The night was black as ink, the moonlight obscured by heavy clouds, and all of Konoha lay shrouded in silence. Inside the Uchiha Police Force Building, dim yellow lights cast their glow over the exhausted figures of several hardline ninja. Some leaned against chairs, others slumped over desks, half-asleep and utterly unaware of the storm about to descend.
"Still sleeping? The clan head has sold us out!" Uchiha Tieyue's voice exploded through the empty hall like thunder. His figure flashed past like a shadow as he appeared before a dozing hardliner and slapped him across the face.
"Smack!" The crisp sound of the slap was especially piercing in the quiet night. The struck ninja jolted awake, clutching his face as he stared blankly at Uchiha Tieyue, clearly still unable to process what had happened.
"Captain Tieyue, what are you..." he asked instinctively, his voice carrying a trace of grievance and confusion.
"Hmph. You sleep like a dead pig while the clan head is about to destroy the Uchiha's future, and you still have the nerve to sleep?" Uchiha Tieyue's gaze was cold as a blade, his voice filled with suppressed fury.
The other ninja on duty were also startled awake by the sudden commotion. They raised their heads and stared at Uchiha Tieyue in confusion, sleep still lingering in their eyes as they had yet to fully wake up.
"Captain Tieyue, what did you just say?" Uchiha Shanhuo rubbed his eyes and asked groggily. He was the hardliners' vice-captain. Though he had been a light sleeper, he had only caught fragments of what was said.
"I said that tonight, our esteemed clan head has transferred away six squads of our Police Force!" Uchiha Tieyue's voice was low and hoarse, every word seemingly forced through clenched teeth and thick with suppressed