The next day, dawn had barely broken.
Uchiha Tunan struggled out of bed.
Using such high-intensity genjutsu yesterday had consumed too much Chakra, and a few hours of sleep was far from enough to restore him.
His body was still in a weakened state.
The first thing he did after getting up was open his diary.
Nothing major had happened lately, so the diary was mostly filled with meaningless filler.
He had written and rewritten the Will of Fire so many times that even Uchiha Tunan was sick of writing it.
"October 6.
Something big happened today. I thought about it for a long time, but I had no idea where to begin.
Tonight, Senrin asked me to meet her at the waterfall in the forest. She said she had something to tell me.
But I never expected her to take off her clothes right in front of me.
She even wanted to become my woman.
I ran away.
I only saw her as a younger sister, and I had long since fallen for Mina.
I thought that would be the end of it.
But unexpectedly, I ran into Mina on my way back to the village that night.
Something was clearly wrong with her, but I didn't notice at first.
I gathered my courage, confessed to her, and kissed her.
She didn't reject me.
I was overjoyed then. I felt like I was the happiest person in the world.
But she told me that she had killed Senrin with her own hands...
I didn't know what to do. According to the village's rules, someone like Mina should be executed.
But I couldn't bear to let her die.
Only Mina and I knew this secret now.
On one side was the village, and on the other was the woman I loved. What was I supposed to choose?"
The handwriting in the diary was extremely messy and hurried, and it abruptly stopped there.
Uchiha Tunan had even left several ink blots in the blank space afterward.
Then he casually tossed the pen onto the open diary and left the house with a dazed, desolate expression.
He dawdled on the road for over two hours before finally arriving in front of the Hokage Building.
Inside the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi lounged in his chair, leisurely smoking his pipe.
Suddenly, Hiruzen Sarutobi sat up straight.
The next moment, Uchiha Tunan knocked on the office door.
"Come in."
Uchiha Tunan pushed open the door and walked into the office. He looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi with a pale face, as though he wanted to say something but hesitated.
Then he slowly lowered his head and fell silent.
"Tunan, what happened?"
Uchiha Tunan clenched his fists, abruptly dropped to his knees, and said through tears, "Lord Hokage, I killed someone. Please execute me!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi was startled. He walked over to Uchiha Tunan and said gravely, "Tunan, raise your head and look at me."
Uchiha Tunan slowly raised his head. After meeting Hiruzen Sarutobi's gaze for less than a second, he looked away.
His eyes kept flicking downward, making him look incredibly guilty.
Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned, unable to make up his mind.
He immediately summoned the Anbu.
"Take Tunan to the Interrogation Department. Without my orders, no one is allowed to interrogate him," Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered.
"Yes." The Anbu replied, grabbed Uchiha Tunan, and used the Body Flicker Technique to leave the Hokage's office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi now felt that the matter was rather troublesome.
Uchiha Tunan had already shown value far beyond that of his peers, and he was loyal to him as well.
Hiruzen Sarutobi found it extremely difficult to simply have him executed.
But murder in the village, no matter who the victim was, required execution under the rules.
"If it comes to it, I'll arrange for him to enter Root. At least that will save his life."
Hiruzen Sarutobi had already begun considering his final option.
No, if he had decided to turn himself in, why had he looked so guilty?
Hiruzen Sarutobi narrowed his eyes slightly, noticing something unusual.
Looking guilty meant he had lied, so...
"Anbu."
"Lord Hokage."
"Go to Tunan's home and bring me his diary."
"Yes."
More than ten minutes later, the Anbu placed Tunan's diary before Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Hiruzen Sarutobi quickly flipped to the most recent entries.
Just as expected!
This child had started dating without making a sound?
The village was on one side, his girlfriend on the other, so he had chosen to become the scapegoat himself?
Hiruzen Sarutobi closed the diary and handed it to the Anbu.
"Return the diary, and bring Uchiha Mina to the Interrogation Department as well."
"Yes, Lord Hokage."
After the Anbu left, Hiruzen Sarutobi clasped his hands behind his back and headed for Konoha's Interrogation Department.
Konoha's Interrogation Department was built underground, with specialized ninja guarding every area.
"Lord Hokage." Takuya Yamanaka, captain of Konoha's Interrogation Department, greeted Hiruzen Sarutobi at the entrance.
The two spoke as they headed toward the interrogation room.
"Takuya, Tunan is still in the Interrogation Department, correct?"
"Yes. Will Lord Hokage be interrogating him personally?"
"No, I'll merely observe.
The latest intelligence indicates that the murderer is Uchiha Mina, who is also Tunan's little girlfriend."
"I see. Understood."
Next to the interrogation room was a one-way mirror. Hiruzen Sarutobi stood in this room, silently observing the situation inside.
Meanwhile, Takuya Yamanaka entered the interrogation room with a cold expression.
Uchiha Tunan sat in a chair looking utterly despondent, not even lifting his head.
Takuya Yamanaka cleared his throat and questioned him, "Uchiha Tunan, I understand your situation, but there are still a few questions I need to ask."
Uchiha Tunan looked like he had nothing left to live for. "Go ahead. I'll confess to everything."
What did he mean, confess to everything?
The veins on Takuya Yamanaka's forehead bulged. If Hiruzen Sarutobi had not been watching next door, he would have wanted to punch Uchiha Tunan first.
Taking a deep breath, Takuya Yamanaka opened his notebook, picked up his pen, and began firing off questions while writing rapidly.
"What was your relationship with the victim?"
"Classmates."
"Where did you last meet her?"
"At the waterfall east of Hokage Rock."
"What was she doing at the time?"
"She was bathing."
"What was your motive for killing her?"
"My motive?"
Uchiha Tunan froze at the question.
"Why did you kill her?"
Perhaps the questions had come too quickly. Uchiha Tunan looked as if he had not thought of an answer at all.
His eyes kept darting toward the lower left as he hesitantly said, "Because... because... she liked me."
Takuya Yamanaka slammed his pen heavily against the notebook and shouted, "Do you think that makes sense?"
"But I didn't like her."
Uchiha Tunan was sweating profusely as he hurriedly offered a disjointed explanation.
"She took off her clothes in front of me and hugged me. I was furious, so I..."
"Do you know the consequences of taking the blame for someone else?" Takuya Yamanaka's tone turned completely icy. He crossed his arms and gave up on taking notes.
By this point, it was basically certain that Uchiha Tunan was not the murderer, so there was no point in continuing the record.
"I'm not taking the blame for anyone. I really am not. I'm not. Please, believe me." Tears streamed down Uchiha Tunan's face as he pleaded with Takuya Yamanaka.
Takuya Yamanaka sneered and said gravely, "Fine. One last question. How did you kill her?"
The moment the question was asked, Uchiha Tunan fell silent.
He could only lower his head deeply. More than ten seconds later, he said uncertainly, "I... I don't remember clearly. I think I killed her with a kunai."
"Be specific. Where did the kunai strike? Two centimeters above the left side of her heart?"
Takuya Yamanaka rapped his fingers heavily against the table, as if prompting Uchiha Tunan.
"Yes! Right there." Uchiha Tunan's eyes widened as he answered in an exceptionally certain tone.
But the instant Takuya Yamanaka heard Uchiha Tunan admit it, he immediately began packing up his notebook and pen, too lazy to even look at him.
"Enough. Our investigators have already examined the scene.
The victim's head was severed, and the head was burned with a Great Fireball.
Uchiha Tunan, obstructing official business is punishable.
Before the Interrogation Department, it is impossible to take the blame for someone else."
After saying that, Takuya Yamanaka left the interrogation room without looking back and entered the room next door.
Before you continue