At this moment, there were eight officers from the Police Force patrolling the street outside the general store. Each of them looked fierce and menacing, anyone who saw them would instinctively take a detour.
Aside from Hanma, Shin found the other seven unfamiliar. After all, his team members wouldn't follow him to carry out such assignments.
Inside the store, Yasuto and his wife stood behind the counter, watching him with worried expressions.
"Shin, go back home. They're just doing a routine patrol. We are fine!" Yasuto quickly called out when he saw Shin approaching.
He knew well how protective this kid was. If he thought they had been wronged and clashed with the Police Force, that could lead to big trouble.
Skipping a day of business wouldn't be a huge loss for them.
But he acted as though he hadn't heard them. He strode forward, his expression betraying nothing but polite curiosity.
Hanma is really playing the classic 'Young Master' role to perfection, he thought. Hm... Let's fuck his mind a bit!
As he approached Hanma, his demeanor shifted subtly. His posture straightened, his expression became deferential, his eyes downcast. This was the perfect picture of a subordinate acknowledging authority.
"Officer Hanma, what an honor," Shin said, his voice clear enough to be heard by everyone nearby. "May I ask what brings the esteemed Police Force to my family's humble establishment? I hope there hasn't been any trouble."
Officer? And why is he so formal? Hanma looked momentarily confused. He had expected resistance, outrage, not this shit.
The brief flash of uncertainty in his eyes told Shin everything he needed to know.
"Insolence!" Hanma recovered quickly, feigning outrage. "We've received reports of illegal medical substances being distributed from this location. We're conducting a thorough inspection."
"Illegal substances? From my parents' store?" Shin's voice carried just the right amount of shock and concern. "That's a serious accusation. My parents are honest merchants."
Several passersby had stopped to observe the confrontation. He noted with satisfaction that they were whispering among themselves, expressions doubtful about the police's actions.
"May I see the warrant for this inspection?" he asked, extending his hand politely.
"You dare question the Police Force?" Hanma growled, his hand twitching toward his blade.
"Not at all," Shin replied smoothly. "I'm merely following proper protocol. As the son of the shop owners and a medical professional myself, I have a responsibility to understand the nature of these allegations."
Hanma's face reddened. "I don't need to show you anything. Step aside or face arrest for obstruction!"
"I understand," Shin nodded agreeably, then raised his voice slightly. "I'll comply with your orders, Officer Hanma. I just want to confirm for the record, you're conducting a warrantless search of a civilian establishment based on unsubstantiated rumors?"
The crowd had grown larger. Several older civilians were shaking their heads disapprovingly.
"And what about these seven other officers?" Shin gestured casually. "Isn't this excessive manpower for a simple shop inspection? Most police inspections require just two officers, according to village regulations."
Hanma's patience was rapidly dissolving. This wasn't going how he'd planned. Instead of intimidating Shin, he found himself on the defensive.
"Enough talk! We're going in," Hanma declared, pushing past Shin.
"I've noticed you're looking quite pale. As a physician, I'm concerned about your condition. Especially after you accidentally struck your teammate during training. Stress can impair judgment, after all."
A murmur rippled through the watching crowd. Several people were now openly staring at Hanma with disapproval.
"You... you..."
"I'm just concerned for your health," Shin said, loud enough for everyone to hear. "Medical ethics require me to ensure your well-being, even outside the hospital. Perhaps we should schedule a psychological evaluation as well? Accidental injuries to teammates can be traumatic for the perpetrator too."
One of the seven officers shifted uncomfortably. "Hanma, maybe we should check somewhere else first. This doesn't seem—"
"Silence!" Hanma snapped, his Sharingan activating involuntarily from sheer anger.
"Oh my," Shin remarked. "Activating Sharingan without cause against unarmed civilians? That's against Police Force regulations section 17, paragraph 3. I'm sure this is just an oversight due to your medical condition."
Several more officers were now looking uncertain. The crowd had grown larger, and he could see at least two members of other prominent clans among them.
Hanma lunged forward with his blade, aiming for his shoulder, a non-lethal but painful strike meant to subdue.
To the observers, what happened next appeared to be a series of clumsy accidents.
