Chapter 109: A Collective Report
Late July.
After waking early in the morning, Asuka opened the window.
Sunlight...
While brushing his teeth, Asuka gazed at the morning glow rising in the east.
Everything was beautiful.
Except for himself.
"Ptooey!"
He lowered his head, glanced at the bandages wrapped around his body, and spat a mouthful of toothpaste foam out the window.
That old woman really had no mercy.
Remembering what had happened two days ago, Asuka's expression darkened.
He had still been too naïve.
How could Tsunade suddenly become so weak?
She must have underestimated his abilities and thought she could catch him off guard.
"Ptooey!"
After spitting out the remaining toothpaste foam, Asuka rinsed his mouth and then spat the mouthwash into the air.
Pffft!
A rainbow flashed through the air before disappearing.
"Good morning, Lady Mikoto!"
Seeing Uchiha Mikoto carrying a huge pile of groceries, Asuka raised an eyebrow.
He secretly marveled at the extraordinary physiques of women in the ninja world before greeting her.
"Hmph!"
Uchiha Mikoto paused.
She let out a soft breath and looked up toward Asuka, who was greeting her from the second floor on the left.
For a moment, she froze.
The words that had nearly escaped her mouth were swallowed back down.
The last person she wanted to see right now was him.
Seeing Mikoto merely nod at him before walking away, Asuka wiped the toothpaste foam from the corner of his mouth.
How rude!
I'm the benefactor who saved both you and your son.
What's so special about giving birth anyway?
He had seen plenty of women over the past ten years.
He was already used to it.
So dramatic!
Afterward, Asuka got dressed, opened the door, and headed toward the Police Force.
Konoha Military Police Force
After passing through the main entrance, two stern-faced Uchiha stood on either side, maintaining a vigilant guard.
In a corner on the right side of the hall, a middle-aged man with an expressionless face sat in a chair, holding a fountain pen and a thick ledger.
At this moment, several people stood in a line before the middle-aged man.
One by one, they stated what they wanted to report, while the man recorded everything in the ledger.
Once their reports had been registered, they hurried away without daring to breathe too loudly.
Several clan members were watching them with scrutinizing gazes.
The solemn atmosphere here seemed to put tremendous pressure on them, making them instinctively want to escape.
When the Uchiha members nearby saw Asuka enter, their previously expressionless faces immediately squeezed out smiles.
They greeted him one after another.
"Captain Asuka!"
"Captain, would you like to have lunch with us?"
"Captain, long time no see."
"Ah!"
Asuka scratched his head, his tone carrying a trace of helplessness.
"I couldn't help it. Old Ryoichi fired me before. He only let me come back today."
"You guys carry on with your work. I'll clear up the backlog from these past few days."
"Let's have ramen for lunch."
After greeting Asuka one by one and receiving his sincere responses, admiration appeared in the eyes of the Uchiha standing in the hall.
He's really a good person.
Although there were often rumors that the senior shinobi within the clan didn't have a good relationship with him, the Police Force's shinobi and genin had an extremely favorable impression of Uchiha Asuka.
As their captain, he was humble, cautious in handling matters, and whenever he had the time, he personally instructed the clan members.
Most importantly, his strength was genuinely formidable.
He was one of the strongest shinobi in the Uchiha clan.
The Police Force had five squad leaders, all of whom stood above the others.
The head was Uchiha Fugaku.
The second-in-command was Uchiha Ryoichi.
Uchiha Yashiro was the captain of the First Squad, a jōnin.
Uchiha Kyōdai was the deputy captain of the First Squad, also a jōnin.
And the captain of the Fifth Squad was Uchiha Asuka, a jōnin.
As for the Fifth Squad's deputy captain...
"I really want a deputy captain!"
Asuka looked at the thick stack of documents on his desk.
He instinctively leaned back in his chair and rubbed his aching forehead.
The position of captain had been given to him because of his relationship with Ryoichi.
He had then consolidated his position through his own strength.
But the workload was simply too enormous.
There was absolutely no room for slacking off.
Finding a deputy captain who wouldn't go insane was simply too difficult.
With that thought, he casually picked up one of the documents on his desk and began reading.
Hmm.
A complaint.
Another complaint.
This wasn't a complaint.
It was a direct report.
Another report.
Oh.
This one was about a lost item.
This...
Asuka looked at the report in his hand and frowned slightly.
Then he pulled the report he had written himself a few days ago from his pocket and compared the two.
This report was better than his.
The evidence was more complete, and it even included photographs.
With that thought, he immediately tore his own report into pieces and threw it into the trash.
Then he tightly gripped the thoroughly documented report and headed straight for the Hokage Tower.
Isn't this basically walking straight into the trap?
Although he didn't know who was trying to report Orochimaru, he would help them.
If he hadn't been so busy recently, he would have reported Orochimaru himself two days ago.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
"Come in!"
Asuka knocked on the door and heard an old voice from inside.
Creak!
