"You've killed a fellow ANBU ninja of our village in front of me… So today, I'll cleanse the ranks—for the old man's sake, and for the sake of Konohagakure!"
"And at the same time…"
"I'll cleanse them for myself!"
The instant Sarutobi Shinnosuke finished speaking, the six ANBU operatives behind him sprang into action with seamless coordination.
They moved in tactical formations only shinobi would recognize, cutting off all of Uchiha Keizumi's escape routes. At the same time, they charged in, wielding a variety of ninja tools.
[Swish—]
[Swish—]
A ninja sword and a scythe simultaneously carved two massive, grotesque gashes into Keizumi's body.
Then came a rain of kunai and shuriken from the other ANBU members, all hitting Keizumi dead-on.
Among them, one kunai had an explosive tag wrapped around its hilt.
"Detonate!"
[BOOM—BOOM—BOOM!!!]
The thunderous explosions rattled their eardrums. Several ANBU winced from the pain as they watched Keizumi consumed by a blast of flame and smoke.
Logically speaking, his body should've been torn to pieces.
But…
"Wait… my ninja sword!"
"My scythe—! His Lava Release... why is it so hot?! My blade only touched him for less than half a second and it already melted?!"
Two stunned exclamations rang out in disbelief.
The ANBU with the ninja sword and the one with the scythe both stared in shock at their half-melted weapons.
Molten iron dripped steadily from the severed metal edges.
And when they looked up again—
The thick explosion smoke had already been devoured by a tide of scorching red magma. The entire corridor inside the secret base seemed to be overflowing with lava.
It surged like a mudslide, rushing toward the ANBU operatives. Wherever it passed, the floor itself melted away.
Sarutobi Shinnosuke's expression darkened. "Lava Release…"
Though he had once been Keizumi's jōnin instructor, Shinnosuke had rarely seen him use Lava Release before.
All he knew was that Keizumi's version possessed terrifying temperatures—ordinary human flesh would be instantly destroyed upon contact.
Beyond that, he knew nothing about the nature of Keizumi's Lava Release.
Only now did Sarutobi Shinnosuke realize—he had never truly understood this former genin under his command. Not even a little.
Seeing the torrent of magma surging toward them, Shinnosuke gave a calm yet commanding order: "Take him down in this corridor! We can't let him escape—if we do, his Lava Release kekkei genkai could destroy the entire base! Use Water Release against him!"
The ANBU understood instantly.
Three of them, proficient in Water Release, immediately began forming hand seals.
Just as the flood of lava came within reach—
All three released their jutsu simultaneously.
"Water Release: Water Surge!!!" ×3
Like a sea dragon spiraling up from the depths, torrents of water erupted from the ground and surged forth, enveloping all the ANBU operatives.
As the flows gathered momentum, they transformed into a flood and rushed headlong toward the advancing magma.
The moment the two forces collided, the entire corridor filled with scalding steam, causing the ANBU to visibly flinch.
So hot!!!
Uchiha Keizumi's voice, cold to the extreme, echoed through the steam-filled passage like a whisper from the void.
"Shinnosuke-sensei. You say you never fell into darkness... then let me ask you this. Half a year ago, when a so-called 'volunteer'—who had willingly agreed to become a test subject—tried to back out due to fear... who was it that killed him?"
Sarutobi Shinnosuke's pupils constricted as he fought through the pain of the scalding steam.
"A year ago, when you didn't have enough 'volunteers'... who ordered subordinates to cross into a neighboring country of the Land of Fire and abduct a dozen war orphans—forcing them to become test subjects?"
His gaze darkened with horror.
Keizumi's words pierced him one by one, like a judge from the underworld delivering sentence.
"And two years ago…"
"And then again…"
Every word from Uchiha Keizumi sent visible ripples across Sarutobi Shinnosuke's expression—and the ANBU around him began to look at their captain with shocked and uneasy eyes.
"Shinnosuke-sensei… you said you're here to 'cleanse Konoha'…"
"Well, what a coincidence—because today, I've come to cleanse the shinobi world."
…
"Hokage-sama!"
At that same moment, the ANBU agent Shinnosuke had dispatched to deliver a message finally arrived back at the Sarutobi Clan compound under the cover of night.
He called out loudly, "Hiruzen-sama!"
[Clatter—]
The sliding door of a nearby house opened.
Wearing his usual kimono and wooden sandals, Sarutobi Hiruzen stepped out.
He held his tobacco pipe, brows slightly furrowed. "If I remember correctly, you're one of Shinnosuke's ANBU… What happened over there?"
The ANBU agent quickly organized his thoughts and reported, "Hokage-sama, the secret base outside the village was attacked. Captain Shinnosuke believes the intruder is highly dangerous and asked me to return to request reinforcements from you."
"What?!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen's heart skipped a beat.
