Sarutobi Shinnosuke's breath nearly caught in his throat.
"You… have you truly forgotten your own comrades entirely?"
"I don't deliberately remember the villains who have died by my hand."
A vein twitched on Shinnosuke's forehead.
"Shimura Rei-ya! Uzuki Shaku! You must remember those two names! They were—like you—my Genin students once!"
Shinnosuke couldn't help but recall the harrowing "clan betrayal" incident that had shaken him to his core.
It was after that event he ceased serving as a Jonin instructor for any Konoha Genin.
"Oh… I vaguely recall," Uchiha Ikeizumi said.
"Shimura Rei-ya bullied others at the Ninja Academy, driving a victim to suicide after complaints went unheeded; Uzuki Shaku, his accomplice, spread malicious rumors about the victim throughout the village after the suicide."
"Yes, I killed them both. But they struck first, which led the Fourth Hokage to rule my actions as self-defense, and I was not punished."
Listening to Ikeizumi's emotionless tone—treating "comrades" as if they were insignificant—Shinnosuke's anger surged uncontrollably.
"They didn't deserve to die!"
Ikeizumi retorted, "Did the victim deserve to die?"
With each step Ikeizumi took, molten craters formed beneath his feet.
"To me, your two students had been corrupted by the ninja world's 'evil' beyond forgiveness. I merely baptized unforgivable 'evil' in the ninja world with molten lava. Nothing more."
"Shinnosuke-sensei."
Ikeizumi's crimson eyes fixed on the red box hovering over Shinnosuke's head.
"Now…"
"You too have fallen into the abyss."
Sarutobi Shinnosuke took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, but the psychological shadow Ikeizumi had cast over him was too great.
Three Konoha Genin he once mentored had died in a tragic "clan betrayal" incident—two of them dead, and the sole survivor, now standing calmly before him.
His anger simmered, difficult to suppress.
For an Anbu ninja, anger was a dangerous weakness.
"I have done everything for Konoha from the start, and I have never fallen into the abyss. Ikeizumi, you are just someone who selfishly throws 'evil' onto others! Don't dress up your killing obsession in such grandiose terms."
"I don't understand why the Fourth Hokage ruled your killing of comrades as self-defense, nor why the old man hasn't dealt with you all these years."
Shinnosuke glanced at the fallen Anbu bodies.
He never wondered how Ikeizumi recognized him despite the mask, nor why Ikeizumi was here.
Behind the mask, his eyes burned with uncontrollable killing intent.
"Since you killed Konoha Anbu in front of me… today, I will clear the path for the old man and for Konoha!"
"And…"
"I will clear the path for myself!"
At that moment, six Anbu behind him understood immediately.
They moved with perfect coordination, using ninja tactics to block all of Ikeizumi's escape routes while launching a coordinated attack with various weapons.
Whoosh—
Whoosh—
A kunai and a sickle slashed two deep, grotesque wounds across Ikeizumi's body.
Other Anbu threw numerous kunai and shuriken, all striking precisely.
One kunai was rigged with an explosive tag.
"Boom!"
A deafening explosion rocked the area, causing the Anbu's eardrums to ache.
They watched as Ikeizumi was engulfed by fire and smoke, expecting him to be blown to pieces.
But…
"No… my kunai!"
"My sickle… how can his molten release be so hot? My weapon barely touched him for half a second and melted?"
Two shocked voices rang out.
The Anbu holding the kunai and the sickle stared in disbelief at their weapons, half-melted and dripping molten metal.
When they looked up…
A torrent of glowing red lava had swallowed the smoke, filling the entire passageway with molten rock.
The lava surged like a mudslide toward the Anbu, melting the ground as it advanced.
Shinnosuke's face darkened.
"Molten Release…"
Though once Ikeizumi's Jonin instructor, Shinnosuke had rarely seen him use Molten Release.
He only knew Ikeizumi's molten lava was terrifyingly hot—any ordinary flesh would perish on contact.
Beyond that, he had no further information.
Shinnosuke realized how little he truly knew about his former student.
Seeing the lava flood rushing toward them, Shinnosuke commanded calmly:
"Take him down inside this passage! Don't let him escape, or his Molten Release will destroy the entire base! Use Water Release against him!"
The Anbu immediately understood.
Three Water Release users formed hand seals.
As the lava neared, they simultaneously unleashed:
"Water Release: Water Surge!!!" ×3
Like a raging water tornado, the torrents rose, enveloping all the Anbu.
When the water met the lava, the passage filled with scalding steam, causing the Anbu's faces to change.
So hot!
Ikeizumi's cold voice echoed through the steam-filled passage:
"Shinnosuke-sensei, you think you haven't fallen into the abyss… Then tell me, six months ago, when a volunteer mouse tried to back out in fear, who killed him?"
Enduring the pain of the steam burns, Shinnosuke's pupils contracted sharply.
"A year ago, when there weren't enough volunteers, who ordered subordinates to kidnap a dozen war orphans from the neighboring Land of Fire and force them into experiments?"
Shinnosuke's gaze grew horrified.
Ikeizumi, like a hellish judge from the underworld, pierced Shinnosuke with every word.
"And two years ago…"
"And…"
Each statement shifted Shinnosuke's expression and caused the nearby Anbu to glance at their captain in shock.
"Shinnosuke-sensei, you say you want to clear the path for Konoha… Well, today, I'm here to clear the path for the entire ninja world."
Meanwhile…
"Lord Hokage!" The Anbu sent back to Konoha by Shinnosuke arrived at the Sarutobi clan residence, urgently calling out to Sarutobi Hiruzen.
With a "whoosh," a sliding door opened.
Dressed in casual clothes and wearing wooden sandals, Hiruzen stepped out, smoking a kiseru pipe, his brow furrowed.
"If I remember correctly, you're from Shinnosuke's Anbu squad… What happened there?!"
The Anbu quickly explained, "Lord Hokage, enemies attacked the secret base outside the village. Captain Shinnosuke says the intruders are formidable, so he asked me to return and request reinforcements."
"What?!"
Hiruzen's heart tightened.
Years ago, when he led the raid on Orochimaru's human experimentation lab in Konoha, he seized many research materials Orochimaru hadn't yet destroyed or taken and captured numerous unforgivable human experiment researchers.
He had intended to destroy those materials and had promised Ikeizumi to secretly execute those researchers.
After all, if such evil research fell into ambitious hands, it could spawn a new Orochimaru.
However…
Persuaded by Konohamaru Sarutobi and Homura Mitokado, Hiruzen destroyed only the most evil research materials, preserving the rest.
He also broke his promise to Ikeizumi, relocating those researchers outside the village.
In their words:
"They have committed irreparable evil. Death is too light a punishment. They should repay their debt with their knowledge and limited lives."
"Shinnosuke, you can't make irrational decisions just because you promised an Uchiha boy. We know you believe in him, but a genius with two bloodline limits is still an Uchiha…"
"Can you guarantee that Ikeizumi will bring more benefit to Konoha's future than Orochimaru's subordinates? Their knowledge is the ninja world's greatest treasure."
"Besides, we only destroyed the intolerable materials. The village can still use the rest."
Hiruzen was tempted.
So, about ten kilometers from Konoha, he built a secret research base to study Orochimaru's remaining research.
He entrusted it to his eldest son, Sarutobi Shinnosuke.
He didn't trust outsiders with it.
But he never expected the base to be compromised after only a few years.
An enemy so formidable that Shinnosuke sent for reinforcements could not be taken lightly.
"I will personally lead reinforcements," Hiruzen said gravely.