The True Leader

Konoha Village, by the roadside.

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...?" As usual, Shisui wanted to ask what had happened.

But Zhengye raised a hand and stopped him. "Did you forget what I said?"

Shisui froze for a moment, recalling Zhengye's words at the Police Force: from now on, the Uchiha would only arrest people.

"Ow! So what if I hit that 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 were still shouting threats.

Dongyou and Junxia, who were restraining them, looked toward Zhengye, silently asking how to deal with them.

"Break their arms and legs. Take them back for questioning."

Shisui was somewhat shocked. They were civilians.

But since Dongyou and Junxia had chosen to pledge themselves to Zhengye, they immediately carried out his order!

With a ninja's strength and skill, breaking someone's limbs was about as easy as crushing a cracker.

They grabbed the father and son by the arms, chopped down with their hands, then stomped hard on their calves.

A chilling crunch rang out.

The father and son's eyes bulged as their bodies suddenly went rigid, like fish struck over the head.

Piercing screams burst from their throats. "Aahhh... my arms, my legs!"

The two who had just been clamoring to file complaints could now only lie on the ground like dead dogs, screaming in agony.

Zhengye waved a hand, and Dongyou and Junxia immediately dragged the pair away.

He crouched down. Seeing Naruto covered in shoeprints, his head split and bleeding, a flash of heartache and fury passed through his eyes.

This is the hero's son. This is the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. Third Hokage, you really are a beast.

As if performing a magic trick, he pulled a skewer of three-color dango from his clothes (drawn from the system; effect: restores a small amount of stamina + improves mood).

"Kid, stop crying. Hurry home."

Naruto stared blankly at Zhengye, looking a little 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 hidden in his clothes.

Then he left with Shisui.

Naruto shuddered as he came back to his senses, looking down at the three-color dango in his hand. When he looked into the distance, the other man's back had already vanished.

He took a bite. It was sweet.

Sweeter than the kind the snot-nosed brat gave him.

Nearby, ANBU Captain Mikawa Ze had watched everything unfold. He gave his subordinate an order.

"Report everything that just happened to the Third Hokage."

"Remember, no subjective speculation or judgment. Report exactly what happened."

The team member nodded. "Yes, Captain!"

Then he vanished.

Mikawa Ze stared at Naruto, concern in his eyes.

Was it a deliberate approach? Or merely a coincidence?

"Lord Zhengye, wasn't that a little too extreme?"

By the roadside, Shisui asked quietly beside Zhengye.

Zhengye walked along leisurely and asked in return, "You know who he is, right?"

"Yes. He's 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 of the beating?"

"Naruto gets beaten every day, but he's never gone berserk."

Zhengye reached out and tapped Shisui on the head.

Bonk!

The sound was crisp and even echoed slightly, proving that most of it was water.

Shisui rubbed his forehead. It hurt a little.

"Then can you guarantee that he'll never go berserk?"

"Or can you bear responsibility if the Nine-Tails goes berserk?"

"Or can you ignore the risk of thousands dying and being injured if the Nine-Tails goes berserk, just so you can watch Naruto continue being bullied?"

Hearing that, Shisui drew in a sharp breath.

That's right. Just because he hasn't gone berserk before doesn't mean he won't in the future.

If he really does go berserk, the village won't lose just one or two people.

Seeing Shisui's expression, Zhengye knew he understood the stakes.

He continued, "It's perfectly normal for the five great ninja villages to infiltrate each other. Even if they can't steal major secrets, couldn't they hide among the villagers and beat Naruto half to death?"

"Chakra detection can't tell who is truly a civilian."

"Tell me, is the Nine-Tails more likely to watch its host get beaten to death, or to break free from its restraints and go berserk?"

Shisui sucked in a breath, feeling a chill shoot from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head!

He suddenly felt that merely breaking the father and son's arms and legs had been too lenient!

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 him on the shoulder. "If you had barely enough to eat, not enough clothes to wear, and suffered bullying every day..."

"And someone provided you with a place to live, gave you food and clothes, and comforted you after you were bullied, would you be grateful to him, or grateful to him?"

Zhengye's words carried a playful note, but his tone was somewhat mocking.

Shisui had never considered such things before.

After all, most ordinary people lacked understanding and were extremely ignorant. The Uchiha might be stronger than civilians, but that was only in combat.

Without being exposed to politics from an early age, all one could rely on was talent.

Shisui was clearly someone with absolutely no talent for politics.

Otherwise, he would not have foolishly told Konoha's higher-ups about the existence of Kotoamatsukami, indirectly pushing the Uchiha into the abyss.

Fortunately, there was nothing wrong with his intelligence.

Zhengye had already laid everything out and explained it thoroughly, so Shisui completely understood.

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 joined him, Zhengye pointed at the endless rooftops in the distance. In the ninja world, that was a sign of great prosperity.

"Sarutobi Hiruzen is a capable man. He contributed greatly to developing Konoha to this point."

"But no one is perfect. No one can make every decision correctly, or perfectly."

"As Sarutobi Hiruzen is currently the Uchiha's greatest opponent, we must do everything we can to find his weaknesses and mistakes."

Seeing Shisui fall into thought, Zhengye continued, "The villagers already have no good impression of us Uchiha."

"No matter how you enforce the law, they'll complain about you."

"So..." Zhengye paused. "Since we can't make them like us, then make them fear us!"

Fear?

Shisui pondered that word.

Zhengye jumped down from the tree, with Shisui following close behind.

"'Internal Defense Coordination Authority' is meant to let you seize as much of the ANBU's work as possible, not to make you fixate on that meager 'Konoha Civilian Adjustment Fee' that leaves you neither full nor starving."

"I've already told Fugaku to assign the other ninja clans to positions such as reconnaissance and judgment according to their abilities."

"If the villagers have any complaints, we Uchiha are only the ones making arrests, not the ones passing judgment."

"Splitting up the duties of our main work will let the Police Force spend less of our clan's energy."

"If our clansmen have more energy for combat, training, and business, the clan can grow stronger."

"Even staying home to have children counts as growing the clan's population."

Shisui had never learned anything like this before. After hearing it all, he looked at Zhengye's equally young face, and a feeling of admiration rose in his heart.

This... this is the leader the Uchiha truly need!