Back when he had personally led a team to destroy Orochimaru's human experimentation lab inside the village, they had seized a trove of his research documents—many of which hadn't yet been destroyed or taken—and captured a number of heinous research staff.
His original intention had been to destroy all the materials… He had even promised the child Uchiha Keizumi that those researchers would be quietly executed.
After all, if those evil experiments ever ended up in the hands of someone ambitious, they could give rise to another Orochimaru.
But…
Persuaded by Koharu and Homura, Hiruzen only destroyed the documents that appeared too vile. The rest were preserved.
And as for the researchers—he broke his promise to Keizumi and instead had them relocated outside the village.
Koharu and Homura had said at the time—
"They've committed unforgivable crimes. A swift death would be too kind. They should atone using their knowledge and the rest of their lives."
"Hiruzen, you can't make such an irrational decision just because you made a promise to a boy from the Uchiha clan. We know you have high hopes for him, but no matter how gifted he is with those two kekkei genkai—he's still an Uchiha."
"Can you truly guarantee that Keizumi will benefit Konoha more than the knowledge left behind by Orochimaru's subordinates? Their research is one of the most valuable assets in the shinobi world."
"Besides, we already destroyed the most inhumane parts. The rest can be of great use to the village."
And so—Sarutobi Hiruzen had wavered.
In the end, he allowed the construction of a secret research base about 10 kilometres outside of Konoha, dedicated to continuing Orochimaru's studies.
He placed it under the supervision of his eldest son, Sarutobi Shinnosuke.
He didn't trust anyone else with it.
What he hadn't expected… was that after only a few years of operation, that secret base would be compromised.
And if Shinnosuke had gone so far as to send for help from the village—
Then the enemy they were facing was anything but ordinary.
"I'll personally lead a team out there," Sarutobi Hiruzen said grimly.
...
Sarutobi Shinnosuke was truly shaken now. All the secrets he had buried deep within his heart seemed completely exposed before Uchiha Keizumi—like a naked man with nothing to hide.
It felt as though, during all those things he had done, Uchiha Keizumi had been silently observing him from the shadows.
And, disturbingly, he found that quite believable.
Otherwise, how could Keizumi know so much?
After all…
The 'secrets' Keizumi had spoken of—Shinnosuke had never told a soul. Not his wife, not the old man, not even his most trusted subordinates.
"Uchiha Keizumi! You—"
But before Shinnosuke could finish his sentence, a suffocating sense of impending death surged through him.
A molten rock the size of a human head suddenly shot toward him!
He instinctively shut his mouth and gripped the hilt of his ninjatō tightly. A layer of azure chakra coated the blade in an instant.
"Haah!!!"
With a single slash, Shinnosuke cleaved the incoming magma projectile in two.
But as he prepared to swing again, something felt wrong in his hands.
He glanced down—and his pupils contracted.
The ninjatō…
Had snapped!
Even with chakra infused into the blade, it still couldn't withstand the terrifying heat of Uchiha Keizumi's Lava Release magma?
He immediately looked ahead and found that Keizumi hadn't charged forward. Instead, he was crouched low to the ground, one hand extended downward, fingertip lightly touching the earth—as if, in just that fleeting instant, he had already finished weaving hand seals.
"Lava Release…"
"Volcanic Swamp."
A strange bubbling sound echoed in his ears. To the horror of Sarutobi Shinnosuke and the nearby Anbu, the ground beneath Keizumi's feet began to rapidly liquefy—melting into magma from some unknown heat source!
In the blink of an eye, even though there were more than 20 meters between them, Shinnosuke noticed a faint crimson glow beginning to spread beneath his feet.
"Damn it! Fall back!!!"
The moment he gave the order, Shinnosuke led the nearby Anbu in a rapid retreat.
But one of them was just a step too late.
He did move—but when his feet landed, the Anbu suddenly lost his balance, his expression twisting in alarm.
"Ah! Aaagh!!!"
A searing pain shot up from his ankles. As he clutched at the wall to steady himself, he glanced down in a panic.
"M-My feet… They're gone…"
In his line of sight, both of his feet had vanished without a trace! Wisps of bluish smoke rose from the stumps at his ankles, along with a nauseating, charred stench—like scorched meat.
"Captain Shinnosuke! I—!"
The Anbu's voice was panicked.
But—
Sarutobi Shinnosuke could no longer spare a thought for his subordinate's injuries. His attention was fixed on the terrifying power of Keizumi's Lava Release, which was swiftly destroying the secret research base!
The horrifying heat of the magma wasn't just melting the ground beneath them—it was already devouring the surrounding walls.
The corridor walls on both sides had been burned into massive, gaping holes.
Even the metal embedded in the walls had ignited into roaring flames.
Despite the distance between them, Shinnosuke and the others were already sweating profusely from the overwhelming heat.
The temperature here was far too high!!!