Uchiha Chisen walked down a Konoha street, followed by a young girl holding a ramen box and chopsticks, slurping down the now-soggy noodles as she walked.
Most pedestrians on the street seemed to subtly change their expressions upon seeing Uchiha Chisen.
Some playing children were quickly pulled aside by their parents and scolded for being unruly.
Clearly, these people had heard of Uchiha Chisen's "fearsome reputation."
Alternatively, their relatives or friends might have committed offenses and received special attention from Uchiha Chisen. They were either dead by his blade or serving hard time in Konoha Prison.
"Hello... hello!"
Uchiha Chisen paused his steps because a Konoha villager suddenly ran up and blocked his path.
Holding a box in his hands, the villager gathered his courage and offered it to Uchiha Chisen with both hands, bowing his head and saying hurriedly, "Thank you for catching the murderers of my fiancée three months ago! I've been feeling very down lately and didn't have a chance to thank you. Please... please accept this token of my gratitude!"
Uchiha Chisen didn't remember the names of everyone in the Uchiha Clan, nor did he make a point of remembering who had died by his blade.
However, he had a vivid memory of the victims harmed by "evil."
The man before him, with a face full of sorrow, was a Konoha civilian genin named "Takigawa Osamu," twenty-five years old.
Three months prior, his fiancée was assaulted and killed by a drunkard.
Uchiha Chisen found the three culprits.
"I didn't catch them," Uchiha Chisen said slowly. "I killed them all."
The man lowered his head and said, "That's precisely why I'm even more grateful to you."
"Please..."
"Please, you must accept my gift!"
Uchiha Chisen shook his head. He walked around the man with the sorrowful face, and as he passed him, Uchiha Chisen added, "I'm sorry that this world, so riddled with the erosion of 'evil,' has disappointed you. If you've truly made up your mind, you don't need to give the gift to me; give it to someone who truly needs it."
Uchiha Chisen pondered for a moment, then added two sentences with an unperturbed expression: "If you are still hesitating, cherish your life. I will prove to you that this world will get better."
Izumi's slurping of noodles had stopped at some point.
From Senior Chisen's words, she vaguely guessed something. She looked at the man, who was now shedding tears of joy and sorrow, with shock.
The man mumbled, "Thank you... thank you."
Izumi watched his staggering retreating figure.
For a moment, she wanted to speak but stopped herself.
"Senior Chisen, he... he wouldn't have..." Izumi tested the waters.
"It's not the first time," Uchiha Chisen said. "When you see more of this, don't become numb. Once you become numb, your [Justice] will also rust due to your apathy. Rusting justice is a betrayal of justice."
Just as Izumi was about to speak, she suddenly felt as if something had "hit" her head.
And that thing weighed at least ten pounds!
It hit her so hard that she couldn't help but exclaim, her neck bending down.
At that moment, a voice with a slightly strange intonation suddenly rang out from above Izumi's head: "Lord Chisen, there's a situation. My children found a buried corpse on the outskirts of the village. Judging from the surrounding soil marks, it was most likely buried last night."
Izumi was stunned.
The voice with the strange intonation continued, "Many traces at the scene were deliberately erased. The person who buried the body also staged the scene, indicating they are likely professional. It's highly probable a ninja committed the crime."
With that said.
Izumi watched as an orange figure leaped from above her head and landed gracefully on the ground.
"A cat?" she suddenly realized. "A Ninja Cat!!!"
—It was an orange Ninja Cat, incredibly plump, resembling a giant orange chicken leg.
Izumi suddenly understood.
No wonder it was so heavy!
Is this orange Ninja Cat Senior Chisen's summoning beast?
"Lead the way," Uchiha Chisen said to the Ninja Cat first, then turned to Izumi and said, "Rookie, keep up."
Whoosh—
Whoosh—
The Ninja Cat and Uchiha Chisen turned into blurs and sped away from their spot, disappearing in the blink of an eye, leaving only two figures, one large and one small, behind.
Startled, Izumi didn't have time to think. She casually tossed the ramen in her hand into a nearby trash can and hurried to follow.
...
Izumi kept up with all her might. Although she could only see Senior Chisen's back in her vision, she could at least keep pace from a distance. She figured either the Ninja Cat was too fat to run fast, or Senior Chisen was deliberately controlling his speed to prevent her from being left behind.
After all, Senior Chisen was a Konoha Jonin. If a Jonin were to move at full speed, how could she possibly keep up?
Not long after.
Izumi ran to a certain outskirts of Konoha and, upon entering a dense forest, discovered that Senior Chisen and the orange Ninja Cat had stopped and were standing not far ahead.
"Hoo..."
She wiped the sweat from her brow.
A little tired.
"Lord Chisen, is this your new subordinate?" Izumi saw the Ninja Cat licking its paws and speak human words, saying, "Lord Chisen's previous two subordinates couldn't even last a day. I wonder how long this new subordinate of yours can last."
Izumi weakly interjected, "Today is my second day as a student of Senior Chisen."
"Meow? Huh?"
The Ninja Cat looked at Izumi in surprise, raising a paw towards her. Izumi felt the creature was trying to give her a thumbs-up: "You actually lasted until the second day? You have potential, young lady!"
"Uchiha Izumi."
"Here!!!"
Izumi didn't have time to chat with the Ninja Cat and quickly stood at attention, shouting.
Uchiha Chisen said, "Go down and bring out the body."
"Yes, Senior." Izumi quickly trotted over, only to find a large pit at Senior Chisen's feet. There were many small digging marks around the edge of the pit, as if dug by a cat's claws.
At the bottom of the large pit was a muddy female corpse.
The corpse's forehead was caved in, and its face was covered in blood and dirt. A look of lingering terror was frozen on its face, as if the moment of death was filled with disbelief.
Izumi jumped straight down.
She brought the body up.
Having gained experience yesterday, she was much more familiar with the process this time.
"Female deceased, name unknown, approximately forty to forty-five years old. Died instantly from a blunt force trauma. There are no other marks on the body; it was likely deliberately cleaned by the perpetrator. Indeed, experienced, most likely a ninja."
Uchiha Chisen said slowly, "Kijiro."
"Meow!" The Ninja Cat Kijiro responded.
"Go to the Konoha Military Police Force and find someone to take the body back," Uchiha Chisen said. "Newcomer, let's go. We'll take a stroll around the village."
"Yes, Lord Chisen."
"Yes, Senior... Huh?"
Izumi hesitated, then swallowed nervously, gathering her courage to weakly ask, "Senior, aren't we going to investigate?"
Uchiha Chisen said, "Strolling around Konoha is the investigation. Check your ninja tools and be ready to execute justice at any time."
Izumi: "???"
...
...
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