"In Konoha, you wanted him gone. Now that he's no longer in Konoha, you want him back instead!"
Inside the Hokage's office, Tsunade looked at Hiruzen with undisguised disappointment in her eyes.
Tsunade had originally thought the old man had called her over for some other matter—she had even considered whether it might have something to do with Jiraiya going to the Ninja Academy. What she hadn't expected was that Hiruzen wanted her to call Uchiha Keizumi back.
"You know as well as I do—the Hokage election is only a few days away. The jōnin vote is extremely important."
"No matter what, Keizumi is still a jōnin of Konoha. When it comes to the Hokage election, he should at least have the right to express his opinion!"
Faced with Tsunade's gaze, Hiruzen felt no guilt. Compared to the possibility of Keizumi becoming the Mizukage of Kirigakure, he had no choice but to resort to this measure.
"I don't have that kind of ability to make him come back."
"You should know better than I do—once Keizumi makes up his mind to do something, no one can stop him."
"And besides… isn't this actually a good thing?"
"Haven't you always been worried that the concept of Absolute Justice would cause uncontrollable trouble within the Land of Fire?"
"This time, what Keizumi is doing in the Land of Water is the perfect chance for you to see whether Absolute Justice is truly a good thing or a bad one!"
Tsunade looked at Hiruzen and rejected his proposal without hesitation.
In truth, she also wanted to see—she wanted to see whether what Keizumi was doing in the Land of Water would actually make it a better place. And if it did, that would only prove that her choice had been the right one.
"But what if Keizumi becomes the Mizukage?"
Hiruzen let out a sigh. No matter what, Keizumi was still Konoha's combat power—how could he be allowed to drift away like this?
As for whether the Land of Water would become better?
In reality, Hiruzen had already reached a conclusion in his heart. If he hadn't, why would he be so worried about Keizumi not returning?
What Hiruzen truly feared was that under Absolute Justice, the Land of Water would become better and better—so good that Keizumi would never look back, and would instead use it as a base to spread his Absolute Justice outward!
"You know it too, don't you? Absolute Justice would make the ninja world a better place."
Tsunade looked at Hiruzen thoughtfully. She could somewhat understand his concerns now—but she still had no intention of sending a message to Keizumi.
In fact, in Tsunade's view, if Keizumi's Absolute Justice could take root in the Land of Water and improve at least part of the ninja world—even if that place wasn't the Land of Fire—she could accept it.
"Ninjas from the Land of Lightning, the Land of Wind, and the Land of Earth have begun gathering at the borders."
"The Land of Earth has even declared war on Uchiha Keizumi in the name of the entire village!"
"All of this… is resting on my shoulders. I'm the one dealing with the trouble he's caused!"
Hiruzen stared at Tsunade. No matter what, he had to bring Keizumi back to Konoha. This wasn't just about the risk of Keizumi becoming Mizukage—Konoha also needed him.
Yes, Konoha needed Uchiha Keizumi—at least, that was how Hiruzen saw it.
The three great nations were continuously reinforcing their borders. Although war didn't seem imminent in the short term, once the signs of war had already appeared, recalling their main combat power was only natural.
More importantly, if Uchiha Keizumi were in Konoha, with his record, he would be enough to deter the three nations of Earth, Wind, and Lightning!
"Then call him back yourself, in your own name!"
Tsunade no longer looked at Hiruzen. After throwing out those words, she slammed the door and left.
And just as the door shut behind her, Utatane Koharu walked out from the other side of the Hokage's office.
"Perhaps we can take a different approach—just forbid those Uchiha clan members from leaving Konoha."
She proposed her suggestion. Since Uchiha Keizumi wanted to establish a police force in the Land of Water, he would naturally need manpower. If the Uchiha clan members were not allowed to leave Konoha, it would force Keizumi to return.
"Prevent Konoha's ninjas from leaving the village…"
Hiruzen fell into thought upon hearing her words.
At this moment, Uchiha Keizumi had no idea that a single idea of his had stirred up so much turmoil within Konoha.
He had just finished clearing out the last city in the Land of Water and had only just returned to Kirigakure.
"Finally, it's over!"
"If this had gone on any longer, I wouldn't have been able to stand it!"
Tachibana Jirō stood on Keizumi's shoulder, looking at Kirigakure ahead as he let out a sigh.
Following Keizumi along the way, he had also killed quite a few people. To put it bluntly, there were simply too many evil people in the ninja world—so many that for the first time, Jirō felt disgusted by killing.
"But the results are visible to the naked eye!"
"In the first few cities, people were afraid when they saw Keizumi-sama. But in every city afterward, the civilians practically rushed to report those evildoers to him!"
"After walking through the Land of Water like this, Keizumi-sama's reputation has become even more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people than the Daimyō's!"
Biwa Jūzō looked at Keizumi and Jirō, his eyes filled with unconcealed respect.
After witnessing Keizumi seize control of Kirigakure, he had brought a group of ninjas to follow behind them, cleaning up the aftermath.
To outsiders, Keizumi might seem like a ruthless killer—but both Jūzō and Izumi could clearly see that every city in the Land of Water was moving in a better direction.
Everyone knew that a ninja-sama who enforced justice had arrived in the Land of Water. Even if only for the sake of their own lives, merchants and nobles would subconsciously restrain themselves.
After all, death had happened right before their eyes—if they committed too many evil deeds, they would truly die.
"What I don't understand is—why are there more and more merchants coming to the Land of Water?"
At some point, Terumī Mei appeared in front of them.
If Keizumi had been killing nonstop during this time, then Mei had been handling administrative affairs without pause.
Not only the affairs of Kirigakure, but also those of the cities that Keizumi had swept through.
At first, Mei had believed that after Keizumi's purge, the Land of Water would need at least ten years to recover.
But reality was the exact opposite.
As Absolute Justice began to take root in the Land of Water, the number of foreign merchants was actually increasing. Merchants from smaller nations were even flocking toward the Land of Water.
And the lives of the civilians had not worsened—instead, because a large number of nobles had died, the expressions on their faces were no longer numb. There was even a hint of hope for the future.