"Relax. I know how to keep my mouth shut."
Shinichi couldn't be bothered to expose the Third Hokage's act. With a faint, knowing smile, he asked, "So, can we get to the point now?"
The old man wouldn't have summoned him just to chat for no reason. It was almost certainly about him taking on students.
"Shinichi, I heard you've become the teacher of those two Uchiha brothers?"
The Third Hokage looked relaxed, as though they were simply making small talk.
"You certainly are well informed, Lord Hokage!"
Shinichi nodded and smiled. "That's right. Fugaku begged me to teach them. Since he was so sincere, I reluctantly agreed!"
He wasn't lying to the Third Hokage about that. Fugaku really had begged him.
"Then you must be quite close to Fugaku?"
The Third Hokage's wrinkled hand toyed with the documents on his desk as he asked the seemingly casual question.
"What gave you that impression?"
Shinichi looked surprised and asked in return, "Everyone in the Konoha Military Police Force knows I never spare Fugaku's feelings. He's always yelling at me, too. I thought he wanted to swallow me alive."
The man might have been a sly old fox, but Shinichi was hardly some innocent fool.
"But from what I know of you, you've always disliked troublesome things."
Something flickered in the Third Hokage's eyes as he said softly, "I don't think you would agree to a request from someone you disliked, especially when it involved taking on students..."
"Fugaku and I don't get along that well, but that doesn't mean I dislike his two sons."
Shinichi smiled. "Besides, taking on students is my own private business, isn't it? Do you intend to interfere in my personal affairs too, Lord Hokage? That doesn't seem to fit Konoha's rules!"
Despite the smile on