Please stop overthinking this right now!

"Lord Shinichi, you must be joking, right?"

One Genin who genuinely idolized Shinichi simply couldn't accept the collapse of his hero's image. He couldn't help speaking up. "How could you possibly be that kind of person...?"

Quite a few people looked hopeful. They longed to hear Shinichi say something in his own defense.

As long as Shinichi offered even a few words to explain himself, they were willing to believe he was still the Konoha hero admired by everyone.

"No, you're wrong."

But someone ruthlessly shattered that illusion, saying solemnly, "I, Hatake Shinichi, am exactly that kind of person. Not only do I like slacking off at work, I'm also extremely petty. If someone offends me, I definitely won't let them off."

"I'll remember every word you just said. Even if you complain about me to the Konoha Military Police Force, it won't do you any good, because I don't care!"

When it came to destroying his own image, Shinichi really was a professional.

After saying his piece, he ignored the dumbstruck onlookers and headed back into Ichiraku Ramen to enjoy his delicious noodles.

The guy even brazenly ordered Nami, "Nami, write down everyone who just bad-mouthed me. Give me their names later, and when I have time, I'll settle the score with them one by one! How dare they question me, a police Squad Leader? Just watch me abuse my authority for revenge and make their lives hell!"

His voice was so loud that it was as though he was afraid the people outside wouldn't hear him.

"Huh?"

The crowd's expressions shifted.

This was a man who could defeat the Fourth Raikage, a favorite of the Third Hokage. If he really held a grudge against them, wouldn't they be screwed?

At that thought, nobody dared stick around.

They all ran faster than rabbits, terrified that the ditzy little girl would remember their faces.

"Shinichi, is this really a good idea?"

Nami asked quietly.

It wasn't just the airheaded girl who was completely stunned. Kazuya and the other two were also staring at Shinichi in shock.

Had water gotten into this guy's brain?

Who deliberately made people hate them like this? Was he afraid he wasn't hated enough already?

"What are you scared of? It's just a few complaints! Worst case, I get fired!"

Shinichi rolled his eyes at them and said irritably, "Relax. You won't get dragged into this. I'll explain to Fugaku that I forced you to slack off with me. Even if there's trouble, I'll take responsibility as your Squad Leader. All four of you are innocent."

The moment he finished speaking, all four of them, Nami included, fell silent.

They couldn't understand Shinichi's bizarre behavior at all and even thought he had gone mad.

But they could still feel how fiercely he protected them, regardless of reason. It made them wonder whether serving under him might actually be rather nice.

Most importantly, from their first meeting until now, they hadn't seen the slightest disgust or rejection in Shinichi's eyes. Somehow, that made them feel a little more at ease, despite their usual dislike of outsiders.

The Hokage's Office.

Pfft!

The Third Hokage sprayed out a mouthful of tea, catching the utterly innocent Kakashi sitting opposite him.

Kakashi looked thoroughly miserable, wondering why his luck was so terrible.

"Cough, cough!"

After a bout of violent coughing, the Third Hokage asked in disbelief, "Kakashi, was what you just told me true? Shinichi actually said those things in public while on patrol?"

"Lord Hokage, it's absolutely true. Other ANBU members witnessed it themselves."

Kakashi sighed softly.

Shinichi might have been his older brother, but hearing the news still made him feel embarrassed.

"What on earth is Shinichi thinking?"

The Third Hokage didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

In all his decades in the shinobi world, he had never encountered a young man who defied expectations quite like this.

Shinichi possessed unrivaled strength and had won the entire village's recognition. They regarded him as a hero.

He had been dealt a perfect opening hand, yet he had somehow gone out of his way to ruin it?

"Heaven knows."

Kakashi looked even more miserable than the Third Hokage.

He had thought the Hatake Clan finally had a chance to produce a Hokage, only for his older brother to suddenly lose his mind and pull something like this.

The heroic image Shinichi had just established had collapsed in an instant!

"Never mind. Shinichi must have his own ideas. It wouldn't be appropriate for us to interfere."

With a headache brewing, the Third Hokage sighed. "In any case, find a way to keep public opinion under control. Try not to let his reputation in the village be completely ruined. This is only a minor matter, after all. It might not even affect him..."

"Yes, sir!"

Kakashi acknowledged the order and disappeared from the office.

Taking a step back, Shinichi had only been running his mouth. He hadn't actually done anything.

As long as they brought public opinion under control in time, it really wasn't much of a problem.

Just as Jiraiya's fondness for peeping on women bathing and Tsunade's love of gambling and drinking did nothing to change the fact that the Third Hokage considered them candidates for the next Hokage.

At that thought, the Third Hokage began to feel rather puzzled.

Why did it seem that, apart from Minato Namikaze back then, not a single candidate he, Hiruzen Sarutobi, favored for Hokage was normal?

Was this some kind of curse?

Three days later, at the Konoha Military Police Force.

Looking at the mailbox in front of him, which was about to burst with complaint letters, Fugaku couldn't help wearing the strained expression of a constipated man.

Smack!

He grabbed a fistful of letters and flung them into someone's handsome face, roaring, "Hatake Shinichi, what the hell are you doing? How did you manage to rack up this many complaints in just three days? Have you been going around causing trouble instead of patrolling?"

"Impressive, right?"

Shinichi raised an eyebrow and chuckled.

Anyone who saw his smug expression without knowing the circumstances would probably have thought he was showing off some good deed!

"You..."

Fugaku nearly exploded with rage.

Had the impartial law-enforcement image he had painstakingly built for the Konoha Military Police Force over all these years really been utterly destroyed by this bastard in just a few days?

"Don't get so worked up! Take a closer look at those complaint letters. They're only targeting me personally, not your Uchiha people."

Shinichi made himself comfortable in Fugaku's chair and spoke without a care.

He had kept himself plenty busy these past few days to ensure he successfully destroyed his own image.

For instance, he had openly slacked off in every possible way while patrolling, cursed out anyone who questioned him on the spot, and resorted straight to violence whenever he encountered a fight, beating the troublemakers until even their mothers wouldn't recognize them.

One drunken troublemaker had suffered the worst of it. Shinichi had swung him through the air like a giant windmill dozens of times in full view of everyone. When he finally landed, he vomited so horrifically that even the nearby shops were caught in the mess. Who knew how much the cleaning alone would cost?

As a result, the Konoha Military Police Force had received countless complaint letters over the past few days, every last one of them directed at Shinichi!

A perfectly respectable Konoha hero had become Konoha's Bane, despised by everyone, in just a few days.

Even Danzo, the "Pot Kage" who was always looking to target Shinichi, probably couldn't have imagined this. Why had he ever wanted to go after such a rotten nuisance in the first place? What a complete waste of effort!

"Fugaku, you need to look at the heart of the issue from another angle. This might actually be a good thing for the Uchiha. At least I've successfully drawn people's hatred away from you and onto myself, haven't I?"

Shinichi suddenly said.

"Was that your objective?"

Hearing this, Fugaku slowly calmed down and asked curiously, "Tell me, then. What exactly is the next step in your plan?"

He almost instinctively assumed there was some deeper meaning behind Shinichi's actions. What normal person would do something this bizarre otherwise?

"Objective? Plan?"

Shinichi froze on the spot.

Aren't you overestimating me, Hatake Washing Machine, a little too much?

Fugaku, please stop overthinking this right now!

He didn't have a damn plan. He simply wanted to destroy his own image so nobody would have a chance to force him to become Hokage.