Uchiha's personal opinion

Because every merchant received a public security management and counter-espionage ordinance issued by the police department, which listed hundreds of management requirements and corresponding penalties.

Among these, the most prominent is the fine.

The sheer number of fines is overwhelming for merchants.

In the past, although ordinary villagers were quite afraid of the police department, merchants, especially those with ninja clan backgrounds, were outwardly respectful and obedient, but inwardly they didn't really take the police department seriously.

Because no matter what trouble they cause, as long as it doesn't involve espionage, and as long as it's a genuine conflict with the Uchiha, other departments of Konoha, or even the Anbu, will always step in to take their side.

It was common for people to be taken away by the Uchiha and not even put in jail before other departments of Konoha would come to bail them out with documents. With so many such incidents, the authority of the police department was naturally severely damaged.

However, after the reforms, the police department's aggressiveness has more than doubled.

For three consecutive days, there were no fewer than ten obvious clashes between the police department and the Konoha government affairs department. Four ninjas who came to bail out with documents from the government affairs department were directly taken to the detention center of the correctional department by the major crimes unit of the police department headquarters, and were charged with "dereliction of duty" and "forgery of government documents".

The charge was fabricated by Uchiha Tokumitsu.

After framing him, Uchiha Tokumitsu casually added these two articles to the police department's code of conduct as precedents for future cases.

The imprisonment of the Ministry of State Affairs ninja is like stirring up a hornet's nest.

Koharu Utatane, the advisor elder in charge of the political affairs department, was particularly vocal, repeatedly criticizing the Uchiha clan for their overly strict and harsh enforcement of the law, suggesting it was motivated by personal revenge.

But once the ninjas from the Ministry of State Affairs are locked up, it's locked up, and no matter who pleads for them, it's useless. According to the initial trial verdict, they will be detained in the detention center for one month and then transferred to a labor camp to serve two months in prison. Moreover, during their detention, their families will have to send money to pay for their food and detention management fees.

Taking advantage of the reorganization of the police department through reforms, the radical faction of the Uchiha gradually gained more power.

While cracking down hard on merchants with powerful connections, the police department treats villagers without such connections fairly. Even if they violate the regulations, if it's their first offense, they only receive a warning or are dealt with equally.

The benefit of this differential treatment is that it makes the common people, who already dared not speak out against the ninja clan, feel extremely satisfied.

While the common people of Konoha generally live a better life compared to those in other parts of the Land of Fire, the common people of Konoha are indeed living a better life.

But Konoha is, after all, a place where ninja clans gather, and the existence of ninja clans inevitably encroaches on the interests of ordinary people.

For example, the Nara family's medicinal herb business squeezed out Konoha's herbalists to the point of making it difficult for them to survive; while the Akimichi family's food business monopolized Konoha's high-end catering market.

As for the Hyuga, Sarutobi, Shimura, Inuzuka, and other ninja clans, each has its own exclusive business.

With so many powerful figures around, the interests of ordinary people are naturally subjected to oppression and exploitation.

However, the recent crackdown by the police department, which frequently arrests and shuts down shops of merchants belonging to powerful ninja clans on the grounds of violations, has actually created more space for the lives and businesses of ordinary Konoha citizens and smaller ninja clans. Everyone suddenly feels that the business environment has been improved!

Hopefully, the powerful families can stay locked up for a while longer!

The common people of Konoha and the families of the small ninja clans secretly hoped for this.

The Hokage lineage, including Sarutobi, Shimura, and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, had their own ideas. The major ninja clans had their own ideas, and the commoners and minor ninja clans naturally had their own choices as well.

Anyway, neither the Uchiha nor the powerful clans are any good people. Since it has nothing to do with me, I'll just sit back and watch the show.

This is the most widely accepted idea among Konoha civilians and small ninja clans.

This also aligns perfectly with Uchiha Tokumitsu's original intention of winning over one faction to fight against another and ultimately becoming the last faction.

Uchiha Tokumitsu was quite satisfied with the current atmosphere within the village.

