After returning to Konoha, Uchiha Itachi did not hurry back to the Uchiha Clan compound. Instead, he went to the Hokage Building first.
He sought out the Third Hokage.
Knock, knock, knock-
After Uchiha Itachi knocked on the office door, a weary "Come in" came from Sarutobi Hiruzen inside. Itachi pushed the door open and entered with his two subordinates.
"Lord Hokage."
Uchiha Itachi stood with his hands at his sides and said earnestly, "The mission you assigned us has been successfully completed. Uchiha Itachi, Hyuga Daisawa, and Sarutobi Uwa have returned to the Anbu."
"...Ah, Itachi."
Sarutobi Hiruzen raised his head slightly and tried to muster a smile, but simply could not.
"Not a single teammate lost. Well done," he said.
Uchiha Itachi keenly sensed that something was off about the atmosphere.
He also felt that the Hokage's mood was a little strange.
"Lord Hokage, has something happened in the village?"
He took the initiative to ask.
Sarutobi Hiruzen remained silent for a long moment before saying, "The funeral for Shinosuke and many Anbu Ninja will be held this afternoon. Itachi, Daisawa, Uwa. You three have returned just in time. If you wish to attend, go back and change first, then gather at Konoha's Public Cemetery."
He did not explain what had happened, but the information in his words still made Uchiha Itachi pause.
Shinosuke... a funeral for many Anbu Ninja...
The first name sounded familiar to him. As for the latter, just how serious an incident could have killed so many Anbu?
Uchiha Itachi thought it over, but ultimately did not press further.
Since the Hokage was unwilling to speak of it, he surely had his reasons.
Itachi did not overstep.
"Lord Hokage, I'll take my leave," Uchiha Itachi said.
"Mm."
After leaving the Hokage Building, Uchiha Itachi headed toward the Uchiha Clan compound.
On the way, he suddenly heard some people discussing something.
He quietly walked over to them.
After listening for a moment,
he finally understood why the Hokage had been so downcast. He also finally realized why the name "Shinosuke" had sounded so familiar-he was the Hokage's eldest son!
Uchiha Chisen... killed many Anbu, as well as the Hokage's eldest son... and all of it happened because Shinosuke had committed many wrongs he should never have committed... Yes, Uchiha Chisen was never one to tolerate that kind of "wrongdoing."
Itachi suddenly fell silent.
Uchiha Chisen...
The name brought back hazy memories of some unpleasant experiences.
Like Shisui, this man had once been hailed as one of the Uchiha Clan's "twin prodigies." Even on the battlefields of the Third Shinobi World War, his reputation had rivaled Shisui's.
Yet this very member of the Uchiha Clan seemed utterly at odds with the entire clan, and even with all of Konoha!
At first,
Uchiha Itachi had thought Uchiha Chisen was the same kind of person as himself, since neither of them fit in.
But...
-"You and I are not the same kind of person. There is an insurmountable wall between humans and beasts, Uchiha Itachi."
For some reason, those cold words Uchiha Chisen had once spoken surfaced in Itachi's mind.
-"Shisui, you'll regret saving him."
Those were the words Chisen had spoken after Itachi nearly died at his hands, only for Shisui to arrive in time to save him.
A trace of complicated emotion flickered through Uchiha Itachi's calm eyes.
Of everyone in the Uchiha Clan, the person he found hardest to fathom
was probably Uchiha Chisen.
Elsewhere in Konoha.
"Lord Chisen, we have a case! Meow!" Kijiro bent his four legs slightly, then sprang onto Izumi's head. After licking his paw, he said to Uchiha Chisen, "My children found something incredible in the village sewers, meow!"
Izumi timidly raised a hand in protest. "Kijiro, could you please stop jumping onto my head whenever you report a case to Chisen...?"
"Meow, rookie, I'm testing your reflexes! Once you can dodge me, you'll be a jonin at the very least!"
Uchiha Chisen cut off the girl and the cat with an expressionless face. "Be specific. And lead the way."
As Kijiro led them along, he hurriedly explained, "Human bones, meow. But they're badly broken, and there's only a small piece. From my experience, it should be part of a human jawbone."
"My children searched all through the sewers and found another bone elsewhere. It's also part of a body, possibly from the same dead person, meow."
"But they couldn't find any more. The rest might have been washed away, or it might be hidden somewhere else."
Izumi recoiled in horror. "D-dis... dismemberment?!"
Something suddenly occurred to Izumi, and she said hesitantly, "If there are only bare bones left, the person must have been dead for a long time. Could they be pieces of a ninja from another village who died during the war? After all, if a body fell into the sewers, the village might not have had time to clear it out."
"Oh? You've learned to think things through, rookie!" Kijiro patted Izumi's head. "You're improving!"
"We'll know once we go down and look."
Uchiha Chisen spoke calmly.
Before long,
the ninja cat Kijiro led Uchiha Chisen and Izumi to a fairly secluded street in Konoha.
He jumped down from Izumi's little head, and she quickly took the chance to straighten the hair he had tousled.
"Right here."
Kijiro pointed to an open sewer manhole.
Two other ninja cats stood guard beside it.
"Lord Chisen! Lord Kijiro!" ×2
The two ninja cats greeted them in human speech.
"Lord Chisen, shall I have my children bring the bones up... huh?" Just as Kijiro finished speaking, Uchiha Chisen jumped straight into the sewer without another word.
"Lord Chisen, wait for me! Meow!"
He immediately followed.
"Huh? Chisen, wait for me!" Izumi hurriedly jumped in too.
"...It smells awful." The instant Izumi landed after them, she felt a small pang of regret.
She could not begin to describe the stench filling the air.
The darkness was so thick she could not see her hand in front of her face, leaving her even more uncomfortable.
Suddenly,
she saw a glimmer of light appear, and in the blink of an eye, it flooded her entire field of vision.
Gasp! Chisen's whole hand had turned into magma!
The light was coming from the magma!
"Lord Chisen, this is it." As Kijiro spoke, Izumi hurried closer and took a careful look.
"This is..." Izumi spotted a palm-sized piece of white bone laid on a relatively clean patch of ground.
She also noticed Chisen pick the bone up directly.
"The person has been dead for no more than five years."
Uchiha Chisen said impassively, "It has nothing to do with the war. This is a case of murder and dismemberment. It most likely happened between three and five years ago."
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