"The underground black market in Seagull City is run by the Funaya family. Those scumbags don't just traffic people and contraband—they've also monopolized the island's grain trade…"
Since following Uchiha Chizumi, Uchiha Izumi had seen more than her share of utterly depraved scum, but this was the first time she had encountered something like Seagull City. "If it were just about making obscene profits, that would be bad enough. But the worst part is that they're deliberately creating famine and forcing poor people who can't afford to raise their children to sell them!"
"They don't even have food to eat, so they won't even spare cats, meow! Lots of cats got caught and eaten, meow!"
Kitsujiro was so furious he could barely get his words out, waving his claws around like he wanted to tear someone apart.
"The intel I gathered is more or less the same," Biwa Jūzō said in a low voice. "A few years ago, Seagull City's underground black market still had several groups keeping each other in check. But in the last few years, the Funaya family suddenly rose to power and swallowed up the others…"
Even though his attempt to infiltrate the black market had been interrupted by Kurosuki Raiga, as a former member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, gathering simple intel in a town within the Land of Water was still easy work for Jūzō.
"Then we'll start with the Funaya family! First, every sinner will get the ending they deserve!"
Izumi gritted her teeth as she spoke. This was the first time she had led a purge on such a large scale. Given the size of Seagull City's black market, there were probably several hundred criminals here whose sin level had already reached red-name status.
"In the name of [Absolute Justice]!"
"The enemy is probably a lot trickier than you think. Just from what I know, there's one former member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen here, plus several rogue shinobi at jōnin level…"
Jūzō folded his arms and glanced at Izumi's still somewhat youthful frame before speaking up. "And on top of that, we need to watch out for the people profiting through the black market. They might take advantage of the chaos, or they might join forces with the Funaya family…"
"Are you trying to persuade me to give up, Senpai?"
Izumi frowned slightly. Her calm voice carried a trace of displeasure.
"No. I'm saying the enemy is strong…"
Jūzō gripped the hilt of the Executioner's Blade, killing intent spilling out as he spoke.
"So that means I need to fight too."
"Meow! And me too!"
Kitsujiro did his best to stick out the claws hidden inside his thick paw pads. "I'm going to get justice for the other cats!"
At that, the two humans and one cat reached an agreement. They exchanged a glance, and then all three vanished from the spot.
Night fell.
Inside Seagull City's black market warehouse, things were nothing like the castle-town district, where only a few scattered lights glowed. Even deep into the night, the black market warehouse remained brightly lit and packed with noise.
The gang bosses were fighting over each territory's grain allotment.
This wasn't just about how much money they could make in the coming weeks—it also determined how many subordinates they could recruit, and even whether they themselves would live or die.
Because of that, the method they used to compete for shares was brutally bloody.
Each gang boss would send subordinates into a free-for-all deathmatch with no distinction between friend or foe. The length of time their fighters survived determined how much grain their gang would receive afterward. The one who lasted the longest got the biggest share, while the one who died first got the least.
To secure more profit—or simply stay alive—the gang bosses each used whatever methods they could. Some raised subordinates skilled at escaping. Some recruited highly skilled swordsmen. Others simply hired wandering shinobi or rogue ninja.
And the result of that was obvious: in order to pay the rogue shinobi they hired, the gang bosses had to squeeze the civilians in their territories even harder.
Those civilians, once they could no longer survive, had no choice but to sell their children—or even their wives—to the gangs. The gangs would then resell them to the Funaya family, who controlled the black market.
And so a chain of evil took shape: it began with control of the grain supply and ended in human trafficking.
By the time the two humans and one cat used Transformation Jutsu to infiltrate the black market warehouse, the deathmatch inside had already reached its final stages. Most of the participants were dead. Only two wandering shinobi, one rogue ninja, and a masterless samurai were still alive.
"These filthy bastards!" Izumi only took one look before the hundreds of red names in front of her almost made her dizzy. Furious and horrified, she turned decisively to Jūzō. "Jūzō-senpai, don't hold back. Not a single person here is innocent!"
"Fine by me."
Jūzō raised the Executioner's Blade without hesitation. Before anyone in the warehouse could react, he charged straight at the nearest gang boss.
"Who the hell are you?!"
Any gang boss who had managed to rise to the top in Seagull City had at least some skill. The instant Jūzō lunged, the man Jūzō had targeted reacted almost immediately.
Clang! Slash!
Unfortunately, in the face of overwhelming strength, even the fastest reaction speed couldn't save him. The moment he drew his saber, the heavy Executioner's Blade came crashing down with a fierce howl of wind and sliced both man and weapon clean in two.
"We're under attack!"
"They're here to wreck the place! Get them!"
"Kill them!"
…
But instead of terrifying the gang bosses, the savage display only brought out their own vicious streak. They led their men and enforcers straight at Jūzō.
Only a few experienced rogue shinobi noticed the Executioner's Blade in Jūzō's hands and instinctively stopped in their tracks.
As rogue ninja active in the Land of Water, they might not remember Biwa Jūzō, former member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen—but they absolutely recognized the infamous Broken Blade: Executioner's Blade.
"Go to hell, you trash!"
Jūzō bared his shark-like teeth in a vicious grin and swung the Executioner's Blade mercilessly at the enemies charging him. In an instant, the warehouse turned into a storm of blood and slaughter.
Ordinary gang enforcers were no match for him at all. And now that Izumi had given him permission, Jūzō had no intention of showing restraint. In just a few breaths, he cut straight through the crowd, leaving severed limbs and corpses all over the floor.
Seeing that, Izumi's eyelid twitched.
She had seen Chizumi-senpai kill plenty of people, and she herself was no longer the inexperienced rookie who had never seen blood. But this kind of brutally bloody massacre still made her feel a reflexive wave of nausea.
But after only a glance at the dense list of crimes floating above the other red-names' heads, Izumi put away every scrap of misplaced pity.
She drew the katana she had specially prepared and met the gang enforcer charging at her.
"Sinner…"
The Sharingan in Izumi's eyes spun rapidly. In an instant, she finished reading the crimes above his head, then locked eyes with him. The genjutsu of her three-tomoe Sharingan froze him in place.
"You deserve death!"
~~~
Thank you for coming back and reading!