Uchiha Chiquan's voice exploded in Quan's ears like a sudden clap of thunder.
She breathed in, the air thick with an even stronger stench of blood.
As she slowly stood up, she could still hear the weakening groans and pitiful cries of the short man at her feet.
"I've told you everything… Please… save me… I beg you, I don't want to die…"
Quan pressed her lips together.
For someone who had graduated from the Ninja Academy less than a month ago, this kind of situation was far too shocking and overwhelming.
"Where do you live?"
Now that she knew this man was the beast who had murdered his own daughter, Quan felt no more sympathy for him. Her first priority was to get his address, to recover the child's body.
When she finally heard him weakly mumble an address, Quan gathered her courage and turned to Uchiha Chiquan.
"Senior, should we split up? I can take him to Konoha Hospital, and you can go recover the child's body?"
Chiquan replied flatly, "Rookie, do you know what the sentence is in Konoha for killing someone while drunk?"
Quan blinked. "L-life imprisonment?!"
Chiquan shook his head. "Ten years. After ten years, this completely rotten piece of scum will walk freely under the sun again. And if he behaves well in prison… he might be out in seven or eight."
"I ask you—does that sound like a punishment equal to his crime?"
Quan mumbled, "Ten years… is too short, isn't it? However you look at it, that's not equal punishment."
The moral baseline of a twelve-year-old Uchiha genin told her instinctively that this sentence was far too light.
Was the cost of killing in Konoha really so low?Or… could being drunk be used as an excuse for leniency?
"'Justice' that isn't absolute will never be true justice. And evil will never receive the punishment it deserves," Uchiha Chiquan said. "We won't split up, and we won't take him to Konoha Hospital. We go straight to the address he just gave us."
"Oh, and…"
Chiquan took the bloodied short blade back from her, sheathed it, and added, "Make sure to drag him. You're going to drag this piece of shinobi-world trash and follow behind me."
Quan's small face froze in shock.
This senior… in the entire Uchiha clan, he must be among the most extreme.
She swallowed hard and glanced at the short man.
Drag him?
Hiss—
The pressure bearing down on her felt crushing.
Under the stares of both civilians and shinobi—some fearful, some astonished—she gritted her teeth, grabbed the back of the man's collar with both hands, and forced her legs to keep pace with Uchiha Chiquan.
The man's horrifying stump scraped along the ground, leaving him screaming and struggling in terror.
The sound made Quan's heart twist with discomfort.
But when she looked at the upright figure of Senior Chiquan ahead of her, remembering the suffocating coldness in his eyes when she hesitated earlier during the interrogation…
She steeled her heart.
She didn't dare look back. She could only imagine the long, crimson trail his blood must be leaving behind them.
The man's struggles were growing weaker.
She could feel the wary, almost accusing gazes of nearby villagers—as if she were an accomplice to a criminal.
The screaming faded.
Until…
It stopped completely.
Quan's heart jolted. She spun around and quickly called to Chiquan: "Senior Chiquan—he's gone into shock!"
Chiquan paused mid-step. Without turning back, he asked lightly, "Can you wake him?"
"I'll check…"
She bent down and carefully felt for his breath. Her heart tightened, and she replied in panic, "It's… it's too late. He… he's already dead!!!"
Chiquan let out a quiet sigh of regret. "What a pity."
Quan froze.
He continued, "He died too quickly. Not nearly enough to repay the sin he committed. My original plan was for you to drag him to his house, recover the child's body, and then execute him right there in front of it."
"And…" Chiquan glanced back at her. "I was going to let you, the rookie, do the honors."
Quan was stunned.
"S-senior…" she said weakly. "I've read the Police Force's code of conduct. It specifically says that after arresting a suspect, we cannot administer private punishment. I think the Hokage himself added that rule to the manual."
Chiquan asked, "Rookie, do you think the lofty Third Hokage represents 'Justice'?"
Quan didn't dare answer.
Chiquan looked steadily at this girl with only half-Uchiha blood and said slowly, "If you want to be a good member of the Police Force, you must first know who the enemies of 'Justice' are. Every form of 'evil' in the shinobi world is an enemy of Justice."
"The shinobi world has been corroded by so much 'evil' that it's riddled with holes. Only by carrying out Justice in absolute, uncompromising terms can we put the world back on the right path."
Even… the Hokage?
That question only dared to form in her heart—she didn't dare say it aloud.
"Including the Hokage."
The next second, Chiquan said it outright, without the slightest hesitation—like a man unafraid to shock or offend.
Quan was stunned speechless.
…
What she didn't know was that the moment the short man bled out and died, a golden notification appeared in Uchiha Chiquan's vision:
Ding! You have successfully killed a "Red Name" villain! Your chakra has increased slightly! Congratulations, you have obtained: Gambling Experience Book ×2.
Name: Uchiha ChiquanAge: 18 years oldPosition: Member of the Konoha Uchiha Police ForceStrength: JōninKekkei Genkai: Sharingan, Lava ReleaseTaijutsu: Uchiha-style Kenjutsu, Shuriken Throwing Techniques, Kunai Combat…Ninjutsu: Great Fireball Technique, Phoenix Fire Technique, Majestic Flame Destruction, Mind Body Switch Technique…Other Skills: Cooking, Calligraphy, Gambling, Bedroom Arts……
This was the golden "cheat ability" he had awakened upon first arriving in Konoha.
It allowed him to see all the "evil" in people—whether committed in the past or destined to happen in the future.
Those who had already committed unforgivable evils had a crimson box hovering above their heads—labeled Red Name.
Those who would commit unforgivable evils in the future had a white box—White Name.
When he killed them…
Not only would his chakra increase, but he could also seize any ninjutsu, taijutsu, kekkei genkai, secret techniques, or skill experience they possessed.
The nature of this ability matched perfectly with the Absolute Justice Chiquan upheld.
In just a few years, his blade had been drenched in the blood of countless villains.
He had worn out several swords from cutting them down.
As for the "Lava Release" listed under Kekkei Genkai—it came from the starter gift pack he'd received when the ability first awakened.
The description of the gift pack read: A greeting from a believer in Absolute Justice, from across the sea.
…
(End of Chapter)