Uchiha Chizumi said, "Uchiha Izumi."
"Here!!" Izumi responded loudly with such energy that it startled Naruto.
Chizumi continued, "Try analyzing who the killer might be."
"Yes, Senpai!"
Izumi recalled what Jujiro had told her, her expression serious. "A massacre like this is most likely committed by someone the victims knew."
"The Yamanaka clan's neighborhood is densely populated—there are a lot of ninjas living nearby. For someone to silently take out a whole family of four without alerting anyone, the killer must be a highly skilled shinobi."
"If we list all the ninjas the victims were connected with and focus on those with potential conflicts or disputes, we should be able to narrow down the list of suspects."
"And—"
She glanced cautiously at Chizumi before continuing, "With your abilities, Senpai, you could probably single out the real killer instantly from that list."
Jujiro raised his eyebrows. "Not bad for a rookie."
Izumi smiled shyly. "Mostly it's thanks to following Chizumi-senpai around. I've learned more from him than I ever did in the academy."
Plus, being around Chizumi meant constantly encountering extreme cases, giving her far more real experience than most veterans. Not that she'd ever say that last part out loud.
…
As they talked, the group had unknowingly walked straight into Uchiha territory.
The victims had already been moved to the Police HQ.
"Crap…"
Far behind, Anbu ninja Yamanaka Ryoushin stared ahead at the Uchiha compound, his scalp tingling.
Why would Chizumi bring the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki here of all places?!
That's like throwing a lamb into a wolf den!
Don't tell me… he's planning to control the Nine-Tails?
Even if he risked his life, Ryoushin figured there was less than a 1% chance of getting Naruto out safely.
As he stepped into the compound, he immediately felt it—dozens of sharp, hostile gazes zeroed in on him.
Uchiha shinobi.
They'd definitely noticed the Anbu mask at his waist.
"Shit…"
Sweating, Ryoushin gripped his sword hilt and assumed a defensive stance, forcing himself to keep walking.
"Hokage-sama... where the hell are you?!"
He swore to himself—if he made it out alive today, he was handing in his resignation. He'd rather be assigned as a spy in enemy territory than keep doing this. Watching over the Jinchūriki was basically suicide.
Naruto, completely unaware of the chaos his presence was causing, looked around the Uchiha compound with curiosity.
The Uchiha? They were staring right back at him. Boldly. Unapologetically.
"Who's that blond brat? He's not one of us, right? I don't remember anyone in the clan with blond hair."
"That's the 'fox kid.' He was brought to the station a while back—by Chizumi, no less. Looks like he caught him again."
"The fox kid, huh? Heard he's got the Nine-Tails sealed inside him—the one that tore through the village back then. If that's true… then he's why the village keeps pushing us Uchiha out."
"Careful what you say. Chizumi brought him. Try anything, and he won't hesitate to kill you."
"Wait… who's that other guy? He's got an Anbu mask on his belt, doesn't he?"
"What the hell is Anbu doing in our territory?"
Ryoushin, trailing a hundred meters behind, stood out like a sore thumb.
The radicals might've wanted to pounce on Naruto, but with Chizumi standing nearby, they backed off. Instead, all those hostile Sharingan turned toward Ryoushin—the "easy target."
He could feel it. One wrong move and he'd be cut into sashimi.
"Is it my fault the Uchiha are being treated like this…?" Naruto heard everything. The gossip, the resentment—it killed his curiosity in an instant.
"Don't carry a burden that doesn't belong to you."
Chizumi's voice cut in like a blade. "If it were up to you, would you want to ostracize the Uchiha?"
Naruto shook his head hard. "No! Never!"
He was the one who'd been shunned, bullied, hated. How could he ever judge others like that?
…
Meanwhile, at Police HQ...
"The Nine-Tails Jinchūriki is back in Uchiha territory."
The message hit Fugaku like lightning. His teacup shattered in his grip.
"He's here again?! Who let him in?!"
He barely noticed the boiling tea scalding his hands.
"The one who brought him in was… Uchiha Chizumi."
"…Of course it was," Fugaku muttered.
At this point, Chizumi's antics had left him completely numb. How did one man manage to create this much chaos in just 24 hours?
"Chizumi... when will you finally realize the only way to keep peace is by maintaining balance between the Uchiha and the village?"
He sighed heavily and stood. "Where did he take Naruto?"
"The morgue. In the basement."
"…Excuse me?!"
The officer quickly added, "Naruto's still alive. I have no idea why Chizumi brought him there."
Fugaku's back was instantly drenched in cold sweat. No time to argue—he rushed straight to the morgue.
…
Inside the Morgue
The freezing air made Naruto shiver uncontrollably. His wide eyes scanned the rows of corpses lying on metal slabs—too many to count.
The sour, metallic smell in the air made his stomach churn. His face turned pale.
Chizumi approached one of the covered bodies and pulled the white sheet back.
The image hit Naruto like a truck.
It was a boy around his age. The sight was so horrifying, Naruto's first instinct was to shut his eyes.
"Open them," Chizumi ordered coldly.
Naruto found Chizumi even scarier than the corpse. Driven by fear, he forced his eyes open.
