Izumi felt overwhelmed with pressure.
Under the stares of both civilians and shinobi—some fearful, some stunned—she grit her teeth and gripped the back of the short man's collar with all her strength, doing her best to keep up with Uchiha Keizumi.
The man's terrifying leg wound scraped along the ground, and he screamed in terror, thrashing wildly.
It made Izumi feel deeply uneasy.
But when she looked up at the tall, straight back of Keizumi-senpai, and recalled the suffocating pressure of his gaze growing colder during her earlier hesitation…
She could only try to harden her heart.
She didn't dare look back. She could only imagine the trail of crimson blood this man must be leaving behind them, drawing a long line through the street.
Izumi could feel his struggling grow weaker and weaker.
She noticed the gazes of nearby Konoha civilians—eyes filled with fear, as though she were aiding a criminal.
The crying and screaming grew fainter.
Until finally—
There was nothing.
Izumi suddenly panicked. She turned around in alarm and shouted to Uchiha Keizumi, "Senpai, he's gone into shock!"
Keizumi paused mid-step. Without turning his head, he asked calmly, "Can you wake him?"
"Let me check…"
Izumi carefully leaned in to feel for breath. Her heart skipped a beat, and she quickly replied, flustered, "I think… it's too late. He… he's already dead!!!"
Uchiha Keizumi said regretfully, "What a pity."
Izumi was stunned.
"You let him die far too quickly. That death wasn't nearly enough to atone for his sins," the senpai continued in a calm voice. "My original plan was to have you drag him back to his house. Once the child's body was recovered, you were going to execute him in front of it."
"And," Uchiha Keizumi added with a backward glance, "I was planning to let you, the rookie, get your first taste."
Izumi was stunned.
"Senpai…" she said weakly, "I've read the Police Force's Code of Conduct. It clearly states that after apprehending a suspect, we're forbidden from using any form of extrajudicial punishment. That rule was added by the Hokage himself."
Uchiha Keizumi asked calmly, "Rookie, do you believe the lofty Third Hokage truly represents justice?"
Izumi didn't dare answer.
Uchiha Keizumi stared at this girl of only half Uchiha blood and spoke slowly, "If you want to be a proper member of the Police Force, the first thing you must understand is who the enemies of justice are. Every 'evil' in this shinobi world is an enemy of justice."
"The shinobi world has already been riddled with countless evils, leaving it in ruins. Only by carrying out justice in the most absolute and thorough manner can we steer the shinobi world back on course."
Including… the Hokage? — That was a thought Izumi dared not voice aloud. She only dared to turn it over once in her heart.
"Including the Hokage."
As if able to read her mind, Uchiha Keizumi spoke the words out loud without hesitation—unflinching and explosive in their implication.
Izumi was utterly shocked.
…
What she didn't know was that the moment the short man died from blood loss-induced shock—
A golden-finger prompt appeared before Uchiha Keizumi's eyes:
[Ding! You have successfully killed a 'Red-Name' criminal! Your chakra has received a slight boost! Congratulations! You've obtained: Gambling Skill Books ×2]
...
[Name: Uchiha Keizumi]
[Age: 18]
[Affiliation: Konoha Uchiha Police Force]
[Rank: Jōnin]
[Kekkei Genkai: Sharingan, Lava Release]
[Taijutsu: Uchiha-style Kenjutsu, Shurikenjutsu, Kunai Combat Techniques…]
[Ninjutsu: Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique, Phoenix Fire Technique, Fire Annihilation, Mind Body Switch Technique…]
[Other: Culinary Arts, Calligraphy, Gambling, Bedroom Techniques…]
[…]
This was the golden finger ability Uchiha Keizumi had awakened the moment he transmigrated to Konoha years ago.
He could see the 'evil' in everyone—whether it was the evil they had already committed, or the evil they were destined to commit in the future. Nothing escaped his sight.
Those who had already committed unforgivable evil had a red box hovering over their heads and were labeled [Red-Name].
Those who would commit unforgivable evil in the future bore a white box and were labeled [White-Name].
After killing them…
Not only would his chakra receive a measurable boost, but he could also extract any ninjutsu, taijutsu, kekkei genkai, hidden techniques, or skill experience from them.
The traits of his golden finger were a perfect match for the absolute justice Uchiha Keizumi upheld.
In just a few short years, his hands had been stained with the blood of countless evil-doers.
