Chapter 4: The One Who Harmed Her Was Her Loving Father
"Lord Hokage, the Uchiha Police Force needs to be disciplined!"
Inside the Hokage's office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had just finished half of his paperwork, was patiently listening to a ninja's complaint: "Today, members of the Uchiha Police Force openly assaulted someone in the street in broad daylight! They severed a civilian's leg and then dragged him through the streets in a 'parade,' leaving a trail of blood for hundreds of meters."
"Many villagers witnessed this, and so did many children. Lord Hokage, don't you think the Uchiha Police Force's actions have exceeded the scope of law enforcement?"
"Such enforcers will only make everyone in the village more uneasy, won't they?"
A ninja who held no significant position in the village, nor possessed extraordinary strength, was able to come directly to the Hokage to complain and report, solely because his surname was "Sarutobi."
He was a junior member of the Hokage's own family.
Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned, immediately asking, "What's the condition of the injured person who was dragged?"
The ninja shook his head, replying, "Seeing how arrogant the Uchiha were, I couldn't help but rush here to inform you, Lord Hokage. I didn't pay attention to the injured person's condition. However…"
"If a person's leg is severed and they don't receive timely treatment, they probably won't survive for more than a few minutes."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's brows furrowed deeply.
Just then, he suddenly thought of something and asked again, "Who were the Uchiha clan members present?"
The ninja hesitated. "It was Uchiha Ikeizumi… Besides him, there was also an Uchiha girl I didn't recognize."
"Ikeizumi?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's brows relaxed.
Under the astonished gaze of his junior family member, Hiruzen Sarutobi clasped his hands behind his back and slowly said, "If it was Ikeizumi, then he must have had his reasons for acting that way."
"Lord Hokage, but…"
Hiruzen Sarutobi interrupted directly, "You rushed over so eagerly to tell this old man about it because you think Uchiha Ikeizumi's actions will affect your bathhouse business, don't you?"
"Go back! This is a matter for the Police Force, and this old man trusts that Ikeizumi will soon provide an explanation. After all, he has always been that unique."
Hiruzen Sarutobi paused, characterizing Uchiha Ikeizumi's actions: "Ikeizumi's methods are indeed extreme. But, throughout all these years, he has never once committed a fundamentally wrong act."
"...Yes, Lord Hokage."
The junior Sarutobi clan member, his complaint having failed, could only depart in frustration.
"Ikeizumi…"
Hiruzen Sarutobi walked to the window and looked outside.
"Do you love the Will of Fire more? Or your so-called [Absolute Justice]? This old man has always felt that you and Itachi are similar, both Uchiha who deeply love the village!"
He murmured to himself.
....
Meanwhile.
In a secluded, detached house in Konoha Village, Izumi breathed lightly, finally letting go of the corpse whose skin had been ground raw.
She had initially wanted to leave the short man's body where it lay.
But without an order from her senior…
Izumi worried if abandoning a criminal's corpse without permission might anger him.
So…
She could only keep muttering "I'm sorry" in her heart while steeling herself against the discomfort, dragging the corpse to keep up with Uchiha Ikeizumi.
She didn't dare to look back at the criminal's corpse even as they arrived at the short man's house.
She imagined…
It must have been a gruesome sight, right?
"Do you feel sorry for him?" Uchiha Ikeizumi saw through the girl's thoughts at a glance; the small expressions on Izumi's face couldn't hide her feelings. He said, "What's even more pitiful is still in that well."
He looked at the dry well, covered by a concrete slab, his tone deepening slightly as he commanded, "Retrieve the child's body from the dry well."
Izumi flinched at Uchiha Ikeizumi's voice.
"Yes, Senior!"
She jogged over and immediately caught a pungent smell.
This… was the smell of decay?
Izumi braced herself, carefully sliding the concrete slab aside. The acrid odor was fully released, making her instinctively hold her breath, though her eyes still stung slightly.
She gritted her teeth.
And leaped down.
As she was about to reach the bottom of the well, Izumi immediately used the chakra tree-walking technique to adhere her feet to the well wall, careful not to accidentally step on the child's body in the dry well.
Using the sunlight that filtered in, she saw a futon at the bottom of the well, wrapped into a ball, and it seemed to contain something.
She dimly began to guess.
Before long,
Izumi emerged from the dry well carrying the strongly odorous futon and gingerly placed it gently on the ground.
"If you want to throw up, you can. It's normal to feel this way the first time you smell a corpse, even some ninjas who kill without batting an eye can't resist their body's physiological reactions." Uchiha Ikeizumi glanced at the girl's pretty face, where her features were almost twisted in discomfort.
Izumi shook her head, her face pale.
She couldn't explain why, but she instinctively felt it would be improper to act that way in front of such a pitiful child.
Even if…
This child was already dead.
Then, Izumi saw Uchiha Ikeizumi walk over. She watched him crouch down and unwrap the futon.
Izumi's pupils trembled.
She quickly turned her head away.
—She vomited.
Even though she didn't want to, and she even felt empathetic sadness deep down. But the physiological nausea was uncontrollable, and she threw up all of her breakfast.
"Look at her," Uchiha Ikeizumi commanded. "Don't look away."
Izumi wiped her mouth.
She turned back, her trembling gaze falling on the small body.
Uchiha Ikeizumi, still crouching, said, "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, suggesting severe internal organ damage."
He stood up, continuing, "The fatal injury is the ligature mark on her neck. This child died a very painful death. Before dying, she endured at least an hour of agonizing torment."
Izumi murmured in shock, "An hour… If this child had cried out for help during that hour, someone should have saved her, right? There are neighbors nearby too…"
Uchiha Ikeizumi simply stated, "The one who harmed her was her biological father. Perhaps for her, her father was the person she loved most."
Izumi froze.
"Uchiha Izumi."
"Huh? Here!" Izumi quickly stood straight and shouted.
Uchiha Ikeizumi gazed into the girl's eyes, questioning her, word by word, "Do you still feel sorry for that man now?"
Izumi pressed her lips together, lowering her head.
"Senior, I was wrong."
Uchiha Ikeizumi said, "What we, the Uchiha Police Force, must do is eliminate all such 'evil.' Only by executing our [Justice] with absolute and thorough means can we suppress the ninja world's pathological corruption."
"Take both corpses back to the Police Force. Your performance today was not passing, but thankfully, it wasn't to the point where I wanted to kill you. Tomorrow, meet at Ichiraku Ramen."
Izumi shivered.
"Yes, Senior."