Uchiha Fugaku

At the Uchiha Police Force, Kawaki Aoba dragged along two Hyuga Chunin who looked like dead dogs.

Now that he had captured two Hyuga Chunin, if Kawaki Aoba did nothing and let the Hyuga Clan recover their wits, they would inevitably target him again.

How was that any different from being a piece of meat on a chopping board?

So Kawaki Aoba chose to strike first. Rather than wait for the Hyuga Clan to react, he might as well cause them some trouble himself.

As for why he chose the Uchiha, one reason was that the two great clans of Konoha, the Hyuga and the Uchiha, couldn't stand each other. Another was that even if he reported the matter to the Third Hokage, given his nature, he probably wouldn't go after the Hyuga Clan for the sake of a promising Genin like him.

It was far more likely that he'd throw Kawaki Aoba under the bus in exchange for more tangible benefits.

As for whether going to the Uchiha would offend the Third Hokage or some guy hiding in the sewers, Kawaki Aoba thought that was unlikely. Given the value he had shown so far, it was hard to imagine he'd caught the eye of the Konoha High Command.

If he hadn't suddenly awakened the Byakugan, the Konoha High Command might not have cared much about a little ninja like him at all.

When Kawaki Aoba explained why he had come, under the watchful eyes of two Uchiha police shinobi, and told them who the two Hyuga Chunin were, the two Uchiha shinobi wore the expected expressions of sheer disbelief.

"You're saying these two Hyuga Chunin attacked you in front of your house, so you suspect they're spies sent by another village?" Afraid he'd imagined it, the Uchiha shinobi repeated the question.

Kawaki Aoba nodded firmly and confirmed, "That's right. They attacked a Konoha shinobi in our own village—and one as exceptionally talented as me. So I have reason to suspect that these two Hyuga shinobi could very well be spies bought off by another village.

"They're trying to eliminate Konoha's talented young shinobi by using this method. It's an utterly vicious plot. So please, officers of the Police Force, punish these people severely. You must uncover the truth and expose every last one of these damn spies."

The Uchiha police shinobi: ...

They had a whole lot to say, but the words were stuck in their throats.

Were there spies from other villages in Konoha? Of course. Even Konoha shinobi could be turned, but claiming that members of the Hyuga Clan were spies was a bit of a stretch.

Whether Main Family or branch family, the chances that they would betray Konoha and spy for another village were practically zero.

The former held lofty positions in their clan. Unless they wanted to, they didn't even have to go on missions, much less fight on the battlefield. As for the latter, well, ever heard of the Caged Bird?

Still, whether they believed it or not, they had to handle the matter, especially with the evidence so clear.

The Uchiha Police Force soon sprang into action. While Kawaki Aoba and the other two were questioned separately, a team of Uchiha shinobi headed in force to the front of Kawaki Aoba's house to verify the traces there.

And why describe their arrival as "in force"? Because there were a lot of them.

Because their duties overlapped so much with those of Anbu, the Uchiha Police Force usually dealt with nothing but the smallest of cases.

Now, at last, they'd been handed a major case. How could they not be excited? Especially since it involved the Hyuga Clan—that made the Uchiha even more excited.

Two Hyuga Clan members were suspected spies, and they had attacked a fairly talented Genin in the village. The news spread through the Uchiha Police Force, growing with every telling, and soon reached the ears of the current Police Force captain, Uchiha Fugaku.

A case that involved the Hyuga Clan and counted as a major incident for the Uchiha Police Force—if Uchiha Fugaku didn't take an interest, that would be the real surprise.

The Uchiha were impressively efficient. After being interrogated with the genjutsu of three-tomoe Sharingan, the two Hyuga Chunin whom Kawaki Aoba had identified as spies quickly divulged all the information they knew.

Compared to what the two of them went through, Kawaki Aoba was treated much better. After a thorough round of questioning, nothing more came of it.

During the questioning, Kawaki Aoba honestly recounted everything that had happened after the two shinobi appeared, from beginning to end.

As for anything more sensitive, such as his Byakugan, he didn't mention a word. No matter how the Uchiha questioned him, he maintained that he knew nothing.

In the Police Force captain's office, Uchiha Fugaku looked through the information interrogated out of the two Hyuga Chunin, his expression unusually strange.

An outsider with a faint Hyuga bloodline, who lived on the fringes of the Hyuga Clan, had awakened the Byakugan. Now that was rare.

If it had happened in the Uchiha Clan, it wouldn't have been strange. Their talent for the Sharingan wasn't apparent from birth. But the Hyuga Clan was different; their talent and fate were decided from the moment they were born.

Uchiha Fugaku thought it over carefully. He was quite certain that before Kawaki Aoba, among those with faint Hyuga blood who hadn't inherited the Byakugan at birth, there had never been a case of someone awakening it later—not in any records since Konoha was founded.

It was a strange occurrence, but not especially hard to accept. What Uchiha Fugaku was wondering now was how the Uchiha Police Force should handle it.

He picked up Kawaki Aoba's statement from the other side of the desk and found himself at a loss.

It was obvious there was something wrong with Kawaki Aoba's statement. Every word was true, yet he had deliberately concealed the fact that he'd awakened the Byakugan.

To say Kawaki Aoba hadn't activated his Byakugan and didn't know why the two men had come was complete nonsense.

If the kid really was as innocent as he claimed, why was he wearing sunglasses?

An eye injury, and fear of bright light? That was obviously nonsense. This was the Police Force, not outside; the sun wasn't blazing in their eyes.

Besides, the kid's actions could already be considered an attempt to divert trouble elsewhere. He was trying to make use of the conflict between the Uchiha and the Hyuga to make a big deal out of the situation and escape this calamity.

It was a pretty good idea. Unfortunately, the kid was still too naive!

Uchiha Fugaku shook his head, thinking Kawaki Aoba had made things too simple. At the same time, he felt nothing but contempt for the Hyuga Clan.

What kind of stupid Main Family and branch family system was that? A clan like that thought it deserved to stand on equal footing with the Uchiha?