Utatane Koharu went pale with anger at Chikage's words.
Even the finger she pointed at him was trembling.
"You're twisting the facts!"
"How could Konoha High Command possibly treat the people as enemies?"
"Everything we do is for the village's stability!"
Chikage shook his head, adopting an expression of bitter anguish.
He pressed a hand to his chest and let out a long sigh.
"Advisor Utatane, your words truly break my heart."
"I've read the old records of the Konoha Military Police Force, and I've heard the elders in our clan talk."
"What was Konoha like when Lord First Hokage was alive?"
"Back then, everyone in the village lived in harmony and helped one another. There wasn't all this suspicion."
Chikage paced around the office as he spoke.
"Ninja and civilians trusted each other."
"If someone's roof leaked, a ninja passing by would fix it for them."
"If someone's crops were ready for harvest, the neighbors would lend a hand."
"In those days, the doors of the Hokage Building were always open to every villager."
Chikage grew more impassioned as he spoke, his voice echoing through the office.
"When villagers ran into trouble, they could come directly to Lord Hokage and tell him about it."
"Lord First Hokage would even personally receive visiting villagers."
"How heartwarming was that trust between ninja and villagers?"
"That was the true Will of Fire!"
Behind his desk, the Third Hokage listened in bewilderment.
He held his pipe aloft, having even forgotten to smoke.
The Third Hokage kept grumbling inwardly.
You weren't even a twinkle in anyone's eye when Lord First Hokage was alive.
Even your grandfather's generation probably hadn't reached adulthood yet.
How are you making it sound as if you saw it all yourself?
Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu were equally stunned.
They exchanged a glance, each seeing disbelief in the other's eyes.
Usually, they were the old-timers who used lofty principles to browbeat others at meetings.
At the slightest opportunity, they invoked the First Hokage or the Second Hokage to assert their authority.
Who could have imagined that a seventeen-year-old Uchiha boy would give them a lecture today?
How did the Uchiha produce someone like this?
His mouth is full of lofty principles, and he keeps coming up with one argument after another.
Chikage paid no attention whatsoever to the leaders' reactions.
He was fully in his stride now.
"But look at things now!"
Chikage pointed at the plaza outside the window.
"I don't understand!"
"How did Konoha turn into this in just a few decades?"
"We officers of the Konoha Military Police Force came with conclusive evidence."
"With testimony from extorted merchants and the victims' anguished accusations."
"We came here with complete faith in the village's leaders."
"And what happened?"
Chikage slapped his thigh hard, looking utterly distressed.
"Before we even entered the Hokage Building, the Anbu had their blades pointed at us."
"Now that we've finally gotten inside, our senior advisors accuse us of trying to force the Hokage's hand."
Chikage walked up to Utatane Koharu and looked her straight in the eye.
"Advisor Utatane, police officers came to the Hokage Building with the people's grievances to seek justice."
"They believed Lord Hokage would give the victims an answer."
"By calling that trust an attempt to force his hand, you're not merely insulting the Konoha Military Police Force."
"You're trampling on the villagers' trust in Konoha High Command!"
Chikage's barrage of lofty principles left Utatane Koharu reeling.
She opened her mouth, but couldn't squeeze out a single rebuttal.
These were precisely the arguments she usually used to lecture young people.
Now Chikage had hurled them right back in her face.
It was maddening.
The office was so quiet that a pin drop could have been heard.
Utatane Koharu's face alternated between ashen and pale.
Of course she knew that nearly a hundred armed personnel gathering outside the Hokage Building was no trivial matter.
But Chikage stubbornly maintained that he was submitting evidence and seeking a ruling.
Without any actual clash, she simply couldn't substantiate the charge of "forcing the Hokage's hand."
Seeing that she had fallen silent, Chikage turned to Mitokado Homura.
"Advisor Mitokado, do you think what I just said makes sense?"
"Wasn't Lord First Hokage's original purpose in founding Konoha to protect everyone?"
