Uchiha Akainu strode through the streets of Konoha, with Izumi trailing behind him. She was carrying a ramen container and chopsticks, slurping away at her ramen, which had already gone a bit lumpy.
Most of the passersby, upon spotting Uchiha Akainu, clearly seemed a bit uneasy. Some children who were playing roughly were quickly pulled back by their parents and scolded for being mischievous. It was obvious these folks had heard of Uchiha Akainu's "reputation." Or perhaps, their own family or friends had gotten into trouble and received some of Uchiha Akainu's 'special attention,' ending up either six feet under or rotting away in the Konoha prison.
"Um... hello!"
Uchiha Akainu paused. A Konoha villager had suddenly rushed forward and blocked his path. The man held out a box with both hands, gathering his courage, and quickly said, head bowed, "Thank you for catching the murderers of my fiancée three months ago! I've been so down since then, I haven't had a chance to thank you. Please... please accept this gift!"
Uchiha Akainu couldn't remember every Uchiha's name, nor did he intentionally memorize everyone who had fallen by his blade. But he vividly remembered the victims ravaged by "evil." The sorrowful man before him was a Konoha genin named Takigawa Haru, twenty-five years old. Three months prior, his fiancée had been assaulted and killed by drunkards. Uchiha Akainu had found the three culprits.
"I didn't catch them," Uchiha Akainu stated slowly. "I killed them all."
The man lowered his head. "That's why I'm even more grateful to you. Please... please, you must accept my thanks!"
Uchiha Akainu shook his head. He walked past the grieving man, and as he moved behind him, Akainu spoke again, "I'm sorry that this world, riddled with sickness and ravaged by 'evil,' has disappointed you. If you've truly made a decision, there's no need to give me thanks. You can give it to someone who truly needs it."
Uchiha Akainu pondered for a moment, then added two more sentences, his expression unchanging: "If you're still hesitating, cherish your life. I will prove to you that this world will get better."
Izumi's slurping of ramen had stopped at some point. From Senior Akainu's words, she vaguely guessed what was happening, looking with shock at the man whose eyes were now brimming with tears.
The man mumbled, "Thank you... thank you."
Izumi watched his stumbling figure walk away. For a moment, she was about to speak but held back.
"Senior Akainu, he... he's not going to..." Izumi hesitantly asked.
"It's not the first time," Uchiha Akainu said. "When you've seen this kind of thing often enough, don't become numb. Once you become numb, your Justice will also rust because of your numbness. Rusty justice is a betrayal of justice."
Izumi was about to speak when she suddenly felt as if her head had been 'hit' by something. And that something weighed at least a dozen kin (around 13 pounds)! It made her yelp and her neck bend down.
Just then, a slightly odd-sounding voice suddenly spoke from on top of Izumi's head: "Lord Akainu, we have a situation. My children found a buried body outside the village. From the traces in the nearby mud, it was most likely buried last night."
Izumi was stunned.
The oddly-accented voice continued, "Many traces at the scene were intentionally wiped away. The person who buried the body also fabricated the scene, which means they're likely very professional. There's a high probability a ninja committed this crime."
With that, Izumi watched wide-eyed as an orange figure leaped from her head and landed gracefully on the ground.
"A cat?" she suddenly realized. "A ninja cat!!!"
It was a large, orange ninja cat, incredibly plump, like a giant orange drumstick. Izumi suddenly understood. No wonder it was so heavy! Was this orange ninja cat Senior Akainu's summoned animal?
"Lead the way," Uchiha Akainu said to the ninja cat, then turned to Izumi. "Rookie, keep up."
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
The ninja cat and Uchiha Akainu vanished into blurs, speeding away. In the blink of an eye, only two figures, one large and one small, remained in the distance. Startled, Izumi didn't hesitate, quickly tossed her ramen into a nearby trash can, and hurried to follow.
Izumi pushed herself to keep up, even if all she saw was Senior Akainu's back. At least she could follow from a distance. She figured either the ninja cat was too plump to run fast, or Senior Akainu was deliberately controlling his speed so she wouldn't get left behind. After all, Senior Akainu was a Konoha jōnin. If a jōnin ran at full speed, how could she possibly keep up?
Before long, Izumi arrived at an area outside Konoha. She pushed through a dense forest and finally saw Senior Akainu and the orange ninja cat had stopped, standing a short distance ahead.
"Hmph..."
She wiped sweat from her brow. She was a bit tired.
"Lord Akainu, is this your new follower?" Izumi saw the ninja cat licking its paw, speaking in human tongue: "Lord Akainu's previous two followers didn't even last a day. I wonder how long this new one will last."
Izumi timidly interjected, "Today is my second day as Senior Akainu's student."
"Meow? Oh?"
The ninja cat looked at Izumi in surprise. It held up a paw, and Izumi thought it was trying to give her a thumbs-up: "You actually lasted until the second day? You've got potential, girl!"
"Uchiha Izumi."
"Present!!!"
Izumi didn't bother talking to the ninja cat. She quickly snapped to attention and shouted.
Uchiha Akainu said, "Go down and bring the body out."
"Yes, Senior," Izumi quickly trotted over. She then realized there was a large pit in front of Senior Akainu's feet, with many small digging marks around the edge, as if made by cat claws. At the bottom of the pit lay a muddy female corpse.
The corpse's forehead was caved in, her face covered in blood, and a look of lingering terror was frozen on her face, as if her last moments were filled with disbelief.
Izumi jumped right in.
She brought the body up. With yesterday's experience, she was much more accustomed to it this time.
"Female victim, name unknown, approximately forty to forty-five years old, died from a single blow by a blunt object. No other marks on the body; it seems the perpetrator deliberately cleaned it up. Indeed, very experienced. Most likely a ninja."
Uchiha Akainu slowly said, "Kijirō."
"Meow!" The ninja cat Kijirō responded.
"Go to the Police Force and have someone bring the body back," Uchiha Akainu instructed. "Rookie, let's go. We're going to patrol the village."
"Yes, Lord Akainu."
"Yes, Senior... Huh?"
Izumi hesitated, then swallowed hard, gathering her courage to ask timidly, "Senior, aren't we going to investigate?"
Uchiha Akainu replied, "Patrolling the village is investigating. Check your ninja tools and be ready to execute justice at any moment."
Izumi: "???"