The next day.
Land of Water.
Leading the way ahead, Biwa Jūzō guided Uchiha Keizumi and the others into a town within the Land of Water.
At a glance, the scene before them was anything but lively.
The streets were littered with uncollected trash; the number of vendors on both sides was pitifully few, and quite a few beggars crouched in the dark corners by the roadside—each of them so emaciated that their skin clung to their bones.
Occasionally, a passerby who still looked somewhat normal would hurry by, unwilling to linger here for even a moment.
Between the cracks of the paving stones beneath their feet, one could faintly see many dried, long-blackened traces of blood.
"The difference from the Land of Fire is huge… By all logic, the Land of Water, with its well-developed maritime trade, shouldn't its economy be doing quite well? I remember this town should be near the coast too—there should be a port or a harbor, right? How could it be this desolate?"
Izumi glanced around and couldn't help but voice the doubt in her heart.
Biwa Jūzō took a deep breath, his expression complicated as he answered, "This town… used to be under the control of a bloodline-limit ninja clan and an aristocratic family of the Land of Water."
"But after the Blood Mist Policy became even more extreme, Kirigakure purged the bloodline-limit ninja clan here, slaughtering every last one of its dozens of members and wiping the clan out entirely."
"The nobles of this area were frightened into relocating as well. Without ninja to protect them, the whole town suffered plundering and raids from bandits. Over time, it ended up like this."
Izumi asked in shock, "After Kirigakure wiped out the bloodline-limit ninja clan here, they didn't send any ninja to take over?"
Biwa Jūzō shook his head. "No. There are many towns like this in the Land of Water now. Their suffering was brought by Kirigakure, yet Kirigakure never followed up with any control afterward."
"But when some kindhearted wandering ninja tried to organize themselves to save the civilians, Kirigakure would exterminate them under the pretext that they were attempting to overthrow the government of the Mist."
"The entire Land of Water has been under this kind of brutal, oppressive Blood Mist Policy up to this very day."
He glanced toward some of the townsfolk nearby. "Over time, many people in the Land of Water have become numb."
"Except for those truly wealthy, powerful, and high in status, ordinary civilians… are merely struggling to survive."
Biwa Jūzō gave a bitter smile. "Of course… not every town in the Land of Water is as extreme as this. There are still some relatively prosperous, more normal places. After all, if every town were like this… the Land of Water would have long perished."
"Usually only places where bloodline-limit ninja were active end up in such misery, since Kirigakure has been continuously purging them—one internal war after another. As a result, many people have come to believe that bloodline-limit ninja represent war, calamity, and misfortune."
"This has only deepened the conflicts and divisions in such regions, and made many ordinary civilians fear these areas, refusing to approach—making already ruined towns even more desolate."
After describing the state of the Land of Water, Biwa Jūzō felt even heavier at heart.
At this moment, Uchiha Keizumi spoke. "This is a place devoid of justice—ten times worse than the Land of Fire."
Suddenly—
A clattering sound drew Izumi's attention.
The girl, her heart weighed with unease, turned around in puzzlement to look behind her.
And with that one glance, her pupils constricted sharply.
"Keizumi-senpai!"
Izumi quickly said, "There are human traffickers behind us!"
Just a short distance away behind them—
Three burly adult men were driving five small children forward. One of the men held one end of an iron chain, while the other end was fastened around the five children.
"Move faster, all of you! I gave you two buns to eat just an hour ago—don't tell me you don't have the strength to walk!"
One of them shouted openly and harshly.
Izumi could clearly see the vacant, numb expressions on the faces of the five children. Every one of them was skin and bones—obviously malnourished and underfed.
The clothes they wore were ragged and filthy, full of holes.
Now that the weather had already turned chilly, wearing such things would surely make them catch cold.
With such frail, malnourished bodies—
If they caught a cold…
It could easily mean death.
"Keizumi-senpai…"
Just as Izumi was about to say something, she heard Uchiha Keizumi speak. "Rookie, go take care of it."
Izumi's face immediately hardened.
"Yes, senpai!"
