Blood flowed from Keizumi's right eye. Yet as the blood streamed out, the mob bosses and thugs present all simultaneously ignited with a bone-chilling karmic flame.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!" ×N
Burn injuries are known to rank among the highest levels of physical pain. However, the fire of heavenly punishment inflicted a double torment that burned both body and soul. Even someone as strong as Danzō, a quasi-Kage-level shinobi, could not endure it—let alone a group of scum whose strength was far inferior yet whose depravity rivaled his.
Almost the instant the heavenly punishment flames ignited, most of the mob bosses and thugs were driven into shock by the pain. Yet the agony of their souls burning forced them awake again. Then came the dual torment of body and soul, and the screams inside the warehouse were so intense that they nearly jolted the entire Seagull City from sleep.
However, the underground black market's terrifying reputation, built up over the years, was enough to make the vast majority of Seagull City's civilians keep their distance. Even the few who were bold enough, upon hearing such horrifying screams, did not dare take another step closer.
"Sorry, Keizumi-senpai, I had to trouble you to act personally…"
Izumi glanced at Raiga lying on the ground, wailing, and spoke somewhat embarrassedly, "I was too focused on taking the chance to wipe them all out in one go. I didn't expect the strength of the gangs here to be even higher than I imagined…"
Although the "Bloody Mist policy" was indeed a flawed approach, the Land of Water had not adopted it without reason. At the same level, the average strength of Kirigakure shinobi was indeed higher than that of other nations. Consequently, even the black-market thugs of the Land of Water were far stronger than their counterparts in the Land of Fire.
After all, in a place where everyone was bloodthirsty and combative, if one did not struggle to grow stronger, one would have long been killed by others.
Of course, ordinary thugs alone were not enough to push Izumi into a hard battle. The real issue was that the black gangs of Seagull City had also hired many rogue and missing-nin. If not for the abilities of the three-tomoe Sharingan, combined with the enhancements Izumi had gained as a devout believer of Absolute Justice, a shinobi of the same age from Konoha might very well have failed here.
"Keizumi-sama."
Just as Izumi felt rather awkward, a blood-soaked Biwa Jūzō slowly walked over and, without hesitation, dropped to one knee before Keizumi.
"One got away. Go bring me his head."
Keizumi merely gave a slight nod and issued the order crisply.
If nothing unexpected happened, the one who escaped—thoroughly steeped in evil—was likely the mastermind behind this underground black market. Under normal circumstances, Keizumi would never have allowed such a beast to die easily. But considering there was still much to deal with at the moment, he could only let him go to the Pure Land for now.
In any case, it would not be long before he spread the ideology of Absolute Justice throughout the shinobi world. When that time came, he would surely make a trip to the Pure Land—or even drag those unforgivable sinners back out, one by one, for judgment.
A case like Uchiha Obito—committing countless atrocities and then thinking he could wipe it all clean with a last-minute repentance—simply did not apply here!
"Yes!" Jūzō responded and swiftly vanished from the spot. When he had first chosen to pledge loyalty to Keizumi, he may have had various thoughts.
But now, Keizumi had proven through action that even in a land as steeped in sin as the Land of Water, Absolute Justice could truly descend.
With that, Jūzō no longer had any extraneous thoughts. Now, he only wished to burn everything he had for the cause of Absolute Justice.
"There are still a few who slipped through below. Go deal with them."
The veins at the corners of Keizumi's eyes bulged as he switched to the Byakugan and examined Izumi. After confirming she was unharmed, he said, "Then release all those being held captive."
The upper and lower levels of the warehouse served only as activity spaces for the gangs. Most of the food, as well as the civilians intended to be sold as slaves, were imprisoned in a hidden underground layer beneath the warehouse.
"Yes!"
Hearing that there were still stragglers, Izumi didn't dare dwell on the many things she still wanted to say and hurried off to find the entrance to the underground layer.
"Keizumi-sama, that girl seems to…"
Jirō leapt up from the railing and landed steadily on Keizumi's shoulder.
Despite its increasingly plump body, its agility had not diminished at all.
Otherwise, before encountering its own kind, it would not have been able to so easily shake off the Seagull City civilians who had set their sights on it.
"Too talkative."
Keizumi's single, calm remark made Jirō obediently shut its mouth.
In his view, Izumi had merely mistaken her admiration for him as affection. This was not the first time Keizumi had experienced such a thing—only that this time, the admirer had shifted from a victim or a victim's family member to a follower.
After a few years, when Izumi grew older, she would naturally understand that admiration is the furthest distance from understanding.
"Meow~"
Jirō obediently closed its mouth, but inwardly it was quite unconvinced.
Admiration? Reverence? Those were things cats didn't understand—but the scent of mating heat from two-legged creatures? That it could definitely distinguish.
Ignoring Jirō's silent complaints, Keizumi formed hand seals and used a weakened version of Wood Release to create a corridor—more precisely, a wooden slide—connecting the warehouse to Seagull City.
With this, the warehouse, located at higher ground, could transport grain into the city in the most efficient way via the wooden slide.
Before long, Izumi led a group of civilians—ranging from those in their twenties or thirties to children as young as five or six—out from the hidden passage in the lower warehouse.
They were the slaves the gangs had imprisoned in the warehouse, preparing to sell.
Compared to the sallow and emaciated civilians of Seagull City, the slaves in the warehouse appeared somewhat better in complexion. But that was only because the gangs provided them with a small degree of "preferential treatment" to sell them at a higher price.
Looking at the ground littered with gang corpses, the once-dazed slaves revealed expressions of fear, joy, or sorrow.
When Izumi had released them earlier and told them they were now free, no longer to be oppressed by the gangs, they had still been half in doubt.
But now, seeing so many "familiar" corpses with their own eyes, even if the gangs were not entirely wiped out, they could no longer exploit them as before.
"We're saved… this is great!"
"They're shinobi from Konoha!"
"I wonder when we'll be able to go home?"
…
The slaves whispered among themselves, yet not a single one dared to step forward and ask Keizumi or Izumi any questions.