Under Hiruzen's orders, five ANBU shinobi broke off from the squad, and in less than twenty minutes, they returned with the five suspects Izumi had identified—the shinobi with the highest likelihood of being involved in the murder.
Suddenly, Izumi felt a light tug at her sleeve.
She looked down—
It was Naruto.
With a nervous look, he whispered, "Are they really the ones who did it? What if… what if they won't confess?"
Izumi shook her head, indicating she wasn't certain either.
She offered Naruto some reassurance.
"Don't worry. Keizumi-senpai has the power to see both the evil of the past and the evil yet to come. As long as the real killer stands in front of him, he'll see through them in an instant."
She paused, then added, "That power exists because Keizumi-senpai believes in [Absolute Justice]. That's what gives him the ability."
Naruto turned to look at Uchiha Keizumi in awe.
So this scary man had a power like that too?
But what exactly was [Absolute Justice]…?
How was it different from ordinary justice?
That question quietly stirred in Naruto's heart.
Just as Izumi was about to cautiously ask Keizumi-senpai for clarification—
She suddenly heard his cold voice cut in: "None of the five."
Izumi: "!!!"
She froze on the spot.
It felt like she had completely failed the test Keizumi-senpai had set for her…
Naruto was stunned. "Huh? None of them?!"
Even Hiruzen was momentarily caught off guard.
He had thought Uchiha Izumi's suspect-screening method was sound. If it had been up to him, he would've followed the same procedure.
That was why Hiruzen had given the order without hesitation—he'd instructed the ANBU to immediately bring in all five suspects.
But he never expected to receive that answer from Uchiha Keizumi!
Hiruzen frowned. "Then how about bringing in the others—the ones with lower levels of suspicion—just in case?"
"No need," Uchiha Keizumi cut him off flatly, his expression unreadable. "Tachibana Jirō, investigate the social circle of the seven-year-old victim. I want a list of all individuals who have had conflicts with him. Remember—age doesn't matter."
"Yes, Keizumi-sama!" This time, Tachibana Jirō set off personally.
"Seven years old… that boy who was my age?" Naruto recalled the corpse that, even now, sent chills down his spine every time he thought about it.
Just as Naruto hesitated, unsure whether to speak—
Hiruzen, still frowning, voiced the very question Naruto had been struggling to ask.
"Keizumi, in a seven-year-old's social circle, wouldn't the people who've had conflicts with him mostly be other children around his age?"
"What's the point of investigating kids like that?" Hiruzen was puzzled. Though to be clear, it wasn't a challenge—just a question.
He knew full well that Uchiha Keizumi was more experienced than him in this field.
Keizumi didn't offer a lengthy explanation. He simply replied with a single, curt sentence: "Your imagination is far too limited when it comes to the evil of the shinobi world—and you lack any real understanding of how twisted and diseased it truly is."
Hiruzen couldn't tell whether Keizumi was mocking him or not.
Instinctively, he believed that investigating the interpersonal relationships of a mere seven-year-old victim in such a heinous case was essentially pointless.
After all, what could a seven-year-old's social circle amount to? Just a few kids their own age.
What could they possibly know?
What could they possibly do?
After the group waited for a while, a pack of ninja cats suddenly rushed back, clearly in a hurry. This time, they handed over the list of suspects they had gathered directly into Uchiha Keizumi's hand.
Panting heavily and tongue lolling, Tachibana Jirō, clearly exhausted, said between breaths, "Kei… Keizumi-sama, this time we've identified three suspects."
For some reason, a faint sense of unease crept over Hiruzen. He interjected, "Keizumi, would you mind letting this old man have a look?"
Uchiha Keizumi glanced over the information on the list of suspects.
Then casually handed the list over to Hiruzen.
Hiruzen took it, eyes narrowing as he focused. The handwriting on the list was slanted and uneven—it was obvious no human had written it.
Still, it was just barely legible.
And it was precisely because he could understand the contents that his pupils visibly contracted. A look of disbelief spread across his aged face, followed by a sharp intake of breath.
Just as the others were growing puzzled, Hiruzen blurted out, "Keizumi, isn't there some kind of mistake here? All three suspects on this list—I remember them. They're all students at the Ninja Academy!"