Shin seemed to trip as he backed away, causing Hanma to overextend. As Shin fell, he grabbed Hanma's uniform to catch himself, pulling Hanma off-balance, whose momentum carried him forward, and his blade sliced through empty air.
One of the other officers moved to assist, throwing a punch at Shin. Somehow, Shin's fall positioned him perfectly so the punch missed him entirely and connected with Hanma's jaw instead.
"What the hell?!" Hanma shouted at his colleague, who looked mortified.
"I didn't mean—" the officer began, but was cut off when Shin, still on the ground, appeared to panic and kick out defensively, catching the officer in the back of the knee and causing him to collapse backward into two more officers.
The scene quickly devolved into chaos. Every time the officers tried to grab or strike Shin, he would dodge in such a way that they ended up hitting each other. He stumbled, rolled, slipped, and bumbled across the street, a picture of frightened clumsiness... yet somehow remaining completely unharmed while the officers grew increasingly battered.
"Stay still, damn you!"
Shin's own eyes changed, his three-tomoe Sharingan spinning into view. The brief moment of surprise on Hanma's face was all he needed.
To the crowd, it looked as though Shin had finally found his footing and was preparing to defend himself properly. But what actually happened was far more precise.
Shin moved slowly. When one officer charged, he simply shifted his weight, guiding the officer's momentum into another. When two came at him simultaneously, he ducked at just the right moment, causing them to crash into each other.
Not once did he throw a punch or kick directly at any of the officers. Yet one by one, they fell, victims of their own aggression and Shin's manipulation of space and movement.
Seven officers lay sprawled on the ground, groaning and disoriented. Only Hanma remained standing, his Sharingan blazing, his breath coming in angry pants.
"You... what kind of trick is this?" he demanded, circling Shin warily.
The crowd had grown larger now. Whispers spread rapidly about how the Uchiha Police Force had attacked a civilian, only to be defeated without the civilian landing a single blow.
"No trick at all," Shin replied calmly. "You attacked me. I defended myself."
Hanma charged, blade aimed directly at Shin's chest, no longer concerned with a non-lethal approach.
In a move too fast for most observers to follow, Shin sidestepped, grabbed Hanma's wrist, and twisted, with enough to force him to drop his weapon.
The blade clattered to the ground. Before he could react, Shin had maneuvered behind him, one hand firmly gripping the back of Hanma's neck, the other pressing against a specific point on his spine.
To the crowd, it looked like Shin had simply restrained Hanma in a standard hold. But Hanma's eyes widened in shock as he realized he couldn't move a single muscle below his neck.
"What... what did you do to me?"
Shin leaned in close, his lips near Hanma's ear, his voice so low that only Hanma could hear him.
"Do you feel that, Hanma? The complete helplessness? The inability to control your own body? This is just a taste of what awaits you if you ever threaten my family again."
Shin's fingers pressed slightly harder against Hanma's spine, and suddenly Hanma found it difficult to breathe. Panic flashed in his eyes as his lungs struggled to draw air.
"I could leave you like this permanently," Shin continued. "Imagine spending the rest of your life unable to move, unable to feed yourself, unable to even go to the bathroom without assistance. Every day, remembering this moment when you realized how utterly powerless you really are."
Shin released the pressure point slightly, allowing Hanma to gasp for air.
"Do we understand each other now?" he asked, a pleasant smile returning to his face, visible to the crowd but at complete odds with the terror he was instilling in Hanma.
Unable to nod, Hanma managed a strangled, "Yes."
"Excellent." Shin released his grip and stepped back, turning to face the watching crowd with an expression of concerned confusion. "I think they need medical attention. Could someone get help?"
Hanma collapsed to his knees, sensation flooding back into his limbs in a painful rush. He looked up at Shin with eyes that held genuine fear.
As medical-nin arrived to tend to the fallen officers, Shin walked calmly into his parents' shop, greeting them as if nothing unusual had happened.
The confrontation's noise had drawn quite a large crowd was drawn to the scene.
They were all officers of the Police Force, in other words, all members of the Uchiha clan.
Seeing their fellow clan members sprawled on the ground, and Shin standing calmly in the middle, anger surged in their hearts, and hatred lit up their eyes.
Damn... more drama?