Naruto: I am Uchiha Seiryu

Faced with Sakurai's obvious threat, the fortune teller stiffened, but recalling the instructions from the nobles before leaving the Land of Fire, he thought to himself:

'Judging by their attire, these people must be ninja. They probably wouldn't dare do anything to me within the village. But if I fail the task assigned by the nobles from the capital, I'll be in real trouble.'

So, the fortune teller took a deep breath and said, "I don't think this is necessary. Please leave."

It had to be said, this fortune teller had not spent enough time in Konoha. Had he inquired a bit more about the reputation of the Police Force, he would never have entertained such thoughts.

Sure enough, after being refused, Sakurai flew into a rage and immediately grabbed the fortune teller by the collar.

"Look again, and don't you dare say he has a bad omen!"

Sakurai's sudden outburst terrified the fortune teller, who pleaded, "I'll do it, I'll do it! Please don't hit me!"

"Take him away!" Sakurai snorted coldly. The police force members behind him stepped forward and seized the fortune teller by his arms, dragging him out of the shop amidst his screams.

Meanwhile, Sakurai Hideaki carefully collected the photo of Uchiha Seiryu on the table, storing it away before leaving to follow.

Similar scenes unfolded all over the village. Within less than an hour, all these priests and fortune tellers from the Land of Fire's capital were rounded up and sent to the new prison by the Naka River.

Inside a small interrogation room, the group of clergy from the capital huddled against the wall, each in their distinctive priestly or shrine maiden attire. To an outsider, it might look like a theological symposium.

The door opened, and Uchiha Zaito entered with Sakurai Hideaki and Fujiwara Haruki.

Seeing these men, the group of charlatans felt a sinking dread.

Uchiha Zaito swaggered over and sat on the interrogation table, signaling to the other two with his eyes.

Sakurai Hideaki again brought the photo to the fortune teller he'd brought in. "Look again. Does this man have the face to become Hokage?"

The fortune teller, perhaps still hoping the ninja wouldn't harm civilians, or just seasoned in his superstitious trade, glanced at the photo, bit his lip, and said, "I've looked many times. Still, it's no good."

"Bastard!" Hideaki slapped the fortune teller to the ground and began to beat him savagely.

The interrogation room descended into chaos, screams and sobs echoing.

...

Not long after, all the clergy knelt obediently by the wall.

Hideaki again showed the photo. "Well? What now?"

"I-I looked closely. This gentleman will definitely become Hokage," the old fortune teller, now beaten, finally understood the rules and replied obediently.

"You, you keep changing your story every few days. Are your readings even accurate?" Hideaki patted his face.

The terrified fortune teller, trembling, quickly added, "His face is that of a dragon among men, born to lead!"

Satisfied, Hideaki nodded and turned to a nearby shrine maiden.

"Hey, what do you think?"

The shrine maiden, already shaking, stared at the photo and quickly said, "His features are divine! He'll definitely be Hokage."

"Really?"

"Of course, I swear on the gods I serve," she insisted.

Hideaki and Fujiwara Haruki questioned a few more, all of whom gave the expected answers.

Then, Uchiha Zaito, who had been sitting on the table, finally spoke: "Very good. In the future, do your readings properly, understood?"

"Yes..."

"Alright..."

"We understand..."

The group quickly responded.

"So quiet, have you not eaten? Did you hear me or not?" Fujiwara Haruki shouted.

"Yes! We understand!" the fortune tellers quickly replied loudly.

...

After this day, rumors in the village changed. With the police force watching, these fortune tellers began openly proclaiming Uchiha Seiryu as the best choice for Fifth Hokage. The Police Force also announced Seiryu's imminent appointment.

But the villagers had their own opinions.

"Did you hear? The police Deputy's going to be Hokage."

"Really?"

"My neighbor's cousin's uncle is a Chunin in the village, and he said so. It must be true."

"That bunch in the police force are already out of line. If their Deputy becomes Hokage, what then? I absolutely don't agree with this!"

"What's the use of your opinion? You're not a ninja!"

"We can always petition at the Hokage's office! I heard this Deputy was the one who ordered the lockdown and beat people last time."

"What, really?"

"We have to stop them!"

"But the police do beat people..."

"Hmph, I don't believe it. If we all unite, can they really take on the whole village?"

"That's right! We can't let the police force get any more arrogant!"

...

Leaving the villagers' discussions aside, Kakashi, who had gone to the capital for investigation, sent back a secret message via Pakkun two days later.

It turned out that the officials and nobles opposing Seiryu's appointment were closely tied to the Koharu and Mitokado clans. Every year, these clans gave them hundreds of millions in exchange for official favors.

But after Seiryu's crackdown on the two clans, their money pipeline dried up. Now that Seiryu was set to become Hokage, these people naturally tried to interfere.

"Interesting." Seiryu sneered as he burned Kakashi's message, then looked at Pakkun, who was feasting on police dog rations in his office. "Take it easy, no one's competing with you."

"Your police rations are so good, I want to bring my seven brothers over to join as police dogs," Pakkun said while eating.

"Come any time." Seiryu laughed. "When I become Hokage, Kaze will be transferred elsewhere, and his dog Mokumaru will go with him. I'll save the position of police dog squad leader for you."

"It's a deal!" Pakkun said. "By the way, anything to tell Kakashi?"

"Just tell him to handle things as he sees fit, and the split stays the same as last time," Seiryu said.

"Got it." Pakkun nodded, finished eating, and scampered out of the office.

...

That night, Kakashi led a team to abduct the officials and nobles who had written to oppose Seiryu's appointment, along with their families, to a cave outside the capital.

Though their bodyguards were skilled samurai, they were no match for the Uchiha elite Kakashi brought.

Inside the cave, Kakashi slowly added wood to the fire.

Soon, the first captive, the Land of Fire's Minister of Construction, Kikuchi Tomoyuki, groggily woke.

He quickly realized he was in trouble, bound hand and foot, as were his colleagues nearby.

"Who are you? How dare you kidnap Land of Fire officials? Aren't you afraid Konoha's ninja will wipe out your bandits?" Kikuchi demanded, seeing Kakashi's back.

"Konoha ninja?" Kakashi turned, smiling faintly.

Kikuchi's eyes widened as he noticed Kakashi's forehead protector.

"Who are you? A missing-nin?" Kikuchi asked.

"Let me introduce myself: Hatake Kakashi, Captain of the Naka River Special Unit, Konoha Police Force." Kakashi drew a kunai, testing its edge with his finger.

"Konoha ninja?" Kikuchi looked on in disbelief, then said, "Do you ninja know what you're doing? If you attack us, are you defecting from the village?"

"Looks like our Minister still doesn't understand his situation. Inaho, help him wake up," Kakashi said. Uchiha Inaho entered, revealing his Sharingan.

"Sharingan? You're Uchiha?" Kikuchi gasped, but in the next instant, under the Naraku Genjutsu, he was shown his worst fears.

Soon, the others awoke in turn, and Kakashi ensured that each was also put under genjutsu.

The cave echoed with screams. Kakashi nodded in satisfaction. "Well done, Inaho."

"Hehe, you flatter me, Captain Kakashi," Inaho replied.

"Don't say that. In this area, you're more reliable than your clan head. Last time I went out with him, that so-called genius needed me to do the genjutsu," Kakashi laughed.

Inaho's mouth twitched. The clan head failing genjutsu classes was no secret, but only Kakashi could say so openly.