"Lady Tsunade, do we really not need to do anything?"
No one knew that at this very moment, Tsunade herself was quietly watching everything from not far from the Hokage Building.
Standing beside her was Shizune, holding Tonton in her arms.
"Why would I do anything?"
"As long as it hasn't turned into a riot, let the old man deal with the headache himself."
"Besides, something like this happening will make him realize just how many people in Konoha are yearning for Absolute Justice."
Tsunade had no intention of stepping in. Hiruzen had caused this mess, so naturally it was up to Hiruzen to clean it up. She wasn't Hokage yet, so there was no need for her to help him deal with the fallout.
"I really don't understand. Uchiha Chizumi has killed so many people, so why is it that instead of fearing him, more and more people seem to admire him?"
Shizune watched the scene unfolding in front of the Hokage Building, still half confused and full of doubt.
"Once someone has seen the light, how can they keep enduring the darkness?"
Tsunade let out a soft sigh.
She didn't know exactly what the Land of Water looked like right now, but she could see very clearly what Konoha had become.
It was true that Konoha's civilians were afraid of Uchiha Chizumi. But they also knew that as long as they themselves didn't commit crimes, Chizumi would never kill them without cause.
Under the shadow of Absolute Justice, everyone in Konoha had unconsciously lowered their voices a few notches.
People were careful, because no one wanted to commit evil by accident. And although everyone had become more cautious, Konoha's public order had grown better and better, and even outside merchants were starting to come in greater numbers.
It was the same as in the Land of Water: once the clans and those in power no longer dared to do whatever they pleased, then even without doing anything else, life for the common people would naturally improve.
"If there really are that many people willing to uphold justice, and if he establishes organizations like the Police Force in all Five Great Nations, then what Chizumi is doing won't be much less significant than what Grandfather achieved."
"Grandfather only ended the Warring States era. But if Uchiha Chizumi can truly accomplish what he wants… then he may really be able to change the shinobi world."
Tsunade's gaze drifted into the distance. The more things Uchiha Chizumi did, the more she realized just how far-reaching the meaning of his actions was for the entire shinobi world.
"But if he really wants to achieve all that, the danger he faces will only keep growing."
Tsunade let out a quiet sigh in her heart.
If he wanted to establish Police Forces across the entire shinobi world, how could the hidden villages of the Five Great Nations possibly allow it?
Unless Uchiha Chizumi's strength could truly overwhelm the entire shinobi world—so completely that the world had no choice but to accept his Absolute Justice—only then would it be possible for Police Forces to bloom everywhere.
…
The Land of Rain, Akatsuki.
"Why aren't we taking the Land of Earth's bounty?"
"That's a full three hundred million! Three hundred million! Do you know how many black market jobs I'd have to do to make that much?"
Inside the Akatsuki hideout, Kakuzu was extremely dissatisfied that Nagato and Konan had turned down the Land of Earth's offer. That was a full three hundred million. If you measured it using Sarutobi Asuma's bounty, that was basically ten Asumas!
"If you want to go get yourself killed, then go take the job yourself."
Konan shot Kakuzu a glance. Even she hadn't expected the Land of Earth to do more than just talk—yet they had really put up three hundred million to hire the Akatsuki, just to kill Uchiha Chizumi.
What Konan didn't know, though, was that the Land of Earth's daimyo had allocated far more than that—ten whole hundred million in total.
If Iwagakure could afford to spend three hundred million hiring the Akatsuki, then they had already pocketed a very healthy cut for themselves.
"With his own power, he swept clean the entire Land of Water. That Uchiha Chizumi may already be close to the level of the God of Shinobi, Senju Hashirama, or the Demon of the Shinobi World, Uchiha Madara."
"If it were you, Kakuzu, maybe you'd actually have a shot at killing him. After all, didn't you once fight Senju Hashirama?"
Sasori let out a cold laugh as he said it. Everyone in the Akatsuki knew Kakuzu liked to brag that he had once fought Senju Hashirama, but nobody there actually believed Kakuzu had ever possessed the strength to truly challenge the First Hokage.
After all, Kakuzu wasn't someone who had ever had the power to calm an entire era.
"Are you questioning me?"
A fierce glint flashed in Kakuzu's eyes.
He really had once attacked Senju Hashirama while carrying the hopes of Takigakure on his shoulders. Even if Hashirama had gone easy on him back then, who could say he hadn't technically fought him?
"Enough. That's the end of this commission."
"Tell the Land of Earth that the Akatsuki cannot complete this job."
Under Nagato's control, the Deva Path of Yahiko spoke slowly.
Ever since the Akatsuki had been founded, this was the first time they had outright given up on a commission—and even stated plainly that it was impossible.
"So even the leader isn't a match for that Uchiha brat?"
Kakuzu looked thoughtfully at the Deva Path. He knew a little about just how strong the leader was. After all, someone with Kakuzu's personality would never willingly work for the Akatsuki without first being beaten into submission.
"A bunch of trash. And Nagato's the biggest trash of them all!"
"If those Rinnegan eyes were transplanted into me, I'd kill Uchiha Chizumi myself!"
Elsewhere in the Land of Rain, Obito had obviously heard the Akatsuki's decision too.
At that moment, Obito hated his own lack of strength more than ever. If he'd been strong enough, how could Uchiha Chizumi have exposed his identity so easily and made Konan and Nagato suspicious of him?
"Should we find a way to take Madara-sama's Rinnegan back from Nagato?"
White Zetsu stood beside Obito. Black Zetsu's body was still being burned by the Flames of Judgment. Obito and White Zetsu—neither of whom liked using their brains much—had now been forced to start thinking for themselves.
And in Obito's mind, all of this was Uchiha Chizumi's fault.
"No. Nagato and Konan are already highly suspicious of me. That bastard Uchiha Chizumi even told them the weakness of my Kamui."
"It's unrealistic to try and seize the Rinnegan from Nagato by force."
The more Obito talked about Uchiha Chizumi, the more he ground his teeth in hatred. He genuinely couldn't understand what he had done to offend that justice-crazed lunatic enough to be targeted so viciously.
"Let the Akatsuki handle the Tailed Beast captures on their own."
"No matter how strong Uchiha Chizumi is, he can't possibly be stronger than the power of the Eye of the Moon."
"But we also need to start preparing the backup plan."
In Obito's view, the state of the shinobi world was still under control for now. Even though Uchiha Chizumi's Absolute Justice was aimed squarely at him, the Tailed Beasts clearly had not yet entered Chizumi's notice.
Obito was still confident that as long as the Eye of the Moon Plan could be carried out, then even if the entire shinobi world had already taken on the shape of Absolute Justice, the Moon's Eye could still overturn everything.
"A backup plan?"
White Zetsu tilted his head at Obito, suddenly suspecting that Obito had secretly started growing a brain behind his back.