Konoha had two prisons.
One was the Police Force Prison.
Under the pretext of monitoring prisoners, the high command had placed the Police Force and the prison in the same location, brazenly driving the Uchiha Clan into a corner of the village.
Even so, the Konoha high command, led by the Third Hokage, still believed the Uchiha, who ran the prison, had too much power.
They wanted to take some authority away from the Police Force.
So the high command established another prison, the High-Security Ninja Prison, ostensibly to help the Police Force deal with prisoners.
The Anbu took over and managed the serious offenders.
From then on,
the Police Force Prison held only minor offenders.
Most of the more than two hundred prisoners in the cells were thugs who'd gotten into fights, drunken ronin who'd caused trouble, and Genin or Chunin who'd committed crimes.
There were few prisoners of Jonin rank.
For the Uchiha,
managing a ragtag bunch like this was fairly easy.
At least, ever since the Police Force was established, there hadn't been any problems with the prison.
But for that very reason, the Uchiha had let their guard down while managing it.
And tonight,
with most of the clan members away at the Clan Meeting, security at the Police Force Prison was more lax than ever.
In the dark cells,
snores rose and fell. With no entertainment, the prisoners kept a healthy routine and went to bed early.
Suddenly,
a short, unremarkable-looking prisoner climbed out of bed without making a sound. He stood by the iron bars of his cell and looked toward the cell opposite.
Three others were awake too.
The four exchanged glances through the bars and nodded to one another.
On the surface, they were civilians from Konoha, arrested by the Police Force