Uchiha Jin really was a good person

Hokage's Office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the Hyuga brothers standing before him and sighed softly.

"That boy Jin never gives it a rest..."

"Lord Hokage, Uchiha Jin's law enforcement actions completely disregard proper procedure."

Hyuga Hiashi's face was livid as he came to the Hokage and voiced his accusations sharply.

"Uchiha Law Enforcement should rely on evidence, arresting and questioning people when there is sufficient evidence, rather than arresting people at will based on intuition!"

"Lord Hokage, I believe my elder brother is right."

Hizashi Hyuga chimed in.

"Arresting people at will without evidence will unsettle the villagers. Everyone will fear being taken away by the Konoha Military Police Force Troops for no reason."

He tried to persuade the Hokage by citing the potential impact on the villagers' morale.

Hiruzen Sarutobi set down his pipe and gave the two a meaningful look.

"Then tell me, did Hyūga Seigen kill someone?"

The Anbu responsible for monitoring Uchiha Jin had already informed him of what had happened at the entrance to the Hyuga Clan Compound.

Judging by the behavior of the Hyuga Main Family elder and Hyūga Seigen himself,

there was a very high probability that the latter was a murderer.

The Hyuga brothers clearly wanted to use him, the Hokage, as their weapon.

Hyuga Hiashi and Hizashi Hyuga fell silent at his words.

Much as they hated to admit it, Seigen was indeed the murderer.

They truly could not understand how that boy had discovered it.

In principle, no third person should have known about what happened inside the Hyuga Clan Compound.

Even they had not known.

It was simply absurd.

Seeing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head gently. "If Hyūga Seigen really is the murderer, I cannot decide to punish Uchiha Jin."

He could not help recalling the boy's impassioned words in his office that day.

If Uchiha Jin really was as he claimed, that could be considered a good thing for the village.

Even if the person he had killed was his nephew.

Judging the matter on its own merits, there really was nothing wrong with it...

At first, Hiruzen Sarutobi had actually thought Jin was deliberately targeting him, but now, seeing the Hyuga brothers' unpleasant expressions, he suddenly felt relieved.

Uchiha Jin was not deliberately targeting anyone at all. He was merely enforcing the law impartially.

Uchiha Jin might have had a terrible reputation in the village lately,

but Hiruzen knew those voices were the result of deliberate rumors and manipulation by people with an agenda.

In fact, most villagers had a favorable opinion of Uchiha Jin.

In less than a week after joining the Konoha Military Police Force Troops, he had handled many cases.

And there had not been a single wrongful conviction or mishandled case.

Perhaps that boy possessed the Will of Fire, just like Shisui.

It might simply have manifested differently.

Hyuga Hiashi and Hizashi Hyuga exchanged a glance, realizing that the Hokage would not punish Jin.

The two took their leave and left the Hokage's Office.

They had thought Hiruzen Sarutobi would punish the Uchiha Clan over this, but things had gone against their wishes... he had no such intention at all.

He was not even willing to criticize Uchiha Jin for disregarding law enforcement procedures.

The office door closed.

Hiruzen Sarutobi took a few puffs on his pipe, narrowing his eyes as he looked out the window toward the Konoha Military Police Force Troops.

"Shisui, how do you think Jin identified the murderer?"

He had never been able to figure that out. It was as if Jin could see the murderer directly.

"Lord Hokage, perhaps Jin has an exceptional gift."

Shisui Uchiha emerged from the shadows and bowed slightly as he replied respectfully.

"If only he were willing to join the Anbu. Unfortunately, even your persuasion couldn't change his mind."

"Lord Hokage, I hope you can forgive Jin. His methods of enforcing the law may be a little unconventional, but he genuinely has the victims' interests at heart."

Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at Shisui, who knelt on one knee, an unfathomable emotion flashing in his eyes.

Then a kindly smile spread across his face.

"Naturally. As long as Jin's intuition remains accurate, how could I possibly punish him?"

"If possible, I hope you can help me ask him how he identifies the murderer..."

"Understood!"

"Oh, one more thing."

As though something had occurred to him, Hiruzen Sarutobi asked with apparent casualness,

"How have things been with the Uchiha Clan lately?"

Konoha Military Police Force Troops.

After a round of questioning, Hyūga Seigen admitted to the murder.

Uchiha Sumitsugu watched Jin emerge from the interrogation room, his expression extremely complicated.

He admitted that, at first, he had truly thought the boy was acting recklessly.

How could anyone identify the murderer from nothing but a woman's freshly recovered corpse?

That was utter nonsense!

And what he had found most incomprehensible was that the clan leader had actually issued an arrest warrant.

Yet the facts proved that Uchiha Jin really had identified the murderer from a single corpse...

In more than a decade of working with the Konoha Military Police Force Troops, this was the first time he had seen anything so absurd.

He finally understood why the clan leader had issued Jin an arrest warrant.

This boy simply could not be judged by ordinary standards!

He admitted that his earlier doubts had been a little too loud.

"Jin, how did you identify the murderer?"

He really wanted to learn that trick!

If he learned it, why would he ever need to go to all that trouble searching for clues?

He could go straight to arresting the murderer.

"Talent. You can't learn it."

Uchiha Sumitsugu's initiative in stepping forward earlier at the Hyuga Clan had considerably improved Uchiha Jin's impression of him.

That was why he had not simply ignored his question.

Uchiha Sumitsugu: "..."

Inside the interrogation room.

Hyūga Seigen's face was drained of color.

Even now, he could not understand how he had been exposed.

Clearly, the only people present at the time had been him, his younger brother, and the housekeeper he had killed.

Even his grandfather had not known.

It was downright uncanny.

Surely the corpse had not told Uchiha Jin?

He was not a member of the Yamanaka Clan!

After all, reading the memories lingering in the dead was not a secret technique every member of the Yamanaka Clan knew.

It fell under the Advanced Secret Transmission: Mind Memory Search Technique.

Only a small number of Yamanaka clan members knew it.

And those people would not investigate the memories of ordinary dead people. It was always the Uchiha Konoha Military Police Force that searched for evidence to arrest murderers.

In principle, it should have been impossible to discover him...

Unless someone had secretly informed on him.

The more Hyūga Seigen thought about it, the more convinced he became that his younger brother had betrayed him.

He had secretly told the Uchiha Clan, allowing them to come straight to his door!

In another interrogation room.

"Hyūga Seigen has already confessed."

Uchiha Jin looked at Hyūga Kiyomo, who sat silently in his seat.

The two had also been classmates back then.

"Thank you."

Hyūga Kiyomo raised his head, gratitude showing on his face.

If not for Uchiha Jin, he might have been forced into prison.

"I said I wouldn't falsely accuse good people, much less let evildoers go."

Uchiha Jin took out a written statement of charges and placed it on the table.

"Sign it. You committed the crime of shielding an offender. Considering that you were coerced, some leniency can be granted."

Looking at the sentence of one year and three months written on it, Hyūga Kiyomo picked up the pen and signed his name without hesitation.

"May I ask how many years my brother got?"

"Nine years."

Uchiha Jin did not conceal anything and told him the circumstances.

"He was originally going to be sentenced to thirteen years in prison, but your Hyuga Clan offered too much."

"Combined with the forgiveness of the victim's family, that reduced Hyūga Seigen's sentence by four years."

The Hyuga Clan's actions had plainly exploited a loophole in village law.

There was little he could say about that.

"Mm."

Hyūga Kiyomo nodded, unable to keep the corners of his mouth from lifting.

Uchiha Jin really was a good person.