It has been proven that fearing power rather than appreciating virtue is a subconscious evil in every ordinary person without a strong will. With proper enticement, negative public opinion is useless and almost worthless in the face of interests.

Meanwhile, the Uchiha conservatives are deeply concerned about the recent frequent conflicts, believing that such behavior, which creates contradictions and divisions, will inevitably affect the unity between Konoha and the Uchiha, and is intolerable.

But when they came to Uchiha Tokumitsu and tried to persuade him, they were directly kicked out of the door by Uchiha Tokumitsu.

Subsequently, an official document transferred them from the police department to the northwestern border defense force of the Land of Grass, and the radical Uchiha clan members were gradually replaced and sent back to the village.

The clan leader's direct descendants also gained more real power in the process of suppressing the conservatives, so naturally they would not have any objections to the powerful and influential Uchiha Tokumitsu.

"Deguang-kun...do you have time to talk to this old man?"

After eleven members of his faction were transferred from the police department, the conservative elder Uchiha Sanchiyo finally couldn't sit still any longer and took the initiative to approach Uchiha Tokumitsu to try to plead for them.

"Elder, you are too kind. Please come in and take a seat."

Uchiha Tokumitsu quickly led Elder Sanchiyo into the police department's office.

“I know that Deguang-kun has a lot of opinions about the conservatives, but after all, they are all descendants of the Uchiha clan, just like Deguang-kun.”

Elder Michiyo stopped beating around the bush and went straight to the point: "Regardless of our stance, our ultimate goal is the clan. We hope that Tokumitsu-kun can understand our situation..."

Elder Sanchiyo adopted a very humble attitude, so Uchiha Tokumitsu couldn't muster any toughness.

“I understand, so I didn’t blame them too much.” Uchiha Tokumitsu first set the tone for his actions, then explained, “It’s just that they don’t really get along with the clan, so sending them to the border for training is actually a good thing…”

"Tokumitsu-kun, the clan can no longer withstand the blow of the Naraku Yomi War. Please do not provoke internal conflict," Elder Michiyo said solemnly.

“I know…” Uchiha Tokumitsu sighed as well: “Elder Sanchiyo, as you said, we are all working for the future of the clan, but the recent actions of the conservatives are undermining the current situation…”

Elder Sanchiyo remained silent.

As a faction elder, he naturally knew the personalities of his clansmen.

In the past, the relatively mild-mannered conservatives acted as a lubricant between the Uchiha and the village. They were believers in the Will of Fire and were usually polite, kind, and treated the villagers and ninja comrades of Konoha with equality.

However, after the radical faction of the Uchiha began to unify the organization and seize power, the conservative faction appeared out of place and even somewhat of an eyesore.

Especially after the radicals and the direct descendants of the clan chief merged, the conservatives were almost squeezed out of their place.

When the Uchiha clan begins to actively provoke trouble in order to expand the boundaries of their power, the out-of-place conservatives will inevitably need to be eliminated. Even if they do not start another civil war, they should be exiled to the Land of Grass and other areas controlled by the Uchiha clan for safekeeping, otherwise the Uchiha in power will not trust any of them.

Even within the same clan, those who are not of one mind will face the consequence of marginalization.

"How about this... let the conservative clansmen give up their operational positions in the police department and take up positions in the internal affairs department..." Elder Michiyo said sadly, but Uchiha Tokumitsu couldn't bear it in the end.

"Can……"

Elder Sanchiyo took a deep breath and nodded in agreement with Uchiha Tokumitsu's opinion.

"...Furthermore, if there are any others still connected to the Hokage's faction, I hope they will sever those ties voluntarily." Uchiha Tokumitsu lowered his head and added, "Past events can be forgiven, but if similar things happen again..."

Uchiha Tokumitsu didn't finish his sentence, but Elder Sanchiyo understood what he meant.

“…I understand.” Elder Michiyo sighed and slowly rose to her feet. “In any case, I must thank Tokumitsu-kun for his leniency towards those unworthy disciples…”

"We're all from the Uchiha clan, Elder Sanchiyo is too kind..."

Uchiha Tokumitsu also rose to see him off.