"How could a brutal murder case like this possibly involve students from the Academy? They're just children!"
Now everyone understood why the Hokage had reacted the way he did.
Anyone would have trouble believing that such a crime could be connected to a group of kids.
"In the shinobi world, children as young as four go to war. So why would you think students at the Ninja Academy aren't capable of committing atrocious crimes like this?" Uchiha Keizumi asked coldly. "Why? Because of your so-called Will of Fire, Third Hokage?"
Hiruzen fell silent. "…"
Keizumi continued dispassionately:
"Suspect No. 1: Hyūga Shōya, a member of the Hyūga Clan's Branch Family. Previously had verbal conflicts with the victim at the Academy. Their relationship was poor."
"Suspect No. 2: Murayama Kyōtarō, from a civilian family. He used to be friends with the victim, but they fell out over a minor dispute. Though they attended the Academy together, their relationship remained strained."
"Suspect No. 3: Utatane Ryūji, a member of the Utatane Clan. A senior whom the victim got to know at the Academy. Outwardly he appeared to look after the victim, but in reality, he was engaging in covert bullying."
Hiruzen read out the names of the three absurdly unexpected suspects from the list.
Exhaling deeply, he said helplessly, "Keizumi, the petty conflicts between these kids and the victim… they aren't even enough to justify a fistfight. How could this possibly escalate into a whole family being slaughtered?"
Hiruzen still leaned toward the idea that the real suspects would be those connected to the parents of the four-person household.
As long as all the suspects were brought in and Keizumi looked at them…
Wouldn't it be obvious who the murderer was?
Still, whenever he thought about that uncanny ability to see the 'evil of past and future', Hiruzen couldn't help but feel a deep sense of unease.
In Keizumi's eyes… it was as if no one had any secrets at all.
Uchiha Keizumi didn't say a word—he simply stared quietly at the Hokage.
The intensity of that gaze startled Hiruzen, who quickly averted his eyes, avoiding direct contact with Keizumi's.
There was something about Keizumi's eyes that always made Hiruzen uneasy.
Trying to make the shift in attention seem natural, Hiruzen turned toward Naruto and forced a calm expression onto his face. He smiled and asked, "Naruto, you agree with me, don't you?"
"Hokage-ojiichan… Maybe it's better to bring all three suspects here?" Naruto replied meekly.
Hiruzen: "…"
Suddenly, he understood.
To a child like Naruto, those three suspects didn't carry the usual 'halo of innocence' that adults instinctively associated with children.
For adults like him, the moment they saw the names on the list, they subconsciously refused to believe those kids could be capable of such brutality.
But Naruto, being a child himself, wouldn't have that same mental filter.
To him, it was simply shocking that three kids around his age could even be suspected of committing such a horrific crime.
"…Ahem."
Left with no choice, Hiruzen gave another discreet signal to the Anbu, instructing them to bring in the three Ninja Academy students from the list.
…
At the Hyūga Clan Compound
When an Anbu operative arrived in haste, Hyūga Hiashi, the current head of the clan, was immediately alerted.
But he was just a little too late. The Anbu, without so much as a greeting, invoked the authority of the Hokage and forcibly took away a Branch Family boy named Hyūga Shōya.
"Hyūga Shōya?"
Upon hearing the name, Hiashi's perpetually severe face furrowed into a deep frown. "If I'm not mistaken, that child belongs to the Branch Family, doesn't he? Why would the Hokage order the Anbu to take him away?"
A fellow Hyūga clan ninja asked, "Hiashi-sama, should we stop the Anbu and retrieve Hyūga Shōya? No matter what, he possesses the Byakugan."
Ever since it was discovered that Shimura Danzō had secretly experimented on Kekkei Genkai, the atmosphere among the bloodline clans in Konoha had grown extremely tense.
What if the Hokage was interested in Kekkei Genkai too?
"No need," Hiashi said with a shake of his head. "That child was branded with the Caged Bird Seal long ago. Besides, the Hokage would never harm a comrade of the village."
"After all, Shimura Danzō was an exception, not the rule."
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