Chapter 28: Turning Himself In, Anbu Interrogation
The next day, dawn lined the horizon. Uchiha Tonan struggled to get up. The intense genjutsu he used the day before consumed much of his chakra. A few hours of sleep were not enough to replenish it. His body was sluggish.
The first thing he did after waking up was open up his diary.
Nothing noteworthy happened in recent days. Hence, his diary comprised only fillers. The content of the Will of Fire was written over and over again until Tonan himself wanted to throw up.
October 6.
Something big happened today. I thought about it for a long time, but I cannot pen it even now. Last evening, Chiryo asked me to meet her at the waterfall in the forest. She said she had something to tell me.
Unexpectedly, she appeared in front of me naked! And wanted to become my woman. I ran. I have only thought of her as a little sister. What’s more, I’ve already fallen in love with Mina.
I thought this would’ve been the end of the matter, but…
I never thought I’d bump into Mina on my way back to the village at night. Her expression didn’t look right, but I didn’t notice it at first. I gathered my courage and confessed my feelings to her. I even kissed her.
She didn’t reject me, which made me so happy that I felt like the happiest person in the world. But then she told me, she killed Chiryo with her own hands…
I don’t know what to do. According to the village’s rules, Mina should be executed for what she did. But I can’t bear for that to happen. Now, Mina and I are the only ones who know this secret.
On one hand, it’s my village, and on the other, my lover. Who should I choose?
The words written were extremely messy and stopped abruptly at this point.
Tonan also left a few ink dots on the blank space left behind. Then, he tossed the pen on top of the open diary and left the house with a lost look on his face.
On the road, he dilly-dallied for more than two hours before he arrived at the Hokage Residence. Inside the Hokage’s office, Sarutobi Hiruzen was leaning back in his chair with a leisurely expression, smoking a pipe.
Suddenly, he sat up straight.
Immediately after, Tonan knocked on the office door.
“Enter.”
Pushing open the door, Tonan came inside. He looked at Hiruzen with a pale face, liked he wanted to speak but paused again. Eventually, he just dropped his head and remained silent.
“Tonan, what happened?”
Tonan clenched his fists and kneeled on the ground at once. Tears overflowing from his eyes, he sobbed, “Hokage-sama, I’ve killed someone. Please execute me!”
Hiruzen was startled for a moment. He came to Tonan’s side and said in a grim voice, “Tonan, raise your head and look at me.”
Tonan slowly lifted his head, but before he could even meet Hiruzen’s eyes for more than a second, he lowered it again. His eyes were constantly moving, looking guilty.
Hiruzen frowned, but he felt at a loss on what to do. Right now, the most important thing was to suppress this matter. Hiruzen immediately called the Anbu over.
“Bring Tonan to the Interrogation Department. Don’t let anyone interrogate him without my orders,” Hiruzen commanded with a serious face.
“Yes,” the Anbu answered. He grabbed Tonan and left using the Body Flicker Technique.
This was a tricky situation for Hiruzen. Tonan had shown value far beyond any of his peers, and he was also loyal to him. Hiruzen did not want to execute him just like that. But in Konoha, regardless of who was murdered, the murderer must be punished according to the rules.
“If it’s really impossible, then I can just assign him to the Root and keep him anonymous hereon. That would spare his life.”
Hiruzen had already begun thinking of a way out.
“No, there’s something wrong here. If he’s already decided to turn himself in, then why would he look guilty, like he’s hiding something?”
Hiruzen narrowed his eyes slightly. Something unusual caught his attention.
Guilt meant that he lied. In that case…
“Anbu.”
“Hokage-sama.”
“Go to Tonan’s house and bring me his diary.”
“Yes.”
Fifteen minutes later, the Anbu presented Tonan’s diary to Hiruzen. Hiruzen quickly flipped through it to the final few days.
Sure enough! This kid actually fell in love without telling anyone.
“The village on one hand, and your girlfriend on the other, so you chose to become a scapegoat?”
