Waste Not, Want Not

Konoha had prisons under the village's jurisdiction.

But the Police Force only had holding cells.

After all, public security offenses usually meant only a few days of detention. Only serious cases were transferred to prison.

Now, the holding cells were packed to capacity. The five cells that were usually empty each held at least twenty people, crammed together so tightly that turning around was difficult.

"Let me out!"

"You damned Uchiha, I'm going to file a complaint against you!"

"I was the one who got beaten! Why am I being arrested too?!"

"I was wrong! I'll never hit anyone again! Please let me out, my leg hurts so much."

The rooms were incredibly noisy, filled with loud curses and low groans of agony. The Police Force ignored them all.

Nara Shikaku arrived at the holding cells with two others and dragged out a man whose hands had been broken.

Although he had not yet succeeded the clan head at this point, his position as the successor had essentially been decided.

At the moment, he had been specially assigned to manage affairs at the Police Force headquarters.

Of course, he was not only in charge of the Nara Clan members, but also those from several other ninja clans.

Everyone knew that the Nara Clan possessed exceptional intelligence, and these ninja clans all followed Shikaku's lead.

Shikaku pointed at the interrogation room beside them. "Take him in for questioning."

Two members of the Yamanaka Clan were waiting in Interrogation Room One. The older one was Yamanaka Inoichi, while the younger one was a junior from the clan.

"Don't be nervous. Use the secret technique to examine the chakra nodes in his brain, and you'll be able to tell whether he's lying."

"If you make a mistake, then count their injuries as punishment for disturbing public order."

"Yes! Understood, Lord Inoichi."

In Punishment Room Two, a villager was suspended from a pillar. Akimichi Choza stood beside him, pointing at the man's leg with his right hand as he explained.

"Here is one of the weak points of the human body. Strike here, and you can break the bone directly."

As he spoke, his large hand struck down. A chilling crack echoed through the punishment room.

The prisoner's eyes bulged as muffled cries of pain came from behind his covered mouth.

Several young ninja beside him watched and nodded repeatedly.

They were rookies from other ninja clans who had just graduated from the Ninja Academy and only knew the Three Body Technique.

Their usual missions involved finding cats and dogs. They were still far from high-level missions, so it was good for them to familiarize themselves with human anatomy.

Meanwhile, in Interrogation Room Three, several boys and girls wearing white medical caps were setting villagers' bones under their teacher's guidance.

"Why are you studying anatomy? Put some strength into it! The bone needs to be reset, or he'll be crippled once it heals."

"Stop shaking your hands. There are still more than twenty people whose limbs need to be broken. You have to set at least five more!"

Interrogations were conducted, punishments were carried out, and treatment was administered.

The various ninja clans each performed their own duties.

Breaking all four limbs had never been part of the village regulations before. Zhengye had added it on the spot.

After all, only immediate punishment could make those villagers afraid.

Establishing authority was the primary goal.

The villagers had no idea what a Jinchūriki was. They had merely heard rumors and followed the crowd, believing Naruto to be the Demon Fox.

Some children had simply inherited their parents' hatred.

The Third Hokage did not step forward to dispel the rumors. On one hand, the Nine-Tails Attack had caused too many deaths and injuries, and the villagers needed an outlet for their emotions.

On the other hand, he could play the role of savior and bestow kindness upon Naruto.

That would make it easier for him to control the village's strongest weapon.

The Third Hokage had more or less achieved all his goals, but Naruto, the little boy, had suffered because of it.

He was clearly the son of Minato Namikaze, who had sacrificed his life to save the village, yet he was bullied every day.

If Naruto had not been Asura's reincarnation, he probably would have destroyed Konoha as the first thing he did after growing up.

If Zhengye could help Naruto while establishing the Uchiha's authority, that counted as a good deed.

Sure enough, the results were excellent. The Police Force headquarters was filled with wails and cries, most of them shouting:

"I'll never hit anyone again!"

"I'll never bully anyone again!"

"I'll never cause trouble again!"

"Wuwuwu, please let me go!"

"I'll never file complaints again!"

First, their limbs were broken. Then inexperienced interns set them back in place. If they set them wrong, the limbs had to be twisted and broken again before being reset.

They were tortured again and again.

These villagers were truly terrified.

When Zhengye arrived with Itachi, they saw this bustling scene.

Itachi looked somewhat surprised. "Senior Zhengye, shouldn't those criminals be imprisoned?"

He truly had not known that the Police Force handled things this way.

"Come on, that would be such a waste. This is called putting waste to use."

Zhengye waved a hand, wearing an expression that said, Why are you making such a fuss?

There was no such thing as working sewing machines in this world. The most criminals could do was forced heavy labor, such as quarrying or mining.

But that was only organized for those imprisoned over long periods. Those detained for short periods were simply locked up.

In Zhengye's view, that was too wasteful, so he had casually mentioned it to Fugaku and the Ino-Shika-Cho members.

Unexpectedly, their efficiency here was truly high. They had put it to use immediately.

As soon as they arrived, someone came out to greet them. "Zhengye, you're here."

"Nothing went wrong, did it?" Zhengye looked around.

Fugaku revealed a confident smile.

"There were no problems even when the Police Force had fewer people before. Now that Shikaku and the others are helping, there have been even fewer problems."

He paused.

"The only thing that could be considered a problem is that there aren't enough holding cells. They're already full."

"Heh..." Zhengye chuckled. "It doesn't matter. They're criminals anyway. If there aren't enough holding cells, tie them up outside first."

Fugaku looked around, saw that everyone was busy, then lowered his voice. "Come inside with me."

Zhengye and Itachi followed Fugaku into his office.

Once the door closed, the noise outside was immediately shut out.

Fugaku lowered his voice. "You two need to restrain yourselves when using the Mangekyō Sharingan, because it has side effects."

He had been too busy to spare even a moment. The instant he remembered, he immediately told Zhengye and Itachi.

Zhengye already knew about it, but Itachi did not. He froze when he heard that.

"What side effects?"

Before Fugaku could answer, Zhengye spoke directly. "Your eyesight will gradually worsen until you eventually go blind."

Itachi's breathing caught. He had never expected the Mangekyō Sharingan to have such a flaw.

He had only just awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan. Although his eyes had felt uncomfortable after using it, he had only assumed that the consumption was too great and that it would get better after a few days.

Fugaku's mouth twitched as he swallowed the words that had reached his lips.

"So Zhengye, you already knew?"

Zhengye nodded. "Itachi's body is still developing, and the Mangekyō Sharingan places even greater strain on him."

He turned toward Itachi.

"Over the next few years, make sure to replenish your energy as much as possible and train your taijutsu properly. Otherwise, you might die young."

"Yes, Senior Zhengye. I understand."

After his arrogant aura had been shattered, Itachi had become very good at listening to others' advice.

Seeing that his son respected Zhengye more than he respected him, Fugaku somehow felt a little bitter.

He coughed. "Actually, there is a way to solve the problem with your eyes."

Itachi looked over in surprise.

But Zhengye cut in again. "That is to evolve them into the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan."

Fugaku: "..."

He looked at Zhengye helplessly, his meaning obvious.

You already said everything. What am I supposed to say?

But seeing that Zhengye seemed to know everything, he did not take back the conversation.

Zhengye then told Itachi the story of Uchiha Madara and Izuna.

Meanwhile, the Third Hokage once again went to Naruto's home.