Izumi was caught off guard by the merciless verdict. Her fair cheeks flushed scarlet.
"I—I'm just following standard procedure in a canvass…"
"Sterile, boxed-in stupidity," Eiya cut her off again.
His eyes pinned her like a hawk. "A man with no friends, low profile, barely interacts with anyone. Why would his 'neighbor' be so invested in his whereabouts? Missing for only a day, and he rushes to file a report?"
Izumi blinked. She had never considered the angle he was pointing at.
"That 'neighbor' claims the status, but how close were they really? What gives him the right to be that concerned about a recluse?"
Her mouth opened, but no words came out.
"And what a coincidence," Eiya went on with a cold snort, "the day of the report is exactly when the rumors first started spreading."
"Door-to-door canvassing? You're wasting time verifying the shallowest and most likely fabricated lead. The real key sat in front of you from the start, and you ignored it."
Eiya's eyes narrowed. "The man who filed the report is the prime suspect."
Izumi's breath hitched. She stared at Eiya, head ringing, with nothing to counter.
"Now take me to this 'concerned' neighbor," Eiya said, flat and final.
"Understood, Eiya-senpai." Izumi snapped to, cheeks pink, her voice full of respect.
Ten minutes later, Izumi led him to the informant's home.
The door stood open. A middle-aged man sat inside, fidgety and ill at ease.
Seeing Uchiha Police walk in, he scrambled up, flustered. "Y-you're here about Old Zhang, right?"
"Since you're his neighbor, how well do you know him?" Eiya asked without preamble.
"Uh… j-just normal neighbors. We say hello when we meet…"
"Say hello?" Eiya's tone turned mocking. "A shut-in who never goes out, has no friends, hates socializing, 'says hello' to you?"
He leaned in, gaze boring down. "Just now you also said he drinks only one specific brand of sake every night, keeps his window half open, and limps a little on his right leg. You sure know the details."
"What then, do you secretly love him so much you observe him that closely?"
"I—I'm just… attentive…" Sweat bubbled on the man's brow as he forced a smile, voice shaking.
"So attentive you can tell what he drinks through a wall?" Eiya barked, stepping forward. "Or did someone tell you to 'pay attention' to such details so you could play the role of a 'concerned neighbor' when the Police questioned you?"
The pressure fell like a mountain. The man's knees almost buckled.
"I… I didn't… it's not…"
Eiya stared deep into his eyes and spoke slowly. "Look at me."
The moment their gazes locked, those black irises turned blood-red, three tomoe whirling.
The man's pupils glazed. His expression froze, his body slackening into a puppet's stupor.
Eiya's Sharingan spun. "Who put you up to this?"
"D-don't know. He wore a mask. Paid me…"
"What's the goal?"
"Have me report the neighbor missing to draw the Police's attention…"
"And after that?"
"When they investigate, I'm to 'happen' to find that… the missing man was last seen with a Uchiha…"
Izumi sucked in a sharp breath, cold sweat breaking along her spine.
Eiya's gaze hardened. "Where's the corpse?"
"Downstream of the Nanga River, in an abandoned branch near the Forest of Death…"
His arm rose stiffly to point the way.
"Lead."
Under his wooden guidance, Eiya and Izumi soon reached a remote stretch of waterway.
A faint rot tainted the air.
Izumi covered her nose, frowning. Eiya's face didn't change as he pushed aside thick grass at the bank.
A male body lay half-submerged in the shallows, early signs of decay setting in.
Izumi blanched and took two steps back, forcing herself to keep watch on the perimeter.
Eiya crouched and examined the body and the scene for cause and trace.
Before long his hand paused at the stiff jacket. His brow lifted.
He drew out a torn scrap of cloth and held it up.
"This is…" Izumi leaned closer, at first confused. Then her face drained of color. "That's our Uchiha fan crest!"
Bold as life, the Uchiha fan was stamped on the scrap.
Found here, it would push all suspicion straight onto the clan.
Izumi's mind flashed, then tangled with fresh doubts. "But why would a real killer be stupid enough to leave something so blatant?"
"Why go to all that trouble?"
Staring at the cloth with its crest, Eiya's lips curled in a cold sneer. "Clumsy, but more than enough for a frame."
Izumi still looked lost. "But… the Police are under Uchiha control. Even if someone tries to frame us, it won't work. Forget false leads—even if a clansman really did it, it'd be handled internally and buried."
Ugly as it was, that was reality.
Eiya gave a short, icy laugh. "That is exactly the outcome they want."
He glanced at her confusion and began to lay it out. "A single civilian homicide won't shake the Uchiha's position in the village."
"But once you follow this 'lead' to this 'key' piece of 'evidence' and file it as is, the Police will likely try to suppress the case and keep it quiet."
"And just when the Police move to bury it internally—"
"Certain people, say the higher-ups, will 'just happen' to receive an anonymous tip exposing the cover-up."
"At that point, under the banner of 'protecting Konoha's justice and hunting the true killer,' they'll force their way in, turning the case into a cudgel to strike the Police."
Izumi's eyes went wide.
A chill climbed her spine and she shivered.
This wasn't a simple murder at all. It was a meticulously engineered political trap.
Each ring linked to the next, every step viciously calculated.
Eiya stood, pocketed the crest scrap, and spoke low. "What's worse, I have a feeling the dead man is tied to the recent rumor operation."
His eyes darkened. "He may well have been the original courier who passed along those messages."
Izumi's lips parted soundlessly, face white.
If Eiya was right…
She didn't dare imagine how deep the mastermind's scheming ran.
Eiya threaded the clues together and found himself begrudgingly impressed at Danzo's ruthless layout: seed rumors to shake hearts, immediately erase direct contacts to keep Root's hands clean, then squeeze the last use from the corpse by packaging it as a perfect frame for the Uchiha.
Time the clan's predictable response, and the instant the Police try to smother the fire inside, make a public strike and challenge their integrity.
"Cruel" and "cover-up" would stain the Uchiha in full view, and the common folk's fear and resentment would spike.
Then, in the name of justice, Danzo could deliver a killing blow to the clan.
He might even seize the chance to force his way into, or outright take over, parts of the Police Force.