Red Envelope

After Uchiha Toko became Clan Head and took on the role of vice-captain within the Military Police Force, time constraints meant that the force had only managed to clear out a very rudimentary office for him. Aside from a desk and a file rack, there were no extra decorations whatsoever.

This time, while he was away on a mission, the Military Police Force gave his office a modest renovation.

Not only had the desk and chairs been replaced with a new set, but the filing cabinet had also been carefully organized. A curio shelf stood on each side of the office; one held a complete tea set that was clearly crafted by a famous master, along with several carefully selected varieties of expensive premium tea.

On the other side stood an antique-looking sword rack. Its blade slot was empty, seemingly prepared for Uchiha Toko's Swift Lightning.

Uchiha Toko placed his ninja blade on the sword rack, then looked toward the wall behind his chair. This was what pleased him most.

The blank wall had no elaborate decorations, only a piece of calligraphy hanging upon it, bearing four large characters—Clear Politics and Harmonious People.

Uchiha Toko sat down in his office chair. Before long, Fugaku had someone deliver a compilation of all the complaints received during this period.

Uchiha Toko selected a group of people who had received the most complaints and had them, along with their captains, summoned to his office.

Before long, Uchiha Toko's office was full of people.

Uchiha Toko raised his head and examined these key targets of the complaints. He found that most were children who had only graduated from the Ninja Academy a few years ago; several were even younger than him.

That made sense. Those who were a little older at least knew how to protect themselves, while these fresh graduates were probably still full of the Will of Fire. Naturally, they charged headlong into everything and stubbornly clung to principles. It was no surprise they had been complained about by those troublesome civilians who thought failing to take advantage of others meant suffering a loss.

At this moment, the captains who led them on patrols and duty shifts—originally members of the Uchiha Clan—were also quite helpless. Ever since Uchiha Toko took power, they had repeatedly stressed before every patrol that everyone must enforce the law with a smile. Their subordinates had done exactly that, yet the complaint rate remained sky-high. There was nothing they could do.

Uchiha Toko laid the complaint files before them one by one.

"Vice-Captain Toko, this really isn't their fault. They enforced the law impartially, and throughout the process they strictly followed the discipline of Smiling Law Enforcement. These complaints can only be called malicious complaints," one squad captain stepped forward to explain.

"I know. I've reviewed every one of your enforcement records," Uchiha Toko said. "I didn't call you here to discipline you."

Uchiha Toko looked at the Commoner Ninja behind the squad captains and asked, "How has working in the Military Police Force felt these past few days?"

"Reporting to Vice-Captain, work has been going very smoothly. We are deeply honored to be able to work in the Military Police Force!" At that moment, a bolder young man puffed out his chest and replied.

"Tamura Rannosuke." Uchiha Toko glanced at the file and called out his name. "Very good. In less than three days on the job, you handled three cases of street obstruction by vendors and apprehended seven villagers causing trouble while drunk."

"This is what I should be doing!" Tamura Rannosuke said proudly.

"However, your complaint rate..."

Before Uchiha Toko could finish, Tamura Rannosuke lowered his head, his entire demeanor wilting.

"Why are you making that face?" Uchiha Toko suddenly smiled. "In our Military Police Force, the complaint rate isn't included in performance evaluations."

"Huh?" Tamura Rannosuke raised his head in confusion. Honestly, he had already prepared himself to be scolded. With a monthly salary of eighty thousand plus allowances, and having received a powerful C-rank ninjutsu on his first day at work—something he had never even dared dream of before—getting scolded was no big deal.

But Uchiha Toko's words left him frozen on the spot. The vice-captain hadn't called them here to scold them?

"Although this position of ours is destined to be misunderstood by the villagers, serving Konoha means enduring a little grievance is only natural. We must always remember the teachings of the Will of Fire. Everyone must have faith. We are doing something great," Uchiha Toko said, patting Tamura Rannosuke on the shoulder.

After saying that, Uchiha Toko pulled a thick red envelope from his pocket and placed it in the other's hand.

"Good work. This is your reward for working hard these past few days!"

Then Uchiha Toko took out a stack of red envelopes and handed them out one by one. Everyone in the office received one.

Only after distributing the red envelopes did Uchiha Toko return to his desk and continue speaking.

"I hope that in your future work, you will continue striving forward, work together, and create an even better Konoha!"

The Commoner Ninja who had received the red envelopes were fired up, and Tamura Rannosuke directly raised his hand in salute. "Salute to Vice-Captain! Loy-al-ty!"

"Loy-al-ty!"

"Loy-al-ty!" Uchiha Toko returned the salute.

After this group left, Uchiha Toko called in the next group and repeated the process.

Over the entire morning, everyone in the Military Police Force received red envelopes from Uchiha Toko. The original Uchiha clansmen were relatively calm, as they knew their new Clan Head had always been generous. But the newly joined Commoner Ninja were different. After receiving their red envelopes, every one of them seemed as energized as if injected with chicken blood, and all the negative feelings caused by the persistently high complaint rate were swept away.

After handing out the red envelopes, Uchiha Toko finally had some free time and made himself tea in his office.

The red envelopes for this batch amounted to twenty thousand for division captains, ten thousand for squad captains, and five thousand for ordinary members. The total expense of less than three million was nothing to Uchiha Toko, who currently held a huge sum of money. However, he also understood that this money could only temporarily stabilize the unsettled hearts within the Military Police Force, while also raising everyone's tolerance threshold for Konoha's troublesome civilians. To truly resolve this matter, they still needed an opportunity to vent the dissatisfaction caused by those malicious reports.

As for the villagers' satisfaction? Uchiha Toko had never cared about that. The so-called Smiling Law Enforcement, along with the complaint mailbox set up outside, was merely an attitude displayed by the Military Police Force. If Konoha's troublesome civilians were dissatisfied, they would behave once police batons landed on them.

I just hope those two old bastards don't keep me waiting too long. Uchiha Toko drank his tea and thought to himself.

At that moment, someone knocked on the door to Uchiha Toko's office.

"Come in."

After the office door was pushed open, Uchiha Toko looked at the visitor and smiled.

"Shisui, you came at just the right time. I was about to look for you. Take this red envelope—everyone in the Military Police Force gets one."