The drugstore of the Nara family—Uchiha Jin brought his men into it. Seeing the Uchiha family emblem on Uchiha Jin's clothes, the drugstore owner frowned.
Many of the major families in Konoha were reluctant to deal with the Uchiha family, one reason being Uchiha's arrogance.
There were plenty of Uchiha who were arrogant and domineering, and their superior attitude naturally aroused the disgust of others. Another reason was the suppression of the Uchiha family by the senior officials of Konoha. Knowing that the Uchiha family was at odds with Konoha's leadership, the major clans were bound to side with Konoha's senior officials when choosing a stance. After all, the Hokage was the boss in the village.
Although the store owner was unwilling to deal with the Uchiha family, visitors were still guests, and business had to be done.
"What do you want to buy?" asked the owner.
"I'm here to collect the security management fee on behalf of the Konoha Guard," Uchiha Jin replied, his face cold.
"Security management fee? Since when do we pay a security management fee?" The boss frowned. These guys from the Uchiha family were here to demand money.
"Stop talking nonsense and pay up. I've got other stops to make, and I don't have time to chat," Jin snapped.
"Konoha has no rule about paying security management fees. I won't pay it," the boss replied firmly.
Uchiha Jin sneered, "It's said the people of the Nara family are smart, but you're not proving it."
"Someone reported your pharmacy for selling fake medicinal ingredients. Bring him back to the guards for a strict interrogation. Daring to sell counterfeit medicines in Konoha Village? Clearly, you don't take our guards seriously."
"Additionally, all the medicinal materials here will be sealed and brought back with me," Jin added, waving his hand.
Immediately, the two Uchiha members behind him acted. They grabbed both the owner and the clerk without hesitation.
"Let go! Our Nara family does business with integrity. We would never sell counterfeit medicines. You're just abusing your authority for personal gain!" the boss protested.
"Dare to resist?" Jin delivered a swift blow, knocking the boss unconscious. He then called over one of his subordinates. "Replace all the medicinal materials here with fakes," he ordered.
"Understood, Vice-Captain," the subordinate replied.
"Let's go to the next shop," Jin said, moving on.
A few minutes later, the owner of the neighboring barbecue restaurant was also taken away for alleged food safety issues, and the store was sealed up. Uchiha Jin was highly efficient, arresting dozens of shop owners in one morning. Among them were businesses run by major families, as well as those owned by other ninjas or ordinary citizens. Everyone was treated the same—if they didn't pay the security management fee, they were taken away.
Few people actually paid the security fee, so almost every store visited by the guards ended up with its owner being arrested.
"It feels good to lie down and wreak havoc," Kisaragi thought to himself, pleased. He had earned tens of thousands of "evil value" points that morning, which had been his main goal. The money was secondary—what mattered most was accumulating evil points.
"Kisaragi-san, by doing this, we've offended many families," Uchiha Shin reminded him cautiously.
"Let me ask you: what is our relationship with these families?" Kisaragi asked.
"Well…" Uchiha Shin hesitated. "Not good."
Indeed, the Uchiha clan had no good relations with any of the other clans in Konoha. Many were openly hostile, such as the Hyuga, Sarutobi, and Shimura clan. The rest, if not outright enemies, still didn't associate with the Uchiha clan.
"Since we don't have a good relationship with them, why should we be afraid of offending them?" Kisaragi said dismissively.
He wasn't concerned about angering people. After all, his system thrived on offending others. The Uchiha family was already isolated by the other clans and Konoha's leadership. There was no point in worrying about making things worse.
The Uchiha family was already in the worst possible position—no matter what they did, it couldn't get worse.
"Remember, good people don't live long, but scoundrels stick around for a thousand years," Kisaragi said with a smirk.
Kisaragi wasn't afraid that Konoha's leadership or the other families would band together against Uchiha. Today's Uchiha were not the same as they were during the time of the clan's massacre. They hadn't yet endured the losses of the Third Ninja War, and the Uchiha family was still strong.
Unlike in the time of the massacre, when Uchiha had few strong fighters—Uchiha Fugaku, Uchiha Shisui, and Uchiha Itachi—two of whom betrayed the clan, and one who did nothing to prevent its downfall, today's Uchiha had over thirty Jonin. Would Konoha Village really dare to act against them?
Sure, Konoha could kill the Uchiha clan, but the cost would be high, and other ninja villages would undoubtedly take the opportunity to strike. Kisaragi had nothing to fear.
"In the afternoon, send out all the members of the police. Also, we'll continue expanding our numbers. The current size is clearly not enough," Kisaragi instructed Uchiha Shin.
After becoming the captain, Kisaragi had promoted Uchiha Jin and Uchiha Shin to vice-captains.
"If we keep recruiting, we'll run out of Uchiha to join. Those loyal to Uchiha Fugaku certainly won't enlist," Shin warned.
"Who said we're only recruiting from the Uchiha family?" Kisaragi asked.
"Lord Kisaragi, are you planning to recruit outsiders? The guard has always been composed entirely of Uchiha," Shin replied in surprise.
"Yes, we're recruiting outsiders. Not just ninjas—we'll also take ordinary people. Our police force needs to expand," Kisaragi explained.
This was part of a long-term plan, and it didn't need approval from the Third Hokage since the police had always been managed independently by the Uchiha. The Third Hokage had never been able to interfere because the police were exclusively Uchiha.
Although Shin didn't fully understand why Kisaragi wanted to recruit non-ninja civilians, he knew better than to question his superior. Kisaragi didn't like subordinates who asked too many questions.
"Kisaragi-san's orders are absolute. We'll follow them without hesitation," Shin thought.
"I want to expand the Konoha Police, and I'm certain the Third Hokage won't be able to sit still," Kisaragi thought to himself. He was sure that Sarutobi Hiruzen would find a way to stop the expansion, but finding a reason to deal with him wouldn't be difficult.
It would be easy to come up with an excuse.