Konoha, by the street.
A father and son were being pinned to the ground by two Uchiha, screaming in pain.
"Ow, ow, ow! Damn Police Force! I'm going to file a complaint against you!"
"Why are you hitting people...?" Shisui still tried to question them as usual.
But Zhengye raised a hand and stopped Shisui directly. "Have you forgotten what I told you?"
Shisui froze for a moment, recalling Zhengye's words at the Police Force: from now on, the Uchiha would only arrest people.
"Ow! What's wrong with me beating up this monster?!"
"He deserves to die!"
"You Police Force bastards just wait! I'll definitely file a complaint against you!"
While Shisui was thinking, the father and son continued to shout abuse.
Dongyou and Junxia, who were restraining them, looked toward Zhengye, silently asking how to handle them.
"Break their arms and legs. Take them back for questioning."
Shisui was somewhat shocked. They were civilians, after all.
But since Dongyou and Junxia had already decided to side with Zhengye, they naturally acted at once!
To ninja, breaking someone's limbs with their strength and skill was no harder than crushing a biscuit.
They seized the father and son's arms, struck them with hand chops, then stomped down hard on their calves.
A chilling crack rang out.
The father and son's eyes bulged as their bodies suddenly stiffened, like fish struck by a club.
Piercing screams burst from their throats. "Aaaah... My arms, my legs!"
The two men who had just been threatening to file complaints could now only lie on the ground like dead dogs, screaming miserably.
Zhengye waved his hand, and Dongyou and Junxia immediately dragged the two away.
He crouched down. Seeing Naruto covered in shoeprints, blood streaming from his head, a trace of heartache and fury flashed through his eyes.
This is the hero's son. This is the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. Third Hokage, you really are an animal.
As if performing a magic trick, he pulled a skewer of Three-Color Dango from his clothes. (System-drawn; effect: restores a tiny amount of stamina + improves mood.)
"Kid, stop crying. Hurry home."
Naruto stared blankly at Zhengye, looking somewhat lost.
Zhengye sighed inwardly. As he stuffed the Three-Color Dango into Naruto's hand, he brushed his hand over the Flying Thunder God Kunai inside his clothes.
Then he left with Shisui.
Looking at the Three-Color Dango in his hand, Naruto shuddered and came back to his senses. He looked into the distance, but the other man's back had already vanished.
He took a bite. It was sweet.
Sweeter than the one that smug brat had given him.
Nearby, ANBU Captain Mikawa Ze had witnessed everything. He instructed his subordinate:
"Report everything that just happened to the Third Hokage."
"Remember, no personal speculation or judgment. Report exactly what happened."
The subordinate nodded. "Yes, Captain!"
Then he vanished.
Mikawa Ze stared at Naruto, concern flickering in his eyes.
Was this a deliberate approach, or merely a coincidence?
"Lord Zhengye, wasn't that a little too harsh?"
By the street, Shisui quietly asked Zhengye in a low voice.
As Zhengye strolled leisurely along, he asked in return, "You know who he is, right?"
"Yes. He is the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki."
Zhengye curled his lips, preparing to guide Shisui according to his way of thinking.
"Then what if he went berserk because he was beaten?"
"Naruto gets beaten every day. He's never gone berserk."
Zhengye reached out and knocked Shisui on the head.
Bonk!
The sound was crisp, with a slight echo. Clearly, most of what was inside was water.
Shisui rubbed his forehead. It hurt a little.
"Then can you guarantee he'll never go berserk?"
"Or can you bear the responsibility if the Nine-Tails goes berserk?"
"Or can you ignore the risk of thousands dying or being injured if the Nine-Tails goes berserk and watch Naruto continue being bullied?"
Hearing that, Shisui sucked in a sharp breath.
That's right. Just because he hasn't gone berserk before doesn't mean he never will.
If he really does go berserk, the village won't lose just one or two people.
Seeing Shisui's expression, Zhengye knew that he understood the stakes.
He continued, "It's perfectly normal for the Five Great Shinobi Villages to infiltrate each other. If they can't steal core secrets, can't they hide among the villagers and beat Naruto half to death?"
"Chakra detection can't tell who is a real civilian."
"Tell me, do you think the Nine-Tails is more likely to watch its host get beaten to death, or to break free and go berserk?"
Shisui inhaled sharply, feeling a chill shoot up from the soles of his feet to the top of his head!
He suddenly felt that merely breaking that father and son's limbs had been letting them off lightly!
Zhengye curled his lip. In his previous life, people like that who endangered national security would be executed for at least five minutes.
The fact that they were still alive after beating Naruto already showed how kindhearted he was.
Shisui's expression flickered as he slowly exhaled. "Then why has the Third Hokage always allowed the villagers to bully Naruto?"
Zhengye patted his shoulder. "If you had no food to eat and no clothes to wear, suffering humiliation every day."
"And someone gave you a place to live, fed and clothed you, and comforted you after you were bullied, would you be grateful to him, or grateful to him?"
Zhengye's words carried a playful lilt, but his tone was faintly mocking.
Shisui had never considered such things before.
After all, ordinary people generally lacked understanding and were extremely ignorant. The Uchiha might be stronger than civilians, but only in combat.
Without being exposed to politics, one could only rely on talent.
Shisui was clearly someone with absolutely no talent for politics.
Otherwise, he would not have foolishly revealed the existence of Kotoamatsukami to Konoha's higher-ups, indirectly pushing the Uchiha into the abyss.
Fortunately, there was nothing wrong with his intelligence.
Zhengye had already explained everything in painstaking detail, and Shisui understood completely.
His pupils contracted.
"The Third Hokage wants to completely control the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki!"
Zhengye leaped onto a tree and beckoned to Shisui.
After Shisui came up, Zhengye pointed at the endless rooftops stretching into the distance. In the Shinobi World, this was a symbol of great prosperity.
"Sarutobi Hiruzen is a capable man. He contributed greatly to Konoha's development into what it is today."
"But no one is perfect. No person can make every decision correctly, or perfectly."
"As the Uchiha's current greatest opponent, we must do everything we can to find Sarutobi Hiruzen's weaknesses and mistakes."
Seeing Shisui sink into thought, Zhengye continued, "The villagers already have no good impression of us Uchiha."
"No matter how you enforce the law, they will complain about you."
"So..." Zhengye paused. "Since we cannot make them like us, then make them 'fear' us!"
Fear?
Shisui turned the word over in his mind.
Zhengye jumped down from the tree, and Shisui followed close behind.
"'Authority to coordinate village defense' means you should seize as much of ANBU's work as possible. It doesn't mean you should keep staring at that meager 'Konoha civilian management fee' that can neither fill your stomach nor leave you starving."
"I've already told Fugaku to assign the other shinobi clans to positions such as reconnaissance and judgment according to their abilities."
"If villagers have any complaints, then we Uchiha only arrest people. We aren't the ones who judge them."
"Dividing up the work will let the Police Force consume less of our clan's energy."
"If our clansmen have more energy to fight, train, and do business, the clan can grow stronger."
"Even staying home and having children counts as increasing the clan's population."
Shisui had never learned anything like this. After hearing it, he looked at Zhengye's equally young face, and a wave of admiration rose in his heart.
This... this is the leader the Uchiha truly need!
Before you continue