After Yuba was brought back to the Police Department, the squad captains all stared wide-eyed when they learned the culprit behind that bizarre chain of murders was the usually honest, dependable Yuba. Shock was written across every face.
The office was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Confronted with the pile of physical evidence and the lab reports, Yuba hung his head, ashen, and confessed.
The eerie case that had plagued the Police Department for so long was finally closed.
Yet when Izumi arrived at the rendezvous point she'd set with Eiya, she looked dejected, head down, idly nudging pebbles along the roadside with her toe.
Seeing her like that, Eiya frowned slightly. "What's wrong? Your colleagues can't accept the result and are questioning you?"
"No." Izumi shook her head, voice muffled. "They didn't question me… I repeated your entire line of reasoning word for word, and the perp confessed completely. The case is solved. They were all… stunned, and they really admire you."
Eiya nodded lightly. "Then that's fine. If there's no problem, let's go handle the next case."
He turned to leave, but Izumi still didn't move.
Eiya had to stop and look back. "What is it? Too tired to walk?"
Izumi stayed silent for a moment, then finally screwed up her courage and looked up, eyes full of confusion and guilt. "Senpai, let's… just forget it."
She bit her lip.
"I'm nothing but dead weight. From beginning to end, you found the clues and you deduced the truth. Even if we clear the rest of the cold cases, it won't be through my own ability. Boosting my record like this—'cheating'—it's too unfair to the others."
Having said it, her heart fluttered uneasily.
Eiya had spent so much time and effort helping her solve the case, and now she was suddenly saying she wanted to quit.
Anyone would be disappointed—maybe even angry.
She clenched the hem of her coat, bracing for a scolding or those cold eyes to look at her with contempt.
Unexpectedly, Eiya merely chuckled.
"What a fool… but an endearingly foolish one. I find I rather like you."
"Eh?!"
Caught off guard, Izumi's face flushed scarlet, and her heart seemed to skip a beat.
His sudden words struck like thunder out of a clear sky, shattering her anxiety and leaving only flustered confusion.
Watching her gape, Eiya said calmly, "I'll write exactly what you just said into the mission report and recommend the Police Department annul your personal credit for this case."
Izumi blinked, then exhaled a long breath. The weight on her chest finally lifted; her whole body relaxed.
She bowed solemnly to Eiya. "Thank you!"
Eiya's tone shifted, half-smiling. "However, that means I'll have to give your character evaluation an S-rank."
"S… S-rank?!" Izumi jerked her head up, eyes round. "W-why? And, senpai, how can you—"
Mid-sentence, a light flashed in her mind: he wasn't recommending—he was assigning the grade.
Only someone with direct scoring authority… She stared at Eiya in disbelief.
Eiya smiled and nodded. "That's right. I'm one of the Hokage's inspectors for this Police Department assessment."
"In-inspector?!" Izumi was completely stunned, lips parted, speechless.
The terrifyingly sharp, almost inhuman Eiya-senpai was actually an inspector sent by the Hokage!
Looking at her dazed expression, Eiya grew serious. "You chose to give up credit that isn't yours. That shows integrity. And integrity is one of the most important qualities for an officer of the law."
"But if you want a high mark for capability and to pass the assessment smoothly, you'll still need to crack more—and tougher—cases."
He turned and strode forward. "Come on. You know the next case well. You should be able to handle it on your own."
Izumi hurried after him, still a bit lost. "Where? What case?"
Eiya kept his eyes ahead and spoke five words: "Root's base of operations.
"We're taking the real killer from that missing-persons case into custody."
Izumi understood at once.
He meant the case that, by a twist of fate, exposed Danzo and Root's plot to frame the Uchiha.
But the problem was…
Could a case like that really be pursued?
Arresting an ordinary man like Yuba and confronting the high-and-mighty Shimura Danzo were worlds apart.
She bit her lip, timid. "Senpai, are we really… going to investigate this?"
Eiya glanced sideways at her, his gaze calm as still water. "Is the case closed? Have the true mastermind and murderer been brought to justice?"
Izumi had no answer and lowered her head. "N-no…"
Eiya gave a cold snort. "Hmph. The case itself isn't complicated at all. No one dared investigate before, that's all."
"B-but…" Izumi was still anxious.
That was a Konoha elder.
"No more 'buts.'" Eiya cut off her hesitation. "Root is already under full ANBU surveillance. As a member of the Police Department, you have the authority to investigate any case—what is there to fear?"
…
Half an hour later.
At the entrance to a hidden underground base on Konoha's outskirts, two figures appeared.
Kakashi was on duty there with several ANBU in animal masks.
When Eiya arrived with Izumi, surprise flickered across their faces.
