All I Can Do Is Purge Evil with Absolute Justice

"Sir, the body is nothing but bones now. All the evidence should be gone, so where do we even start?" Izumi asked timidly.

Uchiha Chisen said calmly, "Rookie, go back to the Konoha Military Police Force."

"Huh?" Izumi froze in confusion.

Uchiha Chisen said, "Find the list of everyone who went missing in Konoha over the past five years and bring it to me. Kijiro, have your children and grandchildren comb through Konoha's sewers and collect every bone fragment that might be human. I'll take a walk around the village and see if I get lucky."

Unfortunately, although the Shinobi World had the technology to extract DNA from bones, Konoha had never established a DNA database for its residents. That method could not immediately identify the victim.

As Izumi wondered what sort of luck he could find by walking around the village...

She suddenly remembered something he had once told her-his eyes had the power to see through evil!

Oh! That was how he'd found murderers several times before!

Her hesitation vanished, and Izumi hurriedly answered, "Yes, Mr. Chisen!"

Kijiro also said, "Yes, Lord Chisen!"

Izumi hurried back to the Uchiha Clan compound. Just as she was about to stride into the Military Police Force Building, a familiar figure suddenly appeared ahead of her, his back turned, making her freeze.

She shook her head in disbelief, closed her eyes for two full seconds, then opened them again.

But the figure ahead was still there.

"...Itachi?" Izumi could not help calling out tentatively.

She saw him turn around.

A familiar face came into the girl's view-it was Uchiha Itachi, the eldest son of the Uchiha Clan's head!

"Oh, Izumi." Uchiha Itachi suppressed his heavy feelings and looked at his only friend, forcing a polite smile.

Izumi was instantly delighted. "Itachi, it really is you! Why didn't you say anything when you came back to Konoha? I thought you were still outside the village on a mission."

Uchiha Itachi smiled weakly. "I only got back a little while ago."

He felt none of the joy of being reunited with a friend.

In the short time since his return, he had already realized that the conflict between the village and the Uchiha Clan was becoming increasingly irreconcilable.

The greatest recent source of that conflict was Uchiha Chisen's killing of the Hokage's eldest son, Sarutobi Shinosuke!

He could already feel pitch-black darkness enveloping the Uchiha.

It was like a cage trapping every Uchiha inside, with no one able to struggle free.

If the conflict continued to escalate until the village had no choice but to resort to special measures... the Uchiha Clan would cease to exist!

And the Uchiha Clan's retaliation would inflict devastating losses on Konoha, cripple the village, and leave the Hokage and the others utterly disappointed in the clan.

When that happened...

Sasuke...

One terrible thought after another lingered in Uchiha Itachi's mind, casting a shadow over his eyes.

His heart grew heavier still.

"Itachi, is something bothering you?" Izumi keenly sensed that something was wrong with his expression. "Did your Anbu mission not go well? Or...?"

Uchiha Itachi came back to his senses and shook his head expressionlessly. "...It's nothing."

Only then did Uchiha Itachi notice that Izumi was wearing the combat uniform of the Konoha Military Police Force.

He remembered that a little over two weeks ago, she had only recently graduated from the Ninja Academy.

Uchiha Itachi changed the subject, calming his turbulent thoughts somewhat in the process. In an even tone, he asked, "Did you join the Konoha Military Police Force? Are you settling in all right?"

Izumi nodded with a confident smile. "Yes! I'm only a trainee right now. There's still a long evaluation period before I can become a full member. It's usually exhausting, but I'm managing to get used to it! After all, Mr. Chisen only seems strict on the surface. He actually cares quite a bit about his subordinates."

Uchiha Itachi paused. "Mr... Chisen?"

Izumi's smile stiffened slightly.

Oh no. I must have been so tired yesterday, and slept so badly last night, that even my memory's getting worse.

I actually forgot that Mr. Chisen and Itachi don't get along!

"You mean Uchiha Chisen?" Uchiha Itachi asked.

"...Yes."

Izumi nodded stiffly.

She wanted to flick herself right in the forehead.

Uchiha Itachi hesitated in silence, then finally decided to warn his last remaining friend. "Izumi, I hope you won't think I'm saying too much. Uchiha Chisen's thinking can be too extreme at times. Shisui..."

He paused for half a second, took a deep breath, and continued, "Shisui once told me that Uchiha Chisen stands neither with the Uchiha nor with Konoha. He stands only with himself."

"He's the sort of person who hurts not only his enemies, but also the people around him. His [absolute justice], in particular, will bring serious trouble to the Uchiha."

"The [absolute justice] Mr. Chisen believes in won't bring any trouble to the Uchiha Clan." Hearing Uchiha Itachi's words, Izumi blurted out her response almost instinctively.

