After Ikeizumi and the Uchiha girl departed, Hiruzen wondered where he had insulted.
He pinched some tobacco onto his pipe, struck a match, lit it, and inhaled gently.
"Hmm..." The faint smoke enveloped his aged face as he murmured, "It is now almost certain that Ikeizumi poses no threat to Konoha. Are you satisfied, Danzo?"
From the corner of the office emerged an Anbu guard.
However, after a few steps, his form shifted.
He became an elderly man wrapped in bandages, revealing only one eye, exuding a dark and sinister aura.
This was the leader of Konoha's Root!
The ninja world's master of absorbing blame—
Danzo Shimura!
"When Ikeizumi entered the office, he glanced in my direction. He must have recognized me immediately," Danzo squinted, his hostility and detachment evident.
He then looked at Hiruzen and continued, "Hiruzen, can you guarantee Ikeizumi's words weren't deliberate provocation upon discovering me? He is an Uchiha whose methods are so extreme they border on evil."
"You heard him—he dares to draw his blade against the Hokage himself. Such a naturally evil Uchiha brat should not exist in Konoha."
Hiruzen frowned. "Danzo, I know your intentions. Do not harm Ikeizumi. He is someone I value, an Uchiha like Itachi."
"Though his extreme methods are questionable, he has established a new sense of justice in the village, causing many with ulterior motives to restrain themselves."
Hiruzen struck the table. "Ikeizumi's presence is a double-edged sword for the village, but so far, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks."
"Hmph." Danzo sneered darkly. "Benefits outweigh drawbacks? That is your indecisiveness. You only say that because the victims were from the Moonlight clan."
"If the victims were from the Sarutobi clan, would you still speak so?"
Hiruzen replied calmly, "I speak only of justice, not personal matters."
Danzo almost laughed at that.
"Allowing such a naturally evil Uchiha to enforce his so-called [Absolute Justice] in Konoha is playing with fire! One day, you will regret it, Hiruzen!"
Danzo gave Hiruzen a piercing look.
Hiruzen met his gaze and said gravely, "Danzo, you never understand your place. I am the Hokage of Konoha. You are merely its shadow."
"When I say Ikeizumi must not be touched, he must not be touched! Remember, Root exists only with my consent. One command from me, and Root is disbanded!"
Hiruzen narrowed his eyes. "Danzo, as Hokage, my power is absolute. You do not want me to exercise it, do you?"
Danzo's eyes widened. "Monkey, you..."
"Hmph!!!"
The conversation ended abruptly. Danzo's dark, angered face showed his frustration as he stormed out.
The slamming door revealed how difficult it was for him to suppress his rage.
...
"Has Ikeizumi returned?" Uchiha Fugaku, at the Uchiha Military Police Force, frowned deeply at four corpses.
"No," a Medical Examiner replied.
Fugaku sighed. "He has struck again at Konoha's ninja clans. This will only deepen the rift between the Uchiha and the village."
This was Fugaku's greatest fear.
Frankly, though Ikeizumi's methods were extreme, they were often correct, to the point even Fugaku struggled to find fault.
But such correctness was a death knell for the already precarious Uchiha clan.
Since the Nine-Tails' attack, suspicion toward the Uchiha had grown.
Many clans once on tolerable terms with the Uchiha had become increasingly distant.
The Uchiha's reputation among some civilians had worsened.
This external pressure intensified hawkish factions within the clan, pressuring Fugaku as clan head.
Today...
Several Uchiha secretly met with him, demanding a comprehensive coup plan for Konoha.
"Ah..." Fugaku sighed. Were there no reliable clan members besides his eldest son Itachi and the late Shisui?
...
"U-U-Uchiha Ikeizumi is here!!!"
Meanwhile...
A trembling, fearful shout shattered the quiet of a Konoha street.
A thief, caught mid-sneak, froze, his expression pale and distressed.
He hastily shoved a stolen wallet back into place.
Not daring to look for Ikeizumi's location, he immediately prostrated himself in the humblest "dogeza" posture.
"I surrender! I'm willing to confess! I'll honestly admit all my crimes to the Military Police! Please don't kill me!" the thief sobbed, drenched in sweat.
Elsewhere on the street, a pair of villagers who had been arguing suddenly switched to warm smiles, clasping each other's shoulders and calling each other "good brothers," as if their prior quarrel had never happened.
Another villager hastily retrieved discarded trash and stuffed it into his pocket.
"Wow... that's intense..." Izumi finally understood the extent of Ikeizumi's reputation in Konoha.
Having been buried in study at the Ninja Academy, she had never paid attention to such a notorious figure.
Izumi thought that if Ikeizumi frequently patrolled the village, Konoha's crime rate would surely drop several percentage points.
"Hey, brat! Stop right there!!!"
But soon, an angry shout broke the eerie silence.
"Who'd stop? If caught, it'll be brutal!"
Another shout followed—an adult's voice and a child's voice.
Izumi turned, puzzled.
She saw a blond boy wildly running, chased by a man wielding a rolling pin.
Wherever they ran, chaos ensued.
The blond boy occasionally threw objects back to impede his pursuer.
The street became disorderly, frightening many passersby.
As the blond boy passed Izumi, she glimpsed Ikeizumi suddenly reach out.
The boy was instantly lifted off the ground.
Caught!