Naruto Uzumaki

Near the Memorial Stone in Konoha.

A white-haired young man with one eye covered by his forehead protector arrived at a grave carrying a bouquet of flowers.

He first replaced the withered flowers, then stood there lost in thought.

"Rin..." he murmured.

His voice was filled with emptiness and pain. He looked like a ghost, completely devoid of life.

This person was Kakashi Hatake, the Fourth Hokage's disciple.

Kakashi was currently serving in ANBU as the captain of RO Squad.

Because of some changes to ANBU's authority, he only had time to come here while on leave.

The patrolling guards nearby were already very familiar with him and found nothing strange about it.

In any case, Kakashi would leave by nightfall, so they did not question him.

There was a very large park near the Memorial Stone.

It had trees, fountains, slides—everything.

Many young children loved playing there.

"One, two, three, freeze!!"

"One, two, three, freeze!!"

"You've gone down the slide twice already. It should be my turn now!"

The childish voices filled the place with joy and youthful energy.

Yet a blond-haired child was hiding in a corner. The building's shadow covered most of his body. He was thin and sallow, around five years old.

No one knew how long it had been since his clothes had been washed; they were covered in grime.

It was hard to imagine that a large village like Konoha still had children who looked like beggars.

And he was Konoha's Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, the Fourth Hokage's son, Naruto Uzumaki.

His hand tightened against the wall, and longing and hope filled his eyes.

"Phew..."

"Inhale..."

Naruto took two deep breaths, then shuffled two steps forward.

He asked the children playing one, two, three, freeze, "Can I..."

"Can I play with you?"

The children stopped their game and turned to look at Naruto, their eyes filled with confusion. "Who are you?"

Naruto showed a fawning smile. "My name is Naruto."

"You're a monster!" one of the children suddenly shouted.

Naruto's face stiffened. He waved his hands awkwardly as he backed away. "I... I'm not a monster!"

"Is he the Demon Fox!?"

"The one who ate my mom!?"

"Beat him to death!"

Naruto's greatest fear had come true. He had run into people calling him a monster again.

"Whoosh!"

The children playing one, two, three, freeze picked up stones from the nearby flower bed and hurled them at him.

"Thud!" Naruto felt a sharp pain in his head, followed by something warm trickling down.

But he had no time to cry out in pain. Clutching his head, he ran toward the Memorial Stone.

"Stop!"

"Beat him to death!"

The children cheered when they saw Naruto get hit, then swarmed after him.

His face was covered in dirt and blood as he panted and ran outside, falling twice along the way.

At last, he reached the Memorial Stone and dropped onto the ground.

When the children chased him to the Memorial Stone, the nearby patrol guards immediately stepped forward, their faces dark.

"What are you doing!?"

The children looked somewhat frightened and said shakily, "We came to beat up a monster!"

As they spoke, they pointed at Naruto.

The guards glanced at Naruto, then turned away expressionlessly.

"This isn't a place for you to fool around. Get lost!"

The children were a little scared. They spat at Naruto. "You got lucky!"

Then the group of children ran off in a swarm.

Naruto watched them leave, a smug smile appearing on his face.

"Haha... I'm still the smartest..."

A patrolling guard walked over to him. "This isn't a place to play around. Leave immediately."

Naruto wiped the blood from his forehead and said cautiously,

"I understand. I'll leave right away."

Naruto slowly walked away. The smugness vanished from his face, leaving only calmness and loneliness.

He limped as he walked, while the setting sun stretched his shadow long behind him.

Naruto's small figure brushed past Kakashi.

Kakashi caught a glimpse of that golden figure from the corner of his eye, but did not turn back.

As one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, Konoha had a very large population.

Any government order would be posted on the notice boards immediately.

To accommodate those who could not read, people were even assigned to read them aloud.

Not long after the meeting ended, news of the Police Force's expansion had already appeared there.

Although it did not mention the matter of "village defense coordination authority,"

the Police Force's expansion alone stirred up a whirlwind of public discussion.

"The Police Force is expanding again?"

"Oh no, there are going to be even more of those violent maniacs!"

"Damn it, I'll have to be more careful when I go out from now on."

It had to be said that the Uchiha's innate pride meant that whenever commoners made mistakes,

they rarely showed them a pleasant face.

Combined with Konoha's propaganda, the Uchiha were largely seen as synonymous with savagery and violence.

Still, they were all villagers. The Uchiha would not truly kill anyone, so they were frequently complained about.

Now that the Uchiha were expanding, the villagers' first reaction was worry rather than celebration.

At the same time, inside the Police Force.

Zhengye was also in the Police Force headquarters, giving an important speech to its members.

"Everyone here basically knows each other, so I won't introduce myself."

"I am now the clan's Fourth Elder, primarily responsible for all of the Uchiha's external political dealings and for directing the Police Force's operational policies."

The Police Force was also organized into three-man squads, twelve-man companies, and forty-eight-man battalions.

Those standing before Zhengye were all company captains and battalion commanders.

Shisui was among them as well, but he was only a company captain. Giving a people-pleaser like him too high a position would be a disaster.

After Zhengye spoke, everyone's gaze shifted to Fugaku beside him.

Fugaku coughed. "I have already said that I will gradually transfer the clan's authority."

"As for everything concerning the Police Force, I will also follow Zhengye's orders."

"Yes, Clan Head."

Once it had been confirmed that even authority over the Police Force would be delegated, everyone waited for Zhengye's instructions.

"Some well-informed members have probably already learned that the Police Force will be expanding."

"I'll confirm it here. It's true."

"The new personnel are members of other shinobi clans, such as the Hyuga Clan and Ino-Shika-Cho, whom I invited from outside."

After Zhengye's words left his mouth, the people below merely exchanged looks. Overall, they remained fairly calm.

"Of course, at the same time, our Police Force has also gained 'village defense coordination authority'!"

"After these people enter the Police Force, Clan Head Fugaku will break them up and assign them into your units."

"Village defense coordination authority means..."

When the clan members below learned that their Police Force could actually seize authority from ANBU, they could no longer contain their excitement!

"Wonderful!"

"Our Police Force is finally no longer just handling public security!"

Seeing how happy the clansmen were, Zhengye deliberately waited a few minutes before coughing and suppressing their voices.

"Since the Police Force has village defense coordination authority, whenever any conflict occurs in Konoha from now on,"

"we Uchiha will not mediate at all. After one warning, arrest them directly!"

"As for whether that person is guilty, bring them all back to the Police Force for trial."

"Don't care whether anyone files complaints. That is not something you need to consider."

"The guiding principle for Police Force clan members is this: arrest them directly. Anyone who dares resist will be forcibly suppressed!"

"As long as you don't kill them, broken arms and legs don't matter!"

"When trying these villagers or spies, do not use Uchiha. Let members of the other shinobi clans handle it instead."

The clansmen below all shuddered, then showed delighted expressions!

The Uchiha were all warlike people. They feared neither hardship nor pain, but they hated having their hands tied.

Back when they served as public security officers, they could not kill the villagers, and even hitting too hard would earn them complaints.

Now the clouds had finally parted. They no longer had to endure such frustration!

Shisui had doubts in his eyes when he heard this.

Would this intensify the conflict between the Uchiha and the villagers?

But out of trust in Zhengye, he swallowed his doubts and prepared to ask later.

"Alright. Clan Head Fugaku will arrange the newly arrived members of the other clans in the Police Force headquarters for a while."

"Shisui, take me through the Police Force's patrol routes. Dongyou and Junxia, you two come along as well."