He pushed the door open.
A thick cloud of smoke immediately squeezed through the gap.
At this moment, the entire office was shrouded in smoke.
It was so dense that the office itself seemed to have disappeared into the haze, leaving only chaotic, blurred light filtering through the glass.
Asuka pushed the door open and walked inside.
Then he heard another old, hoarse voice.
"Close the door."
Bang!
After the door closed, Asuka rubbed his eyes.
Only then could he barely make out the scene inside the office.
The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, sat in the seat of honor.
The Third Hokage sat to his right, continuously puffing on his pipe.
The other three elders sat to his left, deep in thought.
Tsunade sat beside the Third Hokage, while the head of the Nara clan stood behind the Fourth Hokage.
At the same time, Asuka noticed quite a few other clan heads present.
Hiss!
After inhaling several mouthfuls of secondhand smoke, Asuka glanced at the Third Hokage.
Then he pulled the report from his pocket and walked straight through the crowd toward Minato.
His expression was solemn.
"Hokage-sama, I've received a report."
With that, he handed the report over.
Minato glanced at the envelope, placed it on the table beside him, and pointed toward the seats below.
"Jōnin Asuka, please find a seat and sit down first."
Damn.
Asuka was shocked.
Has the Fourth Hokage really become this corrupt?
Is the influence of the Hokage's position really this frightening?
Asuka narrowed his eyes slightly and secretly glanced toward Danzō.
However, because of the smoke, he couldn't clearly make out Danzō's expression.
After a brief silence, Asuka stared at the once bright and cheerful young man.
He slammed his palm against the table.
His tone suddenly became cold.
"Minato-sama, you shouldn't learn from certain elders."
Minato's cheek twitched.
Then a bitter smile appeared on his face.
He reached beneath his desk, pulled out a stack of identical envelopes, and pushed them toward Asuka.
With a helpless smile, he said,
[This is already the nineteenth report. They're all exactly the same. Even the envelopes are identical. It looks like someone bought them in bulk and sent them out en masse.]
Asuka stared blankly at the identical letters.
Reports can be mass-mailed too?
At this moment, Tsunade stood up and pulled the stunned Asuka down into a chair.
Her expression carried a trace of sadness.
"Just wait and see."
Hmm!
Asuka nodded.
Then he shifted his chair and sat beside Elder Koharu Utatane.
Compared with Tsunade, he had a better relationship with Koharu.
Feeling the slightly solemn atmosphere in the room, Asuka tilted his head to the right and whispered,
"Elder, didn't I once lead a team to capture Orochimaru?"
Remembering Orochimaru when he was young, Koharu's expression darkened.
In her aged voice, she said,
"Just wait and see."
Wait?
Wait for him to escape?
Asuka looked around the room.
Hmm.
Orochimaru's teammate.
Orochimaru's teacher.
Orochimaru's collaborator.
Someone who had witnessed Orochimaru's growth.
The disciple of Orochimaru's teammate.
Am I the only person here who has absolutely nothing to do with Orochimaru?
With that thought, he suddenly slammed his palm against the table and stood up.
His gaze swept across everyone present before finally landing on Minato.
His voice was low.
[Every Hokage has regarded protecting the village and its people, ending wars, and promoting the prosperity of the village as their ideals—and has been willing to give their lives for those ideals.]
[The elders and clan leaders present should understand the thoughts of those who came before us.]
[The First Hokage once personally executed Uchiha Madara for his crimes.]
[Since someone has betrayed the village—]
As he spoke, Asuka rubbed his smoke-reddened eyes as hard as he could.
Once both his eyes had become bloodshot, he lowered his hands.
His expression suddenly became solemn.
[I, Uchiha Asuka, as a successor of the Will of Fire, as a successor to the will of Senju Hashirama, will never permit anyone to betray the village.]
[Even if that person was once our hero.]
[Anyone who betrays the village is an enemy of the Uchiha clan.]
[The Uchiha clan has never feared its enemies.]
"Give me a kunai."
"I'm in a hurry this time. I didn't bring anything with me."
"You all wait here."
"I'll go kill Orochimaru."
Everyone in the room held their breath.
Tsunade noticed that Asuka was staring seriously at her.
She instinctively blinked and looked at him blankly.
"Why are you looking at me?"
"Please give me a kunai. I really didn't bring anything."
Asuka emptied his pockets and showed them to everyone.
Today, he had merely gone to work at the Police Force and then come to the Hokage Tower to submit a report.
Who could have expected him to end up fighting one of the Legendary Three Sannin?
Remembering how he had nearly died for no reason at Orochimaru's hands last time, Asuka looked around the silent room.
Then he picked up a chair and walked out.
A bunch of insects!
Why are you carrying a chair?
Hearing Tsunade's voice behind him, Asuka waved his hand without turning around.
"There's no time to go home and get a weapon."
"I'm planning to take this to a weapons shop and sell it."
"Then I'll exchange it for a broken sword."