Touch the Dragon's Reverse Scale, and You Must Be Killed

Uchiha Yu's popularity was the result of his hard work.

Over the past few years, he had served as an ordinary member of the Police Force, habitually carrying out his duties like a community police officer.

In just three months, he had become familiar with everyone in his patrol area.

He knew the family circumstances of every resident in his patrol area and remembered each person's name, age, birthday, job, skills, and daily habits.

He also did his utmost to provide whatever help he could according to each family's specific difficulties. Though his strength and finances as a genin were limited, heartfelt assistance was highly effective.

Uchiha Yu had spent twenty years as a community police officer in his previous life and had immense experience handling trivial neighborhood disputes.

The core principle of a community police officer's work was to consider things from the people's perspective and offer practical help, especially while taking care not to make anyone feel embarrassed.

It couldn't be helped. Back when positive ratings were tied to bonuses, he had not cared all that much, because catching thieves earned merits, and promotions and raises came easily enough.

But later, cash disappeared, thieves became fewer, and positive ratings were tied to permanent positions. The iron rice bowl was no longer iron. Who could he complain to?

Forced by those positive ratings, he had no choice but to carefully understand the people, appreciate the hardships of ordinary families, put himself in their shoes, and identify the key points where help was needed.

Only then could he expend the least effort in exchange for the best reviews.

For elderly people who struggled to care for themselves, Uchiha Yu would help carry things, run errands, and keep them company to ease their loneliness.

For middle-aged people struggling to make ends meet, Uchiha Yu never gave money directly. He knew their pride could not bear it. Instead, he focused on practical help, introducing them to jobs or helping them handle the tedious procedures needed to start small businesses.

At first, everything had been for positive ratings. Over time, it became a habit.

He was not another Uchiha who was "unlike an Uchiha," Uchiha Obito.

That foolish kid was also active in the Uchiha compound, but every good deed he did was something he imagined to be good, and no one knew how much extra trouble he caused.

More than once, Uchiha Yu had cleaned up after him and dealt with the messes left behind by his "good deeds," leaving him endlessly irritated.

When he thought of how this idiot would kill Namikaze Minato in the future, sever Uchiha's last hope, then join forces with Uchiha Itachi to exterminate the Uchiha clan—

Uchiha Yu could not help feeling an itch in his hands. He desperately wanted to get rid of him early.

But considering that this guy was not Madara's only candidate yet, killing him would instead make it impossible to grasp the future's course and make it harder to eliminate the crisis, Uchiha Yu temporarily gave up the idea of murder.

Kenji Obito had to die, but now was not the time for him to die.

How could Konoha's people ever have enjoyed the services of community police officers? Their feelings shifted from surprise to shock, from wariness to acceptance, until nearly all of them regarded him as one of their closest people.

His service targets were not limited to the Uchiha clan. Members of other ninja clans and ordinary Konoha villagers were all cared for by Uchiha Yu.

Just as Yu's old captain had said, the reputations of the Uchiha clan and the Konoha Police Force had greatly improved because of his work.

Therefore, when Uchiha Yu was suddenly expelled from the Konoha Police Force, the reputations of both the Uchiha clan and the Police Force immediately suffered a heavy blow.

Konoha's villagers were simple people. Their logic was straightforward:

Uchiha Yu was a good man, an exceptionally good man. Anyone who made things difficult for a good man was a bad person.

If they could not even tolerate someone as good as Uchiha Yu, then the Konoha Police Force was definitely a gathering place for scoundrels.

It was that simple and direct.

Uchiha Setsuna was blind in both eyes and heart. He firmly believed that driving Uchiha Yu away had been absolutely right, preserving the purity of the strongest force and protecting the clan's reputation.

As for what others thought, that was unimportant.

His attitude had always been this: don't tell me what you think; I only care what I think.

This was the Uchiha clan's greatest predicament. The clan's upper ranks and geniuses were all "true enemies" even more dangerous than Shimura Danzō.

Whenever Uchiha Yu thought of these people before, he would feel depressed, bitter, and helpless.

That was because these people either held great power and commanded many ninja, were jonin themselves, or both. Though Uchiha Yu knew perfectly well that they were the real scourge, he lacked the ability to remove them. He could only watch helplessly as they acted recklessly and dragged him and the Uchiha clan toward the abyss.

When people were powerless, feelings of helplessness, depression, and even sorrow naturally arose.

But today was different. As Uchiha Yu walked down the busiest street in the clan compound, his heart held only happiness and joy, with none of those negative emotions remaining.

He had already attained Foundation Establishment. In the future, he would surely possess the strength to break fate itself.

With confidence in his heart, Uchiha Yu naturally no longer felt those negative emotions. Faced with the same difficulties, he instead felt the courage to challenge them.

Suddenly, Uchiha Yu felt unwell. His heart was beating strangely, leaving him restless.

What was going on?

In the darkness, there were "people" watching the Uchiha clan. This was their daily work.

Suddenly, another masked ninja appeared in the darkness and exchanged signals with the ninja carrying out the routine surveillance.

"Is this Uchiha Yu?"

"Yes."

"He is indeed a strange Uchiha, like an ordinary Konoha ninja."

"No, not at all. Look, he isn't wearing a forehead protector. He looks more like an ordinary villager."

"An Uchiha who isn't dangerous?"

"Not dangerous... do you believe that?"

"We don't know whether Uchiha Yu has awakened the Sharingan. In all these years of records, he has never used the Sharingan."

"If he hasn't awakened it, then he truly isn't dangerous. But if he has, that means he has hidden himself deeply. Calm lunatics are the most dangerous."

"Should we test him?"

"Yes."

Seeing the doubt in his companion's eyes, the masked man giving the order explained, "Today, he completed a B-rank mission without suffering so much as a scratch."

"Completing a B-rank mission without a scratch isn't something a chunin can manage. What orders does Lord Danzo have?"

"Why would Lord Danzo pay attention to a minor figure like Uchiha Yu? I think we can act without needing his orders."

This was Root's style of operation. So long as they sensed danger, they dared to strike at anyone, ignoring risks and rules and never caring about the target's identity as a Konoha ninja.

Thus, the ninja on surveillance did not question it further and answered directly, "Fine."

Uchiha Yu, slurping noodles at a ramen stand, froze for a moment before continuing to slurp them down.

[...I only completed a B-rank mission, and it actually brought a lethal disaster upon me?]

Root's tests were extremely crude, especially when testing the Uchiha clan—they simply launched surprise attacks.

If Uchiha Yu could not block the sneak attack, he would be killed. In Root's eyes, the best Uchiha was a dead Uchiha.

Don't talk about attacking a Konoha ninja being a grave crime. Root were law enforcers; they could casually fabricate some evidence and claim it had been a spy attack to muddle through.

But if he blocked Root's surprise attack, it would prove that Uchiha Yu had concealed his strength. Shimura Danzō would then step forward and shamelessly claim to possess clues that he harbored ulterior motives and served as a Sunagakure spy, making a memory probe necessary for confirmation.

Memory probing was extremely dangerous. At best, it could damage one's intelligence; at worst, it could leave one unable to care for oneself. Even dying on the spot was entirely normal.

Shimura Danzō would definitely use his methods and arrange for Root personnel to probe his memories. Uchiha Yu would absolutely meet no good end.

Perhaps the best possible outcome would be becoming an idiot.

And Uchiha Yu was a transmigrator. How could his memories withstand examination? His memories were his reverse scale.

A dragon had a reverse scale. Touch it, and you would be killed.