Electricity and Gas

The people were ignorant; in the past, no one had ever considered anything this far-reaching. Then Zhengye suddenly laid it all bare.

The crowd watching fell silent for a moment before erupting in even greater fury.

"Beast!"

"Hang him!"

"And he calls himself a Konoha ninja!"

Several older women trembled with rage, picking up stones from the ground and hurling them at Jiraiya.

The stones struck Jiraiya, and he let out a muffled groan before opening his eyes.

The moment he did, he realized he was hanging in midair and saw the furious crowd below.

As he gradually heard their shouts, he understood how Zhengye had ruined his reputation.

Jiraiya sensed that things were going terribly wrong. Forgetting that he was still hanging there, he shouted:

"Old man, save me!"

The Third Hokage's face shifted between green and white.

He opened his mouth, wanting to defend Jiraiya, only to find that he had nothing to say.

The peeping was real, and so was drawing lewd pictures and publishing erotic books.

At most, he himself had used the crystal ball for a little eye candy, but Jiraiya had gone this far.

Outsiders would only think that, as Jiraiya's teacher, he had failed to discipline his student.

He took a deep breath, suppressing his fury, and said in a low voice, "Zhengye, tell me plainly. What exactly do you want?"

Zhengye looked around, his gaze settling on the neatly packed houses surrounding the Hokage Building.

This was the very center of Konoha, brightly lit, with every household connected to electricity and gas.

Even Naruto, that little brat who did not know how to use gas, had it in his home.

He withdrew his gaze and spoke unhurriedly:

"Lord Hokage, you also know that the Uchiha Clan was driven to the outskirts of Konoha over baseless suspicions."

"Over there, forget electric lights—they do not even have gas. In winter, the elderly and children still have to chop firewood to boil water. In summer, they can only use hand fans; they do not even have electric fans."

Zhengye spoke with deep sincerity, while the nearby Uchiha wore strange expressions.

They really did not have electricity, but they never had to chop firewood. The Uchiha were wealthy, and the clan simply bought charcoal for fires. They even had a centralized boiler room.

The Third Hokage's brow twitched. "You want electricity and gas supplied to the Uchiha?"

"Not just the Uchiha," Zhengye corrected. "All residents on the outskirts of Konoha, including the Uchiha and the other civilians living along the edges."

"A village cannot have a center like paradise and an edge like a slum."

The Third Hokage fell silent for a moment before saying gravely:

"The power plant's allocation has already been used up, and there are no spare plans for laying gas pipelines."

"This is not something I can make happen immediately just by saying so."

Zhengye seemed to have expected that answer. He did not argue, merely glanced up at Jiraiya hanging in the air and said leisurely:

"Then let Jiraiya hang there for now. According to village regulations, he should be detained for seven days anyway. Hanging detention still counts as detention."

"The weather is hot. Let him cool down that restless heart of his."

Veins bulged on the Third Hokage's forehead.

Of course, he knew Zhengye was threatening him. Thanks to the Police Force's publicity, a great many villagers already knew the full story.

Every extra minute Jiraiya remained hanging there meant another measure of disgrace for him as Hokage.

It was only a matter of time before Jiraiya's scandal spread throughout the ninja world. But if he could get Jiraiya down today, he could at least claim it was a "misunderstanding" and minimize the damage.

If Jiraiya really remained hanging for a whole day...

The Third Hokage did not dare think about it.

He gritted his teeth, his voice seeming to squeeze out through the gaps between them:

"There truly are no extra allocations for electricity or gas. Even if you hang Jiraiya to death here, there will be none."

Seeing that the Third Hokage still would not yield even at this point, Zhengye concluded that there really were no more power plant and gas allocations.

But he did not care. He immediately changed tactics:

"Fine. Then convert the corresponding allocation into money and pay it to the Uchiha first."

"Hand over all relevant documents and information regarding the power plant and gas company."

The Third Hokage's pupils constricted. "You... are you planning to build your own power plant!?"

Zhengye said unconcernedly, "The Police Force headquarters is about to be expanded. Those few power lines you allocated will not be enough."

"It would be a serious problem if such an important location lost power."

