Uchiha Chizumi walked down Konoha's main street.
Behind him followed a girl carrying a take‑out ramen box, chopsticks in hand, slurping noisily at the now‑congealed noodles as she walked.
Most passers‑by stiffened the moment they saw Uchiha Chizumi.
Parents yanked back children who were rough‑housing, scolding them to behave.
Clearly, these people had heard of Uchiha Chizumi's "fearsome name."
Perhaps their relatives or friends had once run afoul of him—ending up either as corpses beneath his blade or as inmates in Konoha's prison.
"E‑excuse me, sir!"
Chizumi stopped. A Konoha villager had run up and blocked his way.
The man held out a box with both hands, head bowed, voice hurried:
"Thank you for catching the men who killed my fiancée three months ago! I've been in despair and hadn't found the chance to thank you. Please… please accept this token of gratitude!"
Uchiha Chizumi never bothered to remember every Uchiha's name, nor did he keep count of those who had died by his sword.
But he remembered the victims harmed by "evil" with painful clarity.
The grief‑stricken man before him was a civilian genin named Takigawa Osamu, twenty‑five.
Three months ago, Osamu's fiancée was assaulted and killed by drunkards.
Chizumi had hunted down the three culprits.
"I didn't arrest them," Chizumi said quietly. "I killed them all."
The man lowered his head. "Precisely why I'm even more grateful."
"Please… please, you must take my gift!"
Chizumi shook his head, stepped around the sorrowful man, and, once past him, added:
"I'm sorry this world—riddled with wounds and rotted by evil—has disappointed you. If your mind's made up, don't give that gift to me; give it to someone who truly needs it."
After a pause he added, expression unchanged:
"If you're still hesitating, then cherish your life. I'll prove to you that this world can get better."
At some point the girl's slurping had stopped.
From Chizumi‑senpai's words she guessed what the man intended; she stared at him, eyes wide, tears brimming.
The man murmured again and again, "Thank you… thank you."
Izumi watched his stumbling figure fade away, wanting to speak yet unable to.
"Senpai, he… isn't going to…?" she ventured.
"He's not the first," Chizumi replied. "When you see enough of this, don't grow numb. The moment you become numb, your justice will start to rust— and rusted justice is a betrayal of justice itself."
Izumi was about to answer when something suddenly thumped onto her head—whatever it was must weigh at least a dozen kilos!
She cried out, neck bending under the impact.
A strange, slightly affected voice sounded from atop her head:
"Chizumi-sama, we have a situation. My children found a buried corpse outside the village. Judging by the soil, it was likely hidden there last night."
Izumi froze.
The odd voice continued:
"Most traces at the scene were wiped clean. Someone even staged false evidence. Whoever buried the body is clearly professional—almost certainly a ninja."
With that, an orange blur leapt from her head and landed gracefully on the ground.
"A cat?" She blinked. "A ninja cat!"
It was an orange ninja cat—so fat it looked like an oversized drumstick.
No wonder it was so heavy!
Could this be Chizumi‑senpai's summoning beast?
"Lead the way," Chizumi told the cat, then said to Izumi, "Rookie, follow."
Whoosh—
Whoosh—
The ninja cat and Chizumi vanished in after‑images, leaving only two receding silhouettes.
Startled, Izumi tossed her ramen into the nearest trash bin and sprinted after them.
She ran flat out, keeping the senpai's back barely in sight.
Either the cat was too fat to sprint, or Chizumi‑senpai was deliberately holding back so she wouldn't be left behind—after all, he was a Konoha jōnin. If a jōnin ran full tilt, how could a genin hope to keep up?
Before long she reached the outskirts, plunged into dense woods, and found Chizumi and the orange cat waiting ahead.
"Huff…" She wiped her sweat, slightly winded.
"Chizumi-sama, is this your new aide?" the cat asked while licking its paw.
"The last two didn't last a full day. Wonder how long this one will manage."
Izumi timidly cut in, "Today is my second day as Chizumi‑senpai's student."
"Meow? Really?"
The cat looked at her in surprise, raised a paw—as if trying to give a thumbs‑up.
"You made it to day two? Promising girl!"
"Uchiha Izumi."
"Here!"
Ignoring the cat, Izumi snapped to attention.
"Get down there and bring the body up," Chizumi ordered.
"Yes, senpai." She jogged over and saw a large pit at his feet, the rim marked by tiny claw gouges—clearly dug by the cat.
At the bottom lay a mud‑covered woman's corpse.
Her forehead was caved in, face smeared with dried blood, frozen in a look of stunned terror—as though she still couldn't believe her fate at the moment of death.
Izumi jumped down and hauled the body out.
Having done this once yesterday, she moved more smoothly now.
"Female victim, name unknown, about forty to forty‑five," she recited. "Killed instantly by a single blunt strike. No extraneous traces—evidence deliberately cleaned. Very skilled. Likely a ninja."
"Jujirō," Chizumi said.
"Meow!" answered the cat.
"Go to the police corps and fetch people to take the body back." Then to Izumi: "Rookie, let's walk the village."
"Yes, Chizumi-sama."
"Y‑yes, senpai… huh?"
Izumi swallowed, mustering her courage. "Senpai, aren't we going to investigate?"
"Walking the village is the investigation," Chizumi replied. "Check your gear—we may have to dispense justice at any moment."
Izumi: "???"