Chapter 8: Rusty Justice Is A Betrayal Of Justice
Uchiha Ikeizumi walked on the street of Konoha Village, followed by a girl behind him who was holding a ramen box, chopsticks in hand, slurping and eating the already clumped ramen while walking.
Most pedestrians on the road showed clearly unnatural expressions upon seeing Uchiha Ikeizumi.
Some playful children were quickly pulled back by their parents and scolded not to be naughty.
Clearly, these people had heard of Uchiha Ikeizumi’s “reputation.”
Or, their relatives or friends might have committed crimes and received special “care” from Uchiha Ikeizumi. Either they were already souls under the blade, or they were serving hard time in Konoha Prison.
“You… hello!”
Uchiha Ikeizumi paused his steps because a Konoha villager suddenly ran up and blocked him.
The other party held a box in his hands, mustered courage to offer it with both hands to Uchiha Ikeizumi, and said hurriedly with his head bowed: “Thank you for catching the murderers who killed my fiancée three months ago! I’ve been very depressed this time and haven’t had the chance to thank you. Please… please accept this thank-you gift!”
Uchiha Ikeizumi couldn’t remember every member’s name in the Uchiha Clan, nor did he deliberately memorize who died under his blade.
But he remembered vividly the victims harmed by “evil.”
The man in front of him, full of sorrow, was a Konoha civilian genin named “Takigawa Osamu,” twenty-five years old.
Three months ago, his fiancée was violated and killed by drunkards.
Uchiha Ikeizumi found the three murderers.
“I didn’t catch them,” Uchiha Ikeizumi said slowly. “I killed them all.”
The man bowed his head and said, “That’s exactly why I’m even more grateful to you.”
“Please…”
“Please accept my thank-you gift!”
Uchiha Ikeizumi shook his head. He walked around the sorrowful man, and when he reached behind him, Uchiha Ikeizumi said again: “I’m sorry this world, eroded by ‘evil’ to the point of being riddled with holes and diseased, has disappointed you. If you really make the decision, the thank-you gift doesn’t need to go to me; give it to someone who truly needs it.”
Uchiha Ikeizumi pondered for a moment, his expression unchanging as he added two sentences: “If you’re still hesitating, cherish your life. I will prove to you that this world will get better.”
Izumi’s slurping noodle sounds had stopped at some point.
From Senior Ikeizumi’s words, she vaguely guessed something. She looked at the man, already with tears welling up in shock.
The man murmured repeatedly: “Thank you… thank you.”
Izumi watched his staggering departing back.
For a moment, she wanted to speak but held back.
“Senior Ikeizumi, he… he wouldn’t…” Izumi asked tentatively.
“Not the first case,” Uchiha Ikeizumi said. “When you see more of this, don’t become numb. Once you’re numb, your「 justice」 will rust because of your numbness. Rusted justice is a betrayal of justice.”
Izumi was about to speak when she suddenly felt like something “smashed” into her head.
And that thing weighed at least a dozen pounds!
It hit her so hard she couldn’t help but cry out, her neck bending down.
At that moment, a voice with a slightly strange tone suddenly sounded from atop Izumi’s head: “Lord Ikeizumi, there’s a situation. My children found a buried corpse on the outskirts of the village. From the nearby soil marks, it’s very likely buried last night.”
Izumi was stunned.
The voice with the strange tone continued: “Many traces at the scene have been deliberately erased. The burier also faked the scene, indicating the perpetrator is quite professional. High probability it’s a ninja crime.”
With that said.
Izumi watched wide-eyed as an orange figure jumped down from her head and landed on the ground in an elegant pose.
“Cat?” She suddenly realized: “Ninja cat!!!”
—It was an orange ninja cat with an unbelievably fat body, like an orange chicken drumstick.
Izumi suddenly understood.
No wonder it was so heavy!
Was this orange ninja cat Senior Ikeizumi’s summoned beast?
“Lead the way,” Uchiha Ikeizumi said first to the ninja cat, then to Izumi: “Rookie, follow.”
Whoosh—
Whoosh—
The ninja cat and Uchiha Ikeizumi turned into afterimages and sped away from the spot, leaving only two figures, one big and one small, in the blink of an eye.
Shocked, Izumi didn’t think much, tossed the ramen in her hand into a nearby trash can, and hurried to follow.
……
Izumi exerted all her effort to keep up tightly behind, though her sight always only showed Senior Ikeizumi’s back, but at least she could follow from afar. She thought either the ninja cat was too fat and slow, or Senior Ikeizumi was deliberately controlling his speed to avoid leaving her behind.
After all, Senior Ikeizumi was a Konoha jonin. If a jonin went at full speed, how could she possibly keep up?
Not long after.
Izumi ran to some outskirts of Konoha, and only after entering a dense forest did she see that Senior Ikeizumi and the orange ninja cat had already stopped and were standing not far ahead.
“Huff…”
She wiped her sweat.
A bit tired.
“Lord Ikeizumi, is this your new sidekick?” Izumi saw the ninja cat licking its paw and speaking human words: “Lord Ikeizumi’s previous two sidekicks didn’t last even a day. I wonder how long this new sidekick of yours can hold out.”
Izumi weakly interjected: “Today is my second day as Senior Ikeizumi’s apprentice.”
“Meow? Huh?”
The ninja cat looked at Izumi in surprise, raising one cat paw toward her. Izumi felt it was trying to give a thumbs-up: “You actually lasted to the second day? You’ve got potential, girl!”
“Uchiha Izumi.”
“Here!!!”
Izumi didn’t care to chat with the ninja cat; she hurriedly stood at attention and shouted.
Uchiha Ikeizumi said: “Go down and bring up the corpse.”
“Yes, Senior.” Izumi quickly jogged over and discovered there was a big pit in front of Senior Ikeizumi’s feet, with many fine digging marks around the edge, like they were clawed by cat paws.
At the bottom of the big pit was a woman’s corpse covered in mud.
The corpse had a depression on the forehead area, face full of bloodstains, frozen with an expression of unresolved terror, as if at the moment of death, it was filled with disbelief.
Izumi jumped straight down.
Brought the corpse up.
Having the experience from yesterday, this time she was much more practiced.
“Female victim, name unknown, age approximately forty to forty-five, died from a single blow by a blunt object strike. No extra marks on the body; likely deliberately cleaned by the perpetrator. Indeed experienced; high probability a ninja.”
Uchiha Ikeizumi said slowly: “Kijiro.”
“Meow!” Ninja cat Kijiro responded.
“Go to the Police Force, find someone to take the corpse back,” Uchiha Ikeizumi said. “Rookie, let’s go stroll around the village.”
“Yes, Lord Ikeizumi.”
“Yes, Senior… Huh?”
Izumi hesitated, then swallowed nervously, mustered courage, and weakly asked: “Senior, aren’t we going to investigate?”
Uchiha Ikeizumi said: “Strolling around Konoha is investigating. Check the ninja tools on you; be ready to execute justice anytime.”
Izumi: “???”
……
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