Izumi single-handedly carried back both the criminal and the victim's body. The entire way, she felt countless strange gazes on her, making her so embarrassed she couldn't dare lift her head. Thankfully, no one misunderstood her—perhaps her Uchiha clan attire helped avoid some trouble.
Finally, she bit the bullet and rushed back to the Uchiha Police Force headquarters... and at last, saw Akainu-senpai again. The tension that had coiled within Izumi finally began to unwind.
But... soon, she noticed that various gazes from many Uchiha Police Force senpais were all focused on her. Izumi had experienced this feeling of being stared at like a rare animal once before, and it inevitably made her nervous again.
"Put the bodies here, and let them handle it. Someone will take care of them. Now, come with me to see the Clan Head," Akainu-senpai's cold voice reached Izumi's ears, surprisingly bringing her a sense of peace and security. Her inexplicable nervousness greatly dissipated. It was as if she suddenly had a strong pillar of support.
"Yes, Senpai!!!" Izumi quickly responded.
As Uchiha Akainu entered the Police Force building, he asked the black-haired girl behind him without looking back, "As a member of the Uchiha Police Force, what should you do if you encounter an ordinary civilian criminal who resists arrest during enforcement?"
Is this... is Akainu-senpai testing my theoretical knowledge? Izumi felt a surge of confidence. To join the Uchiha Police Force, she had spent a full month memorizing the entire Police Force Code of Conduct, not missing a single word. The fact that she qualified for the Police Force recruitment exam meant she had already passed the written theory test, and she had done so with a perfect score!
She clearly remembered the manual stating that if an ordinary person resists arrest during law enforcement, appropriate control measures should be taken depending on the severity of the situation. Simply put, for those who resist lightly, gentle control is sufficient; for those who resist excessively, a bit of force can be used, but at most, it should only result in the criminal tripping and falling face-first. After all, the criminal is just an ordinary person, not a dangerous ninja.
"First, try to use gentler methods to control them..." Izumi quickly began to give a standard answer.
But she suddenly paused mid-sentence.
She remembered Akainu-senpai's actions today when he encountered the short man trying to escape during law enforcement. It seemed entirely different from what was written in the Police Force Code of Conduct. Izumi swallowed her words. She felt that Akainu-senpai wasn't the kind of law enforcer who stuck to the rules. She changed her answer, meekly saying, "Perhaps, it's better to use a bit more aggressive methods?"
Just then, Uchiha Akainu stopped his steps because they had arrived at Uchiha Fugaku's office in the Police Force building. Uchiha Akainu said calmly, "Rookie, I hope your initial reason for giving that answer wasn't to flatter me. Remember, [Absolute Justice] comes from absolute enforcement. Enforcement intensity varies in different periods."
"Currently... it is the time when the ninja world is most severely eroded by 'evil.' In troubled times, we must use severe measures. Even if we encounter only a slight 'evil,' we must strike hard and show no mercy."
You... you got it right.
Although this answer wasn't the standard one from the Code of Conduct.
However... Izumi felt that Akainu-senpai's ideas were too extreme. She believed that the troubled times in the ninja world had already ended. The Third Great Ninja War had passed many years ago, and the Nine-Tails incident was also years in the past. Even though there were still some minor skirmishes in the current ninja world, it wasn't chaotic enough to be considered a 'troubled time,' was it?
At least... looking at the Uchiha clan, aren't they all thriving? Aren't their lives getting better and better? Akainu-senpai seems a bit too pessimistic!
Of course, these thoughts were only filtered through her mind. Izumi would absolutely never dare to voice them.
Knock!Knock!Knock!
The knocking at the door interrupted Izumi's thoughts. When Fugaku's steady, strong "Come in" came from inside, Uchiha Akainu, with the slightly nervous girl behind him, pushed the door open.
"Akainu? And... Uchiha Izumi?" Fugaku paused for a moment.
"You speak," Uchiha Akainu said casually, then found a chair and sat down. He crossed his legs, idly rubbing and playing with the armrest of the chair, which was already polished from repeated handling.
"Huh?"
When Fugaku's gaze fell on Izumi, Izumi realized that Akainu-senpai was talking to her. And Clan Head Fugaku seemed to be accustomed to Akainu-senpai's somewhat impolite behavior. After all, Akainu-senpai didn't even greet Clan Head Fugaku! Did they have some kind of conflict?
A strange thought flashed through her mind, and Izumi quickly said, "Lord Fugaku, today, Akainu-senpai and I..."
So, Izumi had no choice but to explain everything that had happened today, word for word.
Fugaku listened, his brows furrowing, revealing an expression almost identical to the Third Hokage's.
"Akainu, your methods are a bit too extreme," Fugaku sighed. His face became stern as he said in a deep voice, "It's precisely because of this that we Uchiha draw suspicion from the village. I know you're executing justice, and I know you have your own views on justice. But sometimes, justice needs to be tempered and adjusted to the circumstances."
"You should also be aware... that the village has become increasingly alienated from the Uchiha, right? Our Uchiha clan has even been forced to relocate to the very edge of the village. We have nowhere left to retreat. We can only take some measures to salvage our reputation."
"But, with you like this..."
Looking at Uchiha Akainu, this young Uchiha Jonin, Fugaku felt a headache coming on. He believed Uchiha Akainu was excellent. He had awakened his Three-Tomoe Sharingan early and possessed a very unique "Scorch Release," making him the Uchiha clan's only ninja with two Kekkei Genkai. Perhaps, one day, this child could awaken the legendary Mangekyo Sharingan and become another pillar of the Uchiha clan.
But... this outstanding Uchiha's ideology was completely at odds with his own. No! Uchiha Akainu's absolute justice ideology was even at odds with the entire Uchiha clan. Neither the hawkish faction, who advocated for directly confronting the village and even wanted him, the Clan Head, to plan a coup, nor the dovish faction, who advocated for negotiation and reaching an agreement with the village elders to resolve issues peacefully... neither had common ground with Uchiha Akainu.
Because Uchiha Akainu's stance on justice was not on the side of the Uchiha clan, but on the side of his own "righteousness," his own "justice." He formed a faction by himself within the Uchiha clan, which is why he was so solitary and so out of place.
Uchiha Akainu lifted his eyelids and met the gaze of the infamous ["Wicked Eye" Fugaku]. He spoke, "You want me to consider things more, to make compromises when executing justice to ease relations with the village, right?"
Fugaku replied, "No need to put it so bluntly." But he silently agreed.
"My way of doing things will not change. Instead of telling me to rein it in, you should control your beast of a son. It would be best if he saw a psychiatrist; I think it's highly necessary." Uchiha Akainu stood up to leave, stating that there was nothing more to talk about.
Fugaku's expression stiffened. To criticize a father's child so harshly in front of him, even Uchiha Fugaku couldn't help but feel a surge of anger.
But... this seemed to have happened many times before. Uchiha Akainu, for some reason, just couldn't stand Itachi. He had even attacked Itachi once, and if Shisui hadn't been there, Itachi might have been seriously hurt.
Fugaku's face darkened as he stared at Uchiha Akainu's retreating back.
Izumi, meanwhile, looked left and right, completely bewildered. She could feel the tension in the office, and even more so, Clan Head Fugaku's suppressed rage. She even secretly noticed Clan Head Fugaku's clenched fists. She had no idea why Akainu-senpai had such strong opinions about the Clan Head's son.
Huh? Wait!
Clan Head Fugaku's sons... aren't those Itachi and Sasuke?
Izumi was bewildered again.
She seemed to have chosen an extraordinary examiner. Her future looked bleak!