The Land of Fire possessed immense timber resources, and coal mines beneath the ground were countless. Konoha Village's power plant was also coal-fired, and the principles were not particularly complicated.

However, Zhengye did not know whether the equipment inside a coal-fired power plant involved anything combined with ninjutsu, so he wanted to look over the documents.

As long as the money was in place, they did not necessarily have to rely on Konoha for everything. Independence would be best.

The Third Hokage's eyes flickered.

[There's no way you Uchiha can buy generating equipment anyway. At worst, I'll lose some money.]

"I will have Luhe recalculate it. Within one month, the budget will be sent to you!"

Zhengye shook his head. "Three days!"

"Seven days!" Veins throbbed on the Third Hokage's forehead.

"The village's fiscal allocations are all planned out. Seven days is the fastest I can get it approved!"

"Heh... five days." Zhengye held up five fingers.

"I'll give you only five days. If we do not see the money by then, the next place Jiraiya is hung will be Hokage Rock."

Zhengye's meaning was obvious. Jiraiya was to be detained for seven days. If the money did not arrive, he would still have to hang for the final two days.

The Third Hokage stared fixedly at Zhengye, his chest heaving violently.

The villagers around them held their breath as they watched the confrontation.

After a long while, the Third Hokage let out a heavy breath. "Fine. Five days!"

The corners of Zhengye's mouth rose slightly. He turned and waved at Soji. "Release him."

Only then did Soji have his men untie the rope, and Jiraiya fell from the air.

He twisted desperately in midair.

With a wave of the Third Hokage's hand, several ANBU flashed into the air and caught him.

After landing, Jiraiya looked awkwardly at the Third Hokage.

Fire blazed in the Third Hokage's eyes. He glanced at the ANBU around him. "Beat him!"

"Hey! Old man! We can talk this out!"

The ANBU moved swiftly. No matter what Jiraiya said, one of them stepped forward and kicked him to the ground. Fists and kicks rained down like raindrops.

"Hey! Ah! Ah! Ah! Old man, I was wrong! Stop hitting me! Stop!"

The steel wires binding Jiraiya's limbs had not yet been removed. He could only writhe painfully on the ground and endure the blows.

The Third Hokage bowed to the people around him.

"It was my failure to discipline him that allowed Jiraiya to develop these bad habits. As the Third Hokage, I apologize to all of you villagers. From now on, I will make sure he corrects them..."

The surrounding villagers, who did not know the full situation, saw Jiraiya being beaten and the Third Hokage apologizing to them.

They spoke up one after another. "Ah, Lord Hokage, you're taking this too seriously. This has nothing to do with you."

"Yeah, yeah. This was Jiraiya's doing. How can it be blamed on you?"

"Lord Hokage, there's no need to apologize."

Zhengye watched it all coldly.

Jiraiya looked as though he was being beaten badly, but none of the blows landed on vital areas.

The ANBU were not idiots from Root. Naturally, they would not truly strike to kill.

It was all just an act for the crowd.

He had already gained what he wanted, so he did not care about the Third Hokage's attempt to save face.

"Enough." Zhengye saw that Jiraiya was bruised all over.

"Take him away," Zhengye ordered.

Soji led his men forward, but the Third Hokage blocked their path.

"Zhengye, the Police Force holding cells are overcrowded. Send him to Konoha Prison."

The Third Hokage was genuinely afraid. The Police Force was Uchiha territory. If Zhengye really wanted to do something, he would have no way to control it.

For Jiraiya, Konoha Prison was safer.

Zhengye wore a faintly amused expression, as though he understood the Third Hokage's concerns.

"Fine. Then you can take Jiraiya away."

With that, he turned around, no longer looking at the battered Jiraiya, and led his team away.

The watching villagers gradually dispersed, their discussions rising one after another.

"That Uchiha Zhengye really has guts..."

"I think he did the right thing! Someone like Jiraiya deserves to be dealt with harshly!"

"The Police Force is really impressive now. They even dared arrest the Hokage's disciple."

"Exactly. We'd better mind our behavior from now on."

"Lord Hokage is really unlucky to have a disciple like that."

"Hey, it's not Lord Hokage's fault. Jiraiya is already several decades old."

Someone silently watched everything from the shadows in a corner, then flashed away and disappeared.