The Konoha Military Police Force headquarters.
After Xuanye listened to Uchiha Cong animatedly recount the entire "adultery bust" at the Hokage Residence last night, he fell into a rare, brief silence.
Things in this world often worked in such curious ways.
One tiny, insignificant deviation had actually triggered such an earth-shattering chain of explosions.
What had Uchiha Cong done wrong?
He had merely wanted, with a sincere heart, to help the young ladies at the brothel boost their revenue and meet their sales targets in the middle of the night.
All of this had started because that old bastard Hiruzen Sarutobi had been so bored he just had to send someone to summon Uchiha Cong to his home to sound him out and win him over.
Those schemers who spent all day playing political games habitually treated everyone as a potential enemy, imagining every little disturbance to be some earth-shattering conspiracy against them.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was the most typical example.
Lacking sufficient strength of his own, he sat on the Hokage's seat as though on pins and needles all day, seeing everyone as a traitor and fearing they would steal his power.
Put plainly, this was entirely a manifestation of a weakling's extreme lack of confidence.
Just look at the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju. His strength had been unrivaled in the Shinobi World, and back then, he had even offered to let Madara Uchiha take the Hokage's seat for the sake of the village's peace.
How could someone who genuinely wanted the best for the village cling so desperately to the Hokage's power?
And look how it had turned out.
The old fox had thought himself clever enough to sow discord, only for a bottle of Black Market Aphrodisiac and Uchiha Cong's bizarre thought processes to turn the whole thing into a scandalous family tragedy that rocked Konoha.
Just thinking about it was ridiculous.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had actually dreamed of controlling Uchiha Cong? Was that old bastard genuinely missing his brainstem?
Did he think he could use those tired platitudes about the Will of Fire to brainwash a mental patient who might have an episode at any moment?
Yes, in Xuanye's eyes, Uchiha Cong was a complete mental case.
Every Uchiha clan member who could awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan had a mental state that differed somewhat from ordinary people's.
Although this transformation could not quite be classified as an illness, it was absolutely the product of an obsession becoming utterly distorted and taking concrete form after some extreme stimulus.
But Uchiha Cong's obsession was different. The object of his fanatical worship was none other than Uchiha Genya himself!
This was an absolutely diehard, brainless fan.
Unless someone could smash the divine idol in his heart to pieces before his eyes, this kid would never betray him, even in death!
Had they not heard the name of the Mangekyō Eye Technique he had awakened?
"Deity Possession"!
Within Uchiha Cong's limited understanding, Xuanye was a living god walking the Shinobi World!
Precisely for that reason, Xuanye had always disdained using such crude control methods as Kotoamatsukami or Cursed Seals to manage the Konoha Military Police Force.
If all his subordinates became emotionless puppets on strings, how would that be any different from leading a bunch of corpses?
The truly strong always relied on absolute strength and unmatched personal charisma to make their followers willingly devote themselves, heart and soul!
"Captain."
Deputy Captain Uchiha Shanyang hurried over, his expression respectful and even a little awkward.
"Well... the instrument of the crime has been successfully removed."
"Would you like to inspect it personally?"
Xuanye rolled his eyes hard and looked at him as though he were an idiot.
There was genuinely nothing to fault in Uchiha Shanyang's ability to get things done, but occasionally a wire came loose in his head, and the questions he asked were downright hair-raising.
Am I fucking sick in the head?!
Why would I look at that thing cut off some seventy- or eighty-year-old man?!
"Ahem... that was a poor choice of words."
Noticing Xuanye's disgusted gaze, Uchiha Shanyang scratched his head awkwardly and hurriedly changed the subject:
"However, Shimura Danzō refuses to cooperate. He absolutely refuses to sign the Public Order Fine Notice, or pay the subsequent medical fees and bail."
Yes.
According to the Konoha Military Police Force's rules, once corporal punishment had been carried out, the next step was imprisonment or payment of a fine.
Those with ordinary offenses were tossed straight into Konoha Prison to serve their time.
Those with money and influence could also pay an astronomical amount of bail to reduce their sentences and buy their freedom.
For instance, Hokage Advisor Mitokado Homura, who had been arrested last time, had paid through the nose and still needed the Third Hokage to personally stand as guarantor before he was released.
On top of that, there was a mandatory medical fee.
After all, castration was skilled work. To prevent prisoners from bleeding to death in their cells, the Police Force, acting in a humanitarian spirit, had to specially invite a Medical Ninja to perform some basic hemostasis and stitching.
Since they had received medical services, was paying the bill not perfectly reasonable?
Of course, Tsunade and Shizune would never, even under pain of death, accept the dirty, exhausting work of removing the instrument of the crime.
Thus, the person who had stitched Danzo up was a male orderly whom Uchiha Shanyang had temporarily hired from Konoha Hospital at great expense.
"If he refuses to cooperate, then initiate compulsory enforcement."
Xuanye casually stubbed out his cigarette, his tone as calm as if he were ordering a meal, without the slightest ripple in his eyes.
Compulsory enforcement!
At those words, Uchiha Shanyang shuddered, snapped to attention, pulled the Radio Transceiver from his waist, and bellowed loudly enough to shake the building:
"Konoha Military Police Force!"
"All personnel, level-one combat readiness! Emergency assembly!"
In an instant.
Whether they were sweating on the training grounds in the rear courtyard or patrolling the streets outside in public order squads, every police officer received this highest-level mobilization order!
Compulsory enforcement!