Without hesitation, the girl steadied her ninja blade and rushed toward them, blocking the group's path. Her blade flashed as she drew it decisively, the long sword angled down with its tip pointed at the ground.
"Stop right there!"
Her frosty face cold and severe, Izumi said sharply, "These children aren't following you of their own will, are they? Why have you chained them up?"
"Hey!" The man holding the chain squinted, his rough face showing a dangerous, malicious look. "And who the hell are you? Don't go around falsely accusing people!"
"Their parents sold them to us! We paid a hefty sum for every single brat! Chaining them up is just to keep them from running away!"
"If they escaped, wouldn't we be the ones taking the loss?"
Izumi froze. "…Their parents sold them to you?"
Another man pulled several white sheets of paper from his breast pocket, covered in writing and bearing multiple different palm prints.
He grinned and said bluntly, "We've got purchase contracts right here! You look like some wandering ninja from outside—let me give you a bit of advice. In the Land of Water, we've got our own way of doing things! Be smart and get lost!"
Izumi took a deep breath.
A few months ago, she might indeed have obediently stepped aside.
But now—
Her expression turned icy. "The Land of Water… truly is beyond saving!"
...
The bright red blood slowly flowing across the ground added a strangely alluring hue to this deathly still town in the Land of Water, and the gradually spreading stench of blood overwhelmed even the reek of garbage along the streets.
Uchiha Izumi chose to act in her own way, carrying out her Absolute Justice in the Land of Water.
Even if the children before her had been sold to traffickers by their own parents—perhaps such an act was not considered a crime in this land.
But in the girl's eyes, to remain indifferent to all this was itself a desecration of justice!
The laws of the Land of Water were not necessarily correct!
That was something her senpai, Keizumi, had once taught her.
If one's convictions and actions were as clear as a mirror, without the slightest confusion or deviation from the will of justice, then one's deeds were true justice!
Therefore…
She struck at the three human traffickers; three fleeting flashes of her blade instantly claimed their lives.
However, the girl did not use an excessively gory method to kill them.
Before these malnourished and clearly traumatized children, she could not let them witness too bloody a scene—otherwise, it would likely inflict even greater psychological harm.
Thus, Izumi's method was extremely simple and clean.
A single stab through the heart, stopping their hearts in an instant.
Only after the three traffickers' faces went slack and their bodies collapsed limply to the ground did the blood slowly begin to flow from their chests.
"Don't look down at them." Izumi had already sheathed her blade without a trace. She crouched lightly and smiled at the children bound by iron chains before her. "Look at me. My name is Uchiha Izumi, a shinobi from the Police Force of Konohagakure. From today on, these bad people will never be able to hurt you again."
Biwa Jūzō approached with a complicated expression and asked, "You and Uchiha Keizumi only intend to purge the evil here in the Land of Water. If you plan to take care of these brats as well, will you still have time to carry out justice?"
Izumi fell silent for a brief moment.
"I can't just do nothing—and besides, Keizumi-senpai has tacitly approved this." At last, she exhaled softly and said, "When evildoers appear before me, if I have the ability to execute them yet still choose not to act…"
"That kind of indifference—I can't accept it. I chose to believe in Absolute Justice and to follow Keizumi-senpai so that I could help him purge all evil from the shinobi world."
"Whether great or small, as long as it's within my power—as long as it's something I see—I will never let it go unpunished."
This time, it was Biwa Jūzō's turn to fall silent.
Looking at the timid children, he said, "I have a few trustworthy friends here in the Land of Water. I can pay them to help take care of these brats."
Izumi stood up and smiled brightly. "Thank you."
With a stiff face, Biwa Jūzō replied, "Don't forget that I, too, now stand on Uchiha Keizumi's side. Strictly speaking, I also believe in Absolute Justice."
"Now I'm your colleague too. Since a little brat like you can devote herself wholeheartedly to justice, then I can do it as well."
'This Biwa Jūzō—he might have a sharp tongue but a soft heart. In truth, he wanted to help these children even more than I did.' Such a thought flashed through Uchiha Izumi's mind.