Sosuke raised his head, meeting the eyes of the Uchiha Military Police Force officer.
Those eyes radiated absolute oppression.
But Sosuke was gambling.
He was gambling that beneath the Uchiha's infamous arrogance lay a desperate thirst for resources. In this era, although the Uchiha clan controlled the Military Police Force, their political standing within the village had grown increasingly isolated. Squeezed out of the core of power, they could only find relevance by flexing their law enforcement authority.
And law enforcement could be monetized.
"Sir."
Sosuke's tone softened.
"I'm just a businessman. Since you say that knife is a restricted weapon, then it is."
The Uchiha officer raised an eyebrow.
He hadn't expected the suspect to yield so suddenly.
"Pleading guilty?"
"I accept the penalty." Sosuke looked at the coin pouch resting on the table. "That 10,000 Ryo is illicit money. I am willing to hand it all over as... operational funding for the Military Police Force."
The officer's fingers tapped rhythmically against the pouch.
10,000 Ryo.
It wasn't a small sum.
Even for the Uchiha clan, this was a considerable amount of 'extra income'.
But he didn't agree immediately.
"Just 10,000 Ryo?" The officer sneered. "What about your illegal medical practices? You healed that gang boss's leg. That equates to aiding and preserving the combat strength of criminal syndicates."
'Insatiable.'
Sosuke made his internal assessment.
Yet, his face maintained a mask of sheer deference.
"Sir, that was no ordinary treatment," Sosuke lowered his voice. "I used my ancestral secret recipe—Purified Water."
"The water in that bottle?" The officer glanced at the medicinal vial on the table.
"Yes. It cleanses wounds and prevents putrefaction. Even lacerations caused by Ninken can heal properly."
Sosuke cast his bait.
"The honorable officers of the Military Police Force deal with patrols and arrests daily. Resistance is inevitable, and sustaining physical trauma is commonplace. This water is ten times more effective than the hospital's bandages."
The officer's gaze flickered.
He had indeed heard of this water.
Recently, rumors of its miraculous effects had spread wildly through the civilian districts. Police force members were frequently injured. Although treatment at the Konoha Hospital was technically free, the strained relationship between the Uchiha and the Medical Department meant that the medical-nin always treated them with perfunctory indifference.
If they had this kind of highly specific medicine on hand...
"Are you trying to bribe me?" The officer narrowed his eyes.
"No, this is a donation."
Sosuke's reply was airtight.
"I am willing to provide fifty bottles of Purified Water to the Third Division of the Military Police Force every month, entirely free of charge. The highest purity available."
The officer fell silent.
He was weighing his options.
Locking this kid up would only provide momentary satisfaction and a one-time seizure of 10,000 Ryo in cash.
But if he let him go, he wouldn't just get the money; he would secure a long-term, free supplier of high-grade medical supplies.
Furthermore, this kid had the backing of the Takaya Merchant Guild. While they were just fat pigs waiting to be slaughtered, they were also major taxpayers.
If they really tore up relations, it would be difficult to justify to the Hokage's office above.
"Your name is Sosuke, isn't it?"
The officer leaned back in his chair.
"Yes."
"Remember, Konohagakure is a place ruled by law."
The officer swept the heavy coin pouch into his desk drawer.
The motion was entirely natural, as if the money had always belonged to him.
"Considering this is your first offense and you don't understand the rules, you are fined 10,000 Ryo, and the tool used in the crime will be confiscated."
He picked up the blackened silver knife, toyed with it for a moment, and then tossed it back onto the table in front of Sosuke.
"This thing is too soft to be a murder weapon. Take it back and melt it down. Don't let me see it again."
This was the Uchiha's "rule of law."
The right of interpretation belonged strictly to the strong.
"Thank you, sir."
Sosuke stood up. A dark red indentation marked his wrists where the metal had dug in.
Another officer, the one in charge of recording the interrogation, walked over and unlocked his handcuffs.
"Sign this and get lost."
The first officer waved him off, no longer looking in his direction.
Sosuke signed his name on the release documents.
He picked up the discarded silver knife and walked out of the interrogation room.
That 10,000 Ryo was gone.
A few bottles of his solution were gone too.
But he had won his freedom. He had also earned a highly fragile, yet temporarily effective 'umbrella of protection'.
From now on, anyone who wanted to touch his shop would have to ask if the Uchiha Military Police Force agreed—after all, it was now their 'pharmacy'.
By the time he walked out of the Military Police Force headquarters, the sky had turned pitch black.
The night wind was biting cold.
Sosuke tightened his collar.
This was the true face of Konohagakure.
There was no warmth of the Will of Fire here, only naked, transactional exchanges.
He patted his pockets.
They were completely empty. He didn't even have the fare for a carriage ride.
But he wasn't dismayed.
On the contrary, his eyes were clearer and more lucid than ever before.
He understood one thing:
As long as the price was high enough, even the Uchiha could be bought.
But it wasn't enough.
Not nearly enough.
A relationship maintained by bribery was like a castle built on sand; a single wave could wash it away entirely.
If a power on the level of the Third Hokage wanted to crush him, he wouldn't even have the chance to reach for his wallet.
'Power.'
Sosuke stared at the distant faces carved into the Hokage Rock.
'I must convert money into true power.'
That feeling of being lifted by the collar, utterly powerless to resist... it was sickening.
He quickened his pace, vanishing into the night.
Returning to the shop, he locked the doors behind him.
He walked behind the counter, bent down, and retrieved a small cloth bundle from beneath a loose floorboard.
Inside were the remnants of his initial 2,000 Ryo startup capital.
Only a few hundred Ryo remained.
Sosuke shoved the remaining bills into his coat.
His stomach growled fiercely.
Sosuke boiled a pot of brown rice porridge.
Yet, once it was ready, he found he had no appetite for it.
He stared at the bland, watery gruel, his brow furrowing deeply.
'Not enough energy.'
Even if he consumed a massive surplus of carbohydrates, the amount he could metabolize and convert into chakra was a drop in the bucket. The cellular toll required dense, heavy calories.
Sosuke placed a lid over the bowl.
He threw on a black cloak and pulled up the hood.
He needed to go somewhere.
A place that only opened its doors in the dead of night.
Konohagakure wasn't just the sunlit Will of Fire.
Downstream of the Naka River, bordering the red-light district, lay a black market.
It was a chaotic cesspool, a money-sink for wandering samurai, missing-nin, and smugglers alike.
Sosuke had never been there himself.
But he had heard the one-armed old man mention it before.
He stepped out the front door.
Across the street, two red dots hovered in the shadows.
The glowing embers of cigarettes.
Two large men wearing leather jackets immediately straightened up upon seeing Sosuke emerge.
They were members of the Red Snake Gang.
Boss Viper was indeed a man of principle.
After Sosuke was taken away, Viper had left his men behind to watch over the shop and deter petty thieves.
"Mr. Sosuke?" one of the brutes asked hesitantly.
"I'm going out to buy a few things," Sosuke replied, his voice completely flat.
"It's late. Not safe out here." The thug flicked his cigarette away. "The Boss gave orders. If you got out, we're supposed to keep you safe."
"Unnecessary."
Sosuke refused.
The two thugs exchanged a look.
"Then... be careful, sir."
Sosuke turned, blending into the night.
He bypassed the main roads illuminated by streetlamps, opting deliberately for the narrow, pitch-black alleyways.