Shimura Ryo's face darkened, and an exceptionally fierce aura suddenly erupted from him.
"You certainly have a sharp tongue!"
"Hmm, obstructing an investigation, colluding with gangs, spreading slander and rumors."
Uchiha Minamoto piled one accusation on top of another.
"Senior of the Shimura Clan, sorry for the trouble, but you'll have to come with us too!"
Shimura Ryo's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.
He had originally wanted to provoke Uchiha Minamoto into attacking him first.
Instead, the boy stubbornly stayed where he was, doing nothing but pinning accusations on him.
Born evil, these Uchiha!
How dare you use our Root tactics against us in Root!
"Hmph!"
Shimura Ryo snorted coldly. He wasn't about to play along with Uchiha Minamoto.
"I think you're simply making things up!
"Can Uchiha ninja do nothing but run their mouths?"
"So..."
Uchiha Minamoto tilted his head.
"Senior Shimura, you're planning to violently resist arrest, correct?"
Chapter 32: I Gave You a Chance, but You Couldn't Make Use of It! (Please Keep Reading! Please Vote with Monthly Tickets!)
Violently resist arrest...
Shimura Ryo's eyelid twitched.
This Uchiha brat was far more difficult to deal with than he had expected.
Weren't normal Uchiha supposed to start hissing, turn red-eyed, and lash out after just a few words?
Was this brat named Uchiha Minamoto really an Uchiha?
Not only did he turn a deaf ear to Shimura Ryo's provocations, but every step he took stayed within the rules.
Damn Uchiha!
Shimura Ryo cursed inwardly, but softened his tone on the surface.
"Sir... officer! You-"
"Since you're willing to call me officer, I'm willing to give you the information you're entitled to."
Uchiha Minamoto cut him off outright, his tone calm as he pressed him at every turn.
"Shueisha's reporters are suspected of spreading rumors and stirring up trouble;
"Members of the Shueiying Group are suspected of extortion and staging accidents to demand compensation.
"And you, Senior Shimura, a Jonin of the Shimura Clan, appeared outside a gang's base late at night and obstructed the Konoha Military Police Force's investigation.
"I now have reasonable grounds to suspect you're directly connected to both cases.
"So please come with me and submit to an investigation by the Konoha Military Police Force."
Shimura Ryo listened with his heart pounding.
Submit to an investigation by the Konoha Military Police Force?
If a Shimura Clan ninja like him entered the Konoha Military Police Force and fell into the hands of those red-eyed maniacs, could he even stay alive for the investigation!?
Should he run away-no, make a strategic retreat?
"Can't make up your mind? Let me help you, Senior Shimura."
Uchiha Minamoto slowly paced forward, delivering a sentence with each step.
"If you refuse me, that's violently resisting arrest.
"If you attack me, that's assaulting a member of the Konoha Military Police Force.
"If you dare run, haha, that's fleeing out of guilt. I'll go straight to the Shimura Clan compound to make the arrest!"
By the time he said this, Uchiha Minamoto had already walked up to Shimura Ryo.
Less than a meter separated them.
Uchiha Minamoto's scarlet Two-Tomoe Sharingan stared straight at him, giving him no chance to breathe.
"Senior Shimura, which will you choose?"
Shimura Ryo was drenched in sweat.
Was there even a choice?
He couldn't choose any of them!
Shimura Ryo suddenly realized he should never have come tonight.
No!
Rather, he should never have accepted this mission in the first place.
Shimura Ryo had previously heard a rumor from Clan Head Danzo.
The Third Hokage had once called Uchiha Itachi of the Uchiha Clan a Super Genius who "possessed a Hokage's mindset at just eight years old."
Now, it seemed...
The Uchiha Minamoto standing before Shimura Ryo was more like someone who "possessed Root's mindset at just thirteen"...
Mature, seasoned, calculating every step...
He was even more sinister than Lord Danzo!!
"I..."
Shimura Ryo opened his mouth, his mind a complete muddle. He had no idea what to say.
