Upon returning to Konoha, Itachi Uchiha didn't rush back to the Uchiha clan compound. Instead, he first headed to the Hokage's office.
Knock, knock, knock—
After Itachi Uchiha knocked on the office door, a weary "Come in" from Hiruzen Sarutobi sounded from inside. Itachi then pushed the door open, accompanied by his two subordinates.
"Lord Hokage."
Itachi Uchiha's hands hung at his sides as he spoke earnestly, "The mission you assigned has been successfully completed. Itachi Uchiha, Ōsawa Hyuga, and Amakawa Sarutobi have rejoined the Anbu."
"...Itachi, is that you?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi slowly lifted his head, trying to force a smile, but he couldn't. He said, "No teammates were lost. You did very well."
Itachi Uchiha keenly sensed that the atmosphere was off. He also felt the Hokage's mood was strange.
"Lord Hokage, has something happened in the village?" he proactively asked.
Hiruzen Sarutobi remained silent for a moment, then said, "The funerals for Shin'nosuke and many Anbu shinobi will be held this afternoon. Itachi, Ōsawa, Amakawa. You three have returned just in time. If you wish to attend the funeral, please go back and change your clothes, then gather at the Konoha cemetery."
He didn't explain what had happened, but the information in his words still made Itachi Uchiha pause. Shin'nosuke... the funerals of many Anbu shinobi... He felt the former name sounded familiar; as for the latter, what enormous event could have led to the sacrifice of so many Anbu?
Itachi Uchiha thought for a moment, ultimately deciding not to press for more information. If the Hokage didn't want to speak, there must be a good reason. He wouldn't overstep.
"Lord Hokage, I'll take my leave," Itachi Uchiha said.
"Mm."
After leaving the Hokage's office, Itachi Uchiha prepared to return to the Uchiha clan compound. On the way, he suddenly heard some people discussing something. He quietly walked over to them and listened for a bit.
Finally, he realized why the Hokage was so subdued, and he also understood why the name "Shin'nosuke" had sounded so familiar—he was the Hokage's eldest son!
"Akainu Uchiha... killed many Anbu, and also killed the Hokage's eldest son... and the reason for all this was that Shin'nosuke-senpai did many wrong things he shouldn't have... Indeed, Akainu Uchiha won't tolerate such 'wrongs.'"
Itachi suddenly fell silent.
Akainu Uchiha... that name brought back some unpleasant memories. That man, like Shisui, was once hailed as one of the Uchiha clan's "Twin Geniuses." Even on the battlefields of the Third Great Shinobi World War, his reputation was on par with Shisui's.
And yet, such an Uchiha genius was completely out of place with the rest of the Uchiha, and even the entire Konoha village!
At first, Itachi Uchiha thought Akainu Uchiha was like him, both being so out of place.
However...
—"You and I are not the same kind of people. There's an unbridgeable wall between humans and beasts, Itachi Uchiha."
A cold remark from Akainu Uchiha once. For some reason, it surfaced in Itachi Uchiha's mind.
—"Shisui, if you save him, you'll regret it."
And that sentence was what Akainu said after Shisui appeared just in time to save him when Itachi almost died by Akainu's hands.
A flicker of complexity crossed Itachi Uchiha's calm eyes. Among the entire Uchiha clan, the person he understood the least was probably Akainu Uchiha.
On the other side of Konoha
"Lord Akainu, we have a case! Meow!" Kōjirō Orange, bending his four limbs slightly, leaped onto Izumi head. After licking his paws, he then spoke to Akainu Uchiha, "My children found something incredible in the village's sewers, meow!"
Izumi weakly raised her hand in protest, "Kōjirō-senpai, next time you report cases to Akainu-senpai, could you please not jump on my head...?"
"Meow, Rookie, I'm testing your reflexes! Once you can dodge me, you'll be a high-ranking jonin, no doubt!"
Akainu Uchiha, expressionless, interrupted the person and the cat, "Be more specific. And lead the way."
Kōjirō Orange quickly led the way, saying, "It's human bones, meow, but the bones are very fragmented, and only a small part. From my experience, it should be a human jawbone."
"My children searched everywhere in the sewers and found other bones on the other side, also part of a body, possibly from the same deceased, meow. But we couldn't find any more; they might have been washed away, or hidden elsewhere."
Izumi gasped in horror, "Di-dismembered?!"
Izumi suddenly thought of something. She hesitated, "Since they're already bones, they must have been dead for a long time. Could they be fragments of foreign ninja bodies from the war? After all, if bodies fell into the sewers, the village might not have had time to clean them up?"
"Oh? You're learning to analyze, Rookie!" Kōjirō Orange patted Izumi's head. "Good progress!"
"We'll know once we go down and see," Akainu Uchiha said calmly.
Not long after, Kōjirō Orange led Akainu Uchiha and Izumi to a rather secluded street within Konoha Village. He jumped down from Izumi head, and Izumi took the opportunity to quickly tidy her hair, which he had messed up.
"It's right here." Kōjirō Orange pointed to the lifted manhole cover. Two other ninja cats were guarding it.
"Lord Akainu! Lord Kōjirō!" x2 The two ninja cats greeted them in human speech.
"Lord Akainu, should I have the children bring the bones up... Eh?" Just as Kōjirō Orange finished speaking, he saw Akainu Uchiha, without a word, jump directly into the sewer.
"Lord Akainu, wait for me! Meow!" He immediately followed.
"Ah? Akainu-senpai, wait for me!" Izumi also hurriedly jumped in.
"...It smells terrible." The moment Izumi followed them down, she suddenly felt a tiny bit of regret. She couldn't describe the scent filling the air. The pitch-black environment, where she couldn't see her hand in front of her face, made her even more uncomfortable.
Suddenly, she saw a glimmer of light appear, and in the blink of an eye, that light filled her entire field of vision.
Gasp! It was Akainu-senpai's hand, which had transformed into lava! That light was emanating from the lava!
"Lord Akainu, it's this," when Kōjirō Orange's voice fell, Izumi quickly leaned closer and looked intently.
"This is..." Izumi saw a palm-sized piece of bone laid out in a relatively clean spot on the ground. She also noticed that Akainu-senpai had directly picked up the bone.
"The time of death is no more than five years ago," Akainu Uchiha said indifferently. "It has nothing to do with the war; this is a case of murder and dismemberment. The incident likely occurred within the range of three to five years ago."
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