The sudden voice behind them instantly triggered a sense of danger in the three Anbu. Alarm bells exploded in their minds.
Their pupils contracted as they instinctively attempted to scatter—
But their field of vision suddenly tilted off-center.
In their rapidly blurring sight appeared the figure of a Uchiha girl. Yet before they could even make out her features, all three heads had already tumbled from their necks.
[Ding! You have successfully slain three 'Red Name' criminals! Your chakra has slightly increased! Congratulations, you have acquired: 1. Shuriken Throwing Technique – Skill Book ×7; 2. Water Release: Flowing Blade Technique; 3. Red-Light District Appraisal – Skill Book ×4!]
The crimson rectangles hovering above the heads of the three Anbu slowly faded away.
But killing them was only the beginning. The disturbance had already alerted the entire secret base.
Then again—perhaps that was for the best.
It saved Uchiha Keizumi the trouble of having to root them all out one by one.
…
When the next wave of Anbu rushed in—
They were met with the sight of several corpses on the ground, and a Uchiha ninja standing amidst them, a bloodstained blade in hand and killing intent radiating from his entire being.
Startled, they couldn't fully grasp what had just occurred, but without hesitation, they activated the base's alarm system.
[WOO—WOO—WOO—]
The shrill alarm even reached Sarutobi Shinnosuke.
"An enemy infiltration?!"
His brows furrowed beneath the Anbu mask. Ever since this secret experimental base had been established, there had never been an incident involving enemy intrusion.
So why was it that the moment the old man entrusted the base's oversight to him, this kind of disaster happened?
What puzzled Sarutobi Shinnosuke even more was—who in the world had the guts to invade a secret facility this close to Konohagakure?
If a base had been constructed near Konoha, it clearly meant it had covert ties to the village.
Did the intruder not know this?
Or perhaps…
They simply didn't care about Konoha at all?
"All combat personnel, assemble immediately!" Sarutobi Shinnosuke's expression turned grim as he issued the command. "Proceed at once to the location of the alarm. The intruder—"
The moment the thought crossed his mind—that once this secret base was exposed, it could pose a major reputational risk to the old man—
A flicker of killing intent flashed in his eyes.
"Whoever the intruder is, if found—eliminate on sight!"
"YES, SIR!!!"
Under Sarutobi Shinnosuke's lead, an entire Anbu squad mobilized. This secret base was guarded by two Anbu squads.
One of them was assigned to stand watch outside the base, patrol internally, and handle logistical transport.
The other was responsible for eliminating any threats that could endanger the facility.
Both units were under Shinnosuke's direct command.
He now suspected the first squad had already been taken out.
And the intruder's strength… was far from ordinary.
Otherwise, it would've been impossible for them to infiltrate the base without making a sound.
"Wait!"
Sarutobi Shinnosuke called out to one of the Anbu and issued an order: "You're not coming with us. Return to the village immediately and report this to the old man. If we don't send back any word within fifteen minutes, assume the worst—and make sure the old man brings reinforcements."
"Yes, sir!"
Just as Shinnosuke was about to continue toward the area where the alarm had gone off, a sudden sense of danger made his heart jolt.
Almost by instinct, he shouted, "Stop!"
And in that exact moment, he spotted something—an orange-red glow emerging from the metal-reinforced wall to the right. A searing heat was radiating from that direction.
[BOOM!!!!!!]
A horrifying burst of high temperature instantly melted a massive hole through the fortified wall. Like a volcanic eruption, the violent blast sent molten metal splattering in every direction, and an invisible heatwave surged outward.
The Anbu immediately bent their knees to stabilize themselves, eyes wide in shock as they stared at the molten hole.
"What the—?"
Sarutobi Shinnosuke's pupils contracted.
There, next to the hole in the wall… lay half a human body.
The other half of that half a body was nowhere to be found.
But judging from the outfit, the person had been an Anbu operative as well.
The mask had already fallen off, and what remained of the face was frozen in a look of utter terror—so chilling that just one glance could send a shiver down the spine.
[Drip—]
[Drip—]
A strange dripping sound echoed in their ears.
The scent of sulfur invaded their nostrils.
In Sarutobi Shinnosuke's mind, a name suddenly surfaced—one he loathed with every fiber of his being:
Uchiha Keizumi!
And just as that thought crossed his mind, a figure emerged from the wall—its body trailing molten lava across the surface of its skin.
