The criminal and the victim's bodies — Izumi carried them all back by herself.
On the way, she lost count of how many people gave her strange looks. The stares made her so self-conscious that she didn't dare lift her head the entire trip.
Thankfully, no one misunderstood her. Maybe it was because of the distinctive Uchiha clan uniform she wore — it probably saved her a lot of trouble.
By the time she finally forced herself to return to the Uchiha Police Force headquarters…
And finally saw Senior Chiquan again…
The taut string inside her chest loosened just a little.
But…
She quickly realized that the stares of many senior officers from the Uchiha Police Force were now fixed squarely on her.
That feeling — like a rare animal being scrutinized — she'd experienced it once before, vividly.
It inevitably made her tense up again.
"Leave the bodies here. They'll take care of it. Now, come with me to meet the clan head." Senior Chiquan's cold voice landed in Izumi's ears — strangely enough, it gave her a sense of relief. Unexpectedly, it even made her feel safe.
Her nervousness faded quite a bit.
It was like having a strong pillar of support to lean on.
"Yes, senpai!!!"
Izumi answered quickly.
As Uchiha Chiquan walked into the Police Force building, he asked over his shoulder without turning back, "As a member of the Uchiha Police Force, if you encounter an ordinary civilian criminal resisting arrest, what should you do?"
This is…
Is Senior Chiquan testing my theory knowledge?
Izumi felt a bit more confident.
To join the Police Force, she'd spent a whole month memorizing the entire Code of Conduct word-for-word. She hadn't missed a single line.
She'd passed the written theory exam with a perfect score, earning the right to participate in the recruitment trials.
She remembered clearly — the manual said that if an ordinary civilian resisted arrest, the response should depend on the situation's severity.
In short — if resistance wasn't too aggressive, you could use gentler restraint; if it was more violent, you could use some force — but at most, enough to make the suspect face-plant in the dirt.
After all, the criminal was just a civilian.
Not a dangerous ninja.
"First, attempt to use mild measures to restrain them—" Izumi began with a textbook-perfect answer.
But halfway through…
She froze.
Because she remembered how Senior Chiquan had handled that short man who tried to escape earlier today — which was completely different from what the manual said.
Izumi swallowed her words. She had a feeling Senior Chiquan wasn't the type to follow the rules to the letter. She hesitated, then weakly changed her answer: "Maybe… use a more forceful approach?"
Coincidentally, Chiquan slowed his steps — they had already arrived at Uchiha Fugaku's office inside the Police Force building.
He said coolly, "Rookie, I hope your reason for answering that way wasn't just to flatter me. Remember this: Absolute justice comes from absolute enforcement. And the level of enforcement changes depending on the era."
"Right now… this is the time when the ninja world is most corroded by 'evil.' In chaotic times, we must use heavy measures. Even when we encounter the slightest trace of evil, we strike hard — no mercy."
…So…
She got it "right."
Even though it wasn't the standard textbook answer.
But…
Izumi couldn't help but feel that Senior Chiquan's outlook was extreme.
In her opinion, the age of chaos in the ninja world was long over. The Third Great Ninja War had ended years ago. The Nine-Tails incident had been years ago too.
Sure, there were still occasional small conflicts — but nothing so bad as to call it "chaos," right?
At least…
From the Uchiha clan's perspective, weren't things actually improving? Wasn't life getting better?
Maybe Senior Chiquan was just overly pessimistic…
Of course — these thoughts stayed in her head. No way was she going to say them out loud.
Knock, knock, knock.
The sound of the door broke her thoughts.
When Fugaku's deep, steady voice called, "Come in," Senior Chiquan pushed the slightly nervous girl through the door.
"Chiquan? And… Uchiha Izumi?" Fugaku was slightly surprised.
"You tell him," Chiquan said casually, finding a chair for himself and sitting down. He crossed one leg over the other and idly rubbed the armrest, which was already worn smooth from use.
"Huh?"
It took Izumi a second to realize he was talking to her.
And Clan Head Fugaku… seemed completely unfazed by Chiquan's lack of manners.
Because — Chiquan hadn't even greeted him!
Could there be… some kind of friction between them?
Shoving that thought aside, Izumi hurriedly said, "Lord Fugaku, today I was with Senior Chiquan and…"
And so…
Izumi recounted today's events from beginning to end.
Fugaku's brow furrowed deeper and deeper, until his expression looked eerily similar to the Third Hokage's.
"Chiquan, your actions are a bit too extreme." Fugaku sighed. His face hardened, his tone deepening: "It's exactly because of this kind of thing that the village becomes wary of the Uchiha. I know you're pursuing justice, and I know you have your own views on it. But sometimes… justice needs to be measured and timed carefully."
"You know very well… the village has been growing more and more distant from the Uchiha. We've already been forced to relocate to the far edge of the village — there's nowhere left to retreat. All we can do is take measures to salvage our reputation."
"But you…"
Looking at the young Uchiha jōnin before him, Fugaku felt a headache coming on.
He thought Chiquan was very talented — opening the three-tomoe Sharingan early, and even possessing the rare "Lava Release" kekkei genkai. He was the only Uchiha in history to have two bloodline limits.
Maybe one day, this young man could awaken the legendary Mangekyō Sharingan.
Become another pillar of the clan.
But…
This outstanding Uchiha's ideals were completely incompatible with his own.
No — Chiquan's "absolute justice" ideology clashed not just with him, but with the entire clan.
Neither the hawks, who wanted to confront the village head-on (and even whispered about a coup), nor the doves, who wanted to negotiate and make peace — none of them saw eye-to-eye with Chiquan.
Because Chiquan's justice didn't stand with the Uchiha. It stood with his own personal sense of "principle" and "justice."
He was a faction of one.
That was why he was always alone.
That was why he didn't fit in.
Chiquan raised his eyelids, meeting the gaze of the man known as "Fugaku of the Stern Eyes."
"You want me to take certain considerations into account — to compromise selectively while enforcing justice, in order to ease tensions with the village, right?"
Fugaku replied, "No need to put it so bluntly."
But he didn't deny it.
"My style won't change. Instead of telling me to hold back, you should focus on controlling your beast of a son. Maybe get him to see a therapist — I really think it's necessary."
Without another word, Chiquan stood up and left.
Fugaku's face froze.
To insult a man's son to his face…
Even Uchiha Fugaku couldn't avoid a surge of anger.
But…
This wasn't the first time. For some reason, Chiquan had always disliked Itachi.
He had even attacked him once — and if Shisui hadn't been there, Itachi might have been seriously hurt.
Fugaku's expression darkened as he watched Chiquan's back disappear through the doorway.
Izumi, meanwhile, looked around in confusion.
She could feel the tense, almost sword-drawn atmosphere in the office — and the clan head's tightly contained fury. She even noticed his fists, clenched silently at his sides.
She still had no idea why Senior Chiquan had such a problem with the clan head's son.
Wait a second…
The clan head's son… wasn't that Itachi and Sasuke?
Izumi's eyes went wide.
She might have chosen the worst possible examiner.
Her future… did not look promising.
P.S.: Signed the contract! You can keep reading with confidence, and feel free to throw in those monthly votes~ Tanghulu keeps typing away! Typing! Typing!(End of Chapter)