This was the most direct, most violent punitive measure the Police Force employed against hardened criminals who remained obstinate and dared resist law enforcement!
If they refused to do things the easy way, they could not blame him for flipping the table.
If they would not hand over their money voluntarily, the Police Force would come to their door and seize it themselves!
Within just a few minutes.
Over a hundred murderous Uchiha elites in matching uniforms had assembled in the headquarters courtyard.
Five unit captains stood in a neat line at the very front.
Every gaze burned with fervor, and the Ninja Blades at their waists were ready to be drawn at any moment.
At a single command from Xuanye, this terrifying machine of violence would crush every obstacle before it without hesitation!
"Instructor Guy, you've never seen anything like this before, have you?"
Standing at the very front, Uchiha Cong spoke solemnly to Might Guy beside him in a lowered voice.
As the specially appointed head physical training instructor of the Police Force, Might Guy was naturally included in the emergency assembly.
Besides him, Senju Nawaki and Uchiha Itachi also stood obediently in the Reserve Force's ranks.
"This really is my first time seeing the entire Police Force mobilize."
Might Guy marveled at the murderous Uchiha clan members around him, his admiration for Xuanye flowing like an endless river.
He keenly sensed that this force radiated a terrifying aura utterly unlike that of any conventional ninja squad.
These men were like a pack of hungry wolves who recognized only one master. Their gazes blazed fiercely, forever following only the man wearing the Justice Cape!
"This is compulsory enforcement for real."
Uchiha Cong's expression was grave. "In all my time with the Police Force, this is the first time I've seen all five units turn out in full."
Ordinarily, the scale of compulsory enforcement depended on the strength of its target.
But this time, all the officers had clearly misunderstood Xuanye's intent.
Xuanye did not think this opponent was particularly troublesome at all. He had arranged such a grand display purely to flaunt his might and show off his muscles.
The assembly was complete.
Xuanye slowly descended the steps and came to stand at the front of the formation.
The white cape bearing the word "Justice" snapped in the wind. His face was expressionless, his eyes carrying a majesty that looked down upon everything.
"The serious offender Shimura Danzō has openly resisted law enforcement and refused to pay his public order fine and medical expenses."
"I, Uchiha Genya."
"In my capacity as Squad Commander of the Konoha Military Police Force, hereby formally announce the initiation of compulsory enforcement!"
Shing!
Xuanye drew the Standard-Issue Long Sword at his waist, pointing its blade in a certain direction deep in the forest outside the village.
"Target confirmed."
"The former secret Root Base beneath the abandoned laboratory on the outskirts!"
"Anyone who dares obstruct us with a weapon is to be cut down on the spot, dead or alive!"
Today, he would lead the Police Force to raze Root's headquarters completely!
Root.
Its full official name was the "Konoha Anbu Training Department."
Under this high-sounding banner, Danzo had long scoured the village for promising orphans, brainwashing and controlling them, training them into killing machines that obeyed only him.
By now, Root had long since become Shimura Danzō's private armed force.
They followed the extreme principle of "better to kill a thousand innocents than let a single target escape," specializing in the filthy, secret work of Konoha High Command.
When it came to Root, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo had always maintained a certain ugly, unspoken understanding.
Just as when Orochimaru had used the village's infants and Genin in inhuman human experiments, Hiruzen Sarutobi had known perfectly well that Danzo was providing funding and cover behind the scenes, yet had ultimately chosen to pin all the charges on Orochimaru alone.
As long as Danzo did not reach directly for the Hokage's throne, Hiruzen Sarutobi had always turned a blind eye to all of Root's sins.
The two old bastards played good cop and bad cop, styling themselves Konoha's "light and shadow" while turning the entire village into a foul mess.
As for why Xuanye could pinpoint the location of the "former secret Root Base"?
As a transmigrator familiar with the plot, Xuanye knew perfectly well: the publicly signposted Root office currently in use was nothing more than an empty shell meant to fool people.
The true core stronghold, concealing countless pieces of evidence of Danzo's crimes and the vast fortune he had amassed, lay deep within the Underground Laboratory Orochimaru had abandoned back then!
"Look! The entire Police Force is moving out!"
"Good heavens, with a force that big, whose house are those living grim reapers going to raid now?"
"Could it have something to do with Lord Hokage's wife being raped?"
"Holy shit! Is that information reliable? Where did you hear that rumor?"
"Shh! Keep your voice down! A relative of mine serves in the Anbu. I heard Unit Captain Uchiha Cong personally led a team last night and forcibly dragged Advisor Danzo away in handcuffs, half-dressed, right off the bed in Lord Hokage's house!"
"Uchiha Cong was shouting at the top of his lungs that Danzo had broken in and committed rape!"
"That wild?!"
"More than wild! I heard something even more explosive... apparently Lord Hokage's wife was sexually frustrated and threw herself on Danzo first..."
"Gasp-"
Over a hundred fully armed police officers raced through the streets in formation. With numbers that great, it was impossible not to cause a stir among Konoha's villagers.
For a time, every street and alley buzzed with discussion, and gossip about the Third Hokage being cuckolded spread throughout the village at the speed of light.
To the sound of perfectly synchronized footsteps, the police officers ran forward.
Yet Xuanye, their overall commander, followed leisurely at the very rear with both hands in his pockets, admiring the scenery along the way as though taking a stroll through a courtyard.
He was in no hurry.
First, he would let the men under him seal off every entrance and exit to the Root Base, trapping Danzo's forces inside before anything else.
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