"Yo." Kakashi lifted his eye lazily and greeted them. "Showing up now… here to relieve us?"
"No." Eiya's expression was cool. "We're here to investigate."
Kakashi's gaze slid past Eiya to Izumi, and his tone dropped, grave. "You really mean to work a case inside this guy's home turf?"
Eiya smiled faintly. "Why wouldn't we?"
Kakashi shook his head. "Danzo's inside, and he's got a small army. The Hokage ordered us to monitor this place, but we can only hold the entrance and log who goes in and out. As for inside… that's beyond us."
Eiya nodded; he understood.
It was Danzo's bottom line—and an unspoken understanding between him and the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.
They were comrades who'd lived and bled together, and as Hokage, Hiruzen needed Danzo to handle the things that couldn't see the light of day.
Whatever happened, neither would push the other to a total break.
Most crucially, the Hokage didn't see Danzo as a real threat.
He held Danzo's leash; whatever Danzo's motives, in the end he still served as fertilizer for the soil of the Will of Fire.
And outside of Danzo himself and Root's influence, the Shimura clan hadn't been a major family by numbers for a long time…
After a few words, Eiya led Izumi into the underground base.
A deep corridor stretched before them, slanting downward, cold and silent.
A few torches jutted from the walls, their wavering light elongating and warping the two shadows.
A stale, oppressive tang hung in the air, making their breaths unconsciously quiet.
At the end stood a heavy iron door, half ajar.
Eiya pushed it open without hesitation, and Izumi slipped in behind him.
The room was dark and bare. A few oil lamps guttered on the walls.
A low table sat in the center. Beside it was a grim, one-eyed old man, with two Root operatives standing behind him.
Danzo narrowed his lone eye, measuring the man and woman who had suddenly intruded on his turf. His voice was low and cold. "Uchiha, barging into Root's base at night… what do you think you're doing?"
Eiya walked forward a few steps, unhurried. "The Police Department is investigating an open case. We hope Advisor Danzo will cooperate."
"Cooperate?" Danzo snorted. "How outrageous. Since when does the Police Department come here to point fingers at me?"
Eiya's tone stayed even. "We only wish to bring the true culprit to justice. No disrespect is intended."
Danzo's face hardened. His cane cracked against the floor. "Insolence! Have the Uchiha grown lawless?!"
With his shout, a killing intent seeped from him, like a beast fixing on its prey. The temperature seemed to drop.
Izumi blanched at the roar. Her knees nearly buckled.
At the last moment, Eiya caught her shoulder and eased her behind him, then lifted his gaze to the old man. "Advisor Danzo, we're here only to investigate. No disrespect."
"Investigate?" Danzo's lone eye bored into Eiya. "Get out. This is no place for you."
Sheltered behind Eiya, Izumi steadied herself, drew a breath, and forced herself to speak. "A-Advisor Danzo, we suspect the true killer in the missing-persons case is hiding among your subordinates. Please cooperate and let us take the suspect back for questioning!"
"Absurd." Danzo cut her off, voice like ice. "That case was long ago 'solved.' Your Police Department was incompetent. What does it have to do with me?"
His eye narrowed.
"For the Hokage's sake, leave now and I'll pretend this never happened. Otherwise… hmph."
At the same time, a Root operative at his side stepped forward, hand on his short blade, and asked in a low voice, "My lord, shall I teach these two whelps some manners?"
Before the words finished, Eiya raised his left hand, keeping Izumi behind him. His right eye flared crimson—the three tomoe of the Sharingan spun.
A palpable pressure burst from Eiya, sweeping the room.
The Root operative froze where he stood, cold sweat breaking on his brow, no longer daring to move.
Eiya's eyes gleamed like ice as he stared at Danzo. "Advisor Danzo, don't make this complicated."
"Arrogant brat!"
Danzo laughed in fury, cane thumping as he pushed himself up. "Do you have any idea what you're saying? You think you'll walk out of here alive today?"
At his bark, several Root shinobi flickered into the room, surrounding the pair.
Danzo pointed his cane, one eye nearly spitting fire. "Even Uchiha Madara wouldn't dare show me such disrespect. What are you, boy?"
The air crackled.
Izumi clenched her fists. Cold sweat had soaked her back, but she straightened her spine and stayed behind Eiya.
Eiya's face was calm as a still pond. The crimson pupil never left Danzo's face; he didn't retreat an inch.
They stood locked for a long time, killing intent thickening until it felt almost solid, every second stretching into an ordeal.
Rage burning, Danzo's thoughts raced. Was it really worth going to the mat with these two reckless Uchiha?
What mattered wasn't these two fools.
What mattered was who stood behind them.
Were they acting on Fugaku's orders?
Or was this Hiruzen's test of me?
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