"—It's Uchiha Keizumi!!!"
An Anbu behind Sarutobi Shinnosuke exclaimed in disbelief.
"It's been a while, Shinnosuke... sensei."
Molten lava dripped from Uchiha Keizumi's body, and the glowing magma could not mask the blood-red gleam of his Three Tomoe Sharingan.
Locking eyes with Sarutobi Shinnosuke, Keizumi said calmly, "One of the Third Hokage's most trusted aides... and yet you vanished without a trace these past two years. I thought you were dead. Who would've guessed you were stationed here by the Third all along?"
Sarutobi Shinnosuke's fists clenched instantly.
His expression darkened beneath the Anbu mask as he gritted his teeth. "The moment you killed two of your comrades, you ceased being my student—and I was no longer your jōnin instructor! Uchiha Keizumi! Why have you come here?!"
His eyes shifted to the mangled corpse on the ground, and his mood worsened.
His gaze locked on Keizumi like a vice.
"So you really couldn't suppress the demon inside you... You plan to go on another killing spree in Konoha? Is that it? Slaughtering innocent people again?!"
The other Anbu behind him were visibly stunned.
So there was history between Shinnosuke and Uchiha Keizumi? He was once his instructor?
Keizumi replied calmly, "I've killed many evildoers in this world. Which two are you referring to?"
Sarutobi Shinnosuke nearly stopped breathing.
"You… you mean you've even forgotten your own comrades?!"
"I don't make it a habit to remember the names of scum who've already died by my hand."
Veins bulged across Shinnosuke's forehead.
"Shimura Reiya! Uzuki Shaku! Surely those names ring a bell?! They… were once your teammates—my genin students, just like you!"
He couldn't stop himself from recalling that soul-shaking moment years ago—the tragic incident of comrades turning on each other.
That was also the reason why, ever since, he had refused to take on any more genin under his guidance.
"…Oh. I suppose I remember now," Keizumi said indifferently.
"Shimura Reiya… used to bully others at the Academy. His victims were driven to despair, and one of them eventually committed suicide after repeated complaints were ignored. Uzuki Shaku was Reiya's accomplice. Even after the victim's death, he went around the village spreading nasty rumors about them."
"Yes, I killed them both. But they struck first. That's why the Fourth Hokage ultimately ruled it as excessive self-defense and chose not to hold me accountable."
Sarutobi Shinnosuke trembled with fury, listening to Keizumi's emotionless tone—one that suggested their deaths meant absolutely nothing to him.
"They didn't deserve to die!" he roared.
Keizumi replied, "Then did the bullied victim deserve to die?"
Each step he took forward melted a new pit into the ground beneath him.
"In my eyes, your so-called students had long been devoured by the evil festering in this world. They had become unforgivable. I simply baptized that unforgivable evil… with scalding lava. That's all."
"…Shinnosuke-sensei."
Keizumi's crimson eyes focused on the red-colored box now hovering above Sarutobi Shinnosuke's head.
"The current you…"
"…has fallen into the abyss as well."
Sarutobi Shinnosuke took a deep breath. Even as he tried his best to calm himself, the psychological shadow Uchiha Keizumi had once cast over him was simply too overwhelming.
Back then, among the three genin from Konohagakure under his guidance, two had died by each other's hands.
And now, the only one who had survived—the killer—stood calmly before him, composed and unbothered.
That alone kept the burning anger in Sarutobi Shinnosuke's heart from subsiding.
And anger, for an ANBU ninja, was a grave taboo.
With a cold edge to his voice, Sarutobi Shinnosuke declared, "Everything I've done has always been for the sake of Konohagakure. I have never fallen into darkness. Uchiha Keizumi, you're nothing more than someone who pins the label of 'evil' on others to justify your own selfish desires. Don't try to dress up your murder spree as something noble."
"I still don't understand why the Fourth Hokage ruled your killing of your comrades back then as excessive self-defense. Nor do I understand why the old man has let you roam free all these years without ever dealing with you."
"But…"
His eyes glanced toward the corpse of the ANBU on the ground.
He didn't even question how Keizumi had been able to recognize him at a glance, despite the mask.
Nor did he question why Keizumi was even here in the first place.
At this moment, behind the ANBU mask, Sarutobi Shinnosuke's eyes brimmed with uncontainable killing intent as it surged forth like a storm.