Blood streamed from Uchiha Chizumi's right eye, and as it did, a horrifying karmic flame ignited all at once on the gang bosses and enforcers in the warehouse.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" ×N
Burns were already considered the highest level of physical pain a body could endure, but Heaven's Wrath Flame burned both body and soul at the same time. Even someone like Danzō, a near-Kage level shinobi, couldn't bear it—let alone a pack of scum far weaker than him, yet almost as rotten.
The instant the flames appeared, most of the gang bosses and enforcers blacked out from the pain on the spot. But the agony of their souls burning jolted them awake again, and what followed was torture of both flesh and spirit. The screams inside the warehouse were so horrific they nearly woke all of Seagull City from sleep.
And yet, the underground black market's terrifying reputation over the years was enough to make almost all of Seagull City's civilians avoid this place like the plague. Even the few who were bold enough to come near stopped dead the moment they heard those bloodcurdling screams.
"I'm sorry, Chizumi-senpai. I ended up making you step in personally…"
Uchiha Izumi glanced at Kurosuki Raiga, who was still writhing on the ground and screaming, and spoke with obvious embarrassment.
"I got caught up in the chance to wipe them all out at once and made my move… I didn't expect the gangs here to be even stronger than I imagined…"
The Bloody Mist policy had absolutely been wrong, but the Land of Water hadn't adopted it for no reason at all. The average Kirigakure shinobi of the same rank really was noticeably stronger than their counterparts in other nations, and by extension, even the Land of Water's gang enforcers were far stronger than the same sort of people in the Land of Fire.
In a place as bloodthirsty and violent as the Land of Water, if you didn't fight desperately to become stronger, you probably would've been killed off long ago.
Of course, ordinary gang enforcers alone wouldn't have pushed Izumi into a hard fight. The real problem was that Seagull City's gangs had hired plenty of wandering shinobi and rogue ninja as well. If it weren't for the power of her three-tomoe Sharingan, along with the enhancements she had gained as a devoted believer in [Absolute Justice], a Konoha ninja her age might really have failed here.
"Chizumi-sama."
Just as Izumi was feeling thoroughly awkward, Biwa Jūzō—covered head to toe in blood—walked over and dropped to one knee at Uchiha Chizumi's feet without hesitation.
"There's one that got away. Go bring me his head."
Uchiha Chizumi merely gave a slight nod and issued the order without pause.
If nothing unexpected happened, the one who escaped was most likely the true mastermind behind this underground black market. Under normal circumstances, Uchiha Chizumi would never have let trash like that die so easily. But there was still too much left to deal with right now, so for the time being, he would have to let the man wait in the Pure Land.
Sooner or later, once he had spread the ideals of [Absolute Justice] throughout the shinobi world, he intended to make a trip to the Pure Land himself—or drag those irredeemable monsters back out one by one and put them on trial.
Something like Uchiha Kenji—someone who committed unspeakable atrocities and then tried to whitewash it all at the last second with some "lay down the butcher's blade and become a Buddha" nonsense—simply did not exist in Uchiha Chizumi's worldview.
"Yes, sir!"
Jūzō answered and vanished at once.
When he had first decided to serve Uchiha Chizumi, he might still have harbored all kinds of thoughts.
But now Uchiha Chizumi had proven with his actions that even in a land as steeped in sin as the Land of Water, the day [Absolute Justice] truly descended could still come.
And once that became reality, Jūzō no longer had any room left for stray thoughts. Now, all he wanted was to burn everything he had for the cause of [Absolute Justice].
"There are still a few rats left below. Go deal with them."
The veins around Uchiha Chizumi's eyes bulged as he switched to the Byakugan and gave Uchiha Izumi a quick look. Once he confirmed she wasn't hurt, he continued,
"Then release everyone being held captive."
The upper and lower floors of the warehouse were only the gangs' operating grounds. Most of the grain, along with the civilians being kept to sell as slaves, were imprisoned in a hidden underground level beneath the warehouse.
"Yes!"
The moment she heard there were still stragglers, Izumi forgot all the other things she had wanted to say and immediately hurried off to find the entrance to the underground level.
"Chizumi-sama, that girl seems to feel something for you…"
Kitsujiro leapt off the railing and landed neatly on Uchiha Chizumi's shoulder.
For all the weight he'd put on, his agility hadn't declined in the slightest.
Otherwise, he would never have been able to shake off those Seagull City civilians who had taken an interest in him before he met any other cats.
"You talk too much."
Uchiha Chizumi only said that one sentence, and Kitsujiro obediently shut his mouth.
In Chizumi's eyes, Uchiha Izumi had simply mistaken her admiration for him as something deeper. It wasn't the first time he had dealt with something like this. The only difference was that the people who admired him had changed—from victims or their grieving family members into his followers.
Once Izumi grew older in a few years, she would naturally understand that admiration was the furthest thing from true understanding.
"Meow…"
Kitsujiro obediently stayed quiet, but inwardly he was unconvinced.
Admiration? Worship? Sure, cats might not understand that.
But there was no way he couldn't recognize the scent of a two-legger in heat.
"Wood Release: Wood Corridor Jutsu!"
Ignoring Kitsujiro's silent grumbling, Uchiha Chizumi formed hand seals and used a weakened version of Wood Release to create a corridor—or rather, a wooden slide—connecting the warehouse directly to Seagull City.
That way, the warehouse, which sat on higher ground, could send grain into the city in the fastest, easiest way possible.
Before long, Uchiha Izumi emerged from the hidden passage in the lower warehouse leading a group of civilians ranging from their twenties and thirties all the way down to children only five or six years old.
They were the slaves the gangs had kept imprisoned in the warehouse, waiting to sell off.
Compared to the starving, hollow-faced civilians of Seagull City, the slaves in the warehouse looked slightly better. But that was only because the gangs wanted them healthy enough to fetch a higher price.
Looking at the corpses of gang members scattered all over the ground, the slaves—who had been dazed and numb just moments earlier—began showing all sorts of emotions: terror, joy, grief.
When Izumi had freed them just now and told them they were free, that they would no longer be oppressed by the gangs, most of them had only half believed her.
But now, seeing so many familiar corpses with their own eyes, they could finally believe that even if the gangs weren't completely wiped out, they would never again be able to exploit them the way they used to.
"We're saved… thank goodness…"
"They're Konoha ninja!"
"I wonder when we'll be able to go home…"
…
The slaves whispered quietly among themselves, but not a single one of them dared step forward and ask Uchiha Chizumi or Uchiha Izumi anything directly.
~~~
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