This is humanitarian care?

Chikage stopped what he was doing when he heard the young police officer.

He looked down at Shimura Ken, who lay groaning on the ground, then at the baton in his hand.

A few bloody tooth fragments still clung to its tip.

"Oh dear."

Chikage casually tossed the baton aside, and the metal struck the bluestone paving with a crisp clang.

The stern expression vanished from his face, replaced by a look of concern.

"Why didn't you say so sooner?"

As he spoke, Chikage bent down and reached for Shimura Ken's collar.

Shimura Ken trembled all over at the sight of Chikage's approaching hand.

He thought this walking disaster had found another way to torment him.

He tried to retreat, but his broken left leg had no strength at all.

Chikage seized Shimura Ken by the collar and hauled him off the ground.

There was nothing gentle about it.

Shimura Ken's left leg, broken in two, swung in midair.

The agony of broken bones grinding together shot straight to his head.

"Aaaaargh!"

Shimura Ken's scream turned shrill. His eyes rolled back, and his whole body convulsed with pain.

Chikage gave his cheek a few moderately firm pats.

"Don't fall asleep. We're not done settling our accounts yet."

"Honestly, if you couldn't speak, you could've gestured."

"You kept making those muffled noises. I thought you had a problem with how I enforced the law."

"You made me look like some unreasonable brute."

Innocence was written all over Chikage's face.

The surrounding Uchiha police officers listened, their mouths twitching.

You broke his leg with the first swing and knocked out all his front teeth with the second.

If that doesn't make you a brute...

Then there probably isn't a gentle soul in all of Konoha.

Shimura Ken wanted to die.

His mouth was full of blood, and tears and snot covered his face.

His body spasmed endlessly from the agony, and all he could do was look at Chikage with pleading eyes.

He only wished this man would put him out of his misery.

Chikage surveyed Shimura Ken's wretched state and nodded in satisfaction.

"All right. You seem reasonably sincere about admitting your mistakes."

"We'll call today's business halfway settled for now."

Chikage turned to the young police officer who had spoken earlier.

"What's your name?"

The young officer immediately stood straight and answered loudly.

"Reporting, Deputy Captain! My name is Uchiha Hikari!"

Chikage patted Uchiha Hikari on the shoulder.

"Hikari, you've got a good eye. You'll go far."

"Now I have an important assignment for you."

Chikage pointed at the half-dead Shimura Ken, then at the terrified lackeys beside him.

"Take these suspects back to the Konoha Military Police Force for gathering to cause trouble and resisting law enforcement."

"Young Master Shimura Ken here has a special status. His second uncle is the Hokage Advisor."

"Our Konoha Military Police Force must show the appropriate humanitarian care."

"Give him a private interrogation room when you get back."

"Make sure you take good care of him."

Chikage placed extra emphasis on "take good care."

Uchiha Hikari was a sharp young woman.

Her eyes immediately lit up as she listened to Chikage.

"Leave it to me, Deputy Captain!"

"I guarantee him a private suite that never sees daylight."

"His daily meals will meet the absolute minimum standard."

"As for his injured leg..."

Uchiha Hikari deliberately paused, watching Chikage's expression.

Chikage waved a hand, his tone utterly casual.

"The Konoha Military Police Force isn't Konoha Hospital."

"Where would we get all that medical funding to treat his leg?"

"Just find a couple of boards and splint it."

"Once his family pays the fine and security deposit, they can take him home and get it treated themselves."

"If they don't pay, let him keep lying there."

Uchiha Hikari broke into a grin.

"Understood!"

"I'll get it done!"

Several Uchiha police officers immediately rushed forward. Two hoisted Shimura Ken up, while the others pinned his lackeys to the ground.

Their movements were rough and decisive, without their usual timid hesitation.

Shimura Ken's broken leg swung again as they lifted him.

His eyes rolled back from the pain. He could no longer even scream.

The lackeys were even more frightened and begged for mercy.

"Spare us, officer!"

"We only came along to watch! We didn't lay a finger on anyone!"

Uchiha Hikari mercilessly kicked each of them.

"Cut the crap!"

"Why didn't you say you were just watching when you pointed kunai at our deputy captain?"

"Take them all away!"

The group escorted Shimura Ken and his lackeys toward the Konoha Military Police Force headquarters.

The shopkeepers and villagers on South Street watched in utter disbelief.

Shimura Ken, normally so arrogant and overbearing, had actually suffered such a crushing defeat today.

And at the hands of a clerk notorious for being useless, no less.

The old man whose shop had been smashed approached Chikage.

His eyes were reddened, and his voice trembled.

"Young Master Chikage, thank you."

"If you hadn't stepped in, this old man would've lost his shop today."

As he spoke, the old man moved to bow to Chikage.

Chikage hurriedly reached out to stop him.

"Sir, please. That's far too much."

"I'm the deputy captain of the Konoha Military Police Force. Maintaining public order is my job."

"Make a list of everything damaged in your shop."

"Bring the bill to the Konoha Military Police Force tomorrow."

"Tell them the Shimura Clan smashed it. I'll send someone to the Hokage Building and have the money deducted straight from the Shimura Clan's account."

The old man listened in bewilderment.

You could do that?

Chikage cleared his throat as he looked at the excited Uchiha clanspeople around him.

"There's no need to be afraid."

"From now on, if anyone dares demand protection money while you're doing business on South Street, just give them my name."

"The Konoha Military Police Force won't let anyone mistreat you."

His words set the surrounding clanspeople's blood racing.

Ever since the Nine-Tails' Rampage, the Uchiha Clan had suffered indignities everywhere in the village.

The Konoha Military Police Force had become everyone's punching bag.

Chikage's performance today had finally vented all the resentment they had bottled up for three years.

Uchiha Hikari had not escorted the prisoners far. Hearing those words, she could not help looking back.

She gazed at Chikage standing in the middle of the street, her eyes full of admiration.

Everyone in the division used to think Chikage was a useless freeloader.

Even Captain Yashiro had thought little of him.

Only today had they realized that their newly appointed deputy captain was the truly ruthless one.

He either did nothing or went straight for the kill.

And after crushing someone, he could even cite the Konoha Public Security Administration Regulations to justify himself.

A thug who knew the law-there was simply no stopping him.

Uchiha Hikari silently made up her mind.

From now on, she would follow Deputy Captain Chikage's lead without fail.