The Fourth Elder's Delight

Konoha Third Street was a bustling Commercial Street.

There were Izakayas, restaurants, hot springs, Gambling Houses—everything one could want.

But where there were many people, disputes were bound to arise, especially on a commercial street like this.

Normally, a squad from the Uchiha Guard Team patrolled this street.

But today, not one was in sight.

Just then, someone was thrown out of an Izakaya. Reeking of alcohol, he was clearly a drunkard.

The Izakaya owner stepped outside. "You think you can cause trouble after having a few drinks? And then dine and dash?"

The drunkard let out a belch. "What's the big deal? I just owe you for one round of drinks."

"You dare act so high and mighty without paying? Get him!"

The owner called over two waiters, and they began raining punches and kicks on the drunkard.

They did not stop until the drunkard's face was battered and swollen.

The drunkard was covered in bruises, while a large crowd gathered around to watch.

Whenever a fight broke out, the Police Force normally arrived quickly. Today, however, there was unusually no Police Force, so everyone got to enjoy quite a show.

It took the drunkard a while to climb up from the ground. Seeing so many villagers pointing and whispering about him, he was furious.

After cursing a couple of sentences through gritted teeth, he pushed through the crowd and left.

With nothing left to watch, the crowd gradually dispersed.

Unexpectedly, barely ten minutes later, the drunkard returned.

He was carrying a jug in his hand. Needless to say, it was more alcohol.

But his expression was somewhat vacant, and his movements were stiff and mechanical.

Rather than drinking from the jug, the drunkard stuffed its mouth with cloth, lit it, and hurled it directly beside the Izakaya's entrance.

With a bang, flames spread through the strong liquor and quickly ignited the Izakaya's curtain. The fire had initially been quite small.

But in the shadows nearby, a Root member wearing a mask and white clothes secretly formed hand seals.

Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!

Controlling the amount of Chakra, he opened his mouth and exhaled.

A gust of wind blew straight along the flames.

Since everything was built of wood, the fire surged with the wind and rapidly spread. Panic immediately erupted nearby.

After it burned for a while, a passing chunin finally extinguished it with a Water Style technique.

In that brief time, the Izakaya's entrance had already been charred black, and its signboard had been completely burned away.

Although there were no casualties, the Izakaya would definitely have to close for several days.

After throwing the jug, the drunkard suddenly came to his senses, not knowing what had happened to him.

But since it had already happened, he could only take advantage of the chaos to sneak away.

The Izakaya owner cursed furiously.

"Damn Police Force! When nothing's happening, they're always wandering around everywhere. But now that something has happened, they're nowhere to be found! I'm going to file a complaint!"

With the Izakaya's entrance burned down, its owner had no way to do business. He quickly headed to the Konoha Guard Team Building.

Many people were still going toward the Complaint Room, but they all came out quickly, each wearing a strange expression.

Soon, it was the Izakaya owner's turn. He pushed open the door and entered.

Inside, he saw the Uchiha Clan's Fourth Elder, Yohei, sitting leisurely in his seat.

"Elder Yohei! I'm here to file a complaint!"

Uchiha Yohei took out a complaint form and placed it before him. "What are you complaining about?"

The Izakaya owner said, "I want to complain that when there was a public security incident at my place, no Police Force members came to deal with it."

"Oh? Where is your place? What's the name of the shop?"

"I'm on Konoha Third Street, at Kiyomizu Izakaya."

"Let me take a look." Yohei picked up a stack of complaint forms and flipped through them.

"Found it."

Yohei pulled out a complaint form.

"The squad responsible for public security in your area is the Ninth Guard Team. The people in charge are Uchiha Haruki, Oura, and Rikuto. They have already been placed on Suspension for Reflection, so there is temporarily no Police Force managing public security in your area."

"What?! Why were they suspended?"

The Izakaya owner was dumbfounded. How could Uchiha Clan Members be suspended?

"You should be asking yourself that. A week ago, someone caused trouble at your Izakaya. You beat up the troublemaker, and the Ninth Guard Team arrested all of you. Then you filed a complaint accusing them of violent law enforcement. Have you forgotten?"

The Izakaya owner suddenly remembered. That had indeed happened. At the time, he had called several waiters to gang up on the troublemaker, but the Uchiha Guard Team had arrived and directly used force to stop them.

Feeling indignant, he had filed a complaint against those Uchiha Clan Members.

"Uh, I think they were actually pretty good. Can I withdraw my complaint?"

Fourth Elder Yohei waved his hand. "How could that be acceptable? Our Vice Clan Head has issued new clan rules."

"All Uchiha Clan Members must live harmoniously with the villagers. Since our Uchiha Clan Members made a mistake, Suspension for Reflection is only proper."

The Izakaya owner's mouth felt bitter. Whenever someone caused trouble before, the Uchiha Clan arrived faster than anyone. Why had he been so foolish?

"Then... when will a new Police Force squad be sent over?"

Elder Yohei reassured him, "You do not need to worry about that at all. We will transfer personnel as soon as possible and complete the Police Force deployment."

After leaving the Konoha Guard Team Building, the Izakaya owner felt that something was off.

Normally, he would feel refreshed after filing a complaint. But after visiting the Complaint Room today, he instead felt as though he had punched cotton. And there had been needles hidden inside that cotton.

The Izakaya owner left in frustration.

After handling complaints for an entire day, Fourth Elder Yohei felt utterly refreshed. He had vaguely begun to understand the Vice Clan Head's intentions.

Handling these complaints usually made his head spin with rage. After a day of work, he would feel half-dead.

Today was different. Everything felt wonderfully satisfying. Those people had come in brimming with indignation, only to leave with their tails between their legs.

The Fourth Elder could not help but laugh aloud.

What was the Uchiha Clan up to?

Wearing a mask, Obito appeared within the Uchiha Clan compound.

He had watched everything that happened last night from beginning to end, yet he still could not understand Fugaku's purpose in doing this.

Was it all for the Sharingan of an ordinary clan member?

After getting the Sharingan back, he had suspended so many members of his own Konoha Military Police Force.

Could it be to curry favor with the Third Hokage?

Had Fugaku sided with the Dove Faction?

Still, there were far more people in the clan compound than usual.

He would need to be more careful next time.

He should have Mist Village come and take a look.

Seeing that he could not uncover any useful information, space twisted, and Obito left.

Mist Village

Ever since Ao had been frightened into retreat by Uchiha Shisui Last time, he had been constantly ridiculed.

Now, an order had come from the First Elder, commanding Ao to investigate Konoha again. If there was an opportunity, he was to capture the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and bring them back!

Most of the Uchiha Clan members in Konoha's Uchiha Guard Team had now been replaced.

Shisui had been attacked by Konoha's Elder Danzo, who took his Sharingan.

Although Danzo later returned the Sharingan, Shisui and the village had likely broken completely.

Yet information about these events in Konoha had reached Mist Village in an extremely short time.

Mist Village and Konoha were separated by several villages, with Mist Village isolated out at sea. The journey between them was extraordinarily long.

Yet the people of Mist Village had become accustomed to receiving such timely information, because the current First Elder had risen to his position due to his exceptional intelligence work.

The people of Mist Village all believed that the First Elder commanded a secret force dedicated to gathering information throughout the ninja world, which was why his prestige was so great.

Upon receiving the First Elder's order, Ao also felt that this was an excellent opportunity. He gathered his team and quickly set out.