The midday sun blazed over Konoha's South Street.
A large crowd had gathered in the middle of the street.
The commotion was so loud that even the stray cats on the corner had fled.
Two burly men in coarse hemp clothes were kicking viciously at a porcelain stall.
The crash of shattering porcelain rang out again and again.
The middle-aged woman who owned the stall sat on the ground, slapping her thighs and wailing.
"Someone tell me how this is fair!"
One of the burly men, a bald fellow, shouted at the top of his lungs.
"This old hag sold me fake goods and cheated me out of my hard-earned money!"
"I'm smashing her stall in the name of justice!"
Uchiha Yashiro pushed through the crowd with four police officers.
His temper flared at the sight of the shards strewn across the ground.
"Stop!"
"You're causing trouble in broad daylight! Do you think the Konoha Military Police Force is just for show?"
The bald man showed no fear at all.
He gave Yashiro a sidelong look, a sneer curling his lips.
"The Konoha Military Police Force?"
"What can you do besides protect crooked merchants?"
"Now that Deputy Captain Chikage is gone, you Uchiha are showing your true colors, aren't you?"
The accusation left Yashiro's chest tight with anger.
He placed a hand on his sword hilt and strode forward.
"Enough nonsense. Come back to the Konoha Military Police Force headquarters and explain yourself!"
The other burly man, who had a scarred face, immediately threw himself onto the ground and began rolling around.
"The Uchiha are beating people!"
"The police captain is bullying ordinary citizens in the street!"
The onlookers began whispering among themselves.
The reputation they had painstakingly built over the past few days was about to be ruined by