Namikaze Minato looked at the new complaint letter in front of him and felt like his hair was going to turn gray from worry.
Although the Police Division had indeed made their work much more efficient, some habits were ingrained too deeply to be changed with a single piece of paper.
"So..."
Minato looked up at Uchiha Hizuru, who stood before him. The Elite Chunin from the Criminal Investigation Department still stood ramrod straight, wearing an expression that said, "I did nothing wrong."
"Senior Hizuru, while pursuing that spy, you knocked over the pancake stand belonging to the woman in the Third District, correct?"
"Yes." Hizuru nodded, expressionless. "I had to charge in at full speed to keep the suspect from escaping into the crowd."
"And what did you say after knocking it over?" Minato asked patiently.
"I said, 'I'll compensate you.'" Hizuru frowned, as if he didn't understand what the problem was. "Then I continued the pursuit. Afterward, I did send someone to deliver the money—double the amount."
"That's exactly the problem!"
Minato covered his face and let out a long sigh.
He pushed the complaint letter toward Hizuru, pointing at the tear-stained writing:
"The woman isn't complaining that you knocked over her stand, or that the compensation was insufficient. She's complaining about your attitude."
"She said your eyes were as cold as if you were about to kill someone. You tossed out one sentence and ran off. She was so frightened she couldn't say a word, then went home and cried all night."
Hizuru was stunned. Clearly, he hadn't expected this outcome.
"I... I was just carrying out a mission. Was I supposed to stop and bow to her, apologize, and then go after the criminal? The suspect would've gotten away!"
"You didn't need to bow. But even