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XXXIII

Joining the Slug Party

"Tsunade-sama, it's safe to come and take a look. There isn't even a single drop of blood."

With Shizune's reassurance, Tsunade joined the three and peered at the dead bodies.

Shizune reached over and gingerly lifted a notebook out of the woman's pouch.

She leafed through its pages, skimming the contents in interest.

Tsunade quickly came to the same conclusion as Shizune. "They have been dead for two hours. They died due to heart attacks, although there is no observable blockage in their arteries. They were weary from travelling but still healthy. They were not trained in the use of chakra, but they were fairly wealthy -- either that or their town was rich in resources."

Mitsushi perked up as he listened to her list her observations.

It seemed that his detective skills were not completely useless here? His talents seemed to be a job requirement, more or less. While his investigation capabilities would no longer be his bread and butter, they could still play an auxiliary role in a shinobi's work.

Mitsushi noticed something that the pair of natives could not.

These corpses resembled people that they met in the Shinigami World.

In other words, they were fake. Naruto must have made them on short notice if they corresponded so closely with their former acquaintances. Mitsushi found Naruto's reluctance to involve innocents rather adorable. It was evidence of Watari's lasting influence on his dear friend.

Mitsushi still remembered all of their names, though they were in English and thus unsuitable to be revealed directly.

Thankfully, no one knew how the death note worked in this world. Tsunade would never think of asking what the names of the deceased were. He could technically come up with names for them on the spot but did not dare to do so unscrupulously. It would have been tragic if there turned out to be some cultural significance behind a randomly selected name from the exhaustible list of Japanese names he was confident in reciting. Mitsushi was not nearly as opposed to the thought of murder as another from his time might be. He has already taken many lives, whether directly or indirectly. Honestly, justice was his moral tether -- it prevented him from going beyond the line.

Based on their views on making the world a better place, Yagami Light -- the greatest mass murderer in history -- might have been more sincere in his actions than L.

Kira had been an idealist, pursuing the impossible goal of eliminating crime in society through extreme measures.

L was the "hero" that opposed him, but no one had hailed him as one. Kira had admirers and an entire following of cultists, whereas L had people criticising him at every turn. They scolded him for being excessive and then again for his inaction. Some openly cheered Kira on for his pursuit of justice, but no one did the same for L.

To them, Kira was not necessarily a villain.

He might have lost his way and awakened a god complex, but Kira always acted in the interest of the innocents.

Of course, L did not regret having played a role in causing Kira's demise. Yagami Light would have caused untold unrest if he ever sat on his desired throne. His choice to eliminate those he deemed criminals was akin to treating the symptoms while leaving the diseased roots festering. Fear was a suitable weapon, but it was a double-edged one. Once the formidable God reigning above them disappeared, succumbing to the end of his mortal lifespan, evil will rise once more.

Mitsushi was undaunted by the thought of being an assassin by occupation in the future.

After all, he had Naruto by his side -- he had promised to follow the other for an eternity.