The night was deep.
Having just finished his official duties, the Police Force Captain leaned comfortably against the headboard, leisurely smoking a post-coital cigarette.
Beside him, Samui sat at the edge of the large bed with her legs folded out to either side, looking exceptionally docile and obedient.
She was afraid.
Thoroughly afraid, right down to her bones.
Yet alongside that deep fear, an indescribable sense of submission quietly took root and sprouted in her heart.
In this cruel Shinobi World, the truly strong were always revered.
Although Samui could hardly be said to revere Xuanye with any fervor yet, her attitude toward this Konoha Police Force Captain had indeed undergone a complete transformation.
"Master... may this servant ask you a question?"
Samui leaned against him meekly. Although her body was utterly exhausted, for the first time ever, she actually found herself seemingly growing attached to the sense of safety she felt at his side.
The hostility and pride she had once possessed as an elite jonin of Kumogakure were crumbling little by little.
"Go ahead."
Xuanye casually stubbed out his cigarette.
"What do you intend... to do with Lord Raikage?"
As soon as the words left her mouth, Samui seemed terrified that Xuanye might misunderstand. She hurriedly waved her hands and explained in a panic, "This servant absolutely isn't pleading for him! This servant just..."
She simply wanted to find as many shared topics as possible, to gain a deeper understanding of the man before her who controlled her fate.
As for being his girlfriend? Or his wife?
Samui knew exactly where she stood. Given her current status, being allowed to remain at Xuanye's side as a bed-warming maid was already an immense stroke of fortune.
"The interrogation procedures are finished. Naturally, a public trial comes next."
Xuanye shifted into a comfortable position and lay straight down on Samui's long, straight thighs, closing his eyes as he enjoyed her gentle scalp massage.
"A public trial?"
Samui had never heard the term before and lowered her head to look at Xuanye in confusion.
However, her bust was so ample that the moment she lowered her head, two snow-white peaks completely smothered Xuanye's face, nearly leaving him unable to breathe.
"Ah! I'm sorry, Master!"
Samui hurriedly straightened her back and adjusted her sitting position, her face flushed with embarrassment.
"Yes, a public trial."
Xuanye took a deep breath of air still carrying a milky fragrance, his gaze turning somewhat enigmatic.
"Our Military Police Force has a rule. Every month, the crimes and punishments of the serious offenders we arrest are posted on the noticeboard in the center of the village."
"For ringleaders like the Raikage, whose crimes are heinous and whose influence is particularly damaging, we also escort them straight to Konoha Central Square and publicly announce their sentences in front of the entire village!"
Wasn't... wasn't that parading someone through the streets for public humiliation, plus a public execution?!
This practice of making everything completely transparent, stripping away a village Kage's dignity and trampling it underfoot, was worlds apart from Kumogakure's preferred method of secretly executing political enemies behind the scenes!
Samui listened, her beautiful eyes lighting up repeatedly.
"The Raikage openly led resistance against law enforcement and attacked police officers this time. The nature of his offense is extremely serious."
"In a few days, the Military Police Force will hold a Public Trial Assembly and make every detail of his crimes public."
"The negotiations between the two villages are at an impasse anyway, so there'll certainly be plenty of villagers and spies from other villages watching. If you're interested, you can wander over and take a look that day."
Xuanye gave a lazy yawn.
As captain, he would certainly have to attend the Public Trial Assembly in a few days and personally preside over proceedings.
As for whether Samui and Yugito Nii might use the chaos at the public trial to escape?
Xuanye had never worried about that at all.
He had casually laid down the rule: if they dared to run, he would simply catch them and break their legs.
"That's enough official business."
A meaningful smile curled the corners of Xuanye's mouth as he rolled over and pinned Samui beneath him.
"The night's still young. Let's make the most of our time and get down to some real business."
When the sounds that made people blush started coming from the master bedroom again.
In the guest room next door.
Tsunade jolted upright like a dying patient rising from her sickbed, clutching her hair in utter despair, two enormous dark circles beneath her eyes.
What a curse!
Was this little bastard made of iron at night?!
After going at it all afternoon, didn't you need to sleep at night to recover your strength?
Even if your body could take it, weren't you afraid of wearing that busty blonde to pieces?!
"I really don't know how you've survived these past few years."
Tsunade rolled her eyes through gritted teeth and turned to look at Kushina Uzumaki, who was sleeping soundly beside her.
Despite the racket next door rivaling a demolition site, Kushina hadn't even furrowed her brow!
Tsunade silently swore that tomorrow, she would move to the room farthest from the master bedroom.
If the other guest rooms hadn't still been uncleaned tonight, she would never have squeezed in beside Kushina next door to endure this torment.
So irritated by the noise that she could no longer stand it, Tsunade reached out and nudged Kushina, wanting to ask how on earth she managed to fall asleep so quickly amid such a racket.
"Mmm... Xuanye... have mercy... I really can't today..."
Who knew what she was dreaming about, but the sleeping Kushina murmured those words with extraordinary naturalness.
Tsunade's eye twitched wildly at the words, and she gave Kushina a hard pinch, exasperated by her hopelessness.
"It's me! Wake up!"
As though the Xuanye in her dream had made a concession, Kushina groggily rolled over, turning her back to Tsunade as she continued mumbling indistinctly:
"Then... then you do the moving... I'm going to sleep..."
What the hell did she mean, "you do the moving"?!
Tsunade covered her face in despair.
Apart from herself, there probably wasn't a single normal person left in this house.