Uchiha Itachi froze.

So did Izumi.

She pressed her lips together and gripped the hem of her clothes. "I don't know what happened between you and Mr. Chisen. But I want to say that his absolute justice has never done anything wrong."

"He's also faithfully fulfilling his responsibilities and duties as a ninja of the Konoha Military Police Force. He has always quietly upheld [justice] on his own, and he has always worked to suppress the corruption and wrongdoing in Konoha."

"Everyone simply knows too little about him, and he isn't the sort of person to say things he considers pointless. That's why you have so many misunderstandings about Mr. Chisen."

"I believe those misunderstandings will disappear someday!"

Izumi did not know why she was explaining all this to Itachi.

Perhaps because she had chosen to follow Chisen's [absolute justice], she instinctively wanted to defend it.

And she instinctively wanted to defend Chisen, too.

Uchiha Itachi studied the girl's uneasy yet earnest expression. His own expression remained unchanged. "Have you already made up your mind to follow that man's extreme Nindo?"

"Yes!"

Izumi's face was serious. "Ever since I was at the Ninja Academy, I've wanted to catch up with a Konoha genius like you, Itachi. But my talent is ordinary. I didn't graduate from the Ninja Academy until I was twelve, and I didn't have any plans for my future..."

"But I believe I can find another way to prove my worth in Konoha! After meeting Mr. Chisen and gradually getting to know him, I gained a clear understanding of how I could make my life meaningful."

"Itachi, purging the 'evil' of the Shinobi World through [absolute justice]-that is my Nindo as Uchiha Izumi!"

Uchiha Itachi remained silent for a long moment.

"So this is the measure of your capacity?" he said expressionlessly. "It certainly sounds impressive. But the path you're taking is wro-"

"Meow, rookie, what are you doing?" A strangely pitched voice suddenly interrupted Uchiha Itachi.

A black ninja cat stood on the eaves off to the side.

It spoke to Izumi in human language. "Grandfather Kijiro sent me to check on you. Have you gotten the missing persons list yet, meow?"

"Oh! You're the ninja cat that was guarding the sewer entrance earlier, aren't you?"

Izumi looked up and hurriedly said, "Ah! Wait a moment. I'll get it right now!"

He watched Izumi rush into the Military Police Force Building.

Uchiha Itachi withdrew his gaze, then turned his calm eyes toward the black ninja cat.

The black ninja cat was staring at him, too.

"Uchiha Itachi..." The fur on the ninja cat's back bristled slightly, and it involuntarily backed away a few steps. Like Uchiha Chisen himself, the ninja cats associated with him had little liking for Uchiha Itachi, the clan head's eldest son.

They could even be called somewhat hostile.

Uchiha Itachi hesitated.

In the end, he decided against using his Sharingan to interrogate the ninja cat for information about Uchiha Chisen.

"Pass a message to Uchiha Chisen for me."

Uchiha Itachi slowly told the ninja cat, "Doing something like this will only deepen the conflict between the village and the Uchiha Clan. Eventually, it will lead to a situation that cannot be reversed. I hope he'll consider the village's position, and how precious peace is."

"Meow! Lord Chisen! Something terrible has happened!"

The black ninja cat had not stayed to wait for Izumi. Instead, it had rushed back to notify Uchiha Chisen.

Panting, the ninja cat hurriedly said, "Lord Chisen, Uchiha... Uchiha Itachi is back in the village, meow!!!"

"He's a Konoha ninja. Isn't it perfectly normal for him to return?"

Uchiha Chisen remained unruffled.

The ninja cat paused, then said, "But didn't you say before that Uchiha Itachi would commit unspeakably evil deeds? You have the power to see through other people's future evil, don't you, Lord Chisen? And that power of yours has never been wrong."

Uchiha Chisen briefly slowed his steps and said, "If you knew someone would commit unspeakable evil in the future, but he hadn't done it yet, what would you do?"

The ninja cat said miserably, "I'm just a ninja cat. My brain can't handle such profound questions..."

"Maybe..."

The black ninja cat ventured timidly, "I'd try to find a way to stop him?"

Uchiha Chisen said, "I urged the clan head and his wife to have Uchiha Itachi's head examined. There's definitely something seriously wrong with their eldest son's brain. I also told Uchiha Shisui that he would regret protecting Uchiha Itachi."

"I've taken plenty of steps to 'stop him beforehand.' If he still willingly plunges into the abyss and becomes a beast, then all I can do is purge evil with [absolute justice]."

Suddenly.

A shout reached his ears from some distance away.

"Sir! I... I found the missing persons list!!!"

The Uchiha girl came running over, clutching a document in both hands.