Absolute Justice in Naruto

"Jinchūriki… Naruto?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi froze. He had never imagined that the clash between Danzō and Uchiha Chizumi would end up dragging that child, Naruto, into the fray.

Yet he did not fully trust Danzō's one‑sided story.

After all, Danzō had always looked at the Uchiha through a prejudiced lens.

"Chizumi, you—"

When Hiruzen turned toward Uchiha Chizumi, he saw the boy still walking straight at Danzō, the murderous light in his Sharingan completely undimmed.

Hiruzen's head throbbed. He recalled that once Chizumi set his sights on someone and moved to attack, he would clamp down like a terrier and not let go—

—until the enemy before his eyes was utterly "eradicated,"

stopping only if truly overwhelming force intervened.

"Chizumi! Wait!"

Alarmed, Hiruzen called, "There must be some misunderstanding. The village has rules—ninja are forbidden from taking private fights too far! You and Danzō are both Konoha shinobi; how can comrades indulge in infighting?"

Forced to act, he and a dozen Anbu stepped between Chizumi and Danzō, physically separating them.

"Chizumi, give this old man some respect and let us sort out what actually happened," Hiruzen said patiently.

Chizumi glanced at the red box floating above the Third Hokage's head and narrowed his eyes a little.

"So, Hokage-sama intends to use his authority to shield a criminal who is obstructing justice?"

Hiruzen found the words unpleasant, but he kept a calm face.

"Chizumi, this is just a misunderstanding."

By now, the dozen Anbu had subtly encircled both Chizumi and Danzō.

"A Hokage who abuses power to harbor those who hinder justice—I will remember this debt."

With that, Chizumi dissolved his "Lava Release Armor"—the magma coursing over him slowly receded, and his three‑tomoe Sharingan faded back to ordinary black eyes.

Hiruzen: "…"

He felt strangely certain the boy was not joking.

But… he was the Hokage of Konoha. How exactly could Chizumi "keep score" against him? Perhaps with time it would be forgotten.

Relieved, Hiruzen turned and barked, "Danzō! Put that kunai away! Do you want this needless clash to escalate even further?"

Danzō: "???"

Why was the monkey speaking so politely to that inherently evil Uchiha, yet so harshly to him?

Such blatant double standards—

Danzō's fists clenched harder.

After a venomous glare at Chizumi, he sheathed his kunai and said coldly, "Hiruzen, you want the story? An evil Uchiha tried to take control of the Nine‑Tails. I stopped him and lost two good men for it. That's all."

Gritting his teeth, he added, "Had you not shown up, I'd have needed just one more minute to kill this evil brat!"

—Damn it. He had already been forced to sacrifice one Sharingan eye.

Now, because the monkey had burst in, his one‑minute Izanagi was wasted—and worse, his trump card was exposed to Chizumi!

Hiruzen ignored Danzō's inner complaints and focused on the "two dead men."

"Chizumi, why did you—"

Before he could finish, Chizumi answered in a flat tone:

"Anyone who obstructs justice is my enemy and must be purged with absolute means."

"Root operatives tried to seize Naruto Uzumaki, who had broken the law. In my eyes, they were abetting evil by blocking justice."

"That is why I acted. If that reason is insufficient, Hokage-sama may expel me from the Police Force at any time."

Hiruzen fell silent.

As always, Chizumi had anticipated his question and answered it outright, as if impatient to speak with the Hokage himself.

Ignoring the last remark, Hiruzen focused on one phrase: "Naruto broke the law."

This directly contradicted Danzō's claim:

Danzō thought Chizumi aimed to seize the Nine‑Tails, while Chizumi seemed convinced Naruto had merely made trouble and had to be arrested.

"Where is Naruto?" Hiruzen asked an Anbu after a moment's thought.

Moments later, the Anbu assigned to watch the jinchūriki hurried in, bringing a terrified Naruto.

Hiruzen crouched, ruffling the boy's blond hair to calm him.

"Naruto, what happened? Why did this officer suddenly try to arrest you?"

He kept his tone as gentle as possible.

Naruto stole a glance at Chizumi, then quickly lowered his head, frightened by that cold gaze.

Pale and trembling, he said, "G‑gramps, I… I think I broke the law…"

"I played a prank today…"

He then recounted the entire incident in detail.

In front of Chizumi he dared not lie—this man really would throw him in jail, unlike past times when pranks went unpunished.

Indeed, Chizumi's earlier threat to lock him up for months had utterly frightened him.

Naruto's story was coherent enough; as Hiruzen listened, his old face grew more and more wry, and even Danzō stood frozen.

"…Danzō." Hiruzen's gaze sharpened. "So all of this was merely your malicious conjecture? You started the whole conflict, didn't you?"

Danzō's face looked worse than chewing dung.

He clenched his fists, dark‑eyed and silent.

"This farce is over, Danzō!" Hiruzen said with a chill. "I will not allow you to view a loyal shinobi like Chizumi through such prejudice!"

"And my two men?" Danzō snarled.

"This entire mess was your doing—was it not?" Hiruzen shot back.

Danzō's fists creaked; his chest heaved; his eyes flickered.

"Hmph!!!"

He spun and stalked off in fury.

Hiruzen let him go, then sighed in relief and promised Chizumi, "Root clearly overstepped. They tried to frame you without letting you explain. Rest assured, I will deal with them."

After a pause, he coughed lightly. "I'll also compensate for the losses from Naruto's prank. As for locking him in prison… let's forget that. He's still a child—we can teach him a lesson in other ways."

Chizumi's eyes narrowed.

He then said something Hiruzen never expected:

"Is the Hokage planning to obstruct justice as well?"

For reasons unknown, the air grew heavy.

Chizumi spoke slowly:

"Hokage-sama, gentle measures cannot correct a child whose mind has grown crooked. Only strict, uncompromising justice can straighten him out and help him become a new person."

"Only then…"

"…will we be worthy of the Fourth Hokage's sacrifice—don't you agree?"

~~~

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