"Lord Hokage, the Uchiha Police Force needs to be reined in!"
Inside the Hokage Tower, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was just halfway through his paperwork, patiently listened to a ninja's complaint. "Today, members of the Uchiha Police Force openly assaulted someone on the street in broad daylight! They cut off a civilian's leg and then dragged him through the streets in a 'parade.' There were bloodstains for hundreds of meters!"
"Many villagers saw it, and a lot of kids too. Lord Hokage, haven't the Uchiha Police Force's actions gone beyond the scope of law enforcement? Won't this kind of enforcement just make everyone in the village even more uneasy?"
This particular ninja, who wasn't exactly a big shot in the village or exceptionally strong, could openly complain to the Hokage because he shared a last name: Sarutobi. He was a junior member of the Hokage's own family.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's brow furrowed, and he immediately asked, "What's the condition of the injured person who was dragged?"
The ninja shook his head. "I saw how overbearing the Uchiha were and couldn't help but come straight to you, Lord Hokage. I didn't notice the injured person's condition. But... if someone's leg is cut off and they don't get immediate medical attention, they might not last more than a few minutes."
Sarutobi's brow tightened even further. Then, something suddenly clicked, and he asked, "Which Uchiha clan members were present?"
The ninja hesitated. "It was Uchiha Akainu... and besides him, there was an Uchiha girl I didn't recognize."
"Akainu?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's brow relaxed. To the astonished gaze of his junior family member, Hiruzen Sarutobi actually clasped his hands behind his back and said, "If it was Akainu, then he must have had his reasons for doing so."
"Lord Hokage, but..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi cut him off directly. "You rushed over here to tell me this, just because you think Uchiha Akainu's actions will affect your bathhouse business, right? Go back! This is a matter for the Police Force, and I believe Akainu will give me an explanation soon enough. After all, he's always been a bit of a maverick."
Hiruzen Sarutobi paused, then defined Uchiha Akainu's actions. "Akainu's methods are indeed extreme. But, all these years, he's never done anything fundamentally wrong."
"...Yes, Lord Hokage."
The frustrated Sarutobi junior, his complaint unsuccessful, could only leave in a huff.
"Akainu..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi walked to the window and looked out. "Do you love the Will of Fire more? Or your 'Absolute Justice'? I've always thought you and Itachi were similar, both Uchiha who deeply love the village!" he murmured to himself.
A Grim Discovery
Meanwhile, in a secluded private house in Konoha, Izumi was slightly out of breath, finally letting go of the corpse, whose skin had been scraped raw.
She had initially intended to leave the short man's body where it was. But without a direct order from her senior... Izumi worried that unilaterally abandoning a criminal's body might anger him. So, she just kept muttering "I'm sorry" in her head, gritted her teeth, and endured the discomfort, dragging the body to keep up with Uchiha Akainu.
She didn't dare to look back at the criminal's body, even as they arrived at the short man's house. She could only imagine... it must have been a gruesome sight.
"Think he's miserable?" Uchiha Akainu saw right through the young girl's thoughts. Izumi's expressions were an open book. "Someone more miserable than him is still in that well," he said.
He looked at the dry well covered by a concrete slab, his tone a little heavier as he ordered, "Retrieve the child's body from the dry well."
Izumi jolted at Uchiha Akainu's voice. "Yes, Senior!"
She scurried over and was immediately hit by a pungent smell. Is this... the smell of a corpse?
Izumi braced herself and carefully moved the concrete slab. The strong odor was fully unleashed, making her instinctively hold her breath, though her eyes still stung a bit.
She gritted her teeth. With a jump, she used her chakra to stick to the well wall, like when climbing trees, so she wouldn't accidentally step on the child's body at the bottom of the dry well.
Using the daylight filtering in, she saw a futon at the bottom of the well, bundled into a ball, and something seemed to be inside. She had a chilling suspicion.
Before long, Izumi emerged from the dry well, carrying the strongly smelling futon. She gingerly placed it on the ground.
"If you need to throw up, go ahead. It's normal the first time you smell a corpse, even some heartless ninja can't control their body's natural reactions," Uchiha Akainu glanced at the girl's contorted face.
Izumi, pale, shook her head. She couldn't really explain why, but she instinctively felt she shouldn't do something so undignified in front of such a pitiful child. Even if... this child was already dead.
Then, Izumi watched Uchiha Akainu approach. She saw her senior squat down and unwrap the futon.
Izumi's pupils trembled. She quickly turned her head away.
She threw up.
Even though she didn't want to, and even though she felt a deep, empathetic sadness inside, the sheer physical nausea was uncontrollable. She spewed out her entire breakfast.
"Look at her," Uchiha Akainu commanded. "Don't look away."
Izumi wiped her mouth. She turned back, her trembling gaze fixed on the tiny corpse.
Uchiha Akainu, still squatting, spoke. "There are no less than a dozen blunt force trauma marks on her body; her hands and feet have been fractured multiple times; many parts of her flesh are mangled; her nose, ears, and the corners of her mouth show signs of bleeding, and her internal organs are likely severely damaged."
He stood up and continued, "The fatal injury is the ligature mark on her neck. This child died a very painful death. Before she died, she endured at least an hour of excruciating torture."
Izumi murmured in shock, "An hour... if this child had cried out for help during that hour, wouldn't someone have come to save her? There are neighbors nearby..."
Uchiha Akainu simply stated, "The one who hurt her was her biological father. Perhaps, to her, her father was the person she loved most."
Izumi froze.
"Uchiha Izumi."
"Huh? Present!!!" Izumi straightened up frantically and yelled.
Uchiha Akainu gazed into the girl's eyes, questioning her word by word. "Do you still think that man is miserable now?"
Izumi pursed her lips and lowered her head. "Senior, I was wrong."
Uchiha Akainu said, "What we, the Uchiha Police Force, must do is eradicate this kind of 'evil' entirely. Only by executing our 'Justice' with absolute and thorough methods can we overcome the sick and unjust trends of the ninja world."
"Take both bodies back to the Police Force. Your performance today wasn't satisfactory, but thankfully, not to the point where I'd want to kill you. Tomorrow, we'll meet at Ichiraku Ramen."
Izumi shivered.
"Yes, Senior."