Sin level: Red Name!

Over an hour later, Izumi realized that when Senior Chisen said they would "look around," he really seemed to mean nothing more than "wandering around" Konoha.

She had not seen him display any professional investigative skills.

Nor had she seen him search for evidence or leads in the case.

She felt as though she had followed him around the whole of Konoha already. They had even made a circuit of the Uchiha Clan compound and wandered through the Hokage Building.

Izumi remained dazed and bewildered the entire time, with no idea what her senior was doing or what she herself was supposed to do.

Just as Izumi hesitated over whether to speak...

She noticed that her senior had stopped.

Finally!

No more aimless wandering!

Izumi nearly cried tears of relief.

"Senior, this is..." Before long, however, she realized something was off again. Looking ahead curiously, she noticed that this was the Gekko Clan Family Compound in Konoha.

Konoha had many shinobi clans of varying sizes, and the Uchiha Clan was one of its foremost major clans.

The Gekko Clan before them, however, was one of Konoha's smaller shinobi clans.

It had a dozen or so shinobi and passed down the Transparent Release Kekkei Genkai.

"This is the last place out in the open that we haven't visited," Uchiha Chisen said flatly. "If the killer isn't here, that leaves only those two places."

"Which two places?" Izumi wondered how Senior Chisen could identify the killer simply by wandering around, and she was even more curious about the two places he had mentioned.

"The Anbu and Root."

Uchiha Chisen's concise reply left Izumi dumbfounded.

"Huh? Uchiha Chisen! You cold-blooded butcher, how dare you show your face here?!" Just as Uchiha Chisen was about to enter the Gekko Clan Family Compound, a sudden furious shout rang out from some distance to one side.

He turned to look.

Two Gekko Clan shinobi wearing Konoha forehead protectors and Chunin vests were hurrying toward him.

They strode up to block Uchiha Chisen's path, both glaring at him with hatred in their eyes.

Izumi noticed the tension in the air. "Senior, do they have some sort of history with you...?"

Before she could finish her question...

One of the Gekko Clan shinobi shouted, "Uchiha Chisen! You'd better stay away from here. You aren't welcome in the Gekko Clan!"

Uchiha Chisen's right hand had rested on the hilt of his ninja sword the entire time.

His impassive gaze swept over the two men. "The Konoha Military Police Force is investigating a case. All uninvolved parties are to stand aside immediately. Otherwise, you will be obstructing law enforcement. Anyone who obstructs law enforcement will be killed on sight."

Uchiha Chisen's tone was equally flat, but the terrifying killing intent that suddenly rose from him made the hairs on Izumi's body stand on end.

She noticed that Senior Chisen's thumb was already pressed against his sword's guard!

An inch of gleaming silver blade had emerged!

The two Gekko Clan shinobi also felt the immense pressure. The cold sweat beading on their foreheads and their involuntarily clenched fists betrayed just how nervous they were.

But...

Rather than making them retreat even half a step, the sight only intensified the hatred in their eyes.

"Two years ago... it was exactly like this!" One Gekko Clan shinobi fought against the pressure, gritting his teeth as he glared. "You bastard, you said you were investigating a case then, too. You brazenly stormed into our compound... and killed our clan head, Lord Gekko Yuichiro! You killed two of our uncles as well!"

Izumi's bright eyes slowly widened.

This...

So Senior Chisen had that kind of history with the Gekko Clan!

Yikes! That had to be a blood feud, didn't it?

"Uchiha Chisen, you..."

"I don't remember." Uchiha Chisen slowly drew the ninja sword at his waist, walking forward at an unhurried pace as he said coldly, "I never make a point of remembering the people I've killed. Those who obstruct [justice] are even less worthy of a place in my memory."

His gaze passed through the gap between the two Gekko Clan shinobi and settled on a figure inside the compound ahead.

[Gekko Seisui-Last night, dissatisfied with his mother's excessive favoritism toward his elder brother, Gekko Hayate, he argued with her. Losing control of his emotions, he killed his mother with a blunt weapon and secretly disposed of her body in the early hours of the morning. Sin level: Red Name!]

The scarlet box stood out sharply in Uchiha Chisen's vision.

That was also one of the reasons he had drawn his sword.

"Three seconds. Move aside, or die." Uchiha Chisen did not stop. "Three, two..."

"Bastard! You arrogant prick! Do you really think our Gekko Clan will...?"

Uchiha Chisen had already walked past the two Gekko Clan shinobi.

He gave his ninja sword a light flick to shake off the blood.

"One."

His calm, unruffled eyes were like those of a judge from hell as he watched the terrified Gekko Seisui a short distance ahead.

At the same time, two bodies hit the ground in unison behind him.

"Rookie, this is your second lesson." Uchiha Chisen stepped into the Gekko Clan compound and spoke coldly to Izumi, who stood behind him, utterly stunned. "Anyone who obstructs [Justice Execution] is a lackey of evil and an enemy of justice. If they ignore the warning... kill them on sight."

Izumi stared blankly at the two decapitated bodies on the ground, blood spurting from them.

The splashing scarlet blood had even reached her feet.

Izumi's pupils trembled slightly.

When she stiffly raised her head, she saw Senior Chisen walking toward a young man of the Gekko Clan, his bloodstained ninja sword in hand, lightly flicking the blood from its blade.

Izumi had no idea what she was thinking.

As though compelled by some unseen force, she stepped onto the wet ground and through a pool of blood, leaving a long trail of bloody footprints as she followed Uchiha Chisen into the Gekko Clan compound.

A voice kept warning her in her mind-Once you follow him inside, there's no turning back. You can't accept Uchiha Chisen's absolute justice.

But... she still followed closely in Senior Chisen's footsteps.

And she took out a kunai.

She gripped it tightly in her hand.

"Phew, I finally got Lord Hokage to approve half a day off. It's been two weeks since I last saw Mother. This is a good chance to pay respects to Father with her and Seisui."

Gekko Hayate was an Anbu member serving directly under the Third Hokage.

Carrying the offerings he had just bought, he walked toward the Gekko Clan compound.

However...

When he reached the Family Compound, Gekko Hayate froze, and the offerings dropped from his hand.

Before his eyes-

Many Konoha villagers had gathered around the compound's main gate, trying to peer inside. Yet they seemed wary of something and did not dare approach, only watching from a distance.

Two headless bodies lay conspicuously before the gate, with their severed heads lying nearby.

Blank confusion still lingered on the faces of the severed heads.

Gekko Hayate faintly heard some villagers discussing something about the "Uchiha" and the "Konoha Military Police Force"...

He also heard a name that made his pupils sharply contract.

-"Uchiha Chisen"!!!

He was the man who had...

Murdered his father!