Uchiha Fugaku

At the Uchiha Police Force, Kawaki Aoba dragged two Hyuga chunin, who looked like dead dogs, into the building.

Having captured two chunin from the Hyuga Clan, Kawaki Aoba knew that if he did nothing and allowed the Hyuga to regain their composure, the only thing awaiting him would be another targeted attack.

In that case, how would he be any different from a fish on a chopping block?

Therefore, Kawaki Aoba chose to strike first. Rather than waiting for the Hyuga Clan to react, he would rather stir up some trouble for them himself.

As for why he chose the Uchiha, the fact that the Hyuga and Uchiha—the two great noble clans of Konoha—could not stand each other was one reason. Another was that even if he brought this matter to the Third Hokage, given the Third's temperament, it was highly unlikely he would go out of his way to trouble the Hyuga Clan for the sake of a genin who merely showed some potential.

It was far more likely that the Third would simply discard him to trade for more tangible benefits.

As for whether approaching the Uchiha would offend the Third Hokage or some character hiding in the sewers, Kawaki Aoba felt the probability was low. Given the value he had displayed so far, it was truly difficult for him to catch the eyes of Konoha's top brass.

If not for this suddenly awakened Byakugan, the Konoha leadership might not have cared about a small ninja like him at all.

When Kawaki Aoba explained his intentions under the gaze of two Uchiha police officers and informed them of the identities of the two Hyuga chunin, the two Uchiha ninjas wore expressions of disbelief, just as he had expected.

"You're saying these two Hyuga chunin attacked you in front of your house, so you suspect they are spies sent by another village?" Fearing he might have been hallucinating, the Uchiha officer repeated the question.

To this, Kawaki Aoba nodded heavily, giving a firm reply once more: "That's right. They attacked a Konoha ninja within our own village—and a rare genius like me at that. Therefore, I have reason to suspect that these two Hyuga ninjas are absolutely, possibly spies bought off by an outside village."

"They wanted to use this method to nip a Konoha genius in the bud. Such a conspiracy is simply too vicious. Therefore, I implore the lords of the Police Force to severely punish these people, uncover the truth, and root out all these damned spies."

The Uchiha police officers: ...

They truly felt a lump of words stuck in their throats, not knowing how to spit them out.

Were there spies from other villages in Konoha? That was a certainty. Even among Konoha's own ninjas, the possibility of being turned wasn't zero. But to claim that members of the Hyuga Clan were spies was simply too absurd.

Whether it was the Main House or the Branch House, the possibility of them betraying Konoha to act as spies for other villages was almost zero.

The former held a lofty status within the clan; as long as they didn't want to, they didn't even have to go to the battlefield, let alone perform missions. As for the latter, one only needed to look at the Caged Bird seal.

However, disbelief aside, the matter still had to be handled, especially when the evidence was solid.

Soon, the Uchiha Police Force sprang into action. While Kawaki Aoba and the two captives were separated for questioning, a squad of Uchiha ninjas marched in a grand procession to the front of Kawaki Aoba's house to verify the traces of the struggle.

As for why it was described as a "grand procession," it was naturally because there were so many of them.

Because their duties overlapped significantly with the Anbu, the Uchiha Police Force usually only handled trivial matters.

Now that they had finally received such a major case, how could they not be excited? Especially when this case involved the Hyuga Clan, it made the Uchiha even more thrilled.

The news that the Hyuga Clan had produced two suspected spies who had attacked a fairly talented genin in the village spread like wildfire through the Uchiha Police Force, quickly reaching the ears of the current captain, Uchiha Fugaku.

For a case that could implicate the Hyuga Clan and was considered a major event within the Police Force, it would be strange if Uchiha Fugaku didn't take an interest.

The efficiency of the Uchiha was no joke. Under the genjutsu interrogation of a three-tomoe Sharingan, the two Hyuga chunin identified by Kawaki Aoba as spies quickly spilled all the intelligence they knew.

Compared to the ordeal of those two, Kawaki Aoba's treatment was much better; after being questioned in detail, there were no further complications.

During the interrogation, Kawaki Aoba honestly recounted everything that happened after the two ninjas appeared.

As for deeper matters, such as his own Byakugan, he didn't mention a single word. No matter how much the Uchiha pressed, he maintained an attitude of knowing nothing.

In the captain's office of the Police Force, Uchiha Fugaku flipped through the intelligence extracted from the two Hyuga chunin, his expression exceptionally strange.

A person with thin Hyuga blood, who lived on the fringes of the clan, had awakened the Byakugan—this was truly rare.

If this had happened in their Uchiha clan, it wouldn't be strange, as their Sharingan talent wasn't something that could be determined at birth. But this was the Hyuga Clan, where talent and destiny were set from the moment of birth.

Uchiha Fugaku recalled carefully. He was certain that before this Kawaki Aoba, among those who possessed thin Hyuga blood but did not inherit the Byakugan at birth, there had never been a precedent for awakening it midway—at least, not in the records since the founding of Konoha.

While this was bizarre, it wasn't entirely unacceptable. What Uchiha Fugaku was thinking about now was how the Uchiha Police Force should handle this matter.

Picking up Kawaki Aoba's statement, Uchiha Fugaku felt troubled.

Clearly, Kawaki Aoba's statement had issues. While every sentence was factual, he had deliberately concealed the fact that he had awakened the Byakugan.

To say that Kawaki Aoba hadn't activated the Byakugan and didn't know the intent of those two was pure nonsense.

If this brat were truly as innocent as he claimed, why would he be wearing sunglasses?

Eyes injured and afraid of harsh light? That was clearly nonsense; the Police Force wasn't the outdoors, and there was no sun bright enough to dazzle him here.

Moreover, this brat's actions could be considered "diverting the disaster." He wanted to make a big deal out of the conflict between the Uchiha and the Hyuga to escape this predicament.

The idea was quite clever, but unfortunately, the brat was still too naive!

Uchiha Fugaku shook his head, feeling that Kawaki Aoba had oversimplified the situation. At the same time, he felt a deep disdain for the Hyuga Clan in his heart.

What kind of garbage Main and Branch House system was that? Did a clan like that even deserve to stand on equal footing with their Uchiha?