Naruto: I am Uchiha Seiryu

"Is that so?"

The Police force member nodded with a smile, then with a warning glint in his eyes, said, "If that's all, then fine. Just don't do anything unnecessary, understand?"

 "Yes, yes." The small vendor nodded rapidly and hurried back home.

Scenes like this played out all over the village, and only after the inauguration ceremony ended smoothly did the security patrol members disperse.

After the ceremony, Hiruzen Sarutobi turned and went fishing at the Naka River, while Uchiha Seiryu officially began his work as the Hokage.

The first thing Uchiha Seiryu did after taking office was to sign everyone's promotion documents.

The very first was the appointment of Kakashi as the Leader of the Police Force and Assistant to the Hokage.

Following that, he appointed Inuzuka Ago and Aburame Shibi, the clan heads who had contributed greatly in recent operations, as Hokage advisors.

As for Uchiha Fugaku, Seiryu assigned him as the leader of the Jonin Squad, and the previous high-ranking members of the Police Force also began transferring to the Anbu and the Jonin Squad.

Those jonin of civilian origin, who had thought they'd never advance further in their lives—like Nagai Seiichi—were each promoted by one rank.

"Thank you, Fifth Hokage!" Nagai Seiichi, newly appointed as Jonin Squad Captain, beamed with pride and thought to himself that following Uchiha Seiryu was the best decision he'd ever made.

Uchiha Seiryu spent the entire morning signing and stamping documents, to the point that by the end, he almost couldn't recognize his own name.

Finally, after signing the last document, he let out a long breath of relief.

At that moment, Uchiha Inoha, newly promoted as one of his Shadow Guard, approached and, after saluting, asked, "Lord Hokage, how should we arrange your afternoon schedule?"

"It's already afternoon?" Seiryu glanced out the window. "This afternoon, let's visit the Police Force and Anbu for inspections."

"Understood, I'll arrange it right away," Uchiha Inoha replied with a nod.

…

That night, a newly joined Police Force member, Kitano Masahiro, returned home after a day's work, opened his diary, and began to write:

My name is Kitano Masahiro, I'm 14 years old, and I graduated from the Ninja Academy just two and a half years ago.

After graduating, because my aptitude was average, I was only assigned to a team led by a chunin. My daily work was picking up trash and looking for lost cats around the village. The income was decent—at least enough to support myself.

My chunin captain always told me to save money, so after a few years, I could exchange for a C-rank ninjutsu in the village. Once I learned it, I'd have hope of being promoted to chunin.

Some time ago, my classmate Watanabe Masashi joined the Police Force, and soon after, his life improved a lot. He even became a chunin recently. I was envious and regretted hesitating to apply when the Police Force recruited, just because of their reputation.

So this time, I signed up without hesitation. At the interview, I even saw my chunin captain there. I heard Police Force Genin get better benefits than old chunin like him, so no wonder he came to apply.

I was lucky to pass the interview and become a Police Force member. At the induction ceremony a few days ago, I was warmly received by the new Leader, Lord Kakashi.

Even though my civilian neighbors started treating me differently after I joined, the Police Force benefits are really good.

Before patrol this morning, the canteen chef even came to ask us what we wanted for lunch.

I wanted beef, chicken, miso soup, and a big pork cutlet. If there could be grilled fish, that'd be even better.

But my colleagues didn't seem interested in fish. Today's menu was beef curry, lobster sashimi, pork cutlet, and shrimp tempura. Not bad. I could accept that.

However, halfway through lunch, the head chef came around and served everyone steaming fish soup, explaining that there was a mistake in today's menu and the high-quality protein intake was insufficient, so a new dish was added at the last minute.

Captain Uchiha Yashiro joked with the chef from the Land of Fire, telling him to serve less rice—eating lobster was filling enough.

The chef laughed and told him to mind his own squad and not mess with the Dog Squad's meals—the new Dog Captain can really talk now.

I just stared at my four dishes and one soup in a daze.

This kind of meal—before, I could only treat myself during festivals, since I had to save money to buy ninjutsu.

Speaking of ninjutsu, it's amazing. On my first day, I received a C-rank ninjutsu. My chakra attribute is fire, so I got the Fireball Jutsu passed down by the Uchiha clan.

Though it's hard to practice, senior members in the Police Force who've learned it before will patiently teach us after work. They say that sometimes Uchiha squad captains will even come teach. They don't always speak nicely, but they're serious about teaching.

After lunch, as I was about to work, I suddenly heard the Hokage was coming to inspect the Police Force.

Everyone started getting busy when they heard.

The Fifth Hokage, who just took office today, came from the Police Force. When I joined, he was no longer the Deputy, but I was still very curious about him.

The senior members always look genuinely admiring when mentioning Deputy Seiryu. Just what kind of charisma does this former Deputy have?

Because I'm fairly tall, I was chosen to join the group welcoming the Fifth Hokage's inspection.

At the Police Force's main gate, I saw the man wearing the ceremonial robe embroidered with "Fifth Hokage" and the Hokage hat.

The Fifth Hokage looked different from what I expected. He didn't seem to have a kingly aura—his whole presence was gentle, and he always smiled.

"Salute to Lord Hokage!" I was still dazed when the squad captain's voice sounded in my ear.

"Salute!"

I saluted with my colleagues.

The Hokage smiled and returned the gesture, then came over to us.

"Thank you for your hard work. Is everything going smoothly?"

He warmly shook my colleague's hand and asked with a smile.

Then, he came in front of me and tugged at my collar.

"Is this uniform warm enough for winter patrols?"

He smiled kindly—it was hard to imagine someone so high up would care about whether low-ranking members like us were cold in the winter.

Only now did I understand why the seniors in the Police Force admired this man so much.

I was so excited I forgot to answer immediately—how rude of me.

By the time I came back to my senses, the Hokage was already instructing the captains.

He said, "Make sure to keep the patrol members warm during winter, especially in bad weather. The winter uniforms must be good enough to keep even civilians without chakra warm before they're distributed. Also, patrol members must get bonuses for working in harsh weather."

At that moment, I finally understood why seniors always say they can never repay Deputy Seiryu's kindness.

After the Hokage's inspection, he left the Police Force. As he left, I joined my colleagues in loudly expressing our loyalty to him!

Kitano Masahiro finished his diary, closed it, washed up simply, and fell into a deep sleep.

However, the next day, when Kitano Masahiro arrived at the Police Force, he saw his colleagues gathered together, all fired up.

"What? Those guys actually dared to storm the Hokage Tower?"

"Unbelievable! We've been too gentle with them—now they even dare attack the Hokage Tower and carry banners disrespecting the Fifth Hokage!"

"We have to act! Otherwise, what will the Anbu and Jonin Squad think of us?"

Kitano Masahiro didn't understand what had happened, but at that moment, Kakashi entered with several captains, his face grim. "Everyone, to the conference room!"

Last night, after the Police Force crushed the villagers' plot to cause trouble at the Hokage's inauguration, those villagers went home cursing and grumbling.

However, that night, ninja infiltrated their homes and took them to the Koharu clan grounds.

There, they saw many other villagers who shared their dissatisfaction with Uchiha Seiryu and the Police Force.

Soon, the Koharu clan head, Koharu Yuta, and the Mitokado clan head, Mitokado Kun, arrived at the secret meeting.

"Villagers, I'm sure you're all unhappy that the former Police Force Deputy Uchiha Seiryu has become the Fifth Hokage. Do you think life will be good under his rule?" Yuta addressed the crowd.