"Now we of the Konoha Military Police Force have brought evidence to seek justice."
"Yet you call this an attempt to force the Hokage's hand."
"If word of this gets out, what will the villagers think?"
"Won't they feel that the Hokage Building has become a place where reason no longer matters?"
Mitokado Homura was left speechless by his questions.
The finger he pointed at Chikage kept trembling.
This brat is a porcupine. There's no way to get at him.
Talk to him about the bigger picture, and he talks about the rules.
Talk to him about the rules, and he brings up the First Hokage's ideals.
How is this conversation supposed to continue?
Danzo stood to one side, barely able to conceal the killing intent in his lone eye.
Veins bulged on the back of the hand gripping his cane.
"Hiruzen!"
Danzo turned toward the Third Hokage, his voice seething with anger.
"Are you just going to let this Uchiha spout nonsense here?"
"He's showing contempt for Konoha High Command!"
"Have the Anbu arrest him immediately!"
The Third Hokage sat behind his desk, holding his pipe.
He ignored Danzo's shouting.
If he actually ordered the Anbu to arrest Chikage, the Uchiha police officers outside would never let it go.
Besides, Chikage had the complete case file in his hands.
The physical evidence, merchants' testimony, and officers' records all corroborated one another.
Arresting him now would amount to confirming the accusations that the leadership was shielding Root and suppressing the Konoha Military Police Force.
The Third Hokage felt as though his head might burst.
How had he never noticed that the Uchiha Clan had someone like this?
The boy had an argument ready for everything.
Not only did he know the rules backward and forward, he could also strike back with the lofty principles the leaders themselves always used.
He was ten times harder to deal with than Uchiha Fugaku.
When Fugaku negotiated, he at least considered the dignity of both his clan and the village, leaving some room for compromise.
This boy, on the other hand, laid everything out in the open.
He didn't even give the leaders a chance to play dumb.
The Third Hokage set down his pipe and rubbed his throbbing temples.
The atmosphere in the office reached an impasse.
No one knew how to break the deadlock.
Just then, a commotion rose from the plaza outside the Hokage Building.
Uchiha Fugaku had arrived with nearly a hundred fully armed Uchiha elites.
Fugaku walked at the head of the group.
He wore a white battle robe bearing the clan's fan crest.
His steps were swift and urgent.
He saw the police officers of the Second Squad standing in orderly ranks in the plaza.
Then he saw the Anbu ninja poised on the steps.
Fugaku's heart sank.
This is bad.
That boy Chikage must be suffering in there.
He's usually so lazy that even taking an extra step seems too tiring.
Yet today, for Yashiro and for the dignity of the Konoha Military Police Force...
He actually walked into the Hokage's office alone.
The Third Hokage, both senior advisors, and the ruthless Danzo are all in there.
Chikage is just a Genin who can't even execute the Three Body Technique properly.
How helpless must he be against those old foxes' threats and enticements?
Maybe the Anbu already have him pinned to the floor, forcing him to sign some confession.
The more Fugaku thought about it, the more anxious he became.
He drew the ninja blade at his waist and strode up the steps.
"Move!"
Fugaku roared at the Anbu ninja blocking his way.
The Anbu ninja exchanged looks. None dared stop the Uchiha Clan Head without an order from the Hokage.
They could only clear a path.
Fugaku sheathed his ninja blade and hurried into the Hokage Building.
He climbed the stairs, his footsteps echoing through the stairwell.
The Anbu ninja along the way all stepped aside.
Fugaku's expression was thunderous.
He had already made up his mind.
No matter how much pressure the leadership applied today, he had to bring Chikage back unharmed.
The boy was a rare talent in the Uchiha Clan.
Not only was he clever, he also dared to stand up for his clan.
As clan head, Fugaku absolutely could not let his cousin's son lose faith in him.
Even if it meant openly falling out with them in the Hokage Building today...
He would accept that.
Before you continue