Innocent

"Princess Kou, we didn't cause any trouble this time."

"Hold on a minute, what kind of title is that?" Sarutobi Kou looked at the Chunin being thrown to the ground by tentacles, frowning. These guys had called her "Young Miss" just two days ago, so why were they changing their titles now?

"Oh, it's just to show your nobility!" The thinner Chunin patted the dust off himself and stood up.

His small eyes first cast a sinister glance at Sasuke Uchiha and Shikaru Nara, then shifted to a fawning expression.

"You glib-tongued thing," Sarutobi Kou cursed, then shifted her gaze to Sasuke Uchiha, who had just stood up.

"Tell me, Uchiha boy, what exactly happened?" she asked. "Don't rush, take your time. It's not far from your home anyway."

"She must have seen it all." Sasuke turned his head to look at Shikaru Nara, who was standing to the side. He hoped this Nara clan Chunin would tell the truth.

But it seemed the outcome was not as he expected.

"Do you really want me to tell you everything I saw?" Shikaru said with a smile. "Alright. With one Great Fireball Technique, you almost killed these two Chunin. Luckily, I arrived in time and saved them."

"That's all I saw." Shikaru spread his hands, his tone unusually relaxed.

"You!" Sasuke Uchiha shouted. "It wasn't like that just now."

"Hey, it was exactly like that..." The other two Chunin added fuel to the fire, repeating what they had just said in front of Shikaru.

Sasuke Uchiha, meanwhile, just stared with wide eyes, glaring angrily at everyone present.

In his eyes, these people had already colluded. Because the clan he was so proud of had fallen, leaving only him. As for that man...

"Alright, I pretty much know what happened." Sarutobi Kou nodded, looking at Shikaru, who was taking notes nearby, and gestured for them to issue a judgment.

"Sarutobi Tai and Sarutobi Xiu, intentional provocation, seven days' imprisonment." She said this while watching the faces of the two clan members twist from smugness to distortion.

"Sasuke Uchiha, acquitted." She continued.

"Why!" Sarutobi Tai shouted. "Although we might have provoked them a little, you know, just a little. We never actually laid a hand on them!"

"Exactly! He almost killed us with that Great Fireball Technique, just barely!" Sarutobi Xiu also protested loudly.

As clan ninjas, it was normal to be idle when there were no missions. But in the past, they had to keep their tails between their legs in the village because the Uchiha's Security Force was responsible for maintaining order.

In the past, the red eyes bullied the weak. They were weak, but times had changed. The Konoha Security Force had new members, with a Captain named Sarutobi in charge.

This was supposed to be a good start, and it truly was. They held their heads high. They did more than just hold their heads high, especially since the newly appointed minister was from their clan, and their clan had many members and elders.

"I'm going to tell my dad!" Sarutobi Tai shouted with the voice of a spoiled young master.

"I will indeed have a good talk with the Elder about his child's education. You two good-for-nothings actually bullied a ninja academy student who had just been discharged from the hospital after a serious injury, and you almost got yourselves killed by him."

"Not only do you disgrace the clan, but if there were any other onlookers, you would disgrace the entire Konoha."

"But before that, please go to prison for seven days obediently." Sarutobi Kou's voice was exceptionally cold.

The recent reason for her busyness was not just these problems popping up one after another, but also the ripples they caused.

The old folks in the clan had put her in this position but didn't want her to have complete control of the Security Force's power. They were constantly stirring up trouble, tripping her up, and even playing the emotional card.

They wanted to bring more "their own people" into the Security Force and wanted her to go easy on "their own people."

"Then what about him? Why is he acquitted?" Sarutobi Xiu, seeing that they couldn't reason with her, started to pick on Sasuke Uchiha. Their punishment couldn't be waived for now, so they wanted to make things difficult for him too.

"Yeah, he clearly threw Shuriken at us, and that Great Fireball Technique that almost killed us. The little girl from the Nara clan saw it all clearly!"

"Even if we provoked them first, doesn't he bear any fault? Or rather, shouldn't his fault be greater!"

"This is what the Hokage requested. If you have any objections, please take them up with the Hokage." Shikaru Nara said leisurely after finishing the judgment.

"Don't be ridiculous. The Hokage has been at the Hokage Building all day today and is still reviewing documents at home. Where did you hear his request?"

"Exactly. We didn't see any Anbu delivering a message either. Did the Hokage say beforehand that the Uchiha clan could break the law and get away with it? Could it be that all the actions of the Uchiha clan in the past were with the Hokage's tacit approval?"

"If you want to complain, you can do so after your seven days in prison are up, in front of the Hokage." Sarutobi Kou pulled out a document from a stack of papers.

The content was simple: most Konoha laws did not apply to children under ten years old, unless the child had already graduated from the ninja academy and become a ninja.

Of course, children were not entirely without punishment. The primary responsibility would be borne by their parents. All property damage would be compensated at its full value, and then the class teacher would provide proper guidance.

"Oh, right. One point is non-negotiable: everyone who makes a mistake, including children, must copy the book 'Will of Fire' from beginning to end, without missing a single word."

"After you finish copying, hand it over to your homeroom teacher. I believe it's Iruka, right? I'll explain your situation to him."

Sarutobi Kou read the last line of the document. Sasuke Uchiha's family was gone, so he couldn't afford to pay any compensation. This was the only punishment she could assign to Sasuke Uchiha at the moment.

"Also, Sasuke Uchiha, tomorrow after school, you need to go to the Hokage's office. He has something he needs to give you."

Sarutobi Kou delivered her final words and, along with Shikaru Nara, escorted the two clan members away. Only Sasuke Uchiha, utterly bewildered, returned to the now empty Uchiha compound.

Compared to what he had experienced that night, today's events were nothing. Yet, they were enough to leave him confused.

He was inexplicably targeted, but the new minister, whom he expected to protect the two Chunin, chose to let him go and punish his own clansmen.

None of that mattered. He returned to his family home, opened the door, and instinctively called out, "I'm home!"

Then he looked at the dark, empty space and clenched his fists.