Once that enormous accusation came crashing down, it wasn’t just the middle-aged woman whose face changed.
Even the surrounding crowd instinctively backed away several steps, afraid that if things escalated any further, they might get dragged into the mess themselves.
Hidden among the onlookers were several Root operatives who had originally intended to keep stirring up the crowd and continue damaging the Uchiha clan’s reputation.
Now, however, every last one of them shut their mouths.
Shinya had dragged the Second Hokage himself into the argument.
How were they supposed to keep going after that?
After all, the Second Hokage had been the teacher of their own superior, Danzō Shimura!
If they continued slandering the Military Police now, wouldn’t that amount to criticizing Lord Danzō’s teacher?
Did they still want promotions or not?
“You…
you’re lying!
I…
I never said that!”
The woman had already become completely incoherent.
People like her, with little experience dealing with this kind of pressure, often panicked when falsely accused and ended up trapping themselves with their own words.
And that was exactly what Shinya wanted.
As though he had caught yet another flaw in her response, Shinya immediately pressed harder.
“You say I’m lying?”
“Then are you saying the Uchiha Military Police wasn’t established by the Second Hokage?”
“Or are you saying the Military Police has falsely accused you?”
“You actually dare question a policy personally established by Lord Second?”
“Do you even understand that the Second Hokage was the beloved teacher of Lord Third, Hiruzen Sarutobi, as well as the Hokage’s advisor and both senior councilors?”
Shinya’s lips curled slightly.
“At this point, I don’t think you merely disregard Lord Second.”
“I think you’ve placed yourself above the entirety of Konoha.”
“I…
I…”
Shinya’s voice remained perfectly calm.
There was even a hint of amusement in it.
But the woman was so terrified that she could barely form a complete sentence.
She was afraid that if she said anything else, Shinya would seize upon another word and slap an even more terrifying accusation onto her.
The surrounding spectators were dumbfounded.
The smarter ones were already quietly retreating, desperate to leave before they became involved.
Wait…
You can just say things like that out loud?
You might dare say it, but I don’t even dare listen!
As for the woman who had just been buried under one accusation after another, she stood frozen in place while cold sweat poured down her body.
If even the slightest bit less rationality had remained, she might have simply fainted on the spot.
Shinya’s scarlet Sharingan swept toward the two Military Police officers standing nearby in stunned silence.
“What are you staring at?”
“Arrest this reactionary who dares place herself above all of Konoha and is attempting to incite rebellion!”
Shinya added one final charge.
Treason.
What had started as an ordinary street dispute had somehow been forcibly elevated by Shinya into a capital-level offense.
If the charge of rebellion actually stuck, then by tomorrow this ignorant troublemaker might very well be found with a dozen kunai buried in her back—
and the official conclusion would somehow still be suicide.
“Yes, Captain!” the two Uchiha answered simultaneously.
Neither officer belonged to Shinya’s unit.
Yet under his gaze, both unconsciously straightened their backs and obeyed immediately.
As though following Shinya’s orders were the most natural thing in the world.
They even stopped paying attention to the genin who had originally caused the disturbance.
Instead, they rushed forward and forced the loudmouthed woman to the ground.
Catching a drunken genin causing trouble in the street and arresting an anti-village reactionary were two very different accomplishments.
Only then did the woman finally realize how serious the situation had become.
She desperately stretched her hands toward the surrounding crowd.
“Help me!”
“The Uchiha Military Police are beating people!”
“Somebody save me!”
Unfortunately, not a single spectator moved.
Even her genin husband lowered his head and desperately tried to make himself invisible.
By now, he was completely sober.
Cold sweat poured down his entire body.
Placing oneself above Konoha.
Attempting rebellion.
Either accusation alone could make even a jōnin suffer badly.
For ordinary people like them?
He didn’t even want to imagine it.
Shinya was extremely satisfied with the crowd’s current attitude.
As far as he was concerned, the Uchiha had always been far too soft.
Their restraint had somehow given these troublesome civilians the illusion that the Military Police were easy to bully.
Now that the club had finally come crashing down, they were beginning to understand what fear actually felt like.
Watching the crowd stand deathly silent, trembling like frightened quail, Shinya suddenly understood why the methods of the old generation had remained so effective.
He waved a hand.
“Take this criminal, who attempted to subvert Konoha, back to the Military Police headquarters.”
“Interrogate her thoroughly and find out whether she has any accomplices!”
“If any are discovered, punish them severely.”
“No leniency.”
“Yes, Captain!” the two Uchiha answered together.
They dragged the woman back toward the Military Police headquarters like a dead dog.
To prevent her from screaming the entire way, one of them even struck her hard across the mouth with a baton.
Once someone entered the Military Police detention cells, getting them to confess to having attempted to assassinate the First Hokage probably wouldn’t be impossible.
The surrounding crowd automatically opened a path.
Not a single person dared stand in the officers’ way.
After all, no one wanted to suddenly be labeled an “accomplice.”
The two Uchiha officers, however, felt unexpectedly refreshed.
Ever since the Konoha Military Police Force had been founded, they couldn’t remember ever handling a situation this satisfyingly.
That was the newly appointed Captain Shinya, right?
Should we submit transfer requests and join his squadron?
Following him feels like we might finally stop swallowing insults from these civilians every single day.
Several people hidden within the crowd exchanged glances.
Every one of them felt that something had gone very wrong.
In the past, whenever incidents like this occurred, the Uchiha Military Police had practically endured everything without retaliating.
Today, however, Shinya had openly slapped outrageous political charges onto someone in front of the entire street, almost as though Konoha’s laws meant nothing to him.
This needed to be reported to Lord Danzō immediately.
The Uchiha appeared to be slipping out of control.
…
After finishing his work, Shinya returned to Ichiraku Ramen.
His bowl had not completely gone cold yet.
The noodles had become slightly soggy, but the flavor was still largely intact.
Teuchi had witnessed everything that happened outside.
Now, seeing Shinya return with the same warm, easygoing expression as before, he looked like he wanted to say something but hesitated.
“That woman only said a few reckless things.”
“Was it really necessary to throw her in jail over that?”
Judging by the blood covering her mouth, even if she was eventually released, she would probably carry the psychological scars for the rest of her life.
Shinya sat back down and smiled.
“As long as everyone obeys the law, the Uchiha Military Police will always be the safest shelter they could ask for.”
“But if someone tries to challenge the order personally established by the Second Hokage…”
“Then the Uchiha Military Police will remind them why the Uchiha are called the greatest clan in the shinobi world.”
“And why we were entrusted with maintaining Konoha’s law and order.”
Teuchi opened his mouth.
Then closed it again.
In the end, he said nothing more.
He was only a ramen chef.
Doing his job well every day was enough.
And just as Shinya had said—
the Uchiha had never gone out of their way to target ordinary people.