"Whether it's slander or not isn't up to us to decide—only the evidence matters." Seiryu's expression turned cold. "By the way, you've come just in time. According to the confession from your accomplice, Shimura Retto, you were also involved in Danzo's seizure of fellow ninjas' bloodline limits. Police Force—arrest the suspect Shimura Hiroshi!"
No sooner had Seiryu finished speaking than several Uchiha ninjas charged out from the Police Force building behind him, intending to apprehend Shimura Hiroshi on the spot.
"Uchiha Seiryu!" Koharu Utatane, long accustomed to her high status, was furious that Seiryu would disregard her authority and arrest someone right in front of her. She barked out in anger.
"I can hear you." Seiryu raised his head, standing atop the Police Force steps and looking down at her.
"How dare you? Who gave you the authority to arrest people?" Koharu demanded.
"Good question!" Seiryu shouted, drawing his blade. Two arcs of lightning-charged chakra slashed past the two advisors, landing right next to Shimura Hiroshi's feet. The resulting explosion from the Lightning Release chakra forced back the Shimura clan ninjas who tried to approach and knocked Hiroshi to the ground. In an instant, Uchiha Police Force members swarmed and subdued him.
"You ask who gave me the authority to arrest people? Let me tell you." Seiryu slowly walked down the steps to the two advisors' sides. "That night, when Danzo's crimes came to light, it was the Third Hokage himself who entrusted this investigation entirely to the Uchiha clan. Is that reason enough?"
"When the Second Hokage established the Police Force and placed it in Uchiha's hands, it was to protect the village's safety and eradicate tumors like Danzo, who would harm his comrades for his gain. Is that reason enough?"
Seiryu stood before Koharu, facing the direction of the Hokage Rock. Then he stared at her: "If Advisor Koharu still thinks that's not enough, then how about the First Hokage's vow at the founding of the village—to protect every single comrade? Is that enough?"
"Today, it's not me who wants to arrest him—it's the will of 11,000 ninjas and 85,000 villagers of Konoha who cannot tolerate such a cancer!"
"Uchiha Seiryu, you—!" Homura Mitokado wanted to retort, but since Seiryu had invoked the First Hokage, there was nothing more to be said.
The Police Force had been recruiting civilian ninjas for two days now, and many were coming to try their luck. This scene attracted a crowd of on-looking civilian ninjas.
"So the Uchiha clan cares about justice? Maybe those village rumors aren't true after all," some whispered.
"Serves the Shimura clan right. They always acted arrogant because of their power—never thought they'd finally hit a brick wall."
The Shimura clan's reputation was just as bad as the Uchiha's, so the civilians took some pleasure in their misfortune.
"As for you two advisors, coming here with such a show—what are you trying to hide?" Seiryu eyed them with suspicion, narrowing his eyes. "I've heard you both are close with Danzo."
"Enough, Uchiha Seiryu! Don't spout nonsense!" Homura snapped. "I'll report today's events to the Hokage exactly as they happened."
"Feel free!" Seiryu snorted, then turned and strode back into the Police Force building.
"Why are the two advisors still here? Do you need us to escort you home?" Fugaku said.
"Hmph." The advisors, having gained nothing and faced with the odd looks of the civilian ninjas, could only snort coldly and leave in anger.
When Shimura Hiroshi was dragged into the interrogation room, the three other Shimura clan members looked terrified. They'd thought their clan leader and the advisors had come to save them; instead, they'd been caught too.
"Take good care of our Shimura clan leader," Seiryu said, tossing Hiroshi in like a dead dog. "But be careful—no blood. Don't offend the spirits of our ancestors at tonight's funeral."
"Yes!" responded the Police Force in unison.
Having given his orders, Seiryu left for the clan's shrine. The Uchiha were holding a medium-sized clan funeral to return the Sharingan eyes stolen by Danzo to their rightful place in the family shrine.
"Clan head, all clans except the Shimura, Mitokado, and Utatane have sent funeral offerings," Inaho hurried over to report as Seiryu arrived at the shrine.
"I understand. Go get Captain Fugaku," Seiryu said.
"Yes." Inaho nodded and left.
Seiryu then went to the area where the funeral offerings were placed.
He went first to the Yamanaka clan's tribute. Waiting for Fugaku to arrive, they opened it together.
The top layer was just normal items, but underneath was a pile of gleaming gold and two Konoha land deeds.
Fugaku's eyes lit up as he looked at Seiryu. "So this is the money you got?"
Seiryu nodded, double-checked the contents, and frowned. "It's still not enough."
He furrowed his brows and opened the Akimichi and Nara clan tributes as well. They were the same as the Yamanaka's.
"They're warning us," Seiryu said coldly, totaling up the value. The three clans' gifts amounted to exactly 140 million Ryo—four times Asuma's bounty. This was the protection fee the Yamanaka clan paid to the Uchiha over the Danzo incident.
But with all three clans sending gifts together, their message was clear: this is as far as you go. United, they had no fear of the Uchiha.
"Hmph, the Ino-Shika-Cho, huh?" Fugaku sneered.
"It doesn't matter. The value of winning them over was never high anyway. Getting this much money is already a surprise," Seiryu said easily. The Ino-Shika-Cho trio had always been close with the Sarutobi clan since the Warring States era, and every generation swore their earring oath before the Sarutobi head. Seiryu never expected to win them over anyway.