Finding the killer

"Good morning, Captain."

At the entrance to the Uchiha Konoha Military Police Force, Uchiha Xuan and Uchiha Xi stepped forward to greet their captain when they saw him.

"Mm."

Uchiha Jin nodded calmly and headed to the chief's office.

"Jin, you're here."

Uchiha Fugaku's tightly knitted brows relaxed slightly the moment he saw who had arrived, then furrowed again.

"Clan leader, what happened?"

He noticed that the clan leader's expression was off and instinctively looked at the documents on the desk.

"A murder was discovered in the southern district last night. Judging by the method, it was probably the work of a ninja."

Uchiha Fugaku held nothing back and handed him the documents on the desk.

Uchiha Jin took the documents and began reading.

A family of three had died horrific deaths in their home, and the wife had been sexually assaulted before her death.

The husband and daughter had each been killed with a single blow.

The bodies had lain at home for three days before the stench alerted the neighbors that something was wrong, leading to their discovery.

None of the family's valuables were missing, indicating that money had not been the killer's motive.

The wife had been twenty-three and quite attractive.

Combined with the sexual assault before her death, this suggested that the killer's motive had been sexual.

Perhaps the killer had been discovered and killed the woman's husband and daughter first, then killed the woman afterward to silence her.

"Do you have any thoughts on this case?"

Uchiha Fugaku asked.

Uchiha Jin was a genius within the clan and a staunch supporter of the clan faction.

As clan leader, he naturally had to put every effort into cultivating him.

[Ding. Host detected discovering the massacre of an entire family. As an upholder of justice, you must find the killer within three days.]

[Mission completion reward: the title "Eye of Judgment."]

"Clan leader, I'd like to take this case."

Uchiha Jin placed the documents back on the desk.

Since the system had issued a mission, there was no reason to refuse.

Finding the killer in three days.

Honestly, it would be somewhat difficult, but he had to try.

"All right."

Uchiha Fugaku had already been considering assigning Jin's squad to find the killer, so he could hardly have asked for more when Jin volunteered.

Of course, he would not pin all his hopes for the case on a rookie squad.

He would also send other, more experienced squads to find the killer.

In such a serious murder case, they had to find the real culprit as quickly as possible!

Moreover, the killer was very likely a ninja, perhaps even a spy sent by an enemy nation.

Having obtained the clan leader's permission, Uchiha Jin turned and left the Commander-in-Chief's Office.

Uchiha Fugaku watched him leave and raised an eyebrow.

"I hope you can surprise me."

The morgue.

The bodies of the family of three lay neatly arranged.

Uchiha Jin lifted the white sheet covering the bodies. After three days, dark red fluids from decomposition had seeped out all over them, accompanied by an intense, pungent stench of decay that made one want to retch.

"Boss, it stinks, meow!"

The black cat perched on his shoulder covered its nose with its soft paw pads. Had it known, it would never have followed its boss to the morgue.

It really couldn't stand it, meow!

Uchiha Jin examined the bodies carefully. The husband and daughter had wounds on their necks, apparently inflicted by a sharp blade, killing them in a single strike.

They had not even had a chance to resist.

The wife's body had multiple bruises, most likely from being beaten while resisting the sexual assault.

Ultimately, her throat had also been slit with a sharp blade.

Fighting back his discomfort, Uchiha Xuan asked, "Captain, there aren't many clues on the bodies. Shall we take a look at the crime scene?"

Although the two of them were battle-hardened ninja, the stench of decay was truly nauseating.

"Mm."

The three people and one cat left the morgue and breathed in the fresh air, feeling as though they had come back to life.

They arrived at the crime scene.

There really were not many clues, only long-dried bloodstains on the floor.

There was also a large amount of blood on the bed, belonging to the wife.

The killer had sexually assaulted her on the bed before killing her.

There were no signs of a struggle anywhere at the scene, leaving them with very little information to gather.

After all, the gap in strength between ninja and ordinary people was immense.

Even a Genin fresh out of the academy could completely overpower ordinary people, leaving them utterly unable to resist.

Finding the culprit was therefore as difficult as reaching the heavens.

"This is way too difficult."

Uchiha Xuan looked disheartened, without the slightest lead on the killer.

Could they really find the killer?

Others might have been at a complete loss, but Uchiha Jin, who possessed a system, was different.

He could see the sin values above people's heads.

Someone responsible for such a horrific family massacre would definitely have red above their head.

The couple had run a noodle shop, though business had not been particularly good.

He only needed to check the ninja who had recently visited the noodle shop, then look at the sin values above their heads to narrow things down further.

They had died at home.

That meant the killer had at least known the victims or secretly followed them.

Perhaps the killer had long harbored illicit desires for the beautiful proprietress...

"Let's start by interviewing the neighbors and the customers who recently visited the noodle shop."

The three of them interviewed the victims' neighbors and the businesses around the noodle shop.

They found customers who had recently eaten there.

Five of them were ninja.

Uchiha Jin saw that the bars above their heads were all yellow.

That meant none of them was the killer.

After the routine questioning, he let them leave.

"Captain, do we have any leads?"

Uchiha Xi instinctively looked at Uchiha Jin.

To her, finding the killer in such a vast village was nothing short of a pipe dream.

Never mind rookies like them who had just joined the Konoha Military Police Force Troops—even their seniors would probably struggle to find the killer.

After all, murders occurred in Konoha every year.

Revenge killings and the like were manageable, but cases like this, where the killer was a ninja, were difficult to handle.

This case would most likely be closed for lack of leads, with the killer never found...

Uchiha Jin shook his head.

He admitted that he had initially thought tracking down the killer would be too simple. It was all too easy for a ninja to conceal evidence of murder.

If he killed a few ordinary people, he would not leave any evidence either.

Unless he was unlucky enough to be caught in the act, but that was almost impossible.

Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a young man on the street who kept stealing sidelong glances at the noodle shop as he walked.

After meeting Uchiha Jin's gaze, the young man looked away as though nothing had happened.

This was common enough. Watching a spectacle was human nature.

Quite a few people had watched from a short distance away while they investigated.

But that young man was different from all the other onlookers!

Because the sin value above his head was not yellow, but red!

Uchiha Jin suddenly remembered a saying.

Killers would generally return to the scene of the crime to admire their handiwork.

And the young man before him was very likely the killer!

[Host detected finding the killer. Mission complete.]

The electronic voice in his mind left Uchiha Jin stunned.

The mission was already complete?

It seemed he had been mistaken from the start. The system's mission was to find the killer within three days.

In other words, simply seeing the killer counted as completing the mission. He did not need to establish a chain of evidence as he would in normal law enforcement.

[Congratulations to the host on obtaining the title "Eye of Judgment"!]