Konoha Year 57 — One year before the night of the Uchiha Massacre.
Inside the Konoha Police Force headquarters, Uchiha Fugaku held a list in his hand. His expression was stern as his gaze swept across the group of young Uchiha standing before him.
These children, aged between 12 and 16, represented the future of the Uchiha clan.
Fugaku spoke in a low voice, "Next... Uchiha Izumi."
"Ah? Present!!"
The twelve-year-old Uchiha girl hastily raised her hand and responded loudly.
Fugaku stared at her and questioned, "Have you resolved yourself to undergo the recruitment examination for the Uchiha Police Force?"
With a solemn expression, Uchiha Izumi replied, "I'm fully prepared!"
Fugaku gave a slight nod. "The assessment period will last for one month. During that time, a full-fledged member of the Police Force will serve as your examiner and evaluate you throughout the recruitment test."
"If they deem your performance satisfactory, you'll officially join the Uchiha Police Force and become one of Konoha's enforcers."
He pointed to the wooden board behind him, which had a list of names written on it.
Many of the names were already circled.
Fugaku continued, "You may choose your examiner from among those whose names are not yet circled."
Izumi looked up at the densely packed list of names.
— Uchiha Shun, Uchiha Riku, Uchiha Keizumi, Uchiha Haruki...
She realized she didn't recognize a single one of them!
"Then... how about this Keizumi-senpai?" Izumi said softly, almost timidly. She chose that name purely because it resembled her own.
Uchiha Izumi... Uchiha Keizumi. Just one character apart.
Fugaku was momentarily taken aback.
"Keizumi..." A flicker of complexity crossed his eyes as he asked pointedly, "Are you sure? Once chosen, you can't change your mind."
Izumi didn't catch the subtle warning and assumed the clan head was simply urging her to hurry up.
"I'm sure."
She firmly sealed her decision.
Fugaku hesitated, then warned, "Uchiha Keizumi is one of the elite within the Police Force. His standards are likely to be stricter than anyone else's. Remember—do not disobey his commands… if you want to survive."
Izumi froze.
She swallowed hard.
The clan head hadn't warned anyone else like this earlier. Did that mean she'd made a terrible choice?
Panic began to rise within her.
…
Izumi was still dazed as she exited the Police Force compound.
In her hand was an 'Assessment Assignment Letter'. All she had to do was hand this letter to Keizumi-senpai, and her one-month hellish assessment would begin.
"If only Itachi-kun were around… I could ask him what this Keizumi-senpai is really like."
She muttered quietly.
She thought about asking someone else from the clan for information—but then remembered that she wasn't close with anyone in the Uchiha.
That's because she was the only 'outlier' in the clan—she never fit in with the other kids her age.
Her mother was Uchiha, but her father had been a civilian ninja. Until the age of five, Uchiha Izumi had carried her father's surname.
Then came the night of the Nine-Tails attack. Her father had died protecting her, and her mother had brought her back to the Uchiha, where she adopted her mother's surname.
"Calm down, calm down… As long as I'm respectful, even if Keizumi-senpai is strict, things shouldn't get too bad."
Izumi decided to prepare a small gift for their first meeting.
However—
Before she could take action, a commotion erupted nearby: "The Police Force ninja are back!"
Izumi turned to look.
A squad of Uchiha Police Force members was approaching in formation—all clad in combat uniforms, equipped with ninja tools, and exuding an intense, commanding aura.
There was no time to buy a gift now. If Keizumi-senpai was among them and she didn't go greet him immediately, she'd definitely leave a bad first impression.
Izumi hurriedly ran over and gathered her courage.
"Excuse me—may I ask which of you is Uchiha Keizumi-senpai?"
She nervously held out the assessment letter. "I'm a candidate for the Police Force recruitment assessment. My name is Uchiha Izumi."
The Uchiha Police Force members stopped in their tracks.
Several astonished pairs of eyes focused on her.
It felt like they were staring at some rare summoning beast.
Among them… a female member of the Police Force stepped forward, wearing a strange expression as she asked, "You chose Uchiha Keizumi as your examiner?"