He had dulled multiple ninja blades from overuse.
As for the [Lava Release] listed under Kekkei Genkai—it was a gift from the golden finger's starter package.
According to the description, it was 'a greeting from a fellow believer in absolute justice from the sea'.
...
"Hokage-sama, the Uchiha Police Force needs to be reined in!"
Inside the Hokage Office.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, having just finished processing half of his paperwork, was now patiently listening to a ninja's complaint.
"Today, members of the Uchiha Police Force injured someone in broad daylight—right out on the street! They cut off a civilian's leg, then dragged him through the streets like some kind of public display. The trail of blood stretched for several hundred meters."
"Many villagers saw it—kids saw it too! Hokage-sama, doesn't this go far beyond the bounds of law enforcement?"
"Having enforcers like that will only make the people in the village even more uneasy!"
This ninja didn't hold any significant position in the village, nor did he possess any exceptional strength… The only reason he dared show up to lodge a complaint in person was because he, too, bore the name Sarutobi.
He was a junior member of the Hokage's own clan.
Sarutobi Hiruzen furrowed his brow and immediately asked, "What's the condition of the injured man who was dragged?"
The ninja shook his head. "I ran straight to you after seeing how outrageous the Uchiha were acting. I didn't check on the man's condition. But…"
"If someone's leg is cut off and they don't get immediate treatment, they probably won't live more than a few minutes."
Hiruzen's brows tightened further.
Suddenly, something came to mind, and he followed up, "Which Uchiha clan members were present?"
The ninja hesitated. "It was Uchiha Keizumi… and a young Uchiha girl I didn't recognize."
"Keizumi?"
Hiruzen's brow relaxed.
Before the astonished eyes of his junior clansman, Hiruzen clasped his hands behind his back and murmured, "If it was Keizumi, then he must have had his reasons for acting that way."
"But Hokage-sama—"
Hiruzen cut him off bluntly. "You came running here all agitated just because you're afraid Uchiha Keizumi's actions might affect your little bathhouse business, didn't you?"
"Go back. This is a matter for the Police Force to handle. I trust that Keizumi will explain himself soon enough. After all, he's always been a rather unconventional man."
Hiruzen paused briefly, giving a final judgment on Keizumi's behavior. "Yes, Keizumi's methods are extreme. But in all these years, he's never once crossed any true lines."
"…Understood, Hokage-sama."
The Sarutobi clansman, having failed in his complaint, could only leave in frustration.
"Keizumi…"
Hiruzen walked over to the window and looked outside.
"Do you love the Will of Fire more… or the 'Absolute Justice' you always speak of? I've always believed… you and Itachi are the same—Uchiha who deeply love this village."
He muttered to himself.
...
At that very moment.
In a secluded residence on the outskirts of Konoha, Izumi was panting slightly as she let go of the corpse whose skin had been rubbed raw.
She had originally planned to leave the short man's body right where he died.
But without explicit orders from her senpai...
Izumi was afraid that discarding the body on her own might anger him.
So...
She could only mutter silent apologies in her heart as she gritted her teeth, endured her discomfort, and dragged the corpse behind Uchiha Keizumi.
All the way to the short man's house.
The entire time, she didn't dare look back at the body.
It must've looked… absolutely gruesome.
"Do you pity him?" Uchiha Keizumi saw straight through the girl's thoughts. Her expression was far too easy to read.
He said calmly, "There's someone who suffered far worse—down in that well."
He glanced toward the dried-up well, its mouth sealed with a slab of concrete. His tone deepened slightly as he gave his order: "Fish out the child's corpse from that well."
Izumi jolted at the sound of Keizumi's voice.
"Yes, senpai!"
She ran over, only to be hit by a pungent, stomach-turning stench.
Was this… the smell of death?
Steeling herself mentally, Izumi carefully lifted the concrete slab. The rancid odor burst forth all at once, forcing her to instinctively hold her breath. Still, the fumes stung her eyes, making them water.
She gritted her teeth.
Then flipped and leapt.
Just as she was about to land at the bottom of the well, Izumi used the chakra tree-climbing technique to anchor her feet to the inner wall—making sure not to accidentally step on the child's corpse lying below.
Bathed in the sunlight shining down, she spotted a blanket at the bottom. It had been tightly wrapped into a ball, and something seemed to be inside.
A grim thought crept into her mind.