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NAJ Chapter 176: When Justice Names the Guilty
🕑 Added 2025-08-24 03:07:09 +0000 UTCYamanaka Inoichi, Nara Shikaku, and Akimichi Chōza—
The sudden appearance of the three made Sarutobi Hiruzen freeze for a moment.
But very quickly, he recovered. At once, he understood why they had rushed here in the middle of the night.
No doubt…
It was to take Uchiha Keizumi’s side!
After all, some time ago, Inoichi had already decided to stand with [Absolute Justice]. And as the allies of the Yamanaka clan, the Nara and Akimichi clans would, naturally, make the same choice.
At this realization, Sarutobi Hiruzen’s expression grew grim.
Yet the bitterness in his heart was not directed at the Ino–Shika–Chō trio, nor at Uchiha Keizumi.
It was directed at the already-dead Danzō!
If, back when Danzō had fought against Keizumi, the collateral damage hadn’t struck the Yamanaka clan’s compound, nearly wiping them out—
If that disaster hadn’t just so happened to contrast with Keizumi’s deliberate restraint in sparing their clansmen—
How could the Yamanaka clan possibly abandon him, the Hokage of Konoha, to instead stand with Absolute Justice?
The thought made Hiruzen grind his teeth with fury.
Too bad Danzō was already dead…
Otherwise, he would have lashed out at him with words, venting the stifling fire burning in his chest.
“Hokage-sama.”
Suddenly, a cold yet still somewhat youthful voice rang out.
It was Uchiha Itachi, who had finally arrived at the Sarutobi compound just in time.
Far behind him to the right, Fugaku had not approached the compound directly. Instead, he stood atop a nearby building, watching from afar.
From this vantage point, he could clearly see the scene unfolding within the Sarutobi compound.
And what he saw left him deeply shaken.
“Hokage-sama… Koharu-sama… Jiraiya… Hatake Kakashi… Tsunade… Orochimaru’s disciple… Yamanaka Inoichi… Akimichi Chōza… Keizumi… Nara Shikaku…”
Fugaku’s eyes carried disbelief.
Wasn’t this too many people gathered in one night?
And besides them—
There was also a large contingent of ANBU shinobi, along with a sizable force from Root.
It seemed as though half of Konoha’s elite strength had assembled here!
“Tch, brat, what on earth is going on here?”
Tsunade stepped forward.
First, she shot a displeased glare at Utatane Koharu. Then, in her usual brash manner, she slapped Uchiha Keizumi on the shoulder. Unable to hold back her curiosity, she asked bluntly: “You show up at the old man’s house in the middle of the night with these two kids lugging around their ninja swords, acting all high and mighty—don’t tell me this is just some casual midnight visit?”
“And what about you old men?”
She turned her sharp gaze onto Sarutobi Hiruzen, flat-out calling her former teacher, the Third Hokage, “old man.”
But to that “disrespectful” address, Hiruzen showed no sign of surprise. Clearly, he was long accustomed to it.
Sweeping her eyes over the crowd, Tsunade continued: “Bringing this many ANBU and Root shinobi—there’s no way you’re just here for a midnight chat with Uchiha Keizumi, right?”
“And another thing…”
She glanced back again at her companion, Jiraiya, whose expression was unusually grave.
“You bastard, why are you here too? Just now, when someone was tailing me from behind—besides Shizune, that was you, wasn’t it?”
One question after another burst from Tsunade’s mouth, tossing them toward everyone present.
But in doing so, the tense, blade-drawn atmosphere eased ever so slightly.
“Hmph!”
Utatane Koharu gave a sharp, disdainful snort before explaining, “If this brat hadn’t gone mad tonight, would I have needed to mobilize nearly all of Root in the middle of the night?”
Had it been anyone else asking, Koharu wouldn’t have even bothered to explain.
But since it was Tsunade, she still gave her the courtesy of an answer.
Clenching her jaw, her expression twisted with hatred, she said darkly, “This brat killed many tonight! Among them, members of the Utatane and Mitokado clans—maybe twenty in all! And now, he’s set his sights on the Sarutobi clan!”
“If Hiruzen and I hadn’t mobilized both Root and the ANBU, the Sarutobi would have fallen to his hand before the night was out! And yet… despite such madness, there are actually people who support him. Truly, it shatters the three views, a collapse of morals!”
“Some people clearly grew up under the very will of fire’s teaching. Yet tonight, I saw not a trace of that will in them!”
Her biting words were directed not only at the Ino–Shika–Chō trio, but also at Mitarashi Anko.
And yet—
Her barbs carried little weight. The ones she targeted showed no real reaction, their expressions unshaken.
Even so, Koharu’s words left both Tsunade and Jiraiya momentarily stunned.
Tsunade muttered under her breath: “So I was right. This brat really did come here to ‘carry out justice.’ And he’s made such a huge mess of it all, not caring about anyone else at all!”
Jiraiya’s face, however, was grave. Drawing a deep breath, he pushed past several people and stepped directly up to Uchiha Keizumi.
His solemn eyes locked onto Keizumi’s, and he asked in a low, heavy voice: “Keizumi, is what Adviser Koharu said true? I may not involve myself much in Konoha’s affairs anymore—even when I stumble across them, I often turn away. But that depends on the matter at hand. And tonight, this is one matter I, Jiraiya, cannot ignore.”
