First Division

The Military Police Force offices and prison were both located within the Uchiha Clan grounds. In the anime, when the clan grounds changed after the Nine-Tails Incident, the Military Police Force offices moved as well.

The Military Police Force had three offices in Konoha. The village spread out in a fan shape from the Hokage Building to the village gates.

The Military Police Force headquarters was in its main building, which also served as one of its offices. The First Division worked there, while two smaller police stations stood deep to the left and right of the village gates, housing the Second Division and Third Division respectively.

Each division had seventy members, split into four squads of seventeen. Each squad had four teams of four, plus a squad leader, for a total of seventeen.

The four squads had sixty-eight members altogether. With a division commander and deputy commander, each division had seventy.

The First Division consisted entirely of Uchiha elites, and every member had awakened the Kekkei Genkai, the Sharingan. They were responsible for the upper third of the fan-shaped area of Konoha.

The Second and Third Divisions were responsible for the lower-left and lower-right sections of the fan.

A force of just over two hundred was nowhere near enough to serve a shinobi village with tens of thousands of residents. Most of those residents were shinobi or members of shinobi clans from every social stratum.

Some minor shinobi clans were small, with only a dozen or so members. But they were still clans, connected by bloodlines or Kekkei Genkai.

Some mid-sized clans had over a hundred members, most of them shinobi. A single Military Police Force could certainly suppress and punish them, but doing so would tie up a great deal of manpower.

If they were facing a shinobi alliance like Ino-Shika-Cho, the Police Force would be completely outmatched. They would need to call on the Uchiha Clan's shinobi as well.

The Uchiha Military Police Force's First Division office was on the second floor of its headquarters.

Eighteen people sat in the office. Uchiha Nara occupied the seat of honor, with the First Division's First Squad elites below him.

The First Squad of the First Division had seventeen members, all with the Three-Tomoe Sharingan. They were seventeen elite jōnin, accounting for half of the Uchiha Clan's jōnin.

The Uchiha Clan had nearly a thousand shinobi, most of them low- or mid-ranking. They had only a little over thirty jōnin. Konoha's restrictions on the number of Uchiha jōnin were certainly a factor, but even without them, the clan could not accommodate many more jōnin in positions of authority.

In every shinobi village and clan, jōnin wielded considerable influence. Many minor clans didn't even have a single jōnin.

The jōnin varied widely in age. The oldest were already in their early fifties, with deep wrinkles on their faces. The youngest, like Uchiha Nara, was sixteen.

Uchiha Yashiro, an important figure who had made a name for himself in the Military Police Force in the original anime, was currently making his mark in the Administration Department of the Clan Affairs Hall. He hadn't joined the Military Police Force.

The Clan Affairs Hall couldn't do without Yashiro. Otherwise, Nara would have to handle clan affairs himself.

"Ahem. You are all members of the Uchiha Clan and the elite of Konoha's Military Police Force. I've reviewed your personnel files and records, and I'm deeply impressed by your contributions to Konohagakure."

"As the Uchiha Clan's leader, I originally had no intention of interfering in the Police Force's affairs. But the way it operates has left me deeply concerned."

Uchiha Nara first offered the elites his approval and praise, then voiced his concerns about the Military Police Force's future.

"Clan head! The Konoha Military Police Force maintains order in Konoha, so our comrades don't have to worry about being attacked inside the village. We have the respect of many shinobi. What is there to worry about?"

The speaker was the shinobi in his early fifties, Uchiha Go.

Uchiha Go had been born in Uchiha Madara's era. He had once been a genius of the Uchiha Clan, but now, in his fifties, he was a hero past his prime.

"Heh. While you're in the Military Police Force, you don't need to worry about my status as clan head. Here, only rank matters, not clan affairs."

Nara smiled faintly as he clarified the distinction between his roles. He meant that no one should think he was abusing his authority as clan head to coast along in the Police Force.

"Yes!" Uchiha Go replied emphatically.

"Uchiha Go, you said that many shinobi respect us. Which shinobi, exactly? Do you have a specific list?"

The Konoha Military Police Force was despised by everyone, yet Go claimed that the villagers and shinobi respected them. It made no sense.

They respected the Uchiha's strength, not their status.

After all, shinobi in other countries had come up with strategies for fighting the Uchiha: against one, flee at once; against two, strike them from behind.

The saying made it clear that in a fair one-on-one fight, ordinary shinobi couldn't challenge the Uchiha's powerful Kekkei Genkai, the Sharingan.

"Uh..." Nara's question made Uchiha Go recall a few shinobi who had once thanked him, but they hadn't kept in touch afterward. He couldn't be sure whether they truly respected him.

Shinobi were accustomed to darkness and bloodshed. In many countries, they were treated as tools or weapons. How could they be expected to have feelings?

Only Konoha upheld the Will of Fire. Compared with the other great nations, Konoha wasn't the worst—Sunagakure and Kirigakure, the Village of the Bloody Mist, were there to make it look better.

"Heh. You can't think of anyone specific, can you? Or maybe you can't tell whether they genuinely respect you, right?"

Nara chuckled as if he could read minds.

"Lord Nara, if you don't let us go out on patrol, all kinds of villagers and merchants will have set up stalls in the streets by now. If we don't drive them away, plenty of shinobi and villagers will file complaints."

A young shinobi in his early twenties spoke with some concern.

Uchiha Saburo was twenty-one, a Konoha jōnin and the previous Uchiha prodigy. He had the Three-Tomoe Sharingan and excelled at Fire Style, Genjutsu, and Shuriken—an elite Uchiha shinobi through and through.

"Your concern isn't unreasonable. But the merchants have a hard time making ends meet. Some are retired shinobi, while others are family members of shinobi. They're all impoverished villagers who have lost their source of income."

"There's no need to drive them away. Set aside a dedicated area where they can sell their goods, and don't harass them every day. As for the complaints, have them bring their letters or other complaints—or come in person—to me."

The villagers who had lost their source of income were clearly family members of shinobi who had died in service. Their compensation had long since run out. Prices in Konoha were high, and shinobi didn't produce anything themselves. They worked exclusively for the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, fighting his battles, and carried out missions for the country's wealthy merchants, ministers, and rich farmers.

Missions ranged from assassinating political rivals and guarding ministers to plowing fields, clearing rubbish, and finding lost kittens.

Without a shinobi in the family to take on missions and earn commissions, they had no choice but to set up stalls in the village and scrape by on meager earnings.

And even then, they were driven away by the powerful Uchiha jōnin. It was utterly heartless.

"That doesn't sound right, Division Commander. The squad leaders will blame us for not doing our jobs."

Uchiha Saburo asked in a low voice, frowning. He'd been doing this kind of work for five or six years, and they'd grown accustomed to shouting orders and strutting in front of the villagers.