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NAJ Chapter 77: The Second Visit
🕑 Added 2025-07-10 05:04:22 +0000 UTC“Meow. Keizumi-sama, while the village’s shinobi were clearing the ruins near the Yamanaka compound, they discovered a family of four civilians crushed beneath the collapse of their own home.”
A black cat was leading the way at the front. Tachibana Jirō sat crouched on Keizumi’s shoulder and continued speaking: “It was originally going to be filed as an ‘accidental incident,’ but once the Police Division took over, something didn’t add up.”
“Even though the victims’ skin was severely bruised and mangled from being crushed by the debris, one of the corpses had faint and strange markings around the neck.”
“Preliminary assessment suggests they were caused by blunt trauma. The marks were extremely subtle—if the Police Division member hadn’t activated his Sharingan to inspect the body, they might have gone unnoticed.”
“In theory, that part of the body shouldn’t have been hit by any falling objects. The only possible explanation is that the blow was inflicted while the person was still alive.”
Naruto, who had been walking behind, was stunned.
A family of four…
Dead?!
He usually didn’t pay much attention to such heinous incidents. To him, Konoha—despite the many people who shunned and isolated him—was still a peaceful and calm place.
But who would’ve thought that just a short time after following this terrifying man out of Ichiraku Ramen, he’d learn about a family of four being slaughtered in the village?
Was this… still the Konoha he knew?
Uchiha Keizumi said, “Uchiha Izumi.”
“Present!!!” Izumi responded loudly and instantly, her voice so full of spirit that it startled Naruto.
Uchiha Keizumi continued, “Try analyzing who the killer might be.”
“Yes, senpai!”
Izumi recalled the details mentioned by Tachibana Jirō. Her small face turned serious as she said, “The nature of the massacre suggests it was most likely committed by someone familiar to the victims.”
“The Yamanaka Clan's residence is located in one of Konohagakure’s most densely populated districts, with many shinobi living nearby. For the perpetrator to silently subdue an entire four-person household without alerting any other ninja indicates that they must also be a highly skilled shinobi.”
“If we list all the shinobi the victims knew—focusing especially on those who had conflicts of interest with them—we should be able to narrow it down to a few likely suspects.”
“And…”
At this point, Izumi cast a cautious glance at Uchiha Keizumi before continuing, “With Keizumi-senpai’s abilities, identifying the culprit from among the suspects would be instantaneous.”
Tachibana Jirō raised his brows in surprise. “Not bad, rookie. You’ve actually got a point.”
Izumi replied sheepishly, “It’s mostly thanks to following Keizumi-senpai around. I’ve learned so many things that aren’t taught in the Ninja Academy.”
—Not to mention, working under Keizumi-senpai meant getting involved in an absurd number of exceptionally vicious cases. In a short time, she had already accumulated more field experience than most veteran members of the police force.
Of course, that part of her thoughts, the bit bordering on sarcasm, Izumi would never dare say aloud in front of Keizumi-senpai.
As they spoke—
Before they realized it, they had already entered the Uchiha Clan’s compound.
The victims had been transferred to the police headquarters building.
…
“…This is bad!”
Trailing far behind the group, Yamanaka Ryōshin—an ANBU operative—stared ahead at the Uchiha Clan compound, and his scalp tingled with dread.
Why on earth would Uchiha Keizumi bring the Nine-Tails’ jinchūriki here of all places?!
Wasn’t that like throwing a lamb straight into a den of starving wolves?
Could it be… could he seriously be trying to control the Nine-Tails?!
Here, in the heart of the Uchiha compound… even if he risked his life, would there even be a 1% chance of getting Uzumaki Naruto back out?
The moment he set foot into the Uchiha territory—
Yamanaka Ryōshin immediately felt it: dozens of hostile, alert eyes snapped toward him at once.
—It was the Uchiha shinobi.
They had clearly spotted the ANBU mask hanging from his waist!
“Huff!”
Dripping with sweat, Yamanaka Ryōshin gripped the hilt of his ninja blade tightly, assuming a defensive stance as if ready to draw it without hesitation at any moment. Then, steeling himself, he forced his legs to move forward.
“Hokage-sama…”
“When are you finally going to get here?!”
He swore to himself: if he survived today, the first thing he’d do would be to submit his resignation to the Hokage.
Even if they sent him to an enemy nation as a spy, he’d take it—anything but monitoring a jinchūriki again.
This kind of job just wasn’t meant for a normal human!
His star of death was flashing right now!
…
“Here I am again… in this place,” Naruto muttered, completely unaware of the silent storm he was stirring across Konohagakure.
