Hiruzen chose to ignore Keizumi's final remark for now.
Instead, his attention shifted to the phrase: "Naruto committed a crime."
That alone was enough to create a contradiction between Keizumi's and Danzō's accounts.
Danzō seemed to believe that Keizumi was deliberately trying to take control of the Nine-Tails.
But Keizumi didn't appear to have any such intention. He simply thought Naruto had done something wrong and needed to be arrested.
"Where is Naruto?" Hiruzen murmured after a pause, turning to ask one of the ANBU.
Moments later—
The ANBU assigned to monitor the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki quickly brought over a visibly frightened Naruto.
Hiruzen crouched down and gently ruffled the boy's golden hair, trying to comfort him.
"Naruto, what happened just now? Why did this officer from the Police Force suddenly try to detain you?"
He did his best to sound warm and calm.
Naruto instinctively glanced at Uchiha Keizumi—only to quickly drop his head in fear under the weight of that cold, emotionless stare.
The boy's face had gone pale, and he trembled as he stammered, "Grandpa Hokage, I... I think I broke the law…"
"Today, I pulled a prank…"
He went on to explain the entire story from start to finish, leaving nothing out.
In front of Uchiha Keizumi, Naruto didn't dare lie—not even a little. This guy would really throw him in jail! And yet he'd pulled off so many pranks before without ever getting in trouble!
Clearly—
Keizumi's earlier threat to lock him up for a few months had scared Naruto out of his wits.
Naruto's explanation was fairly coherent, and the more Hiruzen listened, the more peculiar his expression became.
Even Danzō stood frozen in place, stunned.
"…Danzō," Hiruzen finally said, his gaze deep and heavy as he turned to face him, "So in the end… all of this was just your malicious assumption, wasn't it? You were the one who started this entire conflict."
Danzō's expression looked like he had just bitten into a pile of dung.
His fists clenched tightly, his face dark and brooding.
He said nothing.
"This farce is over, Danzō!" Hiruzen said sternly, his tone turning cold. "I absolutely will not allow you to judge someone like Keizumi—who is wholly loyal to the village—through a lens of bias!"
Danzō gritted his teeth. "And what about the two guards I lost?!"
Hiruzen shot back, "And whose fault was all this in the first place?"
Danzō's knuckles audibly cracked from how hard he clenched his fists. His chest heaved with rage, his expression darkening by the second.
"Hmph!!!"
With a snort of anger, he turned and stormed off.
…
Hiruzen didn't try to stop him. After silently letting out a sigh of relief, he turned to Uchiha Keizumi and promised, "Keizumi, Root truly went too far this time. They tried to frame you without even giving you a chance to explain yourself. Don't worry—I'll see to it they're properly dealt with."
He paused for a moment.
Then, clearing his throat, he added, "I'll personally compensate for the damages caused by Naruto's prank. As for throwing him into the Konoha prison… let's forget about that. He's still a child. There are other ways to teach him a lesson."
Keizumi's eyes narrowed slightly.
And he said something Hiruzen never expected.
"Hokage-sama, are you going to obstruct justice too?"
For some reason—
Hiruzen suddenly felt the air grow heavy.
Keizumi continued, voice calm but resolute: "Hokage-sama, soft methods won't correct a child whose thinking has already deviated this far. Only through absolute justice—by punishing wrongdoings without compromise—can he be brought back onto the right path and learn to be a proper person again."
"That…"
"Is the only way to honor the sacrifice of the Fourth Hokage. Don't you agree?"
Uchiha Keizumi brought up the 'Fourth Hokage', who had sacrificed himself on the night of the Nine-Tails attack, and it startled Sarutobi Hiruzen.
He hadn't expected Uchiha Keizumi to mention the Fourth in front of Naruto.
But when he noticed Naruto lowering his head, staying silent, and seemingly not reacting at all—
Hiruzen felt a strange sense of relief.
He lowered his voice slightly and said, "Keizumi, I'm sure you understand Naruto's… unique circumstances. Being thrown in prison over a mere prank could have a profound effect on him."
"So…"
With a tone of negotiation and earnest concern, Hiruzen added, "Giving the young sprouts of the village some room to grow is, after all, the truest embodiment of the Will of Fire."
But after pouring his heart out like this,
Hiruzen realized that Uchiha Keizumi's gaze remained utterly unmoved.
Expressionless, Keizumi replied flatly, "Just now, you already abused your authority, Hokage-sama—shielding Shimura Danzō, who, for reasons unknown, possesses the Uchiha clan's Sharingan. That alone goes against the very concept of justice."
"And now, you intend to once again misuse your Hokage authority to protect Uzumaki Naruto—a boy who by all rights should be disciplined, yet for some reason has been allowed to run free to the point that his sense of morality is clearly distorted."
"Such conduct, Hokage-sama, is no different than splashing filth all over the word justice."
Hiruzen: "!!!"
He could feel it—he was being scolded. And scolded to his face.
But—
There was so much weight behind Keizumi's words that even Hiruzen's expression turned grave.
"Keizumi, what did you mean when you said Danzō has a Sharingan?"
He immediately shifted the topic.
Keizumi showed no hesitation in exposing Danzō's secrets. His voice was cold as he said, "During our battle, he used a forbidden Sharingan technique—Izanagi."
