So, You're a Spy, Huh?

When has it ever been the Anbu's place to meddle in the Police Force's affairs?

Those words rang out with force and authority!

The relationship between Konoha's Police Force and the Anbu had always been poor, and their responsibilities were different, too.

If you had to compare them, it was like the FBI and the CIA: the Police Force handled domestic affairs, while the Anbu handled matters abroad. Of course, there was some overlap in their work, which required the two sides to coordinate.

Strictly speaking, anything that happened inside the village fell under the Police Force's jurisdiction.

The Anbu member was stumped by Suifeng's words. After a long pause, he finally asked, "What did Murakami Ame do?!"

"I suspect this guy's a spy from another village. He deliberately spread rumors to frame Lord White Fang, leading to Lord White Fang's death. Now I'm taking him back to the Police Force for questioning. Any objections?!"

"Hm?!" The Anbu member's gaze sharpened. "You say he's a spy. Do you have any proof?!"

"The Police Force doesn't have to explain its actions to the Anbu!" Suifeng shot the Anbu member a look and walked over to Murakami Ame, his tone edged with sarcasm. "What, this guy caused your department head's death, and now the Anbu's going to protect him?"

The Anbu member had been about to stop Suifeng, but at those words, his body visibly stiffened and he halted.

White Fang had been the Anbu's department head, and the most popular one in years. His death had sent shockwaves through the Anbu and sparked a great deal of discontent within its ranks, hinting at unrest.

He hadn't been one of White Fang's close confidants, but he had served under him and had always deeply respected him. White Fang's death had affected him greatly. In his heart, he felt White Fang had been treated unjustly, and he was just as dissatisfied with Murakami Ame.

Damn it, so you got rescued. Fine. But after someone saved your life, why'd you go around saying all that crap?

You dumped all the blame on White Fang. What the hell were you thinking?

Of course, as an Anbu member, he knew some of the secrets among Konoha's High Command. He understood that someone of his rank had no business passing judgment on the matter, so he'd kept quiet and accepted the order to protect Murakami Ame in secret.

White Fang was already dead. If this guy killed himself too, it would look terrible for the High Command.

He'd been deeply reluctant to take the mission, but there was no choice. As a shinobi, the mission came first.

When he saw Suifeng go after Murakami Ame, he'd deliberately waited before intervening, though he hadn't intended for Suifeng to beat Murakami Ame so badly.

He'd noticed Suifeng and Obito when they approached. From Obito's muttering, he'd also figured out what they were there for.

The two of them were Kakashi's friends, and they'd come to settle the score with Murakami Ame.

He could've stopped them sooner, but he'd been simmering with resentment and hadn't done so. He'd thought that they were both members of the Uchiha Clan, and if they went after Murakami Ame and got hurt, the Uchiha Clan would never let it go.

Murakami Ame would only have brought trouble on himself.

The Anbu members watching would've enjoyed that, too.

But he hadn't expected things to go completely the other way. The two Uchiha boys were fine, while Murakami Ame had taken a bad beating. If he hadn't shown up, that harmless-looking kid might've beaten Murakami Ame to death. If Murakami Ame died, it would be his responsibility, so he'd stepped in to scare the kid a little.

He hadn't expected the kid to be unfazed and immediately slap the accusation of spying on Murakami Ame.

Looking at Murakami Ame's utterly miserable face, he almost laughed.

But as an Anbu member, he wasn't about to be intimidated by Suifeng's words. Most importantly, how could an Anbu member be scared off by the Police Force?

"If you're arresting a spy, where's your evidence? Who's your team leader? And according to the Konoha Police Force's regulations, two people have to be present when carrying out a mission. You're a member of the Police Force, but this kid isn't!"

Aoari pointed at Obito.

"Uh, he's not right now, but he definitely will be!"

Suifeng put on a perfectly timed, guilty expression. "I had no choice. I'd finally figured out this guy might be a spy, and I was afraid he'd run, so I rushed over to catch him. I planned to notify the Police Force after I'd arrested him. But now that you're here, the Anbu has the authority to arrest spies, too. I'll leave him to you. No need to thank me!"

With that, Suifeng waved a hand as if generously handing him over, grabbed the utterly bewildered Obito, who still had no idea what was going on, and took off like a shot.

He left so quickly and with such conviction that Aoari couldn't react in time. In truth, he was still trying to make sense of Suifeng's logic.

Then Suifeng was gone! Faster than a rabbit!

"Holy crap, that works?!"

Behind his mask, Aoari's face was a web of frown lines. He didn't even know what to say.

You'd finally figured out the guy was suspicious?

So you had no proof he was a spy and had just made it up in your head, then came here to arrest him?

No, you'd clearly just beaten him up to vent your anger, then used the excuse of leaving him to the Anbu so he wouldn't run. Damn it, this guy had been with the Anbu the whole time...

Wait, yeah!

The Anbu had the authority to arrest spies. Since someone had accused him of being a potential spy, shouldn't we take him back to the Anbu for questioning, just to be safe?

And it wasn't an Anbu member who'd accused him. It was someone from the Police Force. If I didn't take him back and he ran off, wouldn't I end up suspected of helping a spy escape? Put that way, I had to take him back, didn't I?

At that thought, he looked at Murakami Ame with suspicion.

"Y-you, what are you going to do?!"

Murakami Ame's heart lurched as a terrible feeling crept over him. He kept backing away. "D-don't do anything stupid! Don't you dare!!!"

"Murakami Ame, someone's accused you of being a spy from another village. Come with me for questioning!"

"No! I'm not going!"

Murakami Ame, who'd just come out of his daze, suddenly realized what was happening.

Questioning? What the hell did they mean, questioning?

Sakumo, who'd just died, had been the Anbu's department head. He'd left the Anbu in a mess, and who knew how many of those people wanted him dead? If he was taken to the Anbu, he might never get out.

This wasn't just him scaring himself.

If he was suspected of being a spy, wouldn't they interrogate him?

If he denied it, wouldn't they use harsher methods?

And if those methods didn't work, couldn't they use a mental technique to inspect his memories?

If something went wrong while they were inspecting his memories, couldn't they leave him insane?

What was this, a dinner invitation?!

This was a fight to the death!!

And if one or two people who held a grudge against him decided to meddle along the way, would he have any chance of making it out alive?

Worse, he wasn't a spy, but he had played a dishonorable part in what happened to White Fang. And he still didn't know who'd forced him into it.

In other words, someone really had been pushing things along behind the scenes to bring about White Fang's death, and he was almost certain they were from the village. But what if they weren't?

What if he'd guessed wrong?

There was no way to explain any of this!

The more he thought about it, the more afraid he got. His expression shifted again and again, from panic to fear, from fear to uncertainty, then from uncertainty to grim resolve. Aoari saw every change.

As an Anbu member, he'd been trained to observe.

What was this? Why were you making that face?

That was a guilty look, wasn't it? They'd taught him about that in Anbu training. Wait, your body's leaning slightly to one side, your feet are shifting, your eyes are darting around. What are you doing? Were you trying to run?

Were you afraid?

Why were you afraid?

No, could you stop changing your expression so quickly...

Wait, that expression...

He'd learned about that expression, too. No, he'd seen it before. That was the look of someone prepared to fight to the bitter end!

You're planning to resist to the very end!

What the hell were you doing? Who were you?!

Goddamn it!

Could he really be a spy?

Oh, shit! You bastard, I'll chop you to death!!