The Raikage went mad with rage!

Inside the Hokage's Office, everything happened too quickly.

From Xuanye kicking the door open and cursing in her face, to Samui lunging at him in fury, to him lifting her into the air with one hand around her throat.

By the time Hiruzen Sarutobi recovered from his shock and anger and tried to shout at him to stop, Samui's eyes had already rolled back from lack of oxygen, and she had passed out completely in Xuanye's grip.

Without another unnecessary word, Xuanye casually swung the unconscious Samui over his shoulder, then turned and smiled at the Third Hokage behind the desk.

"According to Article Nine, Clause Three of the Konoha Public Security Management Regulations."

"If someone deliberately attacks an on-duty member of the Konoha Military Police Force, the force has the right to take the suspect into custody on the spot and detain them for fifteen to thirty days."

"Sorry for the trouble, Lord Hokage, but please pass a message to the rest of the Kumogakure delegation. I'll be waiting at the Konoha Military Police Force for them to bring the ransom."

Watching Xuanye discuss ransom as though nothing had happened, Hiruzen Sarutobi fell completely silent.

At that moment, the old man even began to question his own judgment.

He had previously regarded Uchiha Genya as a deeply calculating threat who required his utmost vigilance. Had he been overthinking it?

The bastard before him was clearly a complete and utter brainless brute!

The person slung over his shoulder was Kumogakure's chief negotiating envoy, yet he had choked her unconscious without hesitation and now wanted to throw her in jail for ransom?

"Xuanye, do you have any idea what you're doing?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep breath and asked tentatively, suppressing the anger in his chest.

During his lifetime, his teacher, the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju, had often said that the Uchiha Clan were mentally unstable by nature and prone to madness when their emotions ran high.

Now it seemed the words of his predecessor truly were words of wisdom!

The brat was definitely having an episode!

Arresting Kumogakure's diplomatic envoy under Konoha Public Security Regulations he had made up himself?

Was there anything in the world he wouldn't dare do? Could he have even a little shame?!

"Arresting someone caught in the act."

Xuanye spread his hand innocently. "As for whether I'm thinking clearly, you can rest assured, Lord Hokage. My mental power is about equal to two hundred Kakashi Hatakes combined. I'm perfectly lucid, and I definitely don't have the Uchiha's hereditary madness."

Bang!

Unable to contain his anger any longer, Hiruzen Sarutobi slammed his palm onto the desk and shot to his feet, glaring at Xuanye.

The little bastard was clearly making a fool of him!

Meanwhile, Kakashi, who was standing guard in the corridor outside the office, sneezed for no apparent reason. He kept feeling that someone inside was comparing him to something, and an inexplicable sense of being insulted welled up within him.

"Do you have any idea what a catastrophe your actions could bring upon all of Konoha?!"

"She represents all of Kumogakure!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi pounded the desk in anguish, loudly rebuking him from the high ground of morality and the greater good:

"Uchiha Genya! For a moment's satisfaction, you've pushed the safety of the entire village to the edge of a cliff! If this sparks a conflict, can you bear responsibility for the devastating losses Konoha will suffer?!"

Xuanye gave Hiruzen Sarutobi a sidelong look from head to toe and clicked his tongue in wonder.

"Lord Third, you really do look like a village's Kage when you're throwing your authority around at your own people."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's aged face instantly flushed a dark purple.

Every word accused him of only being tough on his own people!

"But I'm not accepting those grand accusations you're throwing at me, Lord Third."

Xuanye glanced around, his face full of confusion. "A catastrophe? Where is it?"

As he spoke, Xuanye quite naturally raised his right hand and gave Samui's plump curves a moderate smack.

Seemingly stirred by it, the unconscious Samui let out a soft, sultry moan against Xuanye's neck.

"Forget a catastrophe. I haven't seen so much as a hair's worth of damage."

Xuanye shook his head and offered Hiruzen Sarutobi a suggestion with a sincere expression.

"You're getting on in years, Lord Hokage. You should eat more walnuts to nourish your brain instead of scaring yourself all day."

Nourish my brain? Right now, I'd like nothing better than to crack your skull open and eat yours raw!

Hiruzen Sarutobi trembled with rage, his beard twitching.

