City of Sin

"Is there a problem?"

Qianyu remained completely unmoved.

Fugaku was left speechless.

"If Lord Hokage insists on holding someone accountable, then let me go speak to him personally, Clan Head."

"No matter how the Clan Head or Lord Hokage chooses to punish me..."

"I'll accept it."

With that, Qianyu turned and left.

Inside Police Force headquarters, Fugaku Uchiha and the others could only exchange bitter smiles and shake their heads.

The Hokage's Office was thick with smoke.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi's pipe occasionally glowed faintly in the dimness.

He looked somewhat weary, yet he still forced himself to continue reviewing the documents.

Behind him, Shimura Danzō stood concealed in the darkness. He stared at Hiruzen Sarutobi's back, his gloomy face expressionless as no one knew what he was thinking.

A knock suddenly sounded at the door.

"Lord Hokage."

Hiruzen Sarutobi set down his documents for the moment and frowned slightly. "Anbu?"

"Come in."

"Yes."

Two Anbu members wearing strange masks pushed the door open and entered.

"What is it? Has there been any unusual movement from the Uchiha clan?"

The two Anbu exchanged glances through their masks.

"We're not sure whether it counts as unusual movement..."

"That man named Uchiha Qianyu killed two more Konoha civilians..."

The pipe in Hiruzen Sarutobi's hand trembled slightly.

"That cold-blooded bastard again?"

"What was it for this time?"

The two of them explained the entire matter in detail.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression changed as well.

"Hmph. That man is becoming more and more outrageous. He's simply lawless!"

"The Second Hokage created the Police Force only to keep the Uchiha clan away from the political core, while driving a wedge between them and Konoha's civilians and ninja..."

"Uchiha Qianyu... does that bastard really think he has the power of life and death?!"

A cold laugh came from the darkness behind him.

"Hiruzen, by your logic, isn't Uchiha Qianyu's brutal and extreme conduct only making the civilians and ninja despise the Uchiha clan even more?"

"Isn't that exactly what we want?"

"Then why are you so agitated?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi said coldly, "Those are two different matters!"

"If the Uchiha clan and the Police Force can decide whether civilians live or die without going through the Hokage, then where is Konoha's authority? Where is its dignity?"

Shimura Danzō sneered.

"I don't think you mean Konoha's authority and dignity..."

"You mean the authority and dignity of you, the Hokage, don't you?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi shifted his gaze toward the rear and cast a cold glance into the darkness behind him.

"What's the difference?"

Shimura Danzō snorted and did not answer.

The two Anbu cautiously probed, "Lord Hokage, should we personally hold the Police Force accountable for this matter?"

"Or even..."

"Have Clan Head Fugaku hand over that man named Uchiha Qianyu directly?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep drag from his pipe, then heavily exhaled the smoke.

"Who can say Fugaku didn't approve of this behind the scenes?"

"With tensions between the Uchiha clan and the village so high, he still allowed that bastard Qianyu to do something like this. Could it be that he's prepared to break with the village?"

Shimura Danzō's eyes glimmered faintly in the darkness.

"Wouldn't that be even better?"

"That tumor that has clung to Konoha since its founding can finally be cut out completely in our generation!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi glared at him. "Danzo, watch your words!"

"Hmph, Hiruzen, you're simply too indecisive!"

"Shut up, Danzo! I am the Hokage!"

"...You'll regret this, Hiruzen."

Shimura Danzō's figure vanished into the darkness, leaving through a hidden doorway.

Hiruzen Sarutobi pondered in silence for a long time.

"I'll use this matter..."

"To personally visit the Police Force and test the Uchiha clan's intentions!"

City of Sin

Uchiha Qianyu handed over his patrol duties and silently returned home.

He did not slack off in the slightest.

Even before he had the system for doing good and accumulating virtue, he had already been exceptionally diligent, desperately seizing every spare moment to train.

Though something weighed on his mind now, he still did not delay his cultivation.

He silently closed his eyes and practiced the Chakra Refining Technique, the most basic technique of all ninja.

Qianyu's heart gradually calmed.

He never regretted what he had done.

Not only because that had always been his conviction.

But also because, in his view, Konoha itself bore original sin.

It was a city of sin.

That original sin was not limited to Konoha's upper ranks, elite ninja, or even its most ordinary villagers.

Selfishness, ignorance, greed, arrogance, jealousy, indifference...

There was no end to it.

Living here often made Qianyu feel an unimaginable oppression.

And the way he vented that oppression was by carrying out justice in his own way.

Extreme?

He had never considered himself extreme.

If anyone was extreme, it was this village and this ninja world—not him.

The next day, at Police Force headquarters.

Fugaku Uchiha was overwhelmed as he dealt with the mess Qianyu had left behind.

Fortunately, the family of three was indeed all together again.

They had no relatives or friends left in the world.

Aside from a few neighbors, there was no one who could complain about anything.

Fugaku sent people to properly bury the bodies of the couple.

As for their property...

That rotten gambler had long squandered it all away.

Other than an old house, they had practically nothing left.

Even so, when Fugaku prepared to deal with the old house, several villagers suddenly came forward, claiming to be the couple's relatives, close friends, and old acquaintances. They said the couple had left word before their deaths that the old house was to be given to them, and so on...

Fugaku was already irritated and in no mood to handle such a tangled mess, so he simply handed the matter over entirely to Yashiro Uchiha, the most experienced elder.

Just as he was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he suddenly sensed a powerful Chakra approaching.

"Hm? That Chakra is..."

He sprang to his feet and hurried outside to greet the visitor himself.

"Lord Hokage."

The visitor was none other than Konoha's Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

He smoked his pipe and wore the conical hat symbolizing his identity as Hokage. His deeply lined, aged face bore his usual kind and gentle smile.

Behind him followed four Anbu ninja wearing strange masks.

"Clan Head Fugaku, I came unannounced. I haven't disturbed the Police Force's work, have I?"