Under Currents

Danzo quickly arrived at Root and gathered all his subordinates.

After selecting suitable personnel, he said to Nakamura Kazuya, the leader, "Kazuya, once you enter the Police Force, your task is to seize control as quickly as possible. Remember, do not come into conflict with anyone at the beginning."

"Especially Uchiha Fugaku. Do not give him any reason to dismiss you and send you back. Understood?"

"Yes!"

Hyuga Clan

Hizashi was assigning the teams.

"Tokuma, withdraw everyone from First through Fourth Street and put them into the outer patrol teams. Every squad must have two of our clan members to conduct cross-observation with the Byakugan."

Hyuga Tokuma was an especially calm, steady, and mature Hyuga Clan member. Hizashi entrusted many matters to him.

"Tomorrow, Elder Danzo will send over a group of people. Leave First through Fourth Street to them. Your personnel on Fifth through Seventh Street will remain unchanged."

"Lord Hiashi, why are we letting Elder Danzo's people come in? Aren't they all from Root?"

Hizashi smiled and patted Tokuma on the shoulder. "You'll understand after some time."

The next day, at the Police Department's daily morning assembly.

Nakamura Kazuya had already arrived early with the Root members.

As Nakamura Kazuya was still considering how to deal with Hizashi Hyuga,

he discovered that Uchiha Fugaku, whom he had not seen for a long time, had actually come to the scene. Hizashi stood directly behind Fugaku, making it clear that Fugaku would be handling the arrangements.

Nakamura Kazuya's expression darkened. Things seemed to be developing beyond his expectations.

Before long, everyone had assembled.

Fugaku first said to the remaining Uchiha Clan Members, "The patrol routes and defensive deployments for all Uchiha Clan Members will remain unchanged today."

Fugaku nodded at Hizashi, who stepped forward. "All Hyuga Clan Members, I have given the new arrangements to Tokuma. Once you leave, follow Tokuma's assignments."

The Uchiha Clan Members and Hyuga Clan Members quickly departed, leaving only the Root members led by Nakamura Kazuya.

With a stern face, Fugaku assigned Nakamura Kazuya's duties. "Nakamura Kazuya, your patrol area will be First through Fourth Street in Konoha. You will mainly be responsible for public order."

Nakamura Kazuya said, "Captain, Elder Danzo loaned us here to take part in patrol duties. Why are we being assigned to manage public order?"

Fugaku's face remained cold. "The patrol personnel have already been arranged. Your responsibility is public order on First through Fourth Street."

"But..."

Fugaku waved a hand, cutting Nakamura Kazuya off.

"No buts. This is the Police Force, and I am the captain of the Police Force. If you refuse to obey the arrangements, I will send you back."

Nakamura Kazuya gritted his teeth. "We will obey the arrangements!"

First, we need to establish ourselves in the Police Force. Then we can think of another way.

Fugaku nodded and said to Hizashi, "You handle the rest."

Then he strolled away.

"What is Fugaku doing?"

The Third Hokage fell into thought after receiving the Anbu report.

Fugaku had never gotten along with Root, and with what had happened to Shisui...

How could Fugaku allow Root to station itself in the Police Force?

Since there were not many of them, the Third Hokage decided to wait and see what Fugaku was planning.

From voluntarily withdrawing from the ranks of power, to personally reaching out to the Hyuga Clan, to having his own authority nearly hollowed out,

and now yielding positions of power in the Police Force and accepting Root members.

The Uchiha Clan's string of actions was completely incomprehensible.

Police Force Complaint Room.

The owner of Kiyomizu Izakaya on Konoha Third Street had come again. Over the past few days, he had been coming almost every other day.

At first, he complained that no one was handling his complaints. Later, he felt that the Hyuga Clan was not as good as the Uchiha Clan.

He came almost every day.

Yohei neither agreed nor disagreed. Every time the man came, he had a reason to brush him off.

"You don't need to worry about that. Because of your previous complaints, we have already transferred the Hyuga Clan Members away."

"They have now been replaced by more capable personnel, the elder's direct troops."

"We are now wholeheartedly considering the interests of Konoha's residents."

"Really?"

The izakaya owner was skeptical. As an establishment that served alcohol, there were plenty of people who caused trouble.

When the Uchiha Clan had been around, it had not mattered who showed up. They would capture them all, even his own employees.

Later, they had been replaced by the Hyuga Clan. The Hyuga Clan's attitude had been quite good.

But they were overly cautious and slow to handle incidents, nowhere near as efficient as the Uchiha Clan.

And now they had been replaced again?

Fourth Elder Yohei smiled. "Rest assured. The new personnel will take up their posts today. This time, they definitely won't drag their feet."

The izakaya owner left, still half-believing and half-doubting.

After the izakaya owner walked out, Elder Yohei burst into laughter.

Root did not do things cautiously at all. They were even bolder than us Uchiha Clan Members.

Konoha Third Street, Kiyomizu Izakaya.

The owner was finally at ease.

When he arrived, he had already seen the new public-order patrolmen walking back and forth.

The two squads all wore cold expressions and never smiled. He had never seen any of them before, and they looked unfamiliar.

He did not know which elder's direct troops they were.

"Burp... Owner! Why does this alcohol taste wrong?!"

"Did you water it down!?"

A drunk started shouting inside the izakaya.

The two people who had just entered through the door hesitated for a moment, then backed out.

The izakaya owner's face darkened. There were always drunks like this, who claimed the alcohol had been watered down after they got drunk.

Though he really had watered it down, hadn't the man always been drinking watered-down alcohol?

If he made a scene now, would that not affect business?

The owner gave his employees a look. Two burly employees stepped forward, grabbed the drunk, and dragged him outside.

"Sir, please do not make trouble and disrupt our business."

"Damn it! You sell watered-down alcohol and still throw people out!" Unable to stomach it, the drunk immediately began fighting the two employees.

The drunk was no match for the two men and was quickly shoved out the door.

The izakaya owner was already accustomed to such things, but unexpectedly, his employees' screams soon came from outside.

The owner hurried out and discovered four Police Force members blocking his entrance.

His employees and the drunk had already been beaten to the ground.

Three Police Force members were pressing them to the ground with cold expressions.

They used such force that the men cried out like pigs being slaughtered.

One of the Police Force members stepped forward.

"Your employees and this drunk got into a conflict in the street. They have now been detained by the Police Force and sentenced to three days' imprisonment. Come to the Police Force in three days to collect them."

The izakaya owner felt his vision go dark. He still had a business to run.

His two employees had just been captured like that? How was he supposed to keep his establishment open?

Although the public-order regulations did indeed contain a provision for three days' imprisonment for fighting in the street, there was plenty of flexibility in such matters.

Whether someone was imprisoned or not was not entirely up to the Police Force?

No matter how much the izakaya owner pleaded, the Root personnel ignored him and directly captured the men.

The izakaya owner truly felt like crying without tears. Each replacement was worse than the last. They were not even as good as the previous Hyuga Clan.

Similar incidents were occurring throughout First through Fourth Street in Konoha.

Many people were captured, and the Police Force detention rooms quickly became overcrowded.

Nakamura Kazuya did not think there was anything wrong with this. He was simply following the rules. If someone committed an offense, they should be captured.

Now that all the troublemakers had been captured, had the public-order situation not improved all at once?