Izumi found it hard to associate Patriarch Fugaku's stern, expressionless face with the word "timid."
After all, in her eyes, Uchiha Fugaku was still quite intimidating.
Even standing in front of the patriarch made her feel pressured.
"Kijiro, why does Patriarch Fugaku want to see Senior Chisen?" Izumi shook off the strange thoughts in her head. Her sudden curiosity dispelled much of the aggression left over from killing someone earlier, and she asked another question.
"Newbie, you need to call me your senior, meow! I've been following Lord Chisen for years longer than you!"
Kijiro stressed this rather indignantly.
Then he answered, "I'm not too sure about the details. It seems to have something to do with a case?"
Izumi's heart skipped a beat.
Could Patriarch Fugaku's intelligence network be so good that he already knew Senior Chisen and I barged straight into the funeral of Lord Hokage's eldest son, and that I executed a scumbag there?
Did Patriarch Fugaku call us back to hold us accountable?
Izumi felt uneasy.
Unlike Uchiha Chisen, who had long since stopped caring about Uchiha Fugaku's standing as patriarch, Izumi still felt some fear and respect toward him.
Before long.
They returned to the Uchiha Clan compound, and the persistent drizzle finally stopped.
Izumi shook the water from her head and followed Senior Chisen into the Military Police Force Building, growing increasingly anxious.
Then she watched Senior Chisen push the door open without even knocking and walk straight into Patriarch Fugaku's office at the Konoha Military Police Force.
Izumi had no choice but to steel herself and follow him.
"Lord Fugaku," she greeted him politely, only to notice that Senior Chisen beside her remained silent.
"Mm."
Fugaku nodded to Izumi, then looked at Uchiha Chisen. His face remained stern, but his eyes held mixed emotions as he said, "Chisen, I have some bad news. You may need to prepare yourself."
"Speak," Uchiha Chisen said bluntly.
Fugaku hesitated, then asked, "Do you know Uchiha Onigawara?"
Uchiha Chisen raised his eyelids slightly.
Fugaku sighed, his expression darkening as he slowly explained, "He's in trouble. A month ago, he left the village on a mission with two companions, but only he returned. His excuse at the time was that both his companions had been killed by the enemy."
"But after an investigation by the Konoha Military Police Force, we found that he was the one who killed them. And it wasn't self-defense. He deliberately tortured them to death out of a sickening malice."
"Chisen, I called you here because he's related to you by blood. I wanted to hear your opinion."
If this had been an ordinary member of the Uchiha Clan, Fugaku could have dealt with him himself.
But...
When Uchiha Chisen was involved.
Things became complicated.
"Related to Senior Chisen by blood..." Izumi, standing behind him, froze for a moment. She had always thought Senior Chisen was alone within the Uchiha Clan, with no relatives.
"Meow, Lord Chisen simply can't be bothered to keep in touch with them."
Kijiro saw through the girl's poorly concealed confusion at a glance.
He leaped onto her shoulder, his weight making Izumi's left shoulder dip.
Kijiro whispered, "Uchiha Onigawara is the younger brother of Lord Chisen's late mother. But he isn't a member of the Konoha Military Police Force. He's an Anbu shinobi, just like Uchiha Itachi."
"But apparently, his two companions died under such suspicious circumstances on a mission a month ago that he was temporarily suspended pending an investigation."
Understanding immediately dawned on Izumi.
Only then did she realize how much strange information her senior Ninja Cat Kijiro knew!
He even knew things like this!
"Is the evidence conclusive?" Uchiha Chisen merely asked a simple question, without even challenging the accusation. Fugaku could not see the slightest trace of anger on the young man's face, either.
Fugaku said, "That's what he confessed to."
"Then kill him."
"All right... huh???"
Fugaku suddenly registered what he had said. At last, a ripple of emotion crossed his expressionless face. He looked at Uchiha Chisen in astonishment and reminded him, "Chisen, he's your mother's younger brother. In terms of family relationships, he's your uncle, and you're his nephew."
Uchiha Chisen asked, "What does that have to do with killing him?"
Fugaku paused, then said hesitantly, "Shouldn't you at least go see him yourself, to make sure there hasn't been a mistake?"
Uchiha Chisen said, "If the Konoha Military Police Force can get even a trivial matter like this wrong, it might as well disband."
Fugaku: "..."
For a moment, he could not figure Uchiha Chisen out. Was he this cold-blooded even toward his own relatives?
Still.
Thinking about it carefully, he had never seen Uchiha Chisen clash with any of his blood relatives before. There really was no precedent that would have helped him understand Chisen's views on this matter.
Now Fugaku understood-even when facing his own flesh and blood, Uchiha Chisen would raise the butcher's blade without hesitation!
But just then, he heard Uchiha Chisen say, "If I let him cling to life simply because he has close ties to me, [absolute justice] will become a joke throughout the Shinobi World."
Was this once again because of the absolute justice he believed in?
Fugaku fell silent for a long moment before slowly saying, "Chisen, you should still go..."
-BOOM!!!
The sudden thunderous blast shook the Military Police Force Building and cut off the rest of Fugaku's words.
Fugaku's expression shifted slightly.
Izumi nearly lost her footing.
Then a member of the Konoha Military Police Force rushed in and reported urgently, "Lord Fugaku! Something's happened! Uchiha Onigawara killed one of the clansmen guarding him, broke through the detention cell wall, and escaped!"
Fugaku sprang to his feet.
His expression was grim.
Although many members of the Uchiha Clan were already mentally unstable, someone like Uchiha Onigawara, who not only tortured his own Anbu teammates to death but also killed a fellow clansman in the Konoha Military Police Force simply to escape... was an extreme case rarely seen in the clan even once in a decade.
Fugaku had never expected him to be so brazen, either! Doing this meant openly burning his bridges with both the village and the Uchiha.
That meant...
-Uchiha Onigawara intended to defect from Konoha!!!
At a time when serious misunderstandings already existed between the village and the Uchiha.
If a shinobi from the Uchiha Clan defected from Konoha.
The entire Uchiha Clan would never be able to clear its name.
"Order everyone in the Konoha Military Police Force to mobilize immediately! Capture Uchiha Onigawara!" Fugaku gritted his teeth, his face dark. "Stop him before he leaves Konoha, no matter the cost!"
"Chisen, you should also... hm?"
Only then did Fugaku notice in astonishment that Uchiha Chisen, who had been standing in the office just moments ago, was already gone.
"Meow, Lord Chisen left five seconds ago."
Kijiro spoke while licking his paw.
Before you continue