“In a single night, killing more than twenty of your own comrades in Konoha—that’s the sort of vicious deed only a deranged butcher would commit. It shakes the very foundation of Konoha, weakens its strength. Keizumi, is this really the justice you claim to uphold?”
Uchiha Keizumi slowly lifted his eyelids, meeting Jiraiya’s gaze with cold indifference.
“When confronted with evil, to endure without striking it down—that is the forbearance one is forced into only when justice is still weak.”
“But when justice has gained an absolute, unshakable hand—no longer fearing any storm or tempest—if, upon meeting evil again, it still refuses to judge what it sees, then justice will fade.”
“And once justice fades… all across the shinobi world, the countless victims who died in hatred, unable to rest in peace, will be left with no one to speak for them.”
Though many stood there in silence, only Keizumi spoke. Yet his voice rang in every ear.
His gaze slid past Jiraiya, fixing upon a Sarutobi clansman standing behind Hiruzen.
His tone was flat, merciless:
“Sarutobi Kyōya.”
At the sound of his name, the Sarutobi ninja suddenly froze, his face stricken with disbelief. Almost by instinct, he staggered back a few steps, trying to shrink behind the bodies of those around him.
A pity.
The moment Uchiha Keizumi spoke his name, quite a few who recognized him could not help but turn their eyes upon him.
And such stares, in turn, drew the attention of those who did not know him.
Thus—before long, nearly every gaze present had settled on the Sarutobi clansman called Sarutobi Kyōya.
Even Jiraiya turned his head curiously to look.
“Nine years ago, during the Third Shinobi World War—you sold a piece of Konoha’s military intelligence to Kumogakure shinobi for ten million ryō. Because of that, one of Konoha’s defensive lines collapsed, leading to the death of one jōnin and seven chūnin.”
Keizumi’s voice continued, low and unyielding: “Four years ago, you colluded with Kumogakure shinobi from within, aiding them in their attempt to abduct Hyūga Hinata. When Hiashi fought the enemy to recover his daughter, you realized the plot had been exposed and fled in cowardice.”
“One year ago, the Third Hokage entrusted you with overseeing a Konoha construction project, allocating seven million ryō in funds. You embezzled four million, producing a shoddy structure. One rainy day, that building collapsed, killing an innocent passerby.”
With every word Keizumi spoke, Sarutobi Kyōya’s face drained of color.
By the end, his expression was ashen as paper. Sweat seeped down his back in layers until his entire body was drenched.
“Jiraiya.”
Keizumi’s voice was calm, deliberate: “Tell me—was it justice seeking to execute him that shook the foundation of Konoha? Or was it his deeds that undermined the very roots of Konoha you speak of?”
The gravity of Keizumi’s words left Jiraiya, who had been ready to strike at any moment, standing stiff in place.
“Wait!”
Sensing the strange, accusing looks cast upon him, Sarutobi Kyōya shouted in panic: “These things you’re saying—what proof do you have…?”
“The Yamanaka clan will provide the evidence,” came a steady voice from behind Keizumi.
It was Yamanaka Inoichi, who stepped forward with a solemn expression: “Rest assured, the Yamanaka clan’s secret techniques won’t cause undue harm to your will or spirit. All you need do is allow us to investigate your memories, and everyone here will know whether you’ve been falsely accused—or whether it’s the truth.”
Sarutobi Kyōya’s throat went dry. Not a single word came out.
Seeing this, Sarutobi Hiruzen’s face, dark as a thundercloud just moments before, gradually gave way to a helpless sigh of disappointment.
But Keizumi’s voice pressed on: “Sarutobi Mayatsuki.”
At once, a civilian woman of the Sarutobi clan stiffened where she stood. Her eyes widened in terror, unable to conceal their fear no matter how she tried.
“Twelve years ago, because of your promiscuous private life, you conceived a baby girl in secret, hiding it from your fiancé. After she was born, you drowned her in a Konoha public latrine. You dismembered the body and flushed it down the toilet.”
With a dull thud, Sarutobi Mayatsuki collapsed to the ground, paralyzed with horror.
Her lips quivered with a manic mutter, half-excuse, half-self-convincing: “She… she didn’t have memories yet… a baby without memories, how could she count as a person? If she wasn’t a person… then what I did wasn’t really murder, right?”
When she lifted her head in a daze, she saw her honest-faced husband staring at her with a look of inexplicable shock.
Unable to help herself, her eyes turned to the Hokage, silently pleading for aid.
But she found that this Hokage—her clansman, even distantly related by blood—after only a fleeting glance at her, closed his eyes with an expression of disappointed resignation.
Sarutobi Mayatsuki froze in place, her entire body struck dumb, as if petrified by fear.
“Jiraiya.”
Uchiha Keizumi asked, his tone cold, “Do you believe it is justice seeking to execute her that makes one a murderous butcher? Or is it she, who killed her own daughter, who is truly the butcher?”
Jiraiya was already speechless.
From the woman’s reaction alone, he could tell this vile deed from the past was undoubtedly true.
