Seeing how fierce he was as he roared at them, the few brats naturally sensed that things were going poorly. Their faces were filled with worry.
The slightly larger child among them had a sudden idea and spoke up. "He hit us first, and we only fought back afterwards."
The father behind him quickly chimed in. "Right, that's exactly it. Even if he was injured, he got what he deserved."
Hearing his words, a look of mockery appeared on Ryōsuke's face.
The current Naruto did not run around causing trouble like in the original plot. Having stayed in the village for so long, Ryōsuke had never seen Naruto being mischievous or naughty.
Yet this person dared to speak such nonsense to fool him.
He shouted sternly, "If you dare speak nonsense again, you three brats will each sit in jail for five years per year of lying."
The tall brat was frightened; the thought of sitting in jail for five years was terrifying.
He continued to argue sophistically, "My Lord, he really did hit us first."
The other two brats were also scared out of their wits.
Five years. Such a heavy penalty; it was simply too severe.
Even the four Clan Heads behind him were dumbstruck.
Locking them up for five years? Wouldn't these children be ruined by the time they came out?
Prisons do not care about education. Inside, one did nothing but eat and sleep.
The Uchiha Clan's punishment was truly too heavy. Moreover, this was their jurisdiction, even if it was an area zoned by the Uchiha. This made them feel a bit uncomfortable.
Akimichi Chōza was about to step forward to say something, but Nara Shikaku reached out and stopped him.
"Before the truth is determined, there is no need to oppose him right now. We'll talk later."
Akimichi Chōza had no choice but to watch the situation unfold for now.
At this moment, Uchiha Ryōsuke stared at the other two children.
"Do you two have the same answer as him?"
"Don't think I can't find the truth. With so many pedestrians on the street, there is always someone who knows. Are you still not going to tell the truth?"
Hearing his words, the two children didn't know what to do.
Should they really say it?
They were so afraid they didn't know what to say.
The parents of the two were also scared silly. The other party was right; with so many people on the road, it would be easy to find out if they investigated. If they lied and were found out, the consequences would be disastrous.
They shouted strictly to their own children. "Why don't you hurry up and tell the truth? Or do you want to be locked up for five years?"
Hearing their parents say this, the two children could only speak up.
"We threw stones at him first because he gets to eat ramen every day. Why should he live better than us?"
"We only smashed him after he fought back."
"As for that big rock, that person threw it. We only used small stones."
Hearing this, the parents were immediately angry. So they really had started it.
Usually, bullying would be fine, but now they had actually gotten physical and even attracted the Police Force.
This Uchiha Ryōsuke clearly looked like someone standing up for the Demon Fox.
They didn't know how they would be sentenced yet.
The tall child's father was even more furious after hearing this.
"You are all talking nonsense."
"How dare you push the blame onto my child?"
Regardless of whether it was true or not, he couldn't admit it. The person in front of them was someone who dared to kill Danzō.
If he admitted it, his child might really be locked up for that many years.
This was absolutely no joke.
Ryōsuke, however, paid them without mind; right now, it was just dogs biting dogs.
Instead, he looked toward the surrounding passersby.
"Is there anyone who saw what happened? The reward is 5,000 ryo."
The surrounding passersby immediately got a little excited. 5,000 ryo was a decent amount of income.
One person stepped forward first and shouted, "I happened to see what happened. It was these few kids who threw stones at Naruto first."
"Then Naruto threw small stones back. Finally, that big kid directly picked up a large rock and threw it, hitting Naruto right in the head."
Although he didn't like the Demon Fox either, being able to earn a sum of money was quite nice.
The tall child's father was furious. "You're lying."
The passerby who stood out retorted, "I'm not lying. If you don't believe me, ask the people around here and see if they think I'm lying."
The father looked at the surrounding passersby, but not a single one shook their head.
The bad feeling in his heart grew stronger.
A smile appeared on Ryōsuke's face.
"Since the matter has been clearly investigated, then this tall child is sentenced to five years imprisonment, and the other two to one year imprisonment."
"Next, I ask the Clan Heads to escort them to the Uchiha Police Force jail."
Everyone present was stunned. He was actually doing it for real.
This tall child was really going to be locked up for five years.
The other two, who hadn't hurt anyone, were also locked up for a year. This was too heavy, wasn't it?
The tall boy's father immediately begged, "Our family is willing to pay medical expenses. I hope for a lighter sentence. This is really too heavy."
The other two parents were equally dissatisfied with their children's punishment and said, "Our children didn't cause any harm to Naruto, so why sentence them so heavily?"
Even the four Clan Heads present frowned. This was indeed too severe. This was exactly why the Uchiha Clan had invited the village's ostracism before.
Ryōsuke snorted at this moment.
"Aren't those two children accomplished? That is why they were sentenced to one year."
"As for this tall child, he actually dared to lie. Did he really think deceiving the Police Force was a fun thing to do?"
The tall child's father was furious inside. The other party was definitely doing this because he didn't like them, sentencing them so heavily just to protect that Demon Fox.
He couldn't help but look at the four Clan Heads behind Ryōsuke.
"Clan Head Nara, you must seek justice for us. This is the area controlled by your clans; you are the ones in charge."
"Although my child was indeed in the wrong, it's impossible to sentence him to five years of punishment, right? This is truly too heavy. What will my child become after he gets out?"
He could not accept this in his heart. This sentence would keep his child in prison for five years. How much suffering would he have to endure inside?
That was definitely not a good place.
Nara Shikaku also felt a sense of compassion and said, "Uchiha Ryōsuke, isn't this punishment a bit too heavy?"
Although this was their jurisdiction, if the Uchiha Clan wanted to take it back, they probably could.
So there was no need to be hard on this person; instead, they should negotiate.
Perhaps through negotiation, the other party could be made to change the sentence to something lighter.
Although he also believed the other party was guilty, locking them up for a few months would be enough.