Chapter 8: Rusting Justice is a Betrayal of Justice
Uchiha Ikeizumi walked down a Konoha street, followed by a girl who was holding a ramen box and chopsticks, "slurping" her now-soggy ramen as she walked.
Most pedestrians on the road, upon seeing Uchiha Ikeizumi, clearly looked a bit uncomfortable.
Some children who were playing were quickly pulled back by their parents and scolded not to be mischievous.
Evidently, these people had heard of Uchiha Ikeizumi's "reputation."
Or, perhaps their relatives or friends had committed an offense and received Uchiha Ikeizumi's "special treatment." Either they were already dead by his blade, or they were languishing in Konoha Prison.
"Hel… Hello!"
Uchiha Ikeizumi paused his steps because a Konoha villager suddenly ran forward and stopped him.
The man held a box in his hands and, mustering his courage, offered it to Uchiha Ikeizumi with both hands, his head bowed. He hastily said, "Thank you for capturing the murderers of my fiancée three months ago! I've been so down lately, I haven't had a chance to thank you. Please… please accept this gift!"
Uchiha Ikeizumi didn't remember the name of every Uchiha, nor did he intentionally remember everyone who died by his blade.
But he vividly remembered the victims who had been harmed by "evil."
The sorrowful man before him was a Konoha civilian genin named Takigawa Haru, twenty-five years old.
Three months ago, his fiancée was assaulted and killed by a drunkard.
Uchiha Ikeizumi had found the three culprits.
"I didn't capture them," Uchiha Ikeizumi said slowly. "I killed them all."
The man lowered his head and said, "That's precisely why I am even more grateful to you."
"Please…"
"Please, you must accept my gift of gratitude!"
Uchiha Ikeizumi shook his head. He walked past the sorrowful man. When he was behind the man, Uchiha Ikeizumi spoke again, "I'm sorry, this diseased world, riddled with 'evil,' has disappointed you. If you've truly made a decision, there's no need to give the gift to me; give it to someone who truly needs it."
Uchiha Ikeizumi mused for a moment, then added two sentences with an unchanging expression: "If you are still hesitating, cherish your life. I will prove to you that this world will get better."
Izumi's "slurping" sound from eating ramen had stopped at some point.
From Senior Ikeizumi's words, she vaguely guessed something. She stared in shock at the man whose eyes were already brimming with tears of grief.
The man mumbled, "Thank you… Thank you."
Izumi watched his stumbling back as he walked away.
For a moment, she was at a loss for words.
"Senior Ikeizumi, he… he wouldn't…" Izumi tentatively asked.
"This is not the first case," Uchiha Ikeizumi said. "When you see more of this, do not become numb. Once you become numb, your [Justice] will also rust because of your numbness. 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 something must have weighed at least several kilograms!
The impact made her yelp involuntarily, and her neck bent down.
Just then, a slightly odd-sounding voice suddenly spoke from on top of Izumi's head: "Lord Ikeizumi, we have a situation. My children found a buried corpse on the outskirts of the village. From the soil marks nearby, it's highly likely it was buried last night."
Izumi was startled.
The oddly accented voice continued, "Many traces at the scene were deliberately erased. The person who buried the body also falsified the scene, indicating they are very professional. Most likely, a ninja committed the crime."
With that,
Izumi watched, wide-eyed, as an orange figure leaped off her head and landed elegantly on the ground.
"A cat?" She suddenly realized, "A ninja cat!!!"
—It was an orange ninja cat, incredibly plump, like a large orange drumstick.
Izumi suddenly understood.
No wonder it was so heavy!
Was this orange ninja cat Senior Ikeizumi's summoned beast?
"Lead the way." Uchiha Ikeizumi first said to the ninja cat, then to Izumi, "New recruit, follow me."
Whoosh—
Whoosh—
The ninja cat and Uchiha Ikeizumi became blurs, swiftly leaving the spot. In the blink of an eye, only their two figures, one large and one small, remained in the distance.
Startled, Izumi didn't have time to think. She threw her ramen into a nearby trash can and quickly followed them.
...
Izumi strained to keep up, always seeing Senior Ikeizumi's back in her sight. At least she could follow from a distance. She thought either the ninja cat was too fat to run fast, or Senior Ikeizumi was deliberately controlling his speed to avoid losing her.
After all, Senior Ikeizumi was a Konoha Jonin. If a Jonin ran at full speed, how could she possibly keep up?
Before long,
Izumi ran to an area on the outskirts of Konoha, and only when she entered a dense forest did she find that Senior Ikeizumi and the orange ninja cat had stopped, standing not far ahead.
"Huff…"
She wiped sweat from her brow.
A little tired.
"Lord Ikeizumi, is this your new follower?" Izumi saw the ninja cat licking its paws and speaking in human language, "Lord Ikeizumi's previous two followers couldn't even last a day. I wonder how long your new follower here will last."
Izumi timidly interjected, "Today is my second day as Senior Ikeizumi's student."
"Meow? Oh?"
The ninja cat looked at Izumi in surprise, giving her a thumbs-up with a raised paw. Izumi thought it was trying its best to make a thumbs-up gesture: "You actually lasted till the second day? You have great potential, girl!"
"Uchiha Izumi."
"HERE!!!"
Izumi didn't bother talking to the ninja cat; she quickly stood at attention and shouted.
Uchiha Ikeizumi said, "Go down and bring out the body."
"Yes, Senior." Izumi quickly jogged over and found a large pit in front of Senior Ikeizumi's feet. There were many small digging marks around the pit, like they were dug by a cat's claws.
At the bottom of the large pit lay a mud-covered female corpse.
The corpse's forehead was caved in, her face was covered in blood, and a look of lingering terror was frozen on her face, as if at the moment of her death, she was filled with disbelief.
Izumi jumped right in.
And brought the body up.
Having had experience yesterday, this time it was much smoother.
"Female deceased, name unknown, aged approximately forty to forty-five. Died from a single blunt force trauma to the head. No other significant marks on the body, it seems the perpetrator intentionally cleaned up the scene. Indeed experienced, most likely a ninja."
Uchiha Ikeizumi slowly said, "Kitsujiro."
"Meow!" Kitsujiro, the ninja cat, responded.
"Go to the Police Force and have someone bring the body back." Uchiha Ikeizumi said, "New recruit, let's go for a walk around the village."
"Yes, Lord Ikeizumi."
"Yes, Senior… huh?"
Izumi hesitated, then swallowed hard, plucking up the courage to ask weakly, "Senior, aren't we going to investigate?"
Uchiha Ikeizumi said, "Walking around Konoha is investigating. Check your ninja tools and be ready to execute justice at any time."
Izumi: "???"