The masked man, dressed in the Akatsuki's signature black coat with red clouds, swaggered toward the entrance of New Senso-ji. Like a tiger clearing the streets, he sent pedestrians retreating several steps as though fleeing a plague.
Under the Japanese authorities' demonizing propaganda, the Akatsuki had become a notorious supernatural terrorist organization, the culprit behind numerous upheavals and the root of all evil seeking to destroy the world.
The masked man seemed to enjoy being the center of attention. He even ostentatiously pressed a hand to his mask, drawing passersby's attention to its spiraling eyehole.
His pupil was scarlet as blood.
The corner of Uchiha Naruto's mouth twitched, and his eyelid jumped.
"An attention-seeking idiot."
Matsudaira Chiyo swept her gaze over the masked man, her eyes turning cold, before smiling as though settling in for a good show.
Sure enough, in less than half a minute, a handful of uniformed police officers charged out of New Senso-ji's gates.
"Hey, who exactly are you?"
"Don't move! Put your hands above your head!"
Seeing the officers cautiously surround him, the masked man visibly panicked, then turned and ran.
He might have been fine if he hadn't run, but fleeing immediately betrayed his fear. The officers, who had been bracing for a formidable enemy, grew bolder and pounced on him like wolves and tigers, pinning him to the ground.
"I protest! This is excessive force..."
Ignoring his protests, one officer yanked off his Spiral Mask, revealing the face of a young man with a pointed mouth and pinched, monkey-like cheeks.
Then he forcibly pried open the young man's right eye and removed a blood-red cosmetic contact lens.
"Fuck! You bastards again!"
The officer hurled the contact lens to the ground, smashing it, then raised his fist with a string of curses, ready to