The golden light of the setting sun bathed the streets of Konoha. On the village's busiest thoroughfare, people gathered after a long day, milling about. Curious onlookers stared at the shuttered shopfront opposite Yakiniku Q. From its open doorway, a large, portly man emerged, hobbling heavily.
His appearance was grotesque and shocking. Where his hands should have been, there was nothing – only neat, cauterized stumps at his wrists, the surrounding skin blackened and charred. His right foot below the ankle was also missing, replaced by a similar scorched stump.
Lacking his right foot, the man stumbled awkwardly with each step. The raw end of his ankle scraped against the ground, bearing the immense pressure of his considerable weight. Perhaps strained beyond its limit, the cauterized wound began to seep fresh blood. The man's face twitched uncontrollably in pain.
"Waaah! Mommy, that uncle is so scary!"
"Mommy… where did his hands go?"
Several small children playing nearby were terrified by the sight, clinging tightly to their parents' hands and staring wide-eyed from a distance at the hobbling figure.
"Hey, isn't that Tanii Keita? I remember he…"
"It really is him! What on earth happened to him?"
"Hmph, serves him right. Payback for all the terrible things he's done. I wonder who finally dealt with him."
"Shh… Keep your voice down! Don't let him hear you!"
A few shopkeepers from nearby stores huddled together, whispering nervously. Seeing Tanii Keita's wretched state brought them a grim sense of satisfaction, yet even so, they were cautious, afraid he might overhear them.
"Uncles, what are you all talking about?"
A clear female voice sounded from behind the group. The men jumped, startled, and turned around. Seeing a young girl with pink hair, their initial wariness eased slightly.
"Ahem, alright everyone, disperse now. Nothing to see here," one of the shopkeepers, a man with a receding hairline, called out, breaking up the small crowd. He then turned to Sakura. "Little miss, are your parents around?"
Sakura ignored his question, instead asking pointedly, "Do you know that uncle who was just limping past?"
"Now, don't ask so many questions," the balding uncle replied evasively, clearly unwilling to discuss Keita with her. "Are you out here all by yourself?"
Sakura nodded simply. "I'm not a 'little miss'. I'm a ninja."
"What… a ninja?!" The balding uncle gasped, shock and panic flashing across his face. He bowed hastily and profusely. "I'm so sorry! Deeply sorry! I meant no disrespect whatsoever! I feel absolutely terrible about Lord Keita's misfortune! Please, forgive my earlier rudeness!"
What is going on? Sakura was completely baffled by his sudden, terrified apology. All she wanted was some information about Keita. Just a short while ago, no matter how much she'd threatened the greasy bastard, he'd refused to utter a single word.
It had put her in a difficult position. He was a civilian; she was a shinobi. Killing him was out of the question. Torture and interrogation were also against regulations for ordinary shinobi – such methods were typically reserved for specialized departments like T&I. This was inside the village, not out in the field; she couldn't afford to be too reckless.
As much as Sakura had wanted to pulverize the scumbag with a single punch, she knew she had to adhere to village rules, or face significant trouble later. While the shinobi village governed the civilian populace, it was primarily in matters of security and public order. Business activities were overseen by a separate administrative department, mainly concerned with taxation and registration. After all, ninjas were primarily warriors.
As long as the civilian population didn't cause major disturbances like riots, ninjas generally didn't interfere excessively in their daily affairs. Unfortunately, it was precisely this lack of direct oversight that allowed parasites like Keita to flourish.
"You don't need to be afraid," Sakura said, realization dawning as she understood the uncle's fear. "I'm not working with him."
"R-Really?" the balding uncle stammered uncertainly. "You're truly… not associated with Lord Keita?"
Sakura shrugged casually. "Relax. I'm the one who left him in that state."
Hearing this, the uncle's expression changed dramatically once again, this time to urgent alarm. "Then you need to leave! Get out of the village immediately! Don't stay here! He'll have you killed!" Without waiting for a reply, he turned and hurried back towards his cold drinks shop.
Seeing him retreat, Sakura quickly followed, slipping into the small shop behind him.
"Y-Why are you still here?!" the uncle cried out in panic as Sakura entered. "You'll get me killed too!"
Sakura calmly closed the glass shop door behind her, shutting out the noise of the bustling street. The shop was tiny, perhaps only ten square meters, and currently empty of customers – maybe it wasn't quite warm enough yet for cold drinks.
"Uncle, just tell me everything you know about that fat guy, Keita, and I promise I'll leave," Sakura said evenly, ignoring his panicked warning. She found a small stool and sat down. "I'm actually a bit thirsty. How about a glass of juice?"
The balding uncle's face shifted through a range of conflicted emotions. He glanced nervously out the door, then finally let out a long sigh of resignation. He went behind the small counter and began preparing a drink for her.
"Strawberry Milkshake!" He placed the tall, pink glass down in front of Sakura, then sat opposite her.
"What do you want to know?" he asked wearily.
