[Note: Read up to Chapter - 66 on P atreon at: p-atreon.com/Knockturn_Alley]
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Shin led a group of men into the Nara Clan's drugstore.
The shopkeeper's expression darkened slightly when he saw the Uchiha crest on Shin's clothing.
Among Konoha's major clans, few were eager to deal with the Uchiha. One reason was their notorious arrogance—many Uchiha carried themselves with an air of superiority that naturally rubbed others the wrong way.
The other reason was political: the Uchiha clan had long been at odds with Konoha's senior leadership. Knowing this, most influential clans aligned themselves with the Hokage's side. After all, in the village, the Hokage held the real power.
Despite his personal feelings, the shopkeeper knew that business was business—visitors were still customers.
"What can I get for you?" he asked.
"I'm not here to buy anything," Shin replied coldly. "I've come on behalf of the Konoha Police Force to collect the security management fee."
"Security management fee? What do you mean by that? What security management fee?"
The shopkeeper frowned.
These Uchiha guys were clearly here to extort money.
"Cut the nonsense and pay up," Shin said bluntly. "I've got other shops to visit—I don't have time to waste here."
"Konoha has no rule about paying security management fees. I'm not handing over a single bill," the shopkeeper replied firmly.
Shin sneered. "People say the Nara clan is full of smart folk, but you're clearly not one of them."
"Someone's reported that your pharmacy sells counterfeit medicine. Looks like you need to come back with us for questioning. Selling fake medicines in Konoha Village? That's a clear insult to the people of Konoha and the Police Force that upholds righteousness in the village."
He turned to his men. "Seal up the entire stock and bring it along for investigation."
With that, the two Police men behind him sprang into action. Without hesitation, they grabbed both the shopkeeper and the clerk, ignoring their protests.
"Let us go! Our Nara Clan runs its business with integrity—we've never sold counterfeit medicine! You're just using your authority for personal revenge!"
"Dare to resist, will you?"
Shin struck the shopkeeper with a swift hand chop, knocking him out cold.
Then he turned to a trusted subordinate.
"Replace all the medicinal herbs here with fakes."
"Understood, Deputy-Captain."
"Let's move. On to the next shop."
A few minutes later, the owner of the neighbouring barbecue restaurant was arrested for alleged food safety violations, and the entire premises were sealed.
Shin worked efficiently—by midday, he had arrested dozens of shop owners.
These included shops owned by prominent clans, smaller ninja families, and even ordinary civilians. He made no distinction. As long as the shop refused to pay the so-called security management fee, it was shut down and the owner taken in.
Very few were actually willing to pay, so nearly every shop Shin's team visited ended up the same way—raided and sealed.
"Lying down and doing evil points is really worth it."
Just this morning, Kanzou had earned tens of thousands in evil points—which, after all, was his main objective.
It wasn't just about making money; gaining evil points was far more important.
"Kanzou-sama, by doing this, we've offended quite a few families," Souta reminded him cautiously.
"Let me ask you something—what kind of relationship does our Uchiha clan have with the other families?"
"This…" Souta couldn't come up with an answer and simply shook his head.
There were many clans in Konoha Village, but none maintained a good relationship with the Uchiha. In fact, many were outright hostile—
The Hyuga clan, Sarutobi clan, Shimura clan… all were either rivals or enemies.
Even those who weren't openly hostile still avoided associating with the Uchiha.
"Since they're not on good terms with us anyway, why should we care about offending them?"
Kanzou wasn't the least bit worried. After all, his system thrived on creating enemies—it was built for it.
Anyway, the Uchiha clan had already been ostracised by the major families and Konoha's leadership—what was there to fear? That they might get pushed out even more?
The Uchiha were already in the worst possible position; things couldn't get much worse.
"Remember this: good men die young, but scourges live a thousand years."
Kanzou had no hesitation in doing what he did. His confidence came from the fact that he wasn't afraid—not of Konoha's upper ranks, nor of the other clans joining forces against the Uchiha.
Because today's Uchiha wasn't the weak and isolated clan it would later become during the time of the massacre. The Third Great Shinobi War hadn't even begun yet, and the Uchiha were still a powerful force.
Back then, during the massacre era, the clan had Uchiha Fugaku, Uchiha Shisui, and Uchiha Itachi as its strongest members.
But what did that amount to?
Two of them betrayed the clan, and the other was a complete bystander. With that kind of leadership, no wonder the clan fell.
Right now, the Uchiha had more than thirty Jōnin in their ranks.
Would Konoha Village really dare to make a move against them?
It's true that they could wipe out the Uchiha—but doing so would come at a price. The other shinobi villages would undoubtedly seize the opportunity to strike.
That's why Kanzou had no fear.
"All members of the Police Force will be mobilised this afternoon," Kanzou instructed the Chief of Staff, Uchiha Souta. "Also, we need to expand our numbers. Right now, we're clearly understaffed."
Since becoming captain, Kanzou had promoted Shin and Souta to serve as Deputy-captain and Chief of Staff.
"Well," Souta replied, "if we try to keep recruiting, we'll run into a wall. The people who support Uchiha Fugaku definitely won't join the Police Force."
"Then, how about recruiting from outside the Uchiha clan?"
"Kanzou-sama, are you serious about that? Traditionally, the Police Force has always been made up entirely of Uchiha."
"Yes," Kanzou confirmed. "We're recruiting from outside. Not just ninjas—we'll take in civilians as well. Our Police Force is going to expand, and fast."
Kanzou had planned this long ago. There was no need to report it to the Third Hokage, nor did he require any approval—after all, the Police Force had always been autonomously operated by the Uchiha clan.
In the past, even if the Third Hokage wanted to interfere, he couldn't. The entire Police Force was made up of Uchiha members.
Although Souta didn't understand why Kanzou wanted to recruit civilians with no ninja training, he didn't question it. He knew Kanzou didn't appreciate subordinates who asked too many questions.
If Kanzou-sama gave an order, it was best to follow it without hesitation.
"I plan to expand the Konoha Police Force. The Third Hokage definitely won't sit still after this," Kanzou muttered.
He was certain Sarutobi Hiruzen would try to interfere.
That meant he'd need a proper excuse to deal with him.
Finding one wouldn't be difficult—excuses were always easy to come by.
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[Note: As the R-18 scene, I will post that part separately, one of these days, as Chapter 8.5]
Drop power Powerstonessssssssss!
[Note: Read up to Chapter - 66 on P atreon at: p-atreon.com/Knockturn_Alley]