Chapter 29: Mina’s Confession, Distinguish Right & Wrong
“Hokage-sama, you heard that too.”
“Alas! Is Uchiha Mina caught yet?”
“We have already locked her in another interrogation room before you arrived. Did you want to see the interrogation?”
“Let’s go.”
The two left and went to the next interrogation room where Mina was locked up. At this moment, she was sitting on a chair. Her face filled with fear, she looked extremely worried.
Bang!
Yamanaka Takuya walked into the room, sat indifferently in front of her, and began his questions.
“Tell me what you did yesterday in detail. If you confess, I might help you get a lenient punishment. You should know Uchiha Tonan wanted to take the blame for you today but his lies were too obvious. I saw through it easily.”
“If you don’t confess, I can only handle this matter according to the law and execute him.” Takuya lied to pressurize Mina.
“Tonan-kun… wanted to die for me… No, I don’t want it to be like this. It was me who did it, it has nothing to do with him.”
It was obvious that Mina’s thoughts weren’t too complicated. Hearing Takuya’s words, she immediately became agitated.
“Why did you kill Hyuga Chiryo?”
“I… I’m sorry. It was unintentional… I was impulsive.”
“Answer my question, why’d you kill Hyuga Chiryo?”
“She killed Yuki-chan first, then she used her naked body to seduce Tonan-kun. At that time, I was so angry.”
“Yuki-chan?”
“Yuki-chan is the cat Tonan-kun gave me. It was his first gift to me.”
Takuya wrote down the motive for the crime in his notebook. He nodded in satisfaction and said, “Alright, beginning from when you woke up yesterday, tell me everything. Don’t omit a single thing. You can’t hide anything from me.”
“Yesterday…”
Soon, Mina told him everything she remembered. When she was done, Takuya frowned a little and seriously asked, “Is that it?”
Her eyes filled with hopelessness, Mina nodded.
“Tonan-kun, thank you for your kind intentions, but let me bear the consequences of my action.”
Takuya left the interrogation room with his notebook and came to Sarutobi Hiruzen’s side.
“Hokage-sama, according to Uchiha Mina’s confession, she’s indeed the one who killed Hyuga Chiryo. This is the record. Please take a look at it.”
Hiruzen took the record and read it carefully. The motive, process, and description of the crime scene were all in line with what we found out from Tonan’s diary.
“Well, this should be about right.”
Takuya hesitated for a bit, but he still expressed his doubts.
“I can’t help but feel something is amiss.”
“What do you mean?” Hiruzen raised his head in confusion and asked.
“I don’t know. I can’t put a finger to it, it’s just an intuition.”
Since a high-ranked professional such as Takuya raised doubts, Hiruzen wouldn’t take it lightly.
“For killing a classmate, she’ll be executed according to the village’s rules anyway. You can ask someone to examine her memory.”
“Yes, Hokage-sama.” Takuya replied and was preparing to instruct someone, when Hiruzen interrupted him, “Wait, let me speak with Tonan-kun and ask for his opinion as well.”
“Yes.” This time, Takuya could also see how high Tonan’s position was in Hiruzen’s heart.
“Ask for an opinion? Why ask? Could it be that if Tonan doesn’t want us to examine her memories, Hokage-sama wouldn’t allow us to do so? Or, as long as Tonan insisted, Hokage-sama would protect a death-row prisoner?”
A young Uchiha kid was such a heavyweight!
In the interrogation room, Tonan had his hands stuck in his hair. He looked thoroughly depressed and dejected.
“Tonan.” Hiruzen quietly entered the room, walked to him, and gently patted his shoulder. Tonan raised his head. Seeing the kind and warm-looking Hiruzen in front of him as if he had seen a close relative, tears glistened in his eyes.
He hugged Hiruzen and cried, “Hokage-sama, I… I…”
The corners of Hiruzen’s mouth rose slightly. He sighed and said, “Child, I can understand your thoughts, but there are things we can’t change.”
“I’m very sad.”
“Mina has already confessed to her crime, and according to the village’s rules, she must be executed. This is the only way in which can give justice to the villagers and the Hyuga clan.”
Tonan was startled listening to Hiruzen’s words. He looked at him in disbelief and said, “Does she have to die?”
“This is terrific.”
Hiruzen didn’t answer immediately. He seemed to hesitate for a while and tentatively said, “The deceased, after all, was a Hyuga. It’s not the Uchiha clan’s internal affairs. No one can show favoritism. Tonan, I hope you can understand.”
Hiruzen already had a plan in his mind. If Tonan insisted on protecting Mina, he would use other means to quietly save her. This way, Tonan would be deeply indebted to him and do things for him wholeheartedly.
It’s just that it may put him in a compromising situation, and it would affect his authority to a certain extent. But at this moment, Tonan stopped crying. He stood up slowly, wiped his tears, and said to Hiruzen, “I understand. Rules are the foundation of the village. I’m sorry, Hokage-sama, I was ignorant before. Please forgive my selfishness.”
After speaking, he put his hand on his knees and bowed deeply to Hiruzen.
“It seems that the village and my status are higher than that little girl’s in his heart.”
Hiruzen was overjoyed. It would be best if he could completely resolve this matter without using special means. Moreover, after Mina’s death, Tonan will completely lose his familial and romantic love.
“At that time, I will be his sole spiritual pillar. This is perfect!”
“It’s alright. You are, after all, still young and not mature enough. I hope you will not begrudge the village because of this.”
Tonan took a deep breath, shook his head firmly, and said, “I won’t, this is Mina’s doing. I won’t blame other people. I’m not someone who cannot differentiate right from wrong.”
Hiruzen nodded and casually added, “Because it is related to a human life, and Mina is about to be sentenced to death, the Interrogation Division needs to examine her memories.”
Tonan’s heart sank a little, secretly thinking, the situation was far from good.
On the surface, he said with a heartache, “Will it affect her body?”
Hiruzen hesitated for a bit and answered honestly, “If we examine her memories for too long, Mina may become of unsound mind. Fortunately, the incident didn’t happen too long ago, so we just need to examine yesterday’s memories, and there shouldn’t be any problems. It’s just that the process might be a little painful.”
Tonan closed his eyes and said in a hoarse voice, “She must be very scared right now. As her boyfriend, I want to accompany her.”
“If by chance she revealed something that gives the game away, then I can amend it in time.”
Hiruzen wouldn’t refuse such a simple request. He immediately nodded and said, “Alright.”