"It seems you've made your decision, Senior Shimura!"
Uchiha Minamoto shook his head, a faint trace of regret in his voice.
"Violently resisting arrest... heh!"
"I'm not! I haven't! Don't make things up!"
Shimura Ryo jolted, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, and began hissing furiously.
Uchiha Minamoto didn't want to waste any more time. He held up three fingers, following the Konoha Military Police Force's regulations.
"First warning."
Uchiha Minamoto's Two-Tomoe Sharingan remained firmly locked on him.
"Shimura Ryo, you're suspected of sheltering a gang and obstructing law enforcement. Cooperate immediately."
This brat!
Shimura Ryo nearly ground his teeth to pieces.
"Second warning."
Uchiha Minamoto folded down one finger and rested his left hand on the hilt of the [Electric Light Pill].
"If you continue to remain silent, I'll take it as an admission of guilt and use force."
Shimura Ryo stood motionless like a statue, but out of the corner of his eye, he was watching Uchiha Minamoto's left hand.
Meanwhile, his right hand was quietly reaching for the ninja tool pouch at his waist.
"Third warning."
Uchiha Minamoto folded down a second finger, leaving only his index finger raised before him, pointing straight at Shimura Ryo.
"I will now arrest you on the spot for 'violently resisting arrest'!"
As his words fell.
Uchiha Minamoto vanished from where he stood.
Shimura Ryo's pupils abruptly contracted. The survival instincts he had honed through countless battlefield trials urged him to dodge sideways.
Screech-
Dazzling lightning swept through the spot where Shimura Ryo had just stood, shaking the air with an ear-piercing crack.
Even though Shimura Ryo had just done everything he could to dodge.
The lightning still grazed his left arm, severing it at the elbow on the spot and sending the lower portion flying.
So fast!
Despite the searing pain in his left arm, Shimura Ryo didn't dare pause his footwork for even an instant, using several consecutive Body Flicker Techniques to put distance between them.
Only after he steadied himself again did he finally see what had attacked him.
Such a fast... finger!
Blinding sparks still lingered on Uchiha Minamoto's right index finger.
The "weapon" he had just used to attack Shimura Ryo wasn't the [Electric Light Pill] in his left hand, but the index finger of his right!
This was my first attempt at imitating [Hell Stab: One-Finger Nukite], after all...
If it had been the genuine [One-Finger Nukite], Shimura Ryo's body would've been pretty much shattered, right...
What a shame!
Uchiha Minamoto's thoughts wandered.
In truth, he didn't know [One-Finger Nukite], nor had he used the [Heart of Great Love] to derive this Nintaijutsu.
Honestly.
Kumogakure's Nintaijutsu had increasingly flashy names.
Things like "Lightning Oppression Horizontal Chop," "Liger Bomb," and "Lariat"...
Weren't they really just "knife-hand chops," "flying kicks," and "macho elbow strikes"?
No technique, all stats.
Uchiha Minamoto had derived the [Yang Extremity Breathing Technique], and his physical capabilities grew stronger by the day. He too could perform the flashiest Taijutsu with the simplest movements.
If Kumogakure hadn't already had a [One-Finger Nukite].
Uchiha Minamoto would have wanted to give that move he'd just used the fancy name "Great Desolate Imprisoning Heaven Finger."
"Huh? Senior Shimura?"
Uchiha Minamoto looked up at Shimura Ryo, who stood a short distance away, and feigned surprise.
"I've been standing here for so long, and you still haven't run?"
Shimura Ryo wanted to clench both fists, but in the end, he could only clench his right.
Run?
Could he run?
"Ah, what a shame~"
Deeply regretful, Uchiha Minamoto put away the [Electric Light Pill] and strolled leisurely up to Shimura Ryo.
"I thought you'd take the chance to run while I was spacing out.
"Then I could've gone to the Shimura Clan to make arrests!
"Just listen to that-harboring a criminal! What a wonderful charge!"
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