"Mhm." Uchiha Izumi nodded.
"…Good luck with that." The woman patted Izumi on the shoulder, her tone laced with sympathy. "He's not here. If you want to find him, you might try checking the roughest streets in the village—he's probably there."
"Best of luck. Sometimes, just staying alive is a kind of luck."
Izumi: "???"
Her face turned pale with fright. She quickly asked, "Senpai, is Keizumi-senpai really that strict with new recruits?"
The female Uchiha shook her head. "It's not a matter of being strict. That guy… how should I put it? He's just not the sociable type. Even Fugaku-sama has a hard time ordering him around. Here's a suggestion: you should probably write a will. Trust me, you'll need it soon enough."
Izumi: "…"
She realized that every one of these senior Police Force members was looking at her with a hint of pity in their eyes.
…
Meanwhile—
In one of Konohagakure's most infamous districts, filled with bathhouses, gambling dens, and brothels, a young man dressed in a Police Force uniform had just arrived.
The moment he stepped onto the street alone, it was as if the very air froze.
Three seconds later, the street exploded into chaos.
"Crap! That Uchiha Plague God is here again! Last time he came by, he locked up more than fifty people in Konoha Prison!"
"Hurry! Go alert the boss! Shut the gambling hall's doors now!"
"What the hell is he doing back? Hasn't it only been a month since last time?!"
"Hey! Uchiha Keizumi! Don't push it too far, man! We're all running legal businesses here. Konoha doesn't outlaw gambling, or women, and only a few drugs are actually banned. Why are you always on our backs?!"
"Shhh—do you have a death wish? If you piss off that Uchiha Plague God, you'll end up in the prison's solitary cell for life!"
"D-Don't look at me! I'm just passing through!"
…
Uchiha Keizumi rested one relaxed hand on the hilt of the ninja blade at his waist, his gaze slowly sweeping across the crowd, searching for prey that his eyes could see.
Suddenly—
His gaze froze. "Found a little rat."
In his line of sight, a short man with a hunched posture was skulking through the crowd, trying to keep his head down. At first glance, he didn't seem worth noticing.
But in Uchiha Keizumi's eyes…
The man stood out like a firefly in the night—impossible to ignore.
That's because floating above the man's head was a crimson-colored rectangle, and within it, a string of glowing red text:
[Akiyama Jirō — Two days ago, after losing a gambling bet, he drank to vent his frustrations. While drunk, he violently assaulted his own four-year-old child, resulting in the child's death. Severity Level: Red Name!]
This…
Was Uchiha Keizumi's golden finger in this life.
Expressionless, he began walking toward the man. The crowd scattered in fear, terrified that the infamous Uchiha Plague God would turn his attention on them.
Just as the short man tried to slip away in the confusion—
Uchiha Keizumi spoke.
"Akiyama Jirō. Where do you think you're going?"
He looked down at the man.
His eyes were calm—utterly devoid of emotion—like someone staring at a man already sentenced to death.
At that moment—
"F-Finally found you!"
A breathless girl's voice suddenly rang out from behind Uchiha Keizumi.
"Excuse me! Are you Uchiha Keizumi-senpai?"
Uchiha Keizumi turned around and saw a girl with long, straight black hair standing behind him, looking hesitant and uncertain.
"Keizumi-senpai, I… I…"
Izumi suddenly got stuck. That piercing gaze from Uchiha Keizumi made her tense up without even realizing it.
Even though she could normally muster the courage to speak with other seniors—or even the clan head, Fugaku—she now found herself too nervous to speak in front of this particular Uchiha Keizumi-senpai.
"Speak."
Uchiha Keizumi's voice broke the silence.
Startled, Izumi quickly introduced herself. "My name is Uchiha Izumi! I took part in this year's recruitment assessment for the Police Force. When the clan head, Fugaku-sama, told me to choose an examiner, I… I chose you, Keizumi-senpai."
However, faced with the sharp, scrutinizing look from this senior of the Police Force, her voice grew softer and softer.
By the end, she didn't even dare to look Uchiha Keizumi in the eye.