Uchiha Chizumi really had no intention of killing Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Yes, Hiruzen had indulged Danzō Shimura. Yes, he had done plenty of shady things behind the scenes. But his crimes didn't warrant death. At worst, he was an incompetent old man clinging to a position of power.
If it were up to Chizumi, tossing Hiruzen into Konoha Prison for a few years would've been more than enough.
"This morning, the Hyūga compound released the same kind of chakra Hyūga Hiashi used yesterday."
After steadying himself, Hiruzen got down to business.
The Tenseigan the Hyūga had produced didn't seem as overwhelming as Uchiha Chizumi, but after staying up all night digging through Konoha's archives, Hiruzen had already pieced together the rough outline of how that Great Tenseigan had come to be.
A great many Hyūga clan members had died since Konoha was founded, and every time, the clan had recovered their bodies.
The Hyūga had always claimed they did that to prevent the Byakugan from leaking out, but after the ANBU recovered all those corpses from the Hyūga estate—corpses with their eyes gouged out—Hiruzen had more or less figured out how the Great Tenseigan had been created.
Uchiha Chizumi was incredibly powerful, yes, but in Hiruzen's eyes, he was still human. That Great Tenseigan, on the other hand, if nothing unexpected happened, might last a hundred years—or even several hundred.
That meant Hiruzen had no choice but to start thinking carefully about how Konoha should treat the Hyūga clan going forward.
"It should be Hinata Hyūga. I noticed before that she eats an unusually large amount."
"There's never been any tradition of huge appetites in the Hyūga clan. So if Hinata eats that much, then it's probably because some power in her is on the verge of awakening, and her body can't take in enough energy to support it."
"That chakra we saw this morning was probably Hinata beginning to awaken the Tenseigan."
Uchiha Chizumi didn't mind sharing that information with Hiruzen. As for why he hadn't shared it before—well, Hiruzen had never asked.
"Do you think Hinata would attack you?"
Hiruzen fell silent for a moment, thinking of the timid little girl from the Hyūga clan.
Right now, he wasn't worried about much else. What he feared was that the timid little girl might be blinded by hatred and turn on Uchiha Chizumi. And then Chizumi, forced into a corner, would have no choice but to strike back.
And then…
Then the Hyūga clan's last hope would die with her, and on top of that, it would ignite conflict between the Uchiha and the Hyūga.
"She probably won't."
Chizumi was quiet for a moment before answering. Yes, he had killed Hinata's father—but was Hiashi himself not at fault?
"If—if she does attack you, I hope you can spare her once."
"I've been a failure as Hokage, but consider this the last request I make while I still hold the office…"
Hiruzen looked at Uchiha Chizumi, hoping his expression might soften.
But to his disappointment, Chizumi only remained silent.
And silence, sometimes, was answer enough.
"…Hah."
Hiruzen exhaled a ring of smoke in helpless frustration.
He couldn't understand it. Chizumi was already this strong, so why, under Absolute Justice, could he still not leave even the smallest trace of warmth in the way he enforced it?
"The thing above the Uchiha compound this morning… was that a kekkei tōta?"
Hiruzen forced himself to change the subject. He had started wondering just how strong Uchiha Chizumi would have to become before he himself would finally admit that he was strong enough.
Since appealing to sentiment clearly wouldn't work, Hiruzen could only let the matter drop and resolve to look after Hinata after he retired, just to make sure she didn't do something reckless and attack Chizumi in a fit of grief.
"Yes. I call it Radiance Release. It's the fusion of Lava Release and Explosion Release."
Chizumi nodded. Unlike most shinobi, he didn't care much about his abilities being exposed. If anything, he almost wanted people to find his weaknesses, so he'd know what still needed fixing.
"A fusion of Lava Release and Explosion Release…"
"I remember Iwa's spies sent back reports that one of the kekkei genkai inside Onoki's Dust Release might actually be Explosion Release. So could you develop Dust Release too while you're at it?"
Hiruzen seemed to perk up. He might not be on Uchiha Chizumi's level when it came to creating bloodline limits, but he still understood all five chakra natures and was exceptionally skilled at combining techniques.
In fact, Hiruzen was already starting to think that after he retired, maybe he could follow Chizumi's example and try creating a new bloodline ability of his own.
"Dust Release? You mean this?"
A thin white light appeared at Chizumi's fingertip.
He still hadn't decided exactly how he wanted to use Dust Release.
Unlike Radiance Release, which could be turned into a chakra mode, Dust Release was pure erasure at the atomic level. It wasn't suited to being used as a chakra cloak—trying that would probably erase Chizumi's own body too.
If used normally, though, Dust Release still took a short moment to gather.
At the moment, the only practical use Chizumi could think of was to cover Susanoo's weapon with Dust Release while using Susanoo, giving the weapon the power to erase anything it struck.
"You actually made it?"
Hiruzen stared at the tiny white light on Chizumi's fingertip in total disbelief. He swore he had only asked out of vague curiosity—yet somehow Chizumi had really produced Dust Release right in front of him.
"It wasn't difficult. Honestly, it was easier than Radiance Release."
Chizumi answered matter-of-factly. With Dust Release, he had only tried once, and in that half-formed bloodline-origin state, it had come together naturally. Radiance Release, on the other hand, had actually taken some instinctive trial and error, even in that state.
"If that old man Onoki ever found out you learned his treasured Dust Release, he'd probably die on the spot from rage."
For the first time in a while, a genuine smile appeared on Hiruzen's face. After hearing bad news for so long, he had finally heard something that actually felt good.
Hiruzen knew very well that Onoki had spent decades trying and failing to find a worthy successor for Dust Release. And now Dust Release had appeared in Konoha.
What did that mean?
It meant the true orthodoxy of the Tsuchikage had apparently wound up in the Land of Fire.
"Once I retire, maybe we could discuss bloodline limits more often."
"I used to wonder what kind of power would be born if all five chakra natures were fused into a single bloodline ability. And if Yin Release and Yang Release were added on top of that, wouldn't that be the kind of power the Sage of Six Paths possessed?"
"Unfortunately, even though I have all five chakra natures, I've never had much talent when it comes to developing bloodline limits."
Hiruzen looked at Uchiha Chizumi.
On the surface, he was just talking about discussing bloodline powers after retirement.
But in truth, he was also sounding Chizumi out—trying to see whether, after stepping down, he was really going to end up joining Danzō and Koharu in the Pure Land.