The outskirts of the Resettlement Zone were among the ugliest parts of Konoha.
There were makeshift shacks erected after the Night of the Nine-Tails.
There were vendors relocated from various districts.
There were injured shinobi who still could not return to their former posts.
And there were ordinary villagers who had always resented the Konoha Military Police Force.
Rumors spread fastest here.
Conflicts broke out most easily, too.
When the Uchiha's cross-district joint patrol pilot was assigned here, many clan members immediately assumed the Hokage Building was deliberately making things difficult.
Uchiha Jun said it outright at the preparation meeting. "They gave us the most chaotic place."
"Yes."
Uchiha Gen did not deny it.
"But the most chaotic place is also where we can best prove whether we're capable of managing a community."
Those words silenced the room.
Managing a community.
The phrase was unfamiliar to the Uchiha.
In the past, the Konoha Military Police Force had mostly focused on law enforcement.
Arresting people.
Dispersing crowds.
Maintaining order.
But the outskirts of the Resettlement Zone were not a place that could be stabilized simply by making arrests.
The people here feared the Uchiha.
They feared the Anbu, too.
They feared that the village leadership would abandon them.
More than anything, they feared some shinobi clan would use this place as a testing ground.
Shisui was responsible for observing on-site on the first day.
Itachi was responsible for organizing complaints and coordinating what would be communicated during handovers with the Anbu.
The Young Action Group was responsible for registering vendors, recording routes, and directing crowds.
Fugaku did not go in person.
He could not let the pilot look as though the Clan Leader was there to impose his authority.
What they truly needed to prove was that the Uchiha's ordinary procedures