The lackeys swallowed and, in perfect unison, took three steps back, leaving Shimura Ken exposed as he rolled on the ground.
By then, Shimura Ken had stopped rolling.
The intense pain had drained his face of color, and beads of sweat covered his forehead.
He stared at Chikage, his eyes filled with venom.
"You're finished..."
Shimura Ken gritted his back teeth, his voice hoarse with pain.
"Do you know who I am?"
"My uncle is Shimura Danzō!"
"He's Konoha's Hokage Advisor!"
Chikage picked at an ear, utterly unconcerned.
"I know."
"Didn't you already tell me that?"
"What, did breaking your leg damage your memory too?"
Shimura Ken shook with rage, and the pain in his broken leg made his vision darken.
"You dared to break my leg! Root will never let you get away with this!"
"You Uchiha are nothing but a pack of homeless dogs now!"
"That idiot Yashiro has already been taken away by Root."
"Soon, your entire clan will be driven out of Konoha!"
"If you kneel and kowtow to me now, I'll at least leave your corpse intact!"
Shimura Ken grew more worked up as he spoke, as though invoking Root and Danzo could ease the pain in his leg.
Watching him, Chikage sighed helplessly.
"I've noticed that people like you really lack even basic legal knowledge."
Baton in hand, Chikage strolled over to Shimura Ken.
"Yes, your uncle is the Hokage Advisor."
"But Konoha is governed by law."
"You brought people here to smash up shops and extort the merchants. That's a fact, isn't it?"
"As deputy captain of the Konoha Military Police Force, it's perfectly reasonable for me to arrest you in accordance with the law, isn't it?"
"You refused to cooperate, so I used force. That was entirely within regulations."
Chikage looked down at Shimura Ken and raised the baton again.
"Now, let's discuss your threats against a law enforcement officer."
Shimura Ken's pupils contracted at the sight of the Fine Steel Baton stained with his own blood.
He had thought that dropping Danzo's name would terrify this Uchiha into wetting himself.
Who could have guessed that his opponent would refuse to follow the script?
Not only was Chikage unafraid, but there were apparently more scores to settle.
"What... what are you going to do?"
At last, unmistakable panic entered Shimura Ken's voice.
Bracing both hands against the ground, he desperately dragged his broken leg backward.
"Under Article Nine of the Public Security Administration Regulations..."
Chikage continued the legal lesson while advancing.
"Anyone who publicly insults or threatens law enforcement officers may, in serious cases, be subjected to physical silencing."
"In plain terms, a smack in the mouth."
Looking into Chikage's calm eyes, Shimura Ken finally realized that another blow really was coming.
His arrogance vanished without a trace.
Better to swallow his pride than suffer for it.
His leg was already broken. Another hit could leave him half dead.
"Don't... don't hit me!"
Shimura Ken waved his hands frantically, urgent sounds spilling from his throat.
"I give..."
Before he could get out the word "up,"-
Chikage's baton came whistling down.
"Give up, my ass."
Chikage muttered the words.
Bam!
The blow landed squarely across Shimura Ken's mouth.
Everyone nearby sucked in a breath at the dull sound of impact.
Several bloody teeth flew straight out of Shimura Ken's mouth, arcing through the air before landing in a nearby puddle.
Shimura Ken's head snapped backward, and the back of his skull struck the blue stone paving hard.
He did not even scream. The blow left him completely dazed.
His lips swelled grotesquely, and blood streamed down his chin.
Chikage crouched down and pressed one end of the baton against Shimura Ken's chest.
"The first blow was to your leg, to teach you to keep your feet on the ground instead of spending all day thinking about collecting protection money."
"The second was to your mouth, to teach you to think before you speak instead of using your uncle to throw your weight around."
Chikage stared at Shimura Ken's badly swollen face.
"Now, I'll ask you one more time."
"Do you understand what you did wrong?"
Shimura Ken lay on the ground, his face smeared with tears, snot, and blood.
He nodded desperately, trying to beg for mercy.
"Mmph... mmph, mmph..."
But his mouth had been beaten completely numb. Apart from muffled whimpers, he could not form a single word.
"Still won't admit you were wrong?"
Chikage pressed the baton down harder.
"You're a tough one."
"Not even Root's torture victims hold out as well as you."
"Since you've got so much backbone, let's keep following the regulations."
"Article Ten of Konoha's Public Security Administration Regulations..."
Chikage made to raise the baton again.
Terrified out of his wits, Shimura Ken clawed wildly at the air, shaking his head like a rattle.
"Mmph, mmph, mmph! Mmph, mmph, mmph, mmph!"
His eyes nearly bulged out with desperation as he tried frantically to convey that he had already surrendered.
But all that came out were more muffled whimpers.
"What is all this 'mmph, mmph' supposed to mean?"
Chikage regarded him solemnly.
"Are you contacting your uncle through encrypted communications?"
"Or are you provoking me with ventriloquism?"
"I'm warning you. Resist, and you'll be treated harshly. Confess, and you'll get leniency."
"If you can't give me one complete admission of wrongdoing today, this isn't over."
Shimura Ken closed his eyes in despair.
He wanted to die.
What kind of lunatic is this?!
You knocked all my teeth out with that baton, and my lips are swollen like sausages.
How am I supposed to talk?
As the surrounding villagers watched, the tense atmosphere suddenly turned rather strange.
A few of the bolder ones even covered their mouths to stifle their laughter.
Shimura Ken, who normally lorded it over everyone, had finally met his match.
And this opponent was not just tough, but infuriating too.
The young police officer following Chikage could not bear to watch any longer.
He cautiously edged closer and tugged at Chikage's sleeve.
"Deputy Captain..."
The officer lowered his voice, his tone full of awe and a faint tremor.
"Please stop pushing him."
Chikage turned and gave the subordinate a displeased look.
"What?"
"You feel sorry for him?"
"This brat smashed up our clansmen's shops. Shouldn't we make sure he fully understands what he did wrong?"
The young officer swallowed, looking at Chikage as though faced with a living lord of hell, then pointed at Shimura Ken's mangled face.
"It's not that I feel sorry for him."
"It's that your last blow knocked out all his front teeth."
"His mouth is full of blood, and he probably bit through his tongue too."
The officer's voice grew quieter and quieter, afraid of angering the newly appointed superior.
"Deputy Captain, you hit him in the mouth. He can't talk."
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