Just as the office door opened, an Uchiha ninja rushed back excitedly, shouting, "Lord Tokuko! The Uzumaki branch of the Police Department and the Anbu have clashed!"

"Really? That's great!"

Uchiha Tokumitsu was not surprised but rather pleased.

Chapter 112 Escalating Further

The reason for the conflict between the Uchiha from the police department and the village's ANBU is quite simple.

It's just the power to arrest a petty spy.

Moreover, he was an extremely incompetent nobody from Kirigakure.

Lacking strength, awareness, and bloodline limit.

Logically speaking, this kind of lousy person was obviously a frame-up by Kirigakure, sent to Konoha to be killed. In the past, both the police department and the ANBU had arrested many such people, and the usual practice was to either chop them up or send them to the laboratory as research subjects. They shouldn't have cared about him so much.

However, it was mainly after the police department initiated reforms and squeezed out conservative clan members from the front lines of police work that the Uchiha ninja began to strictly enforce Konoha's regulations.

Yes, it's just being strictly enforced; there hasn't been any over-enforcement yet.

Because Konoha was essentially a military base where ninjas gathered, various harsh laws and punishments were introduced in the early days, and the methods of punishment were extremely cruel.

However, starting from the end of the Second Hokage's reign, Konoha's population began to grow explosively due to its development. In addition to ninjas and their families, a large number of wealthy merchants and officials first settled in Konoha and then took in many refugees as low-level laborers. The originally strict and harsh village management regulations gradually loosened with the growth of Konoha's population and economy.

Although the ninja village management regulations have been lax in their enforcement for many years, they have never been abolished in practice.

After all, it's Konoha's "ancestral family law," and the higher-ups don't want to cause trouble for themselves.

The conflict between the police department and the ANBU this time is actually a conflict between the Uchiha's insistence on "written law" and the ANBU's advocacy of "implementation practices".

The Hidden Mist spy had just arrived in Konoha with a caravan when he was spotted by patrolling police officers. After a brief probing, they made a swift arrest and found a small telescope, a cipher book, poison, a blowgun, and a Hidden Mist headband among his belongings.

Normally, such a lowly spy wouldn't be considered a big deal; the Uchiha would just throw him into prison and leave him alone after catching him. However, a team of ANBU members jumped out and claimed that the spy was under their jurisdiction, demanding that the police department immediately transfer the criminal.

If it were in private, everyone could discuss it, but the problem was that the arrest took place right in Konoha's commercial street, in full view of everyone. The Uchiha were afraid of losing face, so naturally they were unwilling to hand over the person just like that.

And so the two started hurling insults at each other in the street.

During the argument, they pushed and shoved each other, and naturally, they started to fight.

Who was the police supervisor who led the arrest?

On the way to the scene of the conflict in Konoha's commercial district, Uchiha Tokumitsu asked.

"...It's Shiina Jonin."

The police officer in charge of delivering the message replied.

"...Is the Shiina you're talking about my cousin?"

Uchiha Tokumitsu quickened his pace slightly.

"Yes, it's the legendary 'Shiina who got stabbed'..."

Upon hearing this, Uchiha Tokumitsu could only chuckle twice and quicken his pace.

……

"Who is the captain of the Dark Division?!"

Uchiha Tokumitsu leaped from the eaves and landed between the police department and the ANBU in a standoff.

Six members of the secret service and nine members of the police force had drawn their weapons and seemed about to engage in a fierce battle.

As for the inexperienced spy from the Hidden Mist Village who was tied up and thrown on the ground, no one cared about him anymore.

Twelve Uchiha ninjas from the Anti-Espionage Unit of the Police Department under Uchiha Tokumitsu arrived shortly afterward and immediately surrounded the six ANBU members, sizing them up with ill intent.

Some merchants who had been secretly watching the commotion in a corner of the commercial street immediately hid when they saw what was happening.

Uchiha Tokumitsu looked up and around.

He sensed a familiar yet unpleasant feeling of being watched, but found no one watching him at the scene.

That annoying telescope technique!

Uchiha Tokumitsu cursed inwardly.