"Rookie. Take notes. Victim #1. Male. Age seven to eight. Multiple blunt force injuries. Skull appears to have caved in, but look closely—there's damage to the side of the neck. Likely a pre-death blow that snapped it. That's the true cause of death."
Seven to eight years old…
Naruto's eyes widened. That was his age.
Was this kid a student at the academy too?
Chizumi walked to the next table and lifted the sheet again.
Naruto couldn't take it. He bent over, gagging, vomit slipping through his fingers.
"Victim #2. Female. Age two to three. Body crushed under rubble, but that's not what killed her. She was eating when it happened—food was stuck in her throat. Most likely knocked unconscious while eating and choked."
Chizumi made sure Naruto saw every corpse.
How Naruto felt? Didn't seem to concern him.
Next.
"Victim #3. Male. Age twenty-nine to thirty-one. Also has crush marks, but the actual fatal wound is a stab to the chest. Clearly done with a weapon, not debris."
And another.
"Victim #4. Female. Age—"
By now, Naruto was frozen, eyes vacant as he stared at the final corpse.
"Uzumaki Naruto."
He flinched at the sound of his full name.
"I‑I'm sorry!" he panicked. "I didn't mean to throw up! I'll clean it, I swear—!"
But Chizumi didn't blame him. He just said calmly, "This is the evil of the ninja world."
The evil he meant... wasn't the victims. It was the one who killed them.
"The twisted, diseased world of shinobi produces monsters like this—who slaughter innocents and bring them pain and despair."
"The family you just saw—they were victims of that evil."
Chizumi looked at him. "Do you think they were pitiful, Naruto?"
Naruto wiped his mouth. "Of course. They were murdered… how could they not be?"
"They were enjoying dinner, completely unaware that evil was closing in," Chizumi said. "Then a killer walked in with a blade and stole their lives."
"And that killer is probably proud of himself. The chaos last night brought down the building on their corpses. If someone inexperienced had handled it, this whole thing would've been filed away as a mere accident."
"In that case, the killer walks free. Justice loses."
Even though Naruto had never experienced a family meal or a parent's love, Chizumi's words painted the scene so clearly he could see it:
A family of four laughing at the dinner table.
A shadow entering through the dark.
A toddler knocked out mid‑meal. Choking on food.
A father stabbed through the chest.
A mother killed seconds later.
A seven-year-old boy running for his life—neck broken with a single strike.
A whole family… wiped out.
Naruto couldn't keep imagining. The mental images were worse than the actual corpses.
He stood there trembling, ashamed of how he'd reacted earlier.
"How could someone do something like this…?" he muttered, tears building in his eyes. "Even if people don't get along, this… this isn't right…"
He glanced at the other bodies, then back at Chizumi—who looked totally unfazed.
"…Does this happen a lot?" Naruto asked in a quiet voice.
"All the time," Chizumi replied. "Every single moment."
"And this? This is just what comes out of Konoha. Across the entire shinobi world… this is just the tip of the iceberg."
"This world is sick. So many are infected and don't even realize it. That sickness warps minds… and erases the line of basic human decency."
Naruto stood silent for a moment.
"…It's not supposed to be like this," he finally said. He looked Chizumi straight in the eye, for the first time without fear. "Right? The ninja world shouldn't be like this."
Chizumi didn't answer directly. Instead, he asked:
"Uzumaki Naruto. Now that you've seen a glimpse of this evil… what do you want to do?"
"Listen to your heart. Say it out loud."
Just then, Fugaku burst into the room—and froze when he saw Naruto standing there.
"Chizumi, what are you—"
But Naruto interrupted him, yelling:
"I—I want that killer to pay! Someone like that shouldn't get off scot-free! I want that family to rest in peace! That's… that's what I want to do…"
His voice faded out. The fear came rushing back. The courage didn't last.
Chizumi looked at him. "Remember that feeling."
Naruto lowered his head, saying nothing.
"That's called justice."
Chizumi added, "In that one moment… you had the heart to carry out justice. Don't ever lose that fire. Don't let yourself go numb."
"…Justice," Naruto echoed softly.
Fugaku's eyes widened.
He realized what Chizumi was doing—he was instilling Absolute Justice into the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki.
A chill ran through him.
This was serious. This crossed a line.
"Chizumi—what the hell are you doing?!"
He asked even though he already knew.
Chizumi glanced at him with calm finality. "The ninja world needs more Absolute Justice."
"…Damn it."
That was it. Fugaku's last hope vanished.
"Chizumi! That's Naruto! You can preach your beliefs to anyone else—but not him! Don't you understand how dangerous this is?!"
He couldn't hold back anymore.
"You're dragging the Uchiha to the edge! Did you forget why we were forced to move to this compound in the first place?!"
Fugaku had spent years trying to calm the village leadership's fears, making compromise after compromise—while fending off hawks from within his own clan.
He believed that if given a few more years, he could earn back trust. Prove they weren't planning a coup.
But Chizumi—bringing Naruto here not once, but twice, and filling him with his ideals—was destroying everything Fugaku had worked for.
Once was bad enough.
Twice? That was betrayal.
And Fugaku finally snapped.
~~~
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