After the second tomoe appeared, the world became clearer.
It was not simply that he could see farther.
Every tiny movement seemed to break down into slower segments.
Uchiha Gen stood at the intersection outside the Clan District. He saw the trembling wrists of civilians carrying wooden beams in the distance, the faint quiver of a medical ninja's fingertips while tying bandages, and someone looking away from him beneath the shadow of an eave.
Root was still watching.
That was no surprise.
Now that Danzo knew his name, he would never stop at checking his files.
"What do you keep looking over there for?"
Uchiha Toru followed his gaze but saw only a stretch of damaged eaves.
Uchiha Gen looked away.
"To see how many people are hoping we make a mistake."
Uchiha Toru sneered. "Then they're going to be disappointed. No one's going to start anything today."
"Not starting anything doesn't mean we won't lose."
Uchiha Gen looked at the temporary Konoha notice newly posted at the intersection.
It listed post-disaster safety reorganization, temporary housing assessments, and reconstruction plans for the outlying areas.
It did not mention the Uchiha by name.
But every Uchiha could see that this was the preliminary step toward a relocation order.
First, assess.
Then, designate zones.
Finally, move the Uchiha out on the grounds of "the village's overall reconstruction needs."
If the Uchiha tore down the notice now, they would be proving that they "refused to obey village directives."
If they did nothing, the notice would become the basis for the next formal order.
So the first cut could not be aimed at a person.
It had to cut away the grounds.
That morning, the survey team sent by Konoha arrived.
A ninja in an administrative role led the team, followed by two Anbu and several Recorders.
They did not venture deep into the Clan District. They stopped on the outer streets and compared the damaged areas against their maps.
"Under the reconstruction plan, the Konoha Military Police Force's current base needs to be relocated."
The administrative ninja spoke politely.
"There is more intact, open land on the village outskirts. It would allow us to house the Uchiha clansmen together and make it easier for the Konoha Military Police Force to resume patrols."
Several young Uchiha immediately darkened.
Uchiha Toru stepped forward.
Uchiha Gen raised a hand to stop him.
"Easier to patrol?"
The administrative ninja looked at him. "And you are?"
"Uchiha Gen. I compile the Konoha Military Police Force's temporary reconstruction assistance roster."
It was not a high-ranking position.
It barely even counted as an official post.
But tied to all the public records from last night and today, it was enough to keep the other man from simply ignoring him.
The administrative ninja frowned. "This is a plan drawn up by the higher-ups."
"I know."
Uchiha Gen nodded.
"That's why we're cooperating with the survey."
His words startled all the Uchiha present.
The administrative ninja looked somewhat surprised as well.
Uchiha Gen took a rolled map from Uchiha Makoto and spread it across a makeshift wooden table.
"These are the route records for the Konoha Military Police Force's reconstruction assistance this morning."
Three kinds of lines marked the map: red, black, and blue.
The red lines were casualty escort routes.
The black lines were rubble-clearing routes.
The blue lines marked missing-person registration points.
Beside every line were the times, participating clan members, and witnesses.
Uchiha Gen pointed to the southeastern side of the village.
"The medical stations on these three streets need critically injured patients escorted every hour. The Konoha Military Police Force's current base is the closest. The outlying area would be at least three times as far away."
He then pointed to South Street.
"Traces of abnormal space chakra appeared on South Street last night. The Barrier Team is still checking them. If the Konoha Military Police Force stays where it is, it can help secure the site. Relocating it would leave a gap in site protection."
Finally, he set his finger on several temporary Resettlement Zones.
"Here, here, and here. There were disputes over supplies in all three places today. The Konoha Military Police Force intervened to mediate and kept records. Relocating the entire force now would hamper the restoration of order in the short term."
The administrative ninja's expression slowly stiffened.
Before coming, he had prepared to talk about "plans from the higher-ups" and "cooperating with reconstruction."
But what Uchiha Gen produced was neither an emotional outburst nor defiance.
It was routes, times, distances, records, and witnesses.
That made the words "easier to patrol" very difficult to repeat.
One Anbu spoke up. "These are records you compiled yourselves."
