Fairly targeting Danzo

To be honest, when Zongyan first arrested Shimura Hongyu, he had not been looking to gain anything at all.

That old bastard Danzo had pulled a dirty trick on him two years ago, and he still remembered that debt.

It was simply sheer luck that day that he had stumbled upon the man's relative committing wrongdoing in public.

His original aim had been purely to use Konoha's rules to punish the man severely and openly, give Danzo a good dose of aggravation, and vent the resentment he had held in for two years. That was all.

But then word came from the clan that Hiruzen Sarutobi, in order to smooth over the conflict and put the matter to rest,

had made Danzo give up a shop, buying his nephew back with tangible compensation.

"Permanent operating rights to a shop in a prime location on South Street?"

Zongyan murmured to himself, his eyes frighteningly bright, the corners of his mouth beginning to rise despite himself.

"Well, damn. What a killing."

All he had done was arrest a troublemaking child of the powerful according to regulations and aggravate Danzo along the way, and he had earned the Uchiha a shop.

Zongyan leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingertips lightly against the desk as he began calculating. "So keeping Danzo under my thumb comes with hidden perks like this?"

"That old bastard has spent his whole life putting on a fair-minded front and playing the elder statesman. He's fixated on the Hokage position, and he treasures his reputation most of all."

"As long as I enforce the rules by the book from start to finish and leave him nothing to use against me, even if he's so angry he coughs up blood, he'll never dare retaliate in public or lay a finger on me."

At this thought, a cunning glint flashed through Zongyan's eyes. "Since it's such a good deal, I'd be a fool not to milk it."

From then on, the South Street Squad's enforcement priorities quietly changed.

On routine patrols, he had always been lenient with ordinary villagers and minor offenses committed by other clans. Verbal disputes received verbal warnings, minor incidents were settled through mediation and compensation, and he never hounded anyone over them.

But whenever the Shimura Clan or Danzo's extended relatives were involved, even for the most trivial violation-

making a racket in the streets and disturbing residents, setting up stalls that blocked the road, neighborhood arguments, or minor shoving-things hardly worth mentioning for anyone else were handled strictly and factually in their case, with every applicable regulation checked in detail.

"A member of the Shimura Clan?"

Whenever they encountered such people causing trouble on patrol, Zongyan would speak calmly, his tone fair and stern. "Record it according to regulations. Fine them if a fine is due, arrest them if an arrest is due. No leniency."

Takuma and the others were delighted to see their captain acting this way.

They had long resented Konoha High Command. The Uchiha Clan's predicament was entirely those people's doing.

For a time, the Shimura Clan members roaming around Konoha found life utterly miserable.

In the past, even acting a little arrogantly in the village had hardly counted as anything.

Now, the slightest act of insolence would bring the Konoha Military Police Force straight to them the very next moment, as though trackers had been installed on their bodies.

Fines and compensation were minor matters. Making Lord Danzo lose face, however, would earn them a very real lesson.

One petty yet painful blow after another piled onto the Shimura Clan, considerably lowering Danzo's reputation in the village.

Scattered murmurs rose one after another throughout the village, spreading through every street and alley.

"Have you heard? The Konoha Military Police Force caught another Shimura Clan member breaking the rules and causing trouble today."

"Those Shimura Clan members are actually this brazen just because they've got someone in High Command backing them. How many of them have been caught red-handed now?"

"Exactly! I used to think these things didn't count as crimes. I never imagined their impact was so terrible until the Konoha Military Police Force explained it."

Public opinion turned around completely, and restless ripples once again stirred in the hearts of Konoha's unruly villagers.

Konoha's villagers had always been clear-eyed and pragmatic. Known as the "bully clan," they bullied the weak and feared the strong, made their likes and dislikes clear, and excelled at reading the situation.

I might not have any strength whatsoever, but who said you needed strength to bully powerful ninja?

Konoha's Root.

Inside his office, Danzo sat in the shadows.

He gripped the intelligence scroll tightly, malice churning in his eyes.

"Damn that Uchiha brat... damn the Uchiha Clan. I'll see your entire clan exterminated! Nothing less will quell this hatred!"

He knew perfectly well that none of this was coincidence. Uchiha Zongyan was simply cloaking himself in lawful enforcement to aggravate him day after day and undermine his prestige.

As his clansmen were punished publicly again and again, and the Shimura Clan's reputation was repeatedly battered and diminished, Danzo seethed with hatred, murderous intent surging in his heart countless times.

Mobilize Root and secretly eliminate this boy who doesn't know his place.

But every time the thought arose, he forcibly suppressed it.

"I can't act... I absolutely cannot act now."

Danzo panted softly, forcing himself to endure.

"My goal is the Hokage position. All eyes are on me right now. If it becomes public that I privately retaliated against law enforcement personnel, the reputation I've spent years building will be gone."

On the surface, Uchiha Zongyan's conduct was watertight. Every enforcement procedure complied with the rules and the law, leaving not the slightest fault to find.

If he dared lash out, he would only confirm that he abused his power to shield his own people, utterly destroying his path to becoming Hokage.

All his stifled frustration and towering rage could only remain bottled up in his chest, with nowhere to vent.

He could only watch helplessly as his clansmen were repeatedly targeted and punished, as the Shimura Clan's influence dwindled by the day, enduring this helpless, stifling torment day after day.

Meanwhile, Zongyan, the instigator, continued leading his squad on their normal daily patrols with a proper attitude-a model member of Konoha's police whom no one could fault in the slightest.

In private, when no one else was around, Zongyan gazed out at the streets beyond his window and chuckled softly to himself. "You old scoundrel, Danzo. Just keep swallowing it."

"The reputation, status, and future you value most are the best weapons I have for keeping you under my thumb."

"As long as the rules still stand on the surface, I can milk you and beat you down by the book every day, and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it."

"Hahaha!"

"Heh heh heh..."

A low, sinister chuckle quietly rang out in the empty room.

As time passed, the Shimura Clan's reputation among Konoha's unruly villagers hit rock bottom.

The high-ranking figures whom no one had once dared criticize had now become targets of the villagers' private mockery and complaints.

Many smaller clans that had previously attached themselves to the Shimura saw trouble brewing and quietly distanced themselves, afraid this trend would sweep over them as well.

The Shimura Clan's hidden influence continued to decline and shrink at a visible pace.

Inside Root's office, Danzo's patience had reached its limit. The gloom and murderous intent in his eyes were almost spilling over.

He knew that if this dragged on, the influence and reputation he had spent decades building would completely crumble without Zongyan even needing to act.

Since he could not touch Uchiha Zongyan inside the village, he would find a way to send him outside it.

"As long as Uchiha Zongyan dies outside the village, it won't be pinned on me."

Danzo tapped his fingertips lightly against the desk. His icy voice rang through the room as he murmured orders into the air.

"Pass on my orders."

"Find the locations and information on Konoha Missing-nin who are currently some distance from Konoha, then bring it to me."

The air in the shadows rippled faintly, and a figure silently vanished, accepting the secret orders.