Naruto: Uchiha's Absolute Justice

Chapter 39: Hatred for Uchiha Ikeizumi

Izumi finally ran to Uchiha Ikeizumi, the young girl breathless from exhaustion, her face slightly flushed, bending over and panting heavily, but still quickly handing over the documents.

"Sen… Senior, this is the list of all missing persons in Konoha Village within the last five years. To this day, no one on the list has been found. There are a total of one hundred and seventy-six missing persons."

As she spoke this number, Izumi herself was somewhat astonished.

This was just the officially tallied missing persons.

There were definitely some who weren't counted, especially some missing ninja, who might themselves have many secrets.

People with secrets naturally wouldn't appear on Konoha's missing persons list.

Uchiha Ikeizumi did not take the missing persons list, because at that moment, another voice approached from a distance: "Lord Ikeizumi, new bones have been found, meow, and quite a lot this time!"

Kijirō, with his ninja cats, rushed over.

Many of the ninja cats were carrying various bone fragments in their mouths.

"They were all found in the sewers, meow!" Kijirō deftly leaped, skillfully landing on Izumi's head, and said, "It's just not certain if they're from the same person."

One ninja cat after another placed down the bones they had brought.

Uchiha Ikeizumi stooped down and picked up one of the bone fragments.

"Rookie, exclude male missing persons for now."

He said.

Izumi was startled: "Senior already knows the gender of the person killed?"

Uchiha Ikeizumi stood up and said, "This is the subpubic angle of the human pubic bone. For males, it's generally a narrow V-shape with an angle less than 90°. For females, it's a wide U-shape or wide V-shape with an angle greater than 90°."

He then pointed to another bone fragment on the ground: "That's the human brow ridge. In males, it's thick, prominent, and clearly sloped backward; in females, it's relatively flat, with a vertical or slightly sloped forehead."

Izumi listened, dumbfounded.

How many victims' bodies had Senior Ikeizumi handled to be able to conclude the gender of a body just by looking at its bones?

Suddenly.

Izumi keenly noticed Senior Ikeizumi's brow furrowing.

It seemed he had made some new discovery.

She only saw Senior bend down and pick up two bone fragments with teeth embedded in them. After examining them for a moment, he said, "Rookie, the age range is locked between five and thirty years old. Pay attention to the photos on the list, and pick out missing females who appear to have slightly buck teeth."

Izumi quickly said, "Yes! Senior!"

As she hastily flipped through the documents, she dared to ask curiously, "Senior, why the age…"

Still, before she could finish her sentence, Senior Ikeizumi saw through her thoughts and calmly interjected, "Because there are two different sets of remains. Oh, also, pay attention to the surnames of the missing persons. I suspect the two sets of remains are a mother and daughter."

"Judging by the cross-sections of the two sets of remains, the culprit likely used the same tool for dismemberment, and it's highly probable that the crime was committed by the same person, perhaps even killed on the same day."

"Based on the size of the bone fragments, their bodies were dismembered into at least over a hundred pieces after they were killed. It's fortunate we could find some of them."

Izumi's hand almost trembled.

Two… two bodies?

Mother… and daughter?

"One large, one small. The older deceased should be between twenty and thirty years old, and the younger deceased should be between five and eight years old," Uchiha Ikeizumi said calmly.

Izumi, feeling a little unnerved, hurriedly flipped through the documents in her hand.

Based on the filtering information provided by Senior Ikeizumi, Izumi quickly found two missing persons with identical surnames.

"Senior! Found them!"

She tried her best to calm herself, quickly saying, "Yamada Suzushiko, twenty-seven years old, disappeared four years ago. Her husband died young, and she had one daughter; Yamada Nobumi, four years old, disappeared four years ago. Her father died young, and her mother is Yamada Suzushiko."

Uchiha Ikeizumi asked, "What do you think we should do next?"

Izumi was startled, not expecting Senior to throw the question back at her.

Right!

Perhaps this was Senior testing her abilities!

Izumi immediately said, "Find their former residence, investigate their relationships with surrounding neighbors and relatives, and also investigate their financial situation before their deaths. And focus on investigating who inherited the Yamada family's assets after their deaths."

This was part of the Uchiha Police Force's intern manual regarding how to solve cases.

Izumi remembered quite a bit of this basic theoretical knowledge.

"Let's go," Uchiha Ikeizumi first said to Izumi, then to Kijirō, "Bring the bones back to the Police Force."

"Yes! Senior Ikeizumi!"

"Yes! Lord Ikeizumi!"

....

"Hey, Yamada, tomorrow is the funeral for the Hokage-sama's eldest son, what are you spacing out for?! The Hokage-sama instructed us to make sure the funeral is grand and beautiful, so that the deceased can rest in peace in the Pure Land."

"If you're not in good condition, quickly take leave. Otherwise, if you make any mistake tomorrow and cause an accident at the funeral, how can ordinary civilians like us withstand the Hokage-sama's wrath? Our funeral home's reputation will also be ruined!"

The man addressed as "Yamada" jolted.

He shook his head, forcing a strained smile: "Maybe I just didn't sleep well last night, I'm fine."

In truth, even he himself didn't know why he felt so disturbed.

Could it be…

No…

Impossible.

"I handled it very cleanly…" Yamada muttered to himself in a voice only he could hear: "And it's been so many years, how could it possibly be discovered?"

.....

"Hokage-sama, tomorrow is Shin'nosuke's funeral. As Konoha's Hokage, you must at least try to pull yourself together."

A female ANBU ninja, wearing a mask, said softly from behind Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed deeply.

He turned around, looking at the female ANBU in front of him, his expression complex: "You are actually as pained as I am, aren't you? After all… you and Shin'nosuke have been married for many years, and your marital relationship was also very good…"

"Hokage-sama, I believe pain is useless. What has happened cannot be changed. All I can do is ensure Shin'nosuke can rest peacefully in the Pure Land, and take good care of Konohamaru in the future, and remember this hatred. That is all."

Hiruzen Sarutobi heard that her voice was a little hoarse.

Perhaps this daughter-in-law, who had experienced the pain of losing her husband, had already cried countless times.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was silent for a moment, then said, "Nadeshiko, I know you harbor great hatred for Uchiha Ikeizumi, but…"

"I know."

Sarutobi Nadeshiko said, "Hokage-sama, I will consider the village's overall situation and not let hatred cloud my judgment. Hokage-sama, I would like to request half a day off to go spend time with Konohamaru."

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed inwardly.

"Go."