Uchiha Gen nodded at once.
"Then please verify them."
The Anbu paused.
Uchiha Gen pointed to several civilians queuing for medicine beside the street.
"Medical ninja witnessed the medicine escorts on East Street."
Then he pointed to the team clearing rubble in the distance.
"The western main road was cleared, witnessed by the Transport Squad."
"A copy of the missing-person register has already been sent to the Hokage Building. You can check every entry."
The calmer he sounded, the harder it became for the other side to lash out.
Because the Uchiha had not refused the survey.
They had even volunteered their records.
But every one of those records proved the same thing: pulling the Konoha Military Police Force out of the village now would not improve efficiency. It would create chaos.
Uchiha Toru finally understood. He said quietly, "You weren't trying to keep them out."
"We couldn't."
Uchiha Gen did not look at him.
"So we let them go in carrying our records."
The survey team spent a full two hours on the outskirts of the Clan District.
They had only intended to complete the preliminary records for relocation to the outlying area, but instead had been forced to verify more than twenty post-disaster assistance routes.
By the end, the administrative ninja's scroll was covered in proposed revisions.
The Konoha Military Police Force's current base still served a role in restoring post-disaster order.
The timing of relocation required reassessment.
Immediate withdrawal could affect medical care, supplies, site security, and missing-person registration.
Those sentences were not sharp.
They were, if anything, thoroughly bureaucratic.
But Uchiha Gen knew this was the first opening.
Once "requires reassessment" appeared on an official scroll, the relocation order was no longer an unassailable directive that could be carried out immediately.
As the survey team left, the administrative ninja could not help glancing at Uchiha Gen.
"Did you work all this out after last night?"
Uchiha Gen shook his head.
"We simply record whatever the village needs today."
The administrative ninja fell silent for a moment and asked no more questions.
In the shadows at the street corner, the Root ninja keeping watch also slipped away.
Uchiha Gen saw him but did not pursue him.
He knew the man would report everything that had happened here to Danzo.
That was exactly what he wanted.
To let Danzo know that the Uchiha were not merely protesting their innocence.
They were dismantling the grounds he had laid, piece by piece.
That evening, Uchiha Fugaku remained silent for a long time after reading the copy of the survey records.
"You've stalled the relocation order."
Uchiha Gen shook his head. "Only the first step."
Fugaku looked at him.
Uchiha Gen said, "The higher-ups will find another reason. Today it's easier patrols. Tomorrow it might be easier surveillance of suspects in the Nine-Tails Incident. We have to keep turning the Konoha Military Police Force from mere law enforcers into indispensable manpower for post-disaster reconstruction."
Fugaku's gaze darkened slightly.
"Indispensable?"
"At least for now, we need to keep the village from finding a valid reason to move us out immediately."
Uchiha Gen paused.
"So next, we can't just keep records. We need to take on a task everyone can see, one that depends on the Konoha Military Police Force's ability to maintain order."
"What task?" Fugaku asked.
Uchiha Gen looked out the window.
A clamor was rising from the direction of the Resettlement Zone.
More and more people had lost their homes.
Food, medicine, shelter, the whereabouts of loved ones-any of them could become a new source of conflict amid the chaos.
"The Resettlement Zone."
Uchiha Gen spoke slowly.
"Whoever can keep that place from falling into chaos can prove the village still needs them."
At the same time, beneath Root headquarters.
Danzo's expression was grim after hearing the report.
"He didn't object to the survey?"
"No. He cooperated willingly and had the survey team take away the Konoha Military Police Force's post-disaster assistance route records."
Danzo's fingers tightened around his cane.
This was more troublesome than resistance.
Resistance could be crushed.
Disobedience could be punished.
But Uchiha Gen had deliberately kept every step within the village's rules, using those rules to slow the rules themselves.
"The Resettlement Zone."
Danzo spoke abruptly.
The Root ninja lowered his head. "Yes."
"There are plenty of people there, plenty of resentment, and trouble is all too easy to stir up."
Danzo's voice was cold and flat.
"Since he wants to prove the Uchiha can maintain order, let everyone see that they can't."
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