The Sky Had Been Torn Open

The night was deep.

To the northwest of the Uchiha Clan Grounds, shadowy figures darted swiftly between rooftops and alleyways.

At their head was Uchiha Inabi.

Two squads of Police Force members followed behind him.

No one spoke aloud. They communicated only through hand signals.

The Uchiha Police Force had been entrusted with keeping the peace in Konoha, so they were naturally more than just a useless ornament for the villagers to complain about.

When it came to combat experience, tracking methods, and interrogation skills, the Uchiha Police Force was no slouch.

Ability was never what they lacked.

What they lacked was authority.

There had been plenty of things they hadn't been unable to investigate in the past.

They simply hadn't been allowed to.

Whenever an investigation led to the village's higher-ups, it was usually shut down with a single line: "The bigger picture comes first."

But this time was different.

First, Shin-getsu had been attacked.

Then, after the Hokage Building had just agreed to investigate, someone had snuck into Shin-getsu's home that very night to test the waters.

This was no longer a simple provocation.

They were treating the Uchiha like fools.

Inabi crouched at the edge of a rooftop and gently ran his fingers over the gap between the tiles.

A nearly invisible trace of pale gray powder clung to his fingertips.

He brought them to his nose and sniffed lightly.

His eyes narrowed.

"The Tracking Powder is still here."

"The target passed this way."

An Uchiha behind him asked in a low voice, "Still heading northwest?"

Inabi nodded.

"Keep going."

They hurried after him.

Tracking Powder was a special powder commonly used within the Police Force.

Its scent was so faint that ordinary people could barely detect it.

But trained Police Force shinobi could track its faint traces over a short distance.

By scattering the powder on the intruder, Shin-getsu had effectively marked him.

Of course, the intruder was a professional shinobi. He would surely try to get rid of it.

So they had to move fast.

Before long, Inabi led the group to an abandoned alley at the edge of the clan grounds.

It was close to the outer wall of the Uchiha Clan Grounds.

Few people ever passed through there.

Weeds grew at the foot of the wall, and an old, disused drainage ditch ran alongside them.

Inabi crouched and inspected the ground.

There were faint footprints in the soil.

Unless someone already knew a person had passed through here, an ordinary observer would never notice them.

"The target stopped here."

A Police Force member whispered, "Did he leave from here?"

Inabi didn't answer right away.

He reached out and pushed aside the weeds, quickly spotting an inconspicuous gap at the base of the wall.

Soil and dead leaves concealed the gap.

It looked like natural damage.

But when Inabi knocked on the wall, his expression changed at once.

"It's hollow."

The Uchiha behind him narrowed their eyes.

Inabi drew a Kunai and gently pried at the gap.

Click.

A disguised stone slab came loose.

Behind it lay a narrow passage.

It was so small that only one person could pass through at a crouch.

The inside was pitch-black, and a damp, rotten smell drifted out.

A young Uchiha gritted his teeth. "There's a Secret Tunnel outside our clan grounds?"

Another's face darkened.

"This couldn't have been dug recently."

Inabi's eyes turned icy.

It certainly hadn't been dug recently.

The Secret Tunnel had clearly been there for a long time.

It might even have been prepared before the Uchiha were moved to the edge of the village.

In other words, from the moment the Uchiha moved here, someone had left a passage outside their clan grounds for covert entry and exit.

What did that mean?

It meant surveillance.

It meant infiltration.

It meant that the "trust" the Konoha High Command talked about had been a joke from the very beginning.

Inabi suppressed his anger and said in a low voice, "Don't go in recklessly."

"Record everything first."

"Check for Sealing Jutsu traps."

An Uchiha with some knowledge of basic Sealing Jutsu stepped forward to examine the passage.

A moment later, his expression grew even worse.

"There are signs of tampering."

"When the intruder withdrew just now, he damaged some of the Sealing Nodes."

"But the style of the remaining Sealing Technique... doesn't look like an ordinary shinobi's."

Inabi asked, "Can you tell where it came from?"

The other man hesitated.

"It looks a lot like the Anbu's standard sealing work."

Everyone's breathing grew heavy.

Anbu standard issue.

Anbu again.

Or rather, Root.

Root had branched off from the Anbu system, after all, and many of their Sealing Jutsu and equipment styles were extremely similar.

Anger surged in Inabi's eyes.

He immediately said, "Record everything."

"Don't disturb the scene."

"Notify Tekka and the clan head."

"Also, send people to guard this place."

"Anyone who approaches gets taken down!"

"Yes!"

Several Uchiha quickly scattered.

Inabi stood before the entrance to the Secret Tunnel, his expression frighteningly dark.

Tonight's incident was no longer just a matter of Shin-getsu's personal safety.

It concerned the safety of the entire Uchiha Clan Grounds.

They had thought the village was merely pushing them aside.

Now they knew the other side had already driven a blade right up to their doorstep.

Shin-getsu's new residence.

Uchiha Tekka was still standing in the backyard.

He clutched the broken Eavesdropping Talisman in his hand, his face dark as a thundercloud.

Nearby, several Police Force members were examining the surrounding traps and traces.

The more they looked, the more unsettled they became.

Not because the intruder's methods had been especially impressive.

It was because the countermeasures set up by nine-year-old Shin-getsu had been so thorough.

The wire by the well.

The Kunai launched from the eaves.

The wooden frame that made a noise.

The powder marking the intruder.

Even the location of the Eavesdropping Talisman had been found by Shin-getsu right away.

A member of the Uchiha Police Force couldn't help whispering, "Was this kid really setting up defenses for the first time?"

Tekka didn't answer.

He wanted to ask the same thing.

But he knew this wasn't the time to pry into Shin-getsu's secrets.

The more capable Shin-getsu was, the more he deserved protection.

At least, that was how the Uchiha saw it.

After a while, a Police Force shinobi appeared with the Body Flicker Technique.

"Senior Tekka!"

"Senior Inabi has found something."

Tekka immediately looked up.

"Tell me."

"They found a disguised Secret Tunnel beneath the northwest wall of the clan grounds."

"There are traces of a sealing array in the passage. It seems to be standard Anbu work."

"Senior Inabi has already secured the site. He requests that you and the clan head go there at once."

Killing intent surged in Tekka's eyes.

"A Secret Tunnel?"

"Outside the Uchiha Clan Grounds?"

The shinobi gritted his teeth and nodded.

"Yes."

Tekka slammed his fist into a nearby wooden post.

Crack!

The post split apart.

"Good."

"Very good!"

He turned to look at Shin-getsu.

Shin-getsu stood beneath the eaves, his face still pale.

Using the Great Fireball Technique by force just now had taken a heavy toll on his current body.

But his gaze was calm.

As if he had expected this outcome all along.

Tekka said in a low voice, "Shin-getsu, stay here for now."

"I'm going to see the clan head."

Shin-getsu asked, "Did you secure the Secret Tunnel?"

Tekka nodded.

"Inabi has sealed off the site."

Shin-getsu warned him, "Be careful. Someone might try to destroy the evidence."

Tekka sneered.

"If they dare show up, they won't be leaving."

With that, he hurried off with the others.

The backyard fell quiet again.

Only two Police Force members remained behind to protect Shin-getsu.

Shin-getsu stood where he was and slowly let out a breath.