Chapter 38: Itachi, There Is An Insurmountable Wall Between Humans And Beasts
Upon returning to Konoha, Uchiha Itachi did not rush back to the Uchiha Clan Compound, but first came to the Hokage’s Office Building.
He first found the Third Hokage.
Knock knock knock—
After Uchiha Itachi knocked on the office door, and Sarutobi Hiruzen’s somewhat tired “Come in” came from inside, Uchiha Itachi pushed the door open and entered with his two subordinates.
“Hokage.”
Uchiha Itachi let his hands hang down and said seriously: “The mission you assigned has been successfully completed. Uchiha Itachi, Hyuga Osawa, Sarutobi Amewara have returned to Anbu.”
“……It’s Itachi.”
Sarutobi Hiruzen slightly raised his head, trying to squeeze out a smile, but couldn’t manage it.
He said: “Not a single teammate was lost. Well done.”
Uchiha Itachi keenly sensed that the atmosphere was a bit off.
He also felt that the Hokage’s emotion was a bit strange.
“Hokage, has something happened in the village?”
He asked proactively.
Sarutobi Hiruzen was silent for a moment, then said: “Shinnosuke and many Anbu Ninjas’ funeral will be held this afternoon. Itachi, Osawa, Amewara. You three returned just in time. If you want to attend the funeral, go back and change into a set of clothes first, then meet at Konoha’s Public Cemetery.”
He didn’t say what had happened, but the amount of information in his words still made Uchiha Itachi stunned for a moment.
Shinnosuke…… Many Anbu Ninjas’ funeral……
He felt that the former name was somewhat familiar; the latter, how big of an incident must have happened to sacrifice so many Anbu?
Uchiha Itachi thought about it, but ultimately did not press further.
Since the Hokage was unwilling to say, there must be a reason the Hokage was unwilling to speak of.
He did not overstep.
“Hokage, I will take my leave first.” Uchiha Itachi said.
“Mm.”
……
After leaving the Hokage’s Office Building, Uchiha Itachi prepared to return to the Uchiha Clan Compound.
On the street, he suddenly heard some people discussing something.
He silently walked over to them.
After casually listening for a bit.
He finally realized why the Hokage’s emotion was low, and why he always felt that the name “Shinnosuke” was familiar—this was the Hokage’s eldest son!
“Uchiha Ikeizumi…… killed many Anbu, and also killed the Hokage’s eldest son…… And the reason for all this was that Senior Shinnosuke did many things he shouldn’t have…… Indeed, that man Uchiha Ikeizumi cannot tolerate such ‘wrongdoings’.”
Itachi suddenly fell silent.
Uchiha Ikeizumi……
This name made him vaguely recall some unpleasant memories.
This man, once like Shisui, was hailed as the Uchiha Clan’s “genius twin stars”. Even on the battlefield of the Third Shinobi World War, the other’s reputation was on par with Shisui’s.
And yet such a Uchiha genius seemed completely out of place with the entire Uchiha Clan, or even the entire Konoha Village!
At first.
Uchiha Itachi thought Uchiha Ikeizumi was the same type of person as himself, because they were both so out of place.
However……
——”I am not the same type of person as you. Between humans and beasts, there is an insurmountable high wall, Uchiha Itachi.”
A cold sentence once from Uchiha Ikeizumi. For some reason, it emerged from Uchiha Itachi’s heart.
——”Shisui, if you protect him, you will regret it.”
And this sentence came from Ikeizumi after Shisui timely appeared and saved him when he was nearly killed by him.
A trace of complexity flashed in Uchiha Itachi’s calm eyes.
Among the entire Uchiha Clan, the person he understood the least.
Was probably Uchiha Ikeizumi.
……
On the other side of Konoha.
“Lord Ikeizumi, there’s a case! Meow!” Kijiro crouched slightly on all fours, leaped onto Ikeizumi’s head, licked his paw, then said to Uchiha Ikeizumi: “My children found something amazing in the village’s sewer, meow!”
Ikeizumi weakly raised his hand in protest: “Senior Kijiro, in the future when reporting cases to Senior Ikeizumi, can you please not jump on top of my head……”
“Meow, rookie, I’m testing your reaction ability! When you can dodge me someday, you’ll at least be a jonin!”
Uchiha Ikeizumi expressionlessly interrupted the man and the cat: “Be specific. And lead the way.”
While leading the way, Kijiro hurriedly said: “It’s human bones, meow, but the bones are very fragmented, and only a small part. From my experience, this should be a human jawbone.”
“My children searched everywhere in the sewer, and on the other side found other bones, also part of the body, possibly from the same deceased, meow.”
“But couldn’t find more, maybe they were washed away, or hidden somewhere else.”
Ikeizumi was startled: “Di…… dismembered?!”
Ikeizumi suddenly thought of something, hesitating: “Since it’s already white bone, it should have been dead for a long time. Could it be corpse fragments from some enemy village ninjas during the war period? After all, if corpses fall into the sewer, the village might not have had time to clean them up?”
“Yo? Learned to analyze and think, rookie!” Kijiro patted Ikeizumi’s head: “Progress!”
“We’ll know once we go down and look.”
Uchiha Ikeizumi said calmly.
Not long after.
Ninja Cat Kijiro brought Uchiha Ikeizumi and Ikeizumi to a relatively remote street in Konoha Village.
It jumped down from Ikeizumi’s small head, and Ikeizumi quickly took the opportunity to tidy her messed-up hair.
“Right here.”
Kijiro pointed to the lifted sewer manhole cover.
There were two ninja cats guarding beside this manhole cover.
“Lord Ikeizumi! Lord Kijiro!” ×2
The two ninja cats spoke human words to greet them.
“Lord Ikeizumi, how about I have the children fetch the bones…… Eh?” Before Kijiro finished speaking, he saw Uchiha Ikeizumi jump directly into the sewer without further ado.
“Lord Ikeizumi wait for me! Meow!”
It immediately followed.
“Ah? Senior Ikeizumi wait for me!” Ikeizumi also hurriedly jumped in.
……
“……The smell is so bad.” The moment Ikeizumi jumped down following, she suddenly regretted it a little.
She couldn’t describe the smell permeating the air.
The pitch-black environment where she couldn’t see her hand in front of her face made her even more uncomfortable.
Suddenly.
She saw a glow appear, and in that blink of an eye, the glow filled her entire field of vision.
Hiss! Senior Ikeizumi’s one palm had turned into lava!
That glow was the light emitted by the lava!
“Lord Ikeizumi, it’s this one.” When Kijiro’s voice fell, Ikeizumi also hurried over and looked closely.
“This is……” Ikeizumi found a palm-sized white bone placed on a relatively clean spot on the ground.
She also saw Senior Ikeizumi directly pick up the white bone.
“Time of death no more than five years.”
Uchiha Ikeizumi said indifferently: “Unrelated to the war, this is a murder and dismemberment case. The time of occurrence should be within the range of three to five years ago.”
……
……
