"Finally… we're back in Konoha!"
Looking at the gates of the village not far ahead, Uchiha Izumi couldn't help but let a trace of joy flicker across her eyes.
After being away for so long, she had started to miss all the different snacks in Konoha. After all, eating nothing but soldier pills for days on end really does make you sick of them.
"Is Tsunade's Hokage election about to start?"
"Do you think things will blow up when the time comes, meow?"
Tachibana Jirō was also a bit excited. When they had left the village, Tsunade was already preparing to compete with the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, for the position. Now that they were back, things were probably reaching the most interesting stage.
Jirō felt that Hiruzen wouldn't give up the Hokage seat so easily.
"With Keizumi-sama's support, Tsunade-sama will definitely become Hokage!"
Izumi hugged Jirō as she voiced her support for Tsunade.
"Let's go. Back to the village."
Uchiha Keizumi didn't say much. On the way back, he could feel that both his body and his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan were undergoing some kind of transformation he didn't fully understand.
Clearly, Nagato's Six Paths hadn't yielded Yin–Yang Release… yet Keizumi faintly felt that he could already begin to fuse Yin Release and Yang Release, creating something similar to the black rods.
As for this new power, he would need time to explore how to use it.
...
Not long after Keizumi returned to Konoha, news reached Hiruzen, Tsunade, and Jiraiya. But their reactions were completely different.
Hiruzen felt… complicated.
There was relief—relief that Keizumi had returned to Konoha.
But also disappointment.
Because with Keizumi back, his time as Hokage was probably truly coming to an end.
Tsunade already had high support, and with the backing of those who believed in Absolute Justice… even Hiruzen himself had no idea how he could possibly win this election.
...
As for Tsunade, when she heard the news, she simply responded with an "oh"—and nothing more.
She knew what Keizumi had done in the Land of Water. But perhaps because she had already begun to equate him with her all-powerful grandfather, Senju Hashirama, she instead felt that all of it was… normal.
'Jiraiya wasn't wrong,' she thought.
'Every few years, the ninja world produces monsters that can't be judged by common sense.'
'The last ones were Grandpa, who ended the Warring States era, and Uchiha Madara. Even if his ninja village didn't completely eliminate war, it at least brought regional peace.'
'If Keizumi is like Grandpa… then Absolute Justice might truly bring greater peace to the ninja world.'
Tsunade's thoughts wandered.
She even began to suspect that the toads of Mount Myōboku had indeed foreseen something—but perhaps what they foresaw wasn't what they wanted.
After all, if there truly was a Child of Prophecy… then didn't her grandfather, who ended the Warring States era, qualify?
As for the kid Jiraiya valued—Uzumaki Naruto—Tsunade honestly couldn't see anything special about him… at least for now.
...
"Uchiha Keizumi is back again…"
Meanwhile, Jiraiya, who was teaching at the ninja academy, looked completely listless.
He simply couldn't understand it.
What kind of charm did Absolute Justice have… to make Naruto so obsessed with it?
Even after both Keizumi and Izumi had left the village, Naruto and Sasuke were still enthusiastically enforcing Absolute Justice every single day.
If you didn't know better, you'd think the two of them had already joined the Konoha Police Force.
As for the changes in Konoha, Jiraiya had seen them.
But what he saw was a village where the civilians lived cautiously under Absolute Justice—without even the slightest bit of freedom.
...
"I can feel it… that Uchiha Keizumi has grown even stronger!"
"So strong that even natural energy is faintly afraid of him!"
Fukasaku gazed in Keizumi's direction.
Mount Myōboku possessed its own sensing techniques—or rather, Sage sensing. They could judge a person's strength based on the flow of natural energy.
And now, to Fukasaku, Keizumi was someone even natural energy feared.
What he didn't know, however, was that this fear wasn't due to raw strength.
It was because, after obtaining the Water Contract, Keizumi was unconsciously consuming the water of the natural world.
That water was being decomposed into chakra and absorbed into his body.
If Keizumi lived long enough, he could very well turn the entire ninja world into a drought-stricken land by himself.
...
"Yeah!!"
"Keizumi-sama is finally back in Konoha!"
At the academy, Naruto shouted excitedly upon hearing the news.
It felt like it had been ages since he last saw Keizumi.
Even though he continued to uphold justice, he couldn't help but want to get closer—closer and closer to Keizumi.
Because only by following him could he truly understand what Absolute Justice really was.
"The ones who've been making little moves while Keizumi-sama was away… won't be sleeping well anymore."
Sasuke also had a faint smile on his lips.
Even further away, Hinata's eyes lit up as well.
After all, she remembered—it was Keizumi who had taken her and her sister away from the Hyūga clan.
As for why members of the main family would leave the clan…
Don't ask.
'Maybe… maybe I can ask Keizumi-sama to help the branch family…'
That thought surfaced in Hinata's mind.
Keizumi's departure hadn't calmed the Hyūga clan's internal turmoil—if anything, it had only grown worse over time.
Especially since neither Hiruzen nor Tsunade had intervened, the Hyūga clan had now re-established a so-called main family… and was even continuing to select new members for it.
If Neji had been stronger, there were times he would have already slaughtered every single one of those old branch family elites.
Lately, Neji had even begun to think—
Maybe Itachi had been born into the wrong clan.
If Itachi had been born into the Hyūga clan instead…
Then perhaps killing everyone from top to bottom might actually eliminate all of its sins.
'The Hyūga clan's situation… needs a resolution as soon as possible.'
Neji's gaze gradually hardened.
His strength wasn't enough to purge the clan's corruption.
But if he sought Keizumi's help…
Then without a doubt, all of the Hyūga clan's sins could be wiped away.
...
And besides all of that—
There was someone else who, upon hearing that Keizumi had returned to Konoha…
Let out a long breath of relief.