He looked around, curiously surveying the Uchiha Clan compound.
Meanwhile, many of the Uchiha shinobi were also watching him.
And not subtly, either—blatantly, openly.
“That blond brat… he’s definitely not one of us, right? I don’t recall any Uchiha with blond hair.”
“He’s that ‘demon fox brat.’ Got caught by the police force not long ago. Heard it was Uchiha Keizumi who took him in. This time... seems like it’s him again.”
“The demon fox brat, huh? Word is, back during the chaos in the village, the Nine-Tails was sealed inside him. Don’t know if it’s true, but if it is... then he’s the reason our Uchiha Clan was pushed to the margins, isn’t he?”
“Watch yourself. That kid was brought in by Uchiha Keizumi. If you even think about trying anything, he won’t let you leave in one piece.”
“Hm? Who’s that other guy? That thing on his waist… isn’t that an ANBU mask?”
“Oh? An ANBU shinobi showing up in our Uchiha territory?”
Trailing about 100 meters behind, Yamanaka Ryōshin stood out like a sore thumb.
While many of the more radical Uchiha eyes might have been drawn to the demon fox brat, the fact that Uchiha Keizumi was standing beside him kept their desires in check. Even they were somewhat wary of him.
And so—
The one who looked like an easy target, the clear 'soft persimmon', became the focal point of their hostility: Yamanaka Ryōshin.
Dozens of Sharingan were locked onto him.
It felt like the slightest twitch on his part would get him sliced into mincemeat on the spot.
“…Was it really my fault the Uchiha Clan got ostracized?”
The Uchiha didn’t bother to keep their voices down. Naruto could hear every word of their conversation.
His curious expression quickly turned into one of quiet gloom.
“Don’t shoulder a ‘sin’ that was never yours to bear.”
Suddenly, Uchiha Keizumi’s voice rang out: “If it were the you of today—would you ever think of ostracizing the Uchiha Clan?”
Naruto shook his head at once. “No, never!”
He was the one who had been hated and pushed aside by the whole village. How could he possibly have the right to turn around and do the same to others?
No way. That kind of thought would never even cross his mind.
…
At the same time—
Inside an office at the Police Force Headquarters—
The news that the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki had once again entered the Uchiha Clan compound had, naturally, reached Fugaku’s ears in no time.
So much so that the teacup in his hand cracked in his grip.
“He’s here again?! Who brought him in this time?!”
Scalding tea dripped onto his robes, but Fugaku didn’t even notice.
He fired off a flurry of questions in rapid succession.
Last time, when Uchiha Keizumi had brought Uzumaki Naruto into the police headquarters, Fugaku had already been utterly shaken.
And now—Naruto had made a second appearance?
Fugaku was at a complete loss.
“It was Uchiha Keizumi,” the reporting police shinobi answered, offering a response that somehow didn’t surprise Fugaku in the slightest.
“…”
Fugaku was already becoming desensitized to Uchiha Keizumi’s chaos.
He genuinely couldn’t fathom how one person could cause this much trouble in just twenty-four hours—so much that even he, the clan head of the Uchiha, felt completely overwhelmed.
“Keizumi… when will you finally understand that peace between the village and the Uchiha can only be maintained by preserving balance?”
“Haa…”
He let out a heavy sigh as he muttered to himself. Then he stood up with a grim expression and asked in a low, stern voice, “Where did he take Uzumaki Naruto?”
“To the underground morgue at the Police Force Headquarters,” the shinobi answered.
“…???”
Fugaku blinked.
Realizing how that might have sounded, the police shinobi quickly clarified, “Uzumaki Naruto’s still alive! I don’t know why Uchiha Keizumi brought the demon fox brat there of all places…”
“…”
A cold sweat instantly broke out across Fugaku’s back.
He didn’t even bother scolding the shinobi for leaving half his sentence hanging.
Without another word, Fugaku headed straight for the underground morgue.
…
Inside the morgue—
The cold air pressing in from all sides made Naruto shiver involuntarily. Wide-eyed, he stared at the rows of bodies lying on metal slabs—there were so many, he couldn’t even guess the exact number at a glance.
A strange, pungent odor lingered in the air, stinging his nostrils and making his stomach churn. His already grubby little face started to turn visibly pale.
Uchiha Keizumi walked over to one of the bodies covered by a white sheet.
Without hesitation, he reached out and pulled the cloth aside.
In that moment—
The gruesome sight hit Naruto like a brick wall. His head spun with nausea, and he couldn’t even find words to describe the condition of the corpse.
It was a child.
A child about his own age.
Terrified, Naruto immediately squeezed his eyes shut.
