that is Tsujirō Yamada of the Konoha Funeral Home!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned: "A dismemberment case?"

Izumi nodded: "The victims are a mother and daughter. After dismembering the bodies, the culprit threw the body fragments into Konoha's sewers. Although Senior Ikeizumi could only find some bone fragments, he was able to determine the victims' identities through them."

"We are constantly investigating suspects according to the clues. Now, only Tsujirō Yamada remains."

Hiruzen Sarutobi remained silent for a moment.

He had to admit that he recognized Uchiha Ikeizumi's investigative abilities, and recognized them 100%.

However…

"Ikeizumi." Hiruzen Sarutobi said in a deep voice, "Today is Shin'nosuke's burial day. Let him enjoy his final peace. If you want to arrest someone, you can wait until after the funeral."

Uchiha Ikeizumi said expressionlessly, "Third Hokage, justice has already been delayed for four years. Do you want to delay it further?"

"Justice already delayed cannot be delayed further." His eyes stared directly into Hiruzen Sarutobi's: "Or, in the Third Hokage's eyes, is the post-mortem peace of a villain who has fallen into darkness more important than the delayed justice for two innocent victims?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi clearly caught the hostility in those eyes.

No…

Rather than saying he caught it, it was more like Uchiha Ikeizumi was undisguisedly, starkly, revealing his hostility!

Hiruzen Sarutobi's aged face tensed slightly, and he said firmly, "Ikeizumi, give me some face. Whatever it is, let's discuss it tomorrow."

Uchiha Ikeizumi said, "If the Third Hokage's face could rewind time and revive the dead, I would give you that face."

Hiruzen Sarutobi already saw Uchiha Ikeizumi's right hand on the hilt of his ninja blade.

The ANBU ninja behind him also quickly gripped their own hilts.

The already delicate atmosphere instantly became fraught with tension.

"Ikeizumi, I am the Hokage…"

Click—

Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyelid twitched, because Uchiha Ikeizumi's thumb had already pushed open the sword guard of his ninja blade. The inch of snow-silver blade revealed was particularly glaring in Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes.

This was simply an uncontrollable mad dog in his eyes as Hokage!

Not even Danzo dared to be so forceful with him, Hiruzen Sarutobi!

Hiruzen Sarutobi was in an extremely foul mood, his face visibly darkening: "Does it have to come to that?"

Uchiha Ikeizumi had already drawn his ninja blade.

The two ANBU guards also immediately drew their swords without hesitation.

Quickly blocking Uchiha Ikeizumi's path.

"Put them away!" However, Hiruzen Sarutobi's words, gritted through his teeth, caused the two ANBU guards to pause.

"Hokage-sama?"

"Put them away!" Hiruzen Sarutobi repeated. The two ANBU guards had no choice but to sheath their swords, but the vigilance in their eyes did not dissipate.

As long as Uchiha Ikeizumi made any unusual move, they would immediately act.

Hiruzen Sarutobi then gave Uchiha Ikeizumi a deep look.

Finally, he turned and walked away in silence.

"Senior Ikeizumi, we…" Izumi, startled by the tense and volatile atmosphere, spoke softly.

Uchiha Ikeizumi interrupted her expressionlessly: "Go in and make the arrest."

"Yes! Senior!"

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