Deep in the night, Konoha.
It should have been a full-moon night, yet the sky was completely smothered by thick, oppressive clouds. The entire village lay swallowed in darkness so dense that one could barely see a hand in front of their face.
The towering Hokage Rock stood like a silent giant beneath the ink-black sky. The stone faces of the four previous Hokage gazed down upon the village in solemn silence, their outlines barely visible in the suffocating gloom.
Suddenly, a shrill and anguished scream tore through the stillness.
"You—you damned gambler!"
"You took our son's life-saving money to gamble—and lost every last coin!"
"And now our son is already… already…"
Her voice collapsed into hysterical sobs.
"Even after all this, you still want to gamble tonight?!"
"You… are you even human anymore?!"
"Let go of me, you crazy woman!"
Smack!
A loud slap echoed through the darkness, followed by the dull thuds of fists and kicks. The woman's piercing cries mixed with the man's furious curses.
"You lunatic! The boy's already dead! What's the point of saying all this now?!"
"If he has a spirit in heaven, he should bless his old man to win every gamble from now on!"
"This is the last bit of money left in this house—my chance to make a comeback!"
"I'll win back everything I lost!"
"With money, I can go to Tanzaku Town and live it up—good food, good wine, endless luxury! Who would care whether you live or die then, you crazy hag?!"
Those words were the final straw.
The woman snapped completely. She lunged forward and sank her teeth viciously into the man's leg.
"Ah!"
His scream ripped through the night. In fury, he kicked her hard in the head. She let out a muffled groan, her body going limp as she collapsed unconscious onto the ground.
The man glanced at her once before cursing under his breath and striding away.
Under the cover of darkness, he weighed the small pouch in his palm—the last of the household's money. The thought of another round at the gambling tables in Tanzaku Town made his skin itch with anticipation, as if even his bones were itching.
"Damn it… Once I win it back this time, I'll head straight to the best hot-spring inn in Tanzaku Town and enjoy myself. Then I'll call over a few young beauties and have some real fun…"
Their violent quarrel had already lit lamps in several neighboring houses.
But seeing the man's frenzied expression, no one dared step forward to stop him.
He was so consumed by his gambling addiction that he no longer cared about his wife—or even his dead son. Everyone felt indignant, yet they also knew that once he went mad, he was worse than a rabid dog. No one wanted to provoke him.
They could only gather at a distance, whispering among themselves—some shaking their heads in pity, others glaring in anger. Yet in the end, not a single person stepped forward.
Only after the man left did a few neighbors rush over to check on the unconscious woman.
"Haruko… wake up…"
"Are you alright?"
Haruko slowly opened her eyes at the sound of their voices.
But her expression was empty, as if all strength had drained from her body.
"My son is dead… I don't want to live anymore either…"
"But that gambler… he… he doesn't even care about the bond between husband and wife anymore…"
The neighbors sighed.
"A man like that deserves to die! Gambling away his own son's life-saving money—he's worse than a beast!"
"Yeah! Sooner or later, the heavens will punish him!"
"Will they? In this world, it's often the good who die young… and the wicked who live a thousand years."
Silence fell.
Haruko shook her head weakly.
"Even so… he's still my husband. Our son is gone. He's the only one I have left to rely on…"
Everyone stared at her in disbelief.
"He's like that, and you still—?"
Trembling, Haruko forced herself to her feet and staggered in the direction the man had gone.
"I… I have to find him. I'll persuade him to come back…"
The neighbors hurried after her.
"Haruko! A man like that is beyond saving—he won't turn back!"
…
At that moment, the man was jogging cheerfully toward the village gate, weighing the money pouch in his hand.
His mind was already drifting toward the gambling hall—toward winning big, toward the pleasures waiting for him in Tanzaku Town.
Then suddenly—
A figure appeared in the darkness ahead, blocking his path.
"What the hell?"
"A good dog doesn't block the road. Move aside!"
The shadow did not move.
Though the night was black as ink, the man could clearly see a pair of eyes within it—deep and cold, gleaming with an eerie chill.
A shiver ran down his spine. The alcohol in his stomach seemed to evaporate instantly as cold sweat formed on his forehead.
"Y-you… are you human or a ghost?!"
"Hmph! Even if you're a ghost, I'm not afraid!"
"Don't block my way to gamble, or you'll regret it!"
By then, Haruko and the neighbors had caught up.
"W-who is that?"
One neighbor raised a lantern, pushing back the darkness and illuminating a small patch of ground.
"T-that uniform is…"
"Konoha's Police Force?!"
"It's… it's an Uchiha!"
Someone gasped, their voice trembling.
If it had been any ordinary patrol, they would have been saviors at this moment.
But Konoha's Police Force was made entirely of the Uchiha clan.
To ordinary villagers, those Uchiha—with their blood-red eyes—were like demons incarnate. Respected… and feared.
"The Police Force?"
The man was startled at first, then relaxed.
At least it wasn't a ghost.
"Even if it's the Police Force, you can't control me!"
"So what if you're Uchiha?!"
"You gonna stop me from gambling too?!"
The figure remained silent.
Two more figures in Police Force uniforms leapt down, landing on either side of the shadowed man.
"Captain, this isn't something we need to interfere with…"
"Our duty is to maintain village order. That man deserves death, but it's not our place to meddle in private affairs…"
"Exactly, Captain. The Uchiha clan is already at odds with the village. It's better not to stir up more trouble. It'll be hard to explain to the Clan Head…"
Hearing their words vaguely, the gambler's courage swelled.
"Did you hear that?!"
"Mind your own business!"
"So what if you're Uchiha? So what if you're the Police Force?"
"Even if the Hokage himself came, he couldn't interfere in my family matters!"
With that, he shook his money pouch, sneered coldly, and swaggered past the three members of the Police Force.
And then—
"AHHH!"
A blood-curdling scream split the night.
The onlookers froze in terror. Some collapsed outright, fainting on the spot.
"What happened?"
The gambler turned back in confusion.
Why was the world spinning?
Huh?
That headless body in front of him—
Was that…
Mine?
D-don't tell me…
Thud.
A human head rolled across the ground, eyes wide open in death, still unable to comprehend what had happened.
The only thing it could see was a pair of boots stepping down firmly upon it.
"Captain… Captain Chiba!"
"You—"
Uchiha Chiba, captain of a division within Konoha's Police Force, pressed his foot down to stop the rolling head.
His eyes were cold and emotionless.
Not a single ripple stirred within them.
Ding!