"Everything about Keita. And tell me about this Tanii clan he mentioned," Sakura requested, taking a slow sip of her milkshake.
"Keita… he's the biggest landlord in this area," the uncle began, his voice low and heavy with resentment. "He owns practically all the shopfronts along this entire street. He has a younger brother who's a Jonin. The Tanii clan is their family name. That clan owns numerous properties throughout the village, and they handle a lot of the village's construction contracts too."
"Is that so?" Sakura continued sipping her milkshake thoughtfully. "Then why does everyone around here seem to hate him so intensely?"
"Because they control almost all the viable commercial properties, we have no choice but to rent from them," the uncle explained, his teeth clenched in anger. "But Keita is incredibly greedy. He always attaches all sorts of unreasonable extra conditions to the leases. If you refuse to agree, you'll find it impossible to rent any decent shop space in the entire village."
Sakura found this intriguing. "I seem to recall seeing some shops run by ninjas as well. Does he treat them the same way?" The Tanii clan certainly knows how to run a business, building up a near-monopoly. Too bad Konoha doesn't have any anti-monopoly laws.
"No," the uncle shook his head grimly. "Keita is cunning. When renting to ninjas, he usually offers rates below the market standard. But he makes up for it by drastically increasing the rent for civilian tenants. With his brother being a powerful Jonin, nobody dares to openly defy him. Keita uses his brother's influence, along with his money, to keep a loyal group of Chunin and Genin in his pocket. Sometimes, even other ninjas are hesitant to cross him."
The uncle leaned forward, his voice dropping to an urgent whisper. "That's why you really need to leave, quickly! Don't accept any missions outside the village for a while. He will absolutely seek revenge against you."
Sakura frowned slightly. "What are you saying? Can he actually conspire with other ninjas to have me eliminated?"
To her surprise, the balding uncle nodded grimly, his voice trembling slightly. "I heard… a few years back, a Genin got on his bad side. Shortly after, that Genin went out on a C-rank mission… and never returned. There was no concrete proof, of course, but everyone knew the Chunin leading that particular mission was very close to Keita."
Bang!
Sakura slammed her fist down hard on the small table, her eyes blazing with fury. "Doesn't anyone do anything about this?!" she demanded, bolting upright.
"Ai~~~" The uncle let out a long, mournful sigh. "There used to be oversight. Back when the Konoha Military Police Force was still active, he wasn't nearly so brazen. But ever since the Police Force was dissolved, the Tanii clan has grown increasingly rampant and corrupt."
Sakura processed this grimly. The Military Police Force had been run by the Uchiha clan. After their massacre, the institution was disbanded. It appeared a dangerous criminal element had indeed risen to fill the power vacuum left behind.
"Haven't you people tried complaining to the Hokage?" Sakura asked, struggling to keep her anger in check.
"It's useless," the uncle said flatly, his face a mask of resigned apathy. "We submitted countless complaint letters. Every single one vanished without a trace, as if into thin air. Worse still, any merchant who dared to submit a complaint inevitably found their rent mysteriously increased shortly thereafter. Eventually… people just stopped trying."
Hearing this, Sakura felt a chilling calm descend over her anger as her mind began piecing things together. Complaint letters addressed directly to the Hokage were being intercepted. That required someone with significant political power and influence. The uncle's words suggested this had been happening after the Uchiha massacre but before Tsunade's recent appointment – meaning during the Third Hokage's final tenure. There was only one person with both the means and the motive to systematically intercept complaints meant for the Third: Danzo Shimura. Sakura highly doubted that mere bribery could corrupt the trusted shinobi responsible for handling the Hokage's official correspondence.
It wasn't just about finding a scapegoat; Danzo had a clear reason to do this. Sakura surmised his likely goal: intercepting the complaints would allow the Tanii clan's corruption to fester, damaging the Third Hokage's reputation and popular support among the villagers. Danzo probably intended to let these grievances accumulate until a critical point, then expose everything at once to discredit Sarutobi, potentially forcing him into retirement.
The selection of a Hokage heavily depended – popular support and prestige. The Third Hokage was old and perhaps perceived as losing his grip. Danzo could orchestrate this scandal to tarnish Sarutobi's legacy while simultaneously positioning himself as the solution, the one to clean up the mess, elevating his own image in the process. The Tanii clan would merely be disposable pawns in his larger political game. What a calculated scheme, Sakura thought grimly. If Orochimaru hadn't launched the Konoha Crush, leading to the Third's death and Tsunade's subsequent appointment, Danzo would almost certainly (nine times out of ten) have made his move.
In fact, Danzo had already made a move – sending assassins after Tsunade just before she officially took office.
Now, with Tsunade firmly installed as the Fifth Hokage, the Tanii clan had likely outlived their usefulness to Danzo; they were probably considered expendable. Well then, Sakura concluded coldly, if they're just pawns Danzo has already discarded… then I don't need to hold back anymore.
She drained the last of her strawberry milkshake in one long gulp, then slapped some money down on the counter. "Thanks for the information, Balding Uncle."