Several steel pillars stood aligned before the towering Hokage building. Tied securely to them were Sarutobi Hiruzen and his longtime advisors and comrades, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu. The expressions on their aged faces were unmistakably ones of despair.
Even the once-revered Professor of Konoha, the Third Hokage, had ultimately fallen before Uchiha Yue's overwhelming strength. How could mere administrative elders like Homura and Koharu—who had not seen real combat since the Second Shinobi World War—hope to resist? Their arrest had not required Uchiha Yue's direct involvement. The Uchiha elites under his command, hardened by years of marginalization and fueled by righteous conviction, had apprehended them without effort.
Though loyalists and members of the Sarutobi and Utatane clans had tried to intervene, even staging small-scale skirmishes within the village, they had been swiftly and systematically suppressed. Against the precision and combat discipline of the Uchiha clan—now unified under a single, charismatic leader—the resistance crumbled like wet paper.
"Hiruzen… are we truly going to be paraded as traitors and executed before the eyes of the entire village?" Mitokado Homura's cracked voice broke the silence. Standing to Hiruzen's left, he gazed out at the surging sea of Konoha civilians and shinobi gathering to witness the spectacle.
"Damn it! Why didn't Jiraiya step in?" Utatane Koharu growled from Hiruzen's right. Her voice was hoarse with bitterness. "If he had stood beside you in battle, even if you didn't win, things wouldn't have ended like this!"
"Don't blame Jiraiya…" Hiruzen finally spoke, his voice thick with emotion. "I was the one who told him not to interfere."
His words made both advisors stiffen.
"What did you say? Hiruzen, are you insane?" Homura snapped. "You summoned him from Mount Myōboku yourself! He's your most powerful student aside from Orochimaru! Why stop him at the decisive moment?!"
"It was pointless. Uchiha Yue's strength is beyond anything we've ever faced." Hiruzen's smile was tinged with bitterness. "And the situation in the village had shifted entirely. The tide of public sentiment has turned. Even if Jiraiya had fought with me, it would have only led to his death—for nothing. No salvation. No victory."
"I chose to do what a sensei must: protect his student's future, even if it meant losing everything."
His words cut deeply, silencing both Homura and Koharu. The memory of how Hiruzen had once let Orochimaru escape—despite having the power to stop him—flashed through their minds. Now, once again, the old Hokage had prioritized a student's life over the village's status quo.
Back when he recalled Jiraiya, Hiruzen had still believed he held the advantage. He had underestimated the extent to which Uchiha Yue had swayed not just the Uchiha Clan, but also the younger generations of shinobi, and even many civilian leaders. Yue had become a messianic figure to some, a revolutionary to others—a symbol of reform cloaked in blood.
When Jiraiya returned and took stock of the situation—seeing the genuine loyalty of Yue's followers and the transparency of his reforms—he understood that the balance of power had shifted. Hiruzen's political faction had lost its legitimacy. His "order" was no longer the will of the people.
And so, after a long private conversation, Hiruzen made the choice. He went to battle alone, issuing a final order to Jiraiya: Stand down, no matter what happens.
His decision had proven prescient. Yue's power, both in strength and in strategy, far surpassed expectations. Hiruzen had fought with all his experience—summoning Enma, unleashing advanced Fire and Earth Style techniques—but nothing made Yue falter, not even for a moment.
"Perhaps you were right…" Homura finally muttered. "At least Jiraiya may still do something meaningful, someday."
"Your choice… Hiruzen, it reminds me of Lord Tobirama," Koharu added quietly. "He gave his life to let us escape the Kinkaku Force during the First Great War. Now, history repeats."
"I've made my peace," Hiruzen replied. "Though we may die in disgrace, Konoha lives on. Perhaps, under Uchiha Yue's leadership, it will even prosper—burning brighter than under Hashirama-sama or Tobirama-sama."
As the crowd swelled and the final preparations were made for the public trial—or execution—Homura and Koharu both fell silent, their eyes lowered. Neither offered any further resistance. Hiruzen, seeing this, gave a tired nod and closed his eyes.
On the rooftop of the Hokage building, Uchiha Yue watched them with calm detachment. A glint flickered in his gaze—part sympathy, part cold analysis.
He had known that Jiraiya was observing their battle from a distance, hiding just beyond the rooftops. Yue had prepared multiple contingencies to deal with any ambush—shadow clones, traps, Mangekyō illusions—but the Sannin had never struck.
At the time, Yue had wondered if it was due to their conversation the previous night—when Jiraiya had questioned Yue's ideology, yet found no malice in his ambition. But now, seeing Hiruzen's confession, the truth was clear: Jiraiya had stood down at Hiruzen's command.
"Still… that old monkey surprised me," Yue mused softly. "To choose clarity over pride in his final moment… I didn't expect such resolve."
He didn't feel joy. Only the chill of finality. Hiruzen Sarutobi had presided over decades of decisions that wounded the Uchiha and many others. Danzo's Root. The cover-up of Itachi. The betrayal of loyalty. The hypocrisy of peace.
The old man's sins were numerous, and Yue had not come to forgive.
But neither did he see any further need for cruelty. If Jiraiya stays out of my way, I will not pursue him. His time is over.
He cast a glance toward the hidden corner where Jiraiya remained. "Let him live. The past is dying. The future doesn't need to bleed more than it already has."
With that, Uchiha Yue turned away from the rooftop edge, his red eyes glowing like embers in the setting sun.
The final judgment had begun.
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