It was not hard to see that during the time they had been imprisoned by the gang, these people had suffered quite a bit.
"I am Uchiha Keizumi. Remember this name. No matter what you have experienced in the past, from this moment onward, everything will change."
Keizumi merely glanced at the frames above the slaves' heads. As expected, most of them had more or fewer offenses recorded, though fortunately they were mostly minor crimes like petty theft. "The Land of Water will soon welcome the descent of Absolute Justice. Past mistakes can be forgiven, but let me make this clear first—if anyone commits crimes again, or even engages in wrongdoing, I will deliver judgment in the name of Absolute Justice!"
The slaves looked at one another, but no one dared to say anything. They had not even been able to resist those gangs, let alone Keizumi, who had wiped them out in one stroke.
Moreover, he did not seem to harbor any malice. Under such circumstances, naturally no one would step forward to make trouble for themselves.
Grr…
Just as Keizumi was about to announce that they were free, a little girl in the crowd nervously clutched her stomach. She had been brought in as a slave only today, and before that, she had already gone several days without food.
Of course, the gang's thugs would not go out of their way to give her dinner. She had originally thought that if she could just endure today, things would be fine—but she had not expected righteous companions to descend from the sky and rescue them.
"All of you here—each person may go to the warehouse and take two sacks of grain. After you return, tell the people in the city that everyone can come here to receive one sack of grain."
Keizumi activated the Byakugan to estimate the amount of grain in the warehouse, then declared decisively, "Finally, congratulations on regaining your freedom!"
The moment his words fell, the warehouse fell into complete silence. Only the little girl's rumbling stomach reminded the slaves present that they were not hallucinating.
"We're free! We're free!"
"Grain… we can take two sacks of grain!?"
"That's great! We won't have to go hungry anymore!"
…
At last, the slaves could no longer suppress the joy in their hearts and began to cheer.
If not for the fact that Keizumi appeared too imposing, someone might have even tried to lift him up in celebration.
"Izumi, you'll be responsible for overseeing the distribution. Maintain order for what follows."
Keizumi did not have much time to waste. Although the one here was only a Wood Clone, supervising the Kirigakure shinobi in carrying out justice left his main body with little energy to spare for Seagull City, which was already in the aftermath stage.
"Yes! Keizumi-senpai! Please leave it to me!"
Izumi spoke with full confidence, almost itching to pat her already developing chest in front of him as a show of assurance.
"You stay as well, Tachibana Jirō."
Keizumi looked at the chubby orange cat crouched on his shoulder. His calm gaze showed a rare hint of fluctuation—was it time for this guy to lose some weight? "The Land of Water is not safe enough yet. If there's danger, use the Reverse Summoning Technique to call me."
"Meow! Leave it to meow!" Jirō had no awareness whatsoever that his weight had already drawn Keizumi's attention. At this moment, he was busy planning to set rules for the people of Seagull City—no more catching cats to eat!
"…That's all."
Keizumi stared at Jirō's big belly for quite a while, but in the end, he held back from telling him to lose weight.
After all, in front of a junior like Izumi, he still had to spare Jirō some dignity. He could find an opportunity to remind him later.
At that moment, Jūzō walked into the warehouse carrying a bloody head. When the slaves who were moving grain saw the face of that head, they all cried out in shock.
It was not because they were afraid of a severed head, but because its owner was clearly the overlord of the underground black market of Seagull City—the head of the Funaya family, Funaya Yūjirō!
"Keizumi-sama, I've brought this guy's head back."
Jūzō knelt respectfully before Keizumi and placed Funaya Yūjirō's head on the ground.
Compared to when he had gone out to pursue him, several more wounds had appeared on his body, clearly indicating that the chase had not gone particularly smoothly.
Even so, Jūzō had still brought the head back in the shortest possible time. And judging from the expression of utter terror still lingering on Funaya Yūjirō's face, he had not died peacefully.
"You've worked hard. Next, you'll assist Tachibana Jirō in maintaining order."
Keizumi merely glanced at the head Jūzō had brought back before losing interest. After giving a few instructions to Izumi, he dispelled the Wood Clone and shifted his attention back to Kirigakure.
Eliminating the underground black market was only a small step in carrying out Absolute Justice. There was still a great deal of cleanup work in Seagull City waiting for the two of them and the cat to handle.
However, with Seagull City as a template, Keizumi now had new ideas for reforming the Land of Water.
Eliminating all criminals might save Seagull City in the short term, but as long as the demand for the underground black market still existed, given enough time, the tragedy of Seagull City would inevitably return.
Therefore, to truly solve the problem once and for all, Absolute Justice had to be implemented across the entire shinobi world. Only then could the source of evil be completely eradicated.
"Keizumi-sama, the first batch of teams dispatched to carry out justice has already set out…"
Mei, wearing the Mizukage ceremonial robe, took the initiative to approach Keizumi. For the current storm-tossed Kirigakure, the presence of a Fifth Mizukage could undoubtedly better unite the people.
Thus, with Genji's strong support, Mei had assumed the position of Fifth Mizukage almost seamlessly and at the fastest speed possible. Even the letter notifying the Daimyō of the Land of Water had only been sent after she had already taken office.
However, having become the Fifth Mizukage, Terumī Mei felt not the slightest joy or excitement. All she could feel was a heavy burden and concern for the future.
"I understand. Don't worry—the Slug Sage will guide them properly."
Keizumi's attitude toward this newly appointed Mizukage was relatively gentle. After all, in advancing Absolute Justice, Terumī Mei had indeed made considerable contributions. "It seems you have something you want to say?"
Seeing her hesitant expression, Keizumi bluntly pointed out her inner conflict.
"Yes. The situation in the village right now is… not very good. There's a shortage of manpower, and quite a number of missions have piled up. If there are no shinobi carrying out missions for an extended period, Kirigakure's share of commissions will likely continue to decrease…"
Mei carefully observed Keizumi's expression. If possible, she did not want to bargain with him over this matter, but with the future of Kirigakure at stake, she did not have many choices. "My thought is—could Kirigakure be allowed to allocate part… no, a small portion of manpower to complete some time-sensitive missions?"
Keizumi frowned slightly. Mei's request was not unreasonable. Forcing Kirigakure to abandon all livelihood-sustaining missions was also unrealistic.