"Uchiha Genya! I'm talking about all-out war! You know perfectly well what I mean, so stop playing the fool!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi growled, his face dark. "Because of that slap you just delivered, Kumogakure could tear up the peace talks and send troops at any moment! If fighting really breaks out and thousands are killed or wounded, can a mere police force captain like you pay that price?!"

He had indeed been eager for Xuanye to get into a dispute with the Kumogakure Envoy Mission so he could use it as a pretext to remove Xuanye from his position.

But he would never allow the situation to spiral into all-out war between the two villages!

"Third, you've really gone senile."

Looking at the furious old man, Xuanye suddenly spoke.

"What do you mean by that?" Hiruzen Sarutobi knitted his brows.

"Exactly what I said."

Xuanye scoffed and waved dismissively. "War isn't worth a damn. If those brutes from Kumogakure actually have the guts to come to the Konoha Gate, I'd love to stretch my muscles and have some fun with them."

With that, Xuanye turned and headed out of the office with Samui over his shoulder, showing no intention whatsoever of putting her down.

Just as he reached the doorway, he seemed to remember something. He paused and turned back to remind him:

"Oh, and don't forget to urge them to scrape together the ransom quickly. If they're late, there'll be a late fee."

With that, Xuanye strode out through the doorway, leaving the entire mess to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

That was how Xuanye operated: heaven came first, and he came second.

Standing behind his desk, Hiruzen Sarutobi had no idea that he had just escaped death's door.

Fortunately, his age had slowed his reactions, and he hadn't impulsively stepped in when Xuanye grabbed Samui by the throat.

Otherwise, Xuanye wouldn't have minded giving him a vicious blow along the way.

The Hokage intervened while the police force captain was arresting a major criminal, suffered an accidental injury, and ended up recuperating in the hospital for six months. That sounded perfectly reasonable, didn't it?

In Xuanye's eyes, schemes and political maneuvering were all bullshit, nowhere near as effective as his own massive fists.

Still, the reason the old man had swallowed his anger today instead of daring to turn on him and attack was probably that Xuanye had intimidated him by pinning his shoulder down with one hand a couple of days earlier.

Soon, Xuanye walked out of the Hokage Building with the beautiful blonde over his shoulder.

"Oh, quite a haul today. I never realized Captain Xuanye had a taste for exotic beauties."

From the shade of a tree outside the building, the purple-haired Anbu girl who had been sent to summon Xuanye approached him. Even through her mask, the jealousy in her voice was unmistakable.

"Stop teasing. This is a serious criminal."

Smiling, Xuanye reached out and removed the girl's cat mask, revealing Uzuki Yugao's delicate, cool features.

His left hand securely supported Samui on his shoulder, while his right arm slipped naturally around Uzuki Yugao's slender waist as he swaggered down the street toward the Uchiha Clan Compound.

Locking a top-quality prisoner like Samui in the police force's dark, damp interrogation room would be such a waste. He had to take her home and interrogate her personally.

"Tch, so now you can't even be bothered to visit brothels? You've moved on to snatching women right off the street?"

Uzuki Yugao's words were mercilessly sarcastic, but her body honestly leaned into Xuanye's embrace without the slightest attempt to struggle.

"You can't put it that way. I've always been honest. I've never pretended to be a gentleman. That's right, I lust after her body."

Xuanye explained with complete seriousness:

"As captain of the Konoha Military Police Force, when I encounter a temptress capable of causing this much trouble, I have to take her home and keep her under strict supervision. I absolutely can't leave her outside to bring ruin to the village! This is all for Konoha's public security!"

Uzuki Yugao rolled her lovely eyes, the corner of her mouth twitching involuntarily.

The shameless man beside her was the only person in all of Konoha who could make lust sound so high-minded.

And so, Xuanye brazenly took Kumogakure's chief envoy back to his luxurious residence and locked her up, continuing his decadent, carefree life.

Surprisingly, after Envoy Samui was taken away in public, the Kumogakure delegation remaining at the Kumogakure Envoy Inn caused no further trouble. Instead, they fell into an eerie silence.

But this was merely the calm before the storm.

A few days later, when everything that had happened in Konoha was sent back to the Land of Lightning in an urgent secret dispatch and placed on the Fourth Raikage's desk.

With a furious roar, the very nature of these ceasefire negotiations changed completely!