Early the next morning.
The sun shone brightly, birds sang, and flowers filled the air with fragrance.
The disciplined Police Force Captain began his unwavering morning workout right on time.
On the manor's lawn.
One hundred standard push-ups, one hundred sit-ups, and one hundred squats-Xuanye performed them meticulously, his sweat gleaming healthily in the sunlight.
Might Guy hadn't reported in on time today.
Presumably, some urgent Anbu or village mission had delayed him. Xuanye didn't mind. At worst, he could make up the ten-kilometer run when he went to the Police Force training grounds later.
"Why do you keep staring at me?"
Xuanye stopped doing sit-ups and looked strangely at Tsunade, who was planted on his ankles as a human sandbag.
"Have you been losing much hair when you get up and wash your face lately?"
With two heavy dark circles beneath her eyes, Tsunade scanned Xuanye up and down like an X-ray machine, looking every bit like an old traditional physician diagnosing a pulse through a thread.
"I haven't lost any." Xuanye was utterly confused.
"Then have you noticed any memory loss? Do you often dream at night and wake up easily?"
Tsunade's brow furrowed deeper and deeper.
"Or... have you had frequent or urgent urination, hot palms, soles, and chest, night sweats, or frequently cold hands and feet?"
"Stop!"
Xuanye decisively cut short this absurd examination and stared straight into Tsunade's eyes.
"After going around in all these circles, aren't you just asking whether I have kidney deficiency?"
Exposed on the spot, Tsunade stiffened slightly before abruptly standing and waving her hand with righteous conviction.
"I'm doing this for Kushina's happiness for the rest of her life!"
"I'm just kindly reminding you not to abandon moderation just because you're young and healthy. Sooner or later, you'll regret it!"
Fine, whatever you say.
Xuanye rolled his eyes speechlessly, unwilling to argue with this old woman whose unfulfilled desires had thrown her hormones out of balance.
Whether he was deficient or not, Samui, who had been worn out so thoroughly last night that she couldn't get out of bed, knew best.
After breakfast.
Xuanye took Tsunade along on a leisurely stroll to the Military Police Force headquarters.
The moment he stepped through the door, Xuanye noticed something was wrong.
Normally, the officers who had just pulled an all-nighter should have been secretly dozing off in corners by now.
But today, not only were the dozens of men in the lobby awake, they were all brimming with energy, gathered together and excitedly discussing something.
"Captain! You're finally here!"
Seeing Xuanye enter, Uchiha Cong shot out from the direction of the interrogation room, sporting two enormous dark circles yet looking as excited as if he'd been pumped full of stimulants.
"Aren't you supposed to be off today? What are you doing here so early?"
Xuanye glanced at the duty roster on the wall, certain that this fellow's name hadn't been on last night's shift.
"Reporting, Captain! I caught a rapist in the act on the street last night!"
Uchiha Cong stood at attention and saluted, reporting loudly with a fervent expression:
"I conducted an intensive interrogation for eight hours overnight! The evidence is conclusive! Caught red-handed with the evidence!"
A rapist?!
Although Konoha had a liberal atmosphere, public security had always been strictly maintained. A vicious case like this hadn't happened in years.
Had some young lady in the pleasure district been taken by force?
"Excellent work! This is our Police Force's biggest case of the year! Where is he?"
Xuanye and Tsunade exchanged a glance, immediately perking up as they strode toward the interrogation room.
However.
When they pushed open the interrogation room's heavy iron door and saw the "rapist" tightly bound and locked into the interrogation chair.
Xuanye's steps abruptly halted, and the corners of his mouth began twitching uncontrollably.
"I've told you eight hundred times! I'm innocent! I'm the victim here!"
Shimura Danzō sat in the chair with his hair disheveled, his kimono torn into strips of cloth that exposed his sagging flesh.
He was screaming desperately in his hoarse voice:
"That crazy woman Biwako Sarutobi really did force herself on me!"
"I only went to knock on her door last night, and she pounced on me like a starving wolf and dragged me inside! Why won't you believe me!"
Danzo was so furious he nearly cried. This was a fucking disgrace beyond measure!
"Bullshit! Stop making excuses!"
Uchiha Cong, who had followed them inside, went straight up and slapped Danzo hard across his wrinkled old face.
"I personally examined the injuries last night! You still dare claim you're the victim?!"
"What punishment do our Public Security Administration Regulations prescribe for a rapist with such conclusive evidence against him?"
Deputy Captain Uchiha Shanyang also entered and asked seriously with a frown.
"According to Article 77 of the Konoha Public Security Administration Punishment Law."
Standing nearby with a folder in his arms, Uchiha Itachi opened the regulations without expression and read aloud:
"For offenders whose acts are egregious and whose impact is extremely harmful, the instrument of crime shall be confiscated immediately to prevent future trouble."
Upon hearing the words "confiscate the instrument of crime."
Danzo, who had still been struggling desperately, instantly looked as though he had been struck by lightning. His eyes rolled back in terror, and he nearly fainted on the spot.
At that moment, Xuanye finally recovered from his enormous shock.
Uchiha Cong stepped forward with impeccable attentiveness and deftly lit a cigarette for the captain.
Xuanye took a deep drag and slowly exhaled a perfect smoke ring, casting a pitying glance at the ashen-faced Shimura Danzō.
"Since the evidence is conclusive and the regulations are clear..."
Xuanye let out a lingering sigh and waved his hand.
"Then enforce the law impartially. Do it. Make it a clean cut."
Before you continue