Hiruzen shut the diary and handed it to the Anbu.
“Take the diary back. And bring Uchiha Mina to the Interrogation Department.”
“Yes, Hokage-sama.”
Once the Anbu left, Hiruzen headed for the Interrogation Department with his hands behind his back. Konoha’s Torture and Interrogation Department was built underground and special shinobi kept watch at many checkpoints to ensure no blindspot.
“Hokage-sama.” The leader of the Konoha Interrogation Department, Yamanaka Takuya, greeted Hiruzen at the door. The two talked as they walked towards the interrogation room.
“Yakuya, Tonan hasn’t been interrogated yet, right?”
“No. Will you interrogate him yourself?”
“No need. I’ll just listen from the side.”
“The most recent information we obtained shows that Uchiha Mina is the culprit. At the same time, she’s Tonan’s girlfriend.”
On the face of it, Hiruzen was making a simple comment but there was an unmissable undertone to it.
“I see. I understand.”
The interrogation room had an adjoining chamber divided only by a single mirror. Sitting inside, Hiruzen quietly watched the scene unfold in the interrogation room.
Takuya entered the room with a cool expression. He saw Tonan sitting on the chair as if his soul had left his body, not even lifting his head.
Clearing his throat, Takuya said, “Uchiha Tonan. I understand your situation, but I also have a few questions to ask you.”
Looking as if all hope had abandoned him, Tonan said, “Go ahead. I’ll confess everything.”
“What do you mean you’ll confess everything?” The veins on Takuya’s forehead were bulging. Had Hiruzen not been watching them right now, he would have punched Tonan. Taking a deep breath, Takuya opened his book, lifted his pen, and wrote quickly as he bombarded Tonan with rapid-fire questions.
“What’s your relationship with the deceased?”
“Classmates.”
“Where’s the last place you saw the deceased?”
“Under the waterfall east of the Hokage Rock.”
“What was she doing at the time?”
“She was taking a bath.”
“What’s your motive for killing her?”
“Motive?” Tonan stiffened.
“Why’d you decide to kill her?”
The question came too quickly, and Tonan looked like he hadn’t even thought about how to answer it. Eyes darting left and right, he hesitantly replied, “Because… because… she likes me.”
Takuya slammed his pen on the book and yelled, “Do you think that’s a good enough reason?!”
“But I don’t like her…” Tonan was so anxious that his forehead was covered in sweat as he incoherently explained, “She appeared naked in front of me. She even hugged me. I was angry, so I…”
“Do you know the consequences of taking the blame for someone else?” Takuya’s tone had gone completely cold. Arms over his chest, he had given up making records.
Up to this point of the interrogation, he could determine that Tonan was not the murderer, so there was little point in writing a statement.
“I’m not taking the blame for anyone! I’m not, please, you have to believe me!” Two streaks of tears ran down Tonan’s cheeks as he pleaded with Takuya.
Takuya sneered, “Fine. Let me ask you one last question. How’d you kill her?”
As soon as that question came out, Tonan was at a loss for words again.
He lowered his head and took a deep breath. More than ten seconds passed before he lifted his head and spoke uncertainly, “I… I don’t remember. I think I killed her with a kunai…”
“Be specific. Where’d you stab her with the kunai? Did you stab her two centimeters above the heart?” Takuya rapped his fingers loudly on the table as if to draw the boy’s attention.
“Yes! That’s where it was!” Tonan widened his eyes and answered with uncertainty.
But when Takuya heard Tonan’s admission, he gathered his book and pen, not sparing him another glance.
“Enough. Our investigators have already checked the crime scene. The deceased’s head was decapitated before it was burned with fire. Uchiha Tonan, obstructing official duties is a punishable offense.”
“You dare to take the blame for someone else in the face of the Interrogation Department? You’re a fool!”
Saying that Takuya left the interrogation room without a second look at Tonan and entered next door.