"Shimura Danzō, who is not of the Uchiha clan, somehow has a Sharingan and even uses its forbidden techniques. Hokage-sama, isn't that so difficult to figure out?"
Hiruzen's face changed slightly.
He knew that Danzō had once conducted human experiments in secret with Orochimaru. He also knew that Danzō had researched the Wood Release kekkei genkai.
But he hadn't expected that Danzō had also fixated so obsessively on the Uchiha clan's Sharingan.
Then he recalled Uchiha Shisui—declared dead under unclear circumstances by the village.
He had long suspected that Shisui's 'unclear cause of death' was very likely connected to Danzō's Root.
Especially considering Shisui's uniquely powerful Sharingan…
With Danzō's personality, there was no way he would have left something like that alone.
Then another thought surfaced—
Back during the Third Great Ninja War, there were Uchiha shinobi who died in battle whose Sharingan mysteriously disappeared. The explanation had always been that enemy ninja might have taken them.
But what if it was Danzō who had sent people to dig them out—?
The ridiculous thought suddenly struck Hiruzen's mind.
And yet, he found it extremely plausible.
He knew Danzō far too well. Hiruzen believed that the odds of Danzō doing such a thing were at least 99%.
Moreover, this boy Keizumi had never falsely accused anyone before.
Though some of his methods—and his belief in absolute justice—were a bit too extreme for Hiruzen's taste…
That never stopped him from trusting the boy.
"Keizumi… about Danzō… I will give both you and the Uchiha clan a proper explanation," Hiruzen said stiffly. For a moment, he even felt a pang of guilt over having shielded Danzō.
But in the blink of an eye, that guilt vanished like smoke.
And then, it suddenly struck him—had he somehow accepted the 'shielding' accusation Keizumi had thrown at him?
No. That wasn't right!
He was the Hokage. All he'd done was try to prevent internal conflict among the village's shinobi. How could that be considered shielding?
Hiruzen coughed lightly and said, "But about Naruto, this child…"
"No room for negotiation," Uchiha Keizumi cut him off bluntly, lifting Naruto up once again before the eyes of all the watching ANBU.
The entire group of ANBU stirred in alarm.
Uchiha Keizumi remained unfazed. He stared directly at Sarutobi Hiruzen and said, "I won't let Root—an organization that obstructs the execution of justice—go unchecked. In Konoha, it's either them or me."
"I will find the true location of Root, hidden deep within the village. And I will eradicate every trace of darkness and sin that festers within it. That is how I will carry out my belief in Absolute Justice."
"You might be able to stop me once, maybe twice... but do you really think you can stop me forever?"
Hiruzen said nothing.
He felt that this attempt at mediation had failed.
In fact, it seemed to have intensified the conflict—no longer just between Keizumi and Danzō, but between Keizumi and the entirety of Root.
Keizumi never made empty threats.
If he said such words… it meant he truly intended to destroy Root.
He really intended to lock his jaws onto Danzō and never let go.
Hiruzen drew in a deep breath and glanced at Naruto, who had stopped struggling. The boy now wore a look of silent pleading and dejection.
Frowning, he said, "Keizumi, your methods are far too extreme. What if I were to issue a direct order as Hokage? To command you to drop your grudge against Root—and to let go of Naruto?"
Keizumi replied calmly, "You can try, Third Hokage."
[Click—]
One of the ANBU silently drew his blade just a few centimeters from the sheath.
"Uchiha Keizumi," the ANBU warned,
"The Hokage's orders are not to be disobeyed. And you will address him as 'Hokage-sama,' not 'Third Hokage.'"
Keizumi gave the man a fleeting glance.
[Sarutobi Take's son—During the Third Shinobi World War, vented personal rage on civilians, massacred enemy country towns, and claimed false merits.]
A chill suddenly crept down the ANBU's spine.
For some reason, he felt as if Keizumi were looking at a dead man.
Without another word, Keizumi lifted Naruto by the collar and casually walked away.
"Uchiha Keizumi! You—"
"Wait."
Hiruzen raised a hand, stopping the ANBU who was ready to strike. He stared at Keizumi's back with a shifting expression, then finally spoke in a low voice, "Let him go."
"But Hokage-sama, that's Uzumaki Naruto..."
one of the ANBU reminded him.
Hiruzen clasped his hands behind his back and said with a weary tone, "To him, I'm already no different from Danzō. If we try to stop him again, the one he'll clash with will no longer be Root—but me. And the stronger he becomes, the harder it will be for me to suppress him."
The ANBU looked at one another, utterly baffled.
Uchiha Keizumi… was actually prepared to fight the Hokage?
How could he dare?
What gave him the courage?
Just then, Kakashi, who had remained silent all this time, finally spoke: "Hokage-sama, I assume you already have a plan regarding the jinchūriki?"
Hiruzen nodded slightly.
"Keizumi taking Naruto was within his duties as a member of the Police Force. That is his right. And as the Hokage, I have the authority to grant Naruto a pardon."
"Kakashi, take an ANBU squad and stay behind to clean things up. The rest of you—come with me. We're heading to Root's base!"
"Yes, Hokage-sama!"