Chapter 53: Making the Arrest (Part 2)

After concluding that the recent rumors were most likely instigated by the Utatane and Mitokado clans, the civilian ninja within the Military Police Force were quite panicked. After all, these were among the largest clans in the village, second only to the Uchiha and Hyuga. Involving them left these civilian-born ninja momentarily at a loss for what to do.

However, the Uchiha squad captains quickly helped their civilian younger brothers steel their resolve.

"What is with this cowering and hesitation? Don't forget, the moment you put on this uniform, you represent the Military Police Force! Standing behind you is the Uchiha clan!" Before leading his men out to make arrests at the two clan compounds, Uchiha Inabi finished his pep talk, grabbed a baton first, and strode outside.

The civilian ninja behind him were moved to the verge of tears. The big bosses of the Uchiha were truly amazing; when trouble arose, they genuinely stepped up.

Thus, they followed behind with batons in hand.

Upon arriving at the commercial properties belonging to the two clans, the Military Police Force wasted no words. They immediately sealed off the entire street and began calling out names one by one based on the confessions they had extracted.

"What do you think you're doing? This is Utatane family property!" One of the peripheral members responsible for managing the clan's assets could no longer sit still as he watched their businesses sealed and a large number of his subordinates hauled away.

However, the moment he jumped out to protest, Uchiha Inabi locked his gaze onto him. "What is your name?"

As it happened, right at that moment, a merchant who had been identified by over twenty people as a major suspect in the rumor-mongering incident—and who had already taken two blows from a baton while violently resisting arrest—was weeping tears of frustration as he dodged the batons and pointed at Utatane Meidai, shouting, "Officer, stop hitting me! Stop hitting me! He's the one who told us to do this!"

Hearing this, Uchiha Inabi tightened his grip on his baton and said angrily, "Oh? We were just looking for you, and you actually had the nerve to jump out!"

With that, Uchiha Inabi used Body Flicker to instantly close the distance, bringing a single baton strike down to knock Utatane Meidai flat on his back. Meidai's strength was mediocre at best; otherwise, the clan wouldn't have banished him to manage commercial properties. Standing before Uchiha Inabi—who possessed elite jounin-level strength, though officially classified as a chuunin only because clan rules dictated that without a three-tomoe Sharingan one could not be promoted—Meidai was completely defenseless. Two baton strikes later, his eyes became a lot clearer.

"Damn it, the Military Police Force has already issued ordinances, yet you still don't know how to restrain yourselves. Do you really take us for pushovers?" Inabi said as he delivered another strike.

"Captain, watch it. Smile while enforcing the law. Smile while enforcing the law," a civilian ninja behind Inabi couldn't help but remind him.

"Good point." Hearing this, Inabi activated his Sharingan and squeezed out a trace of a smile. Smiling law enforcement was a policy promoted by their respected clan head, but that didn't hinder him from landing the next blow squarely on Utatane Meidai.

The situation at the Mitokado clan's properties was much the same, except that compared to Meidai, the person in charge of the Mitokado assets was slightly smarter and did not swagger out openly. This caused Uchiha Saitou, who was in charge of that sector, a fair bit of extra trouble. Fortunately, Retsumaru—Military Police Force police dog number 00004—pulled through, leaping out and sinking its teeth directly into Mitokado Masayasu's backside just as he tried to slip away by blending into the crowd.

Once most of the suspects had been rounded up, Uchiha Douhuan had everyone locked inside the Military Police Force prison, ordering a strict interrogation to unearth any foreign hostile forces lurking behind them.

Meanwhile, the two council members were still sharing a quiet drink in their clan's tea room.

"After this wave of pressure, Kakashi should finally see himself clearly," Utatane Koharu said, draining the tea poured by a maid, before turning to Mitokado Homura with a smile.

"If he knows what's good for him, he'll obediently stay far away from the jinchuriki," Homura replied, wearing an equally triumphant smile.

"That naturally evil Uchiha brat actually dared to meddle in this matter and issue some ridiculous ordinance. As if that would do anything!" Koharu's face filled with disdain at the mention of the Uchiha clan.

"In this village, the only laws that matter are the ones Hiruzen and the two of us agree on," Homura agreed. "Still, through this incident, it's not hard to see that Kakashi is completely untrustworthy."

"Hasn't it been obvious for a long time that Kakashi has been running around with that naturally evil Uchiha brat?" Koharu sneered.

"Even so, we still need to be a little careful. In a few days, we should steer public opinion just a bit. If Kakashi ends up committing suicide like his useless father, we won't have a good way to explain it to Hiruzen."

"Hmph, the older Hiruzen gets, the more indecisive he becomes. He didn't even dare to pursue responsibility when Danzo died at the hands of that naturally evil Uchiha brat. As disciples of the Second Hokage, we must hold the line for him and constantly keep guard against the naturally evil Uchiha clan," Koharu said.

Just then, the door to the tea room slid open, and a ninja from the Utatane clan rushed in panicked.

"This is terrible! Council Members!"

"What is the meaning of this panic?" Koharu's face darkened with displeasure. For her own clan's ninja to be so clumsy made her lose face.

"The Military Police Force... the Military Police Force has sealed off the clan's commercial street and arrested no less than four hundred people. Many of them are peripheral clan members!"

"What?!" The two council members immediately leaped to their feet in shock. Koharu slammed her hand down on the table, furious, "How dare the Military Police Force do such a thing!"

"The Uchiha clan truly is evil," Homura's expression turned extremely ugly. "They actually dare to make a move against civilians now."

"What should we do?" Koharu asked.

Homura thought for a moment before speaking, "Gather all the civilians who make a living off our two clans' businesses. Find a few unaffiliated ninja from the clan to lead them in a protest right outside the gates of the Military Police Force, and force them to release our people. I refuse to believe that in broad daylight, the Military Police Force dares to run amok! As for the two of us, we'll go straight to Hiruzen. This time, we must make the Uchiha clan pay a price!"

At that moment, the Military Police Force prison was ablaze with light. Because they had arrested so many people at once, even the interrogation rooms couldn't hold them all, forcing them to temporarily clear out a section of the prison block. Every single member of the Military Police Force was working overtime to interrogate those rounded up, putting aside even basic patrol duties.

In the temporary prison office, Uchiha Douhuan, Uchiha Fugaku, alongside four veteran Uchiha jounin and six newly joined grand squad leaders—including Aburame Shihi and Inuzuka Fuu—were reviewing the interrogation reports handed up from below.

"Good grief, with this many people, when are we ever going to finish interrogating them?" Inuzuka Fuu complained, looking at the small mountain of interrogation records piled in front of him.

"Fuu, my boy, there's no guarantee we'll even squeeze anything useful out of this lot," Uchiha Hishima remarked.

"Seriously, Third Hokage-sama previously said he would assign two Anbu interrogation specialists to our Military Police Force, but they still haven't arrived after all this time. Our interrogation methods are still far too unprofessional. I'll definitely have to bring this up with the Third Hokage in a few days," Douhuan said.