Konoha, Year 57 — one year before the Night of the Massacre.
Inside the headquarters of the Uchiha Police Force, Uchiha Fugaku held a roster in his hand.His expression was stern as his gaze swept over the young members of the clan standing before him.
These children, aged between twelve and sixteen, were the future of the Uchiha.
In a deep voice, Fugaku said,
"Next… Uchiha Izumi."
"Ah? Here!!"
The twelve-year-old Uchiha girl hurriedly raised her hand in response.
Fugaku's sharp eyes locked onto her.
"Do you have the determination to participate in the Uchiha Police Force's recruitment examination?"
Izumi's delicate face turned solemn.
"I'm fully prepared!"
Fugaku nodded slightly.
"The evaluation period will last for one month. During that time, you will be assigned an official member of the Police Force as your examiner, who will oversee your assessment.If they deem your performance satisfactory, you will officially join the Police Force and become one of Konoha's enforcers."
He pointed to a wooden board behind him covered with handwritten names.
Several names already had circles drawn around them.
"You may choose your examiner," Fugaku continued, "but only from the names without circles."
Izumi tilted her head up to study the densely packed list of names.
— Uchiha Shun, Uchiha Tsukimu, Uchiha Chiquan, Uchiha Yishen…
She realized she didn't recognize a single one.
"Then… how about this senior, Uchiha Chiquan?" she asked hesitantly.
Her reason for choosing him was embarrassingly simple: his name sounded almost identical to hers — just one character different.Uchiha Izumi… Uchiha Chiquan.
Fugaku froze for a moment.
"Chiquan…"
A complicated look flashed in his eyes. He gave her a subtle hint:
"Are you sure? Once you choose, you cannot change."
But Izumi didn't catch the undertone. She thought the clan head was simply urging her to decide.
"I'm sure," she said quickly, sealing her choice.
Fugaku paused, then added in a grave tone:
"Uchiha Chiquan is one of the Police Force's elite shinobi. His standards for assessments may be harsher than anyone else's.Remember — do not disobey his orders… if you wish to stay alive."
Izumi blinked.She swallowed hard.
The clan head hadn't given any such warning to the other candidates.Did that mean… she'd made the wrong choice?
A wave of anxiety rose in her chest.
Izumi was still a little dazed when she left the Police Force headquarters.
In her hand, she clutched an "Examination Assignment Form."All she needed to do was deliver this to Senior Chiquan — and for the next month, she'd be subjected to the Police Force's hellish training regimen.
"If only Itachi-kun were here," she muttered."I could ask him what kind of person this Senior Chiquan really is."
She thought about asking around… but then remembered she didn't really know the other Uchiha well.
Izumi was, after all, the clan's odd one out — never quite fitting in with her peers.
Her mother was an Uchiha, but her father had been a civilian shinobi.Before she turned five, she had taken her father's surname.
Then came the Night of the Nine-Tails.Her father died protecting her, and her mother brought her back to the Uchiha clan, where she took her mother's name.
"Calm down… as long as I'm polite, even if Senior Chiquan is strict, things shouldn't get too bad," she reassured herself.
She decided to prepare a small gift before meeting him.
However—
Before she could put her plan into action, shouts came from up ahead:
"The Police Force shinobi are back!"
Izumi turned to look.
A group of Uchiha Police Force members strode down the street, each wearing combat gear and bristling with ninja tools.Their presence was overwhelming.
No time for a gift — if Chiquan was among them, and she didn't greet him immediately, she might leave a bad impression.
She hurried over, summoning her courage.
"Excuse me, which one of you is Senior Uchiha Chiquan?"
She held up her assignment form nervously.
"I'm here for the recruitment exam. My name is Uchiha Izumi."
The group stopped in their tracks.
Dozens of surprised eyes fixed on her… as if they were looking at some rare, exotic summoning beast.
A female Police Force member stepped forward, giving Izumi a strange look.
"You… chose Uchiha Chiquan as your examiner?"
Izumi nodded.
"Mm."
The woman patted her shoulder with a touch of pity.
"He's not here. If you want to find him, try the messiest streets in the village — you'll probably run into him there.And… good luck. Sometimes, surviving is a kind of luck in itself."
Izumi: "???"
Her face paled.
"Senior… is Chiquan very strict with newcomers?"
The woman shook her head.
"It's not about strictness. He's… let's just say he's not much of a team player. Even Fugaku-sama can barely order him around.Here's my advice — write a will first. Trust me, you'll be needing it soon."
Izumi: "…"
She noticed the other Police Force members looking at her with open sympathy.
Meanwhile…
In Konoha's infamous street of bathhouses, gambling dens, and pleasure houses, a young man in Police Force attire walked alone.
The moment he set foot there, the air seemed to freeze.
Three seconds later, the street exploded into panicked commotion.
"Crap! That Uchiha Plague God is here again! Last time, he stuffed more than fifty people into the Konoha prison!""Why's he back so soon? Has it even been a month?""Hey! Uchiha Chiquan! Stop harassing us! We're running legitimate businesses — gambling's legal in Konoha, so is the red-light trade, and only a few drugs are banned! Why are you always targeting us?""Shhh! You trying to get yourself killed? If you piss off the Plague God, you'll be rotting in solitary for the rest of your life!""Don't look at me! I'm just passing through!"
Uchiha Chiquan rested one hand lazily on the hilt of the sword at his waist.His gaze swept the street, searching for prey his eyes could "see."
Then—
"Found a little rat."
In his vision, a short man was trying to hide among the crowd, head down, doing his best to blend in.
To ordinary eyes, he was unremarkable.But to Chiquan…
The man glowed like a firefly in the night.
Above his head hovered a crimson box with lines of red text:
[Akiyama Jirō — Two days ago, after losing at gambling and drinking to vent his frustration, he drunkenly assaulted his four-year-old child, killing them. Guilt Level: RED NAME!]
This…was Uchiha Chiquan's golden finger in this life.
Expressionless, he strode toward the man.The crowd scattered in terror, terrified the Plague God would set his sights on them.
The man tried to slip away with the flow of people, but Chiquan's voice cut through the noise:
"Akiyama Jirō. Where do you think you're going?"
He looked down at him without a ripple of emotion — as if staring at a dead man.
Just then—
"F-finally! I found you!"
A breathless girl's voice rang out from behind him.
"Excuse me… are you Senior Uchiha Chiquan?
Author's Note: Adjust your mindset — new book, new journey! Please support and follow~