On the first day of the observation period, the entrance to the Uchiha Konoha Military Police Force was quieter than usual.
It wasn't because no one was there.
It was because everyone knew that, starting today, their every move would be recorded, checked, and sent to the Hokage Building.
In the past, the Konoha Military Police Force had settled disputes through the Uchiha's intimidating reputation and clan crest.
Now, Uchiha Gen laid a new record template on the table.
Time.
Location.
Incident type.
Participating Konoha Military Police Force members.
Non-Uchiha witnesses.
Actions taken.
Whether ninjutsu was used.
Whether there were any casualties.
Whether cross-filing was completed.
Every field had a blank space.
And every field seemed to remind the clan members that they could no longer simply say, "We handled it." They had to write down how they had handled it, who had seen it, and whether it could be verified.
An older clan member read it, and his expression darkened on the spot.
"Is this still the Konoha Military Police Force?"
Uchiha Gen looked up.
The clan member said coldly, "We need outsiders' signatures just to handle a street dispute? Since when have we Uchiha needed other people to prove we haven't abused our authority?"
Several clan members nearby said nothing, but their expressions were much the same.
They had all seen what records could accomplish last night and over the past few days.
But seeing their value did not mean accepting them immediately.
Public enforcement records, non-Uchiha witnesses, filing with the Hokage Building-when these things applied to them, they still felt like a thorn in their side.
Uchiha Fugaku sat at the head of the room without speaking immediately.
Uchiha Gen pushed the template forward a little.
"We didn't need this before because no one demanded that the Uchiha prove their innocence at every step."
The older clan member frowned.
Uchiha Gen continued, "We need it now because someone is already preparing to turn any step we take into a criminal charge."
Those words silenced the hall.
He hadn't mentioned Root.
But everyone understood.
Uchiha Gen pointed to the "Witnesses" field on the template.
"This isn't handing the Police Force's authority over to outsiders."
"It's making sure outsiders can't simply take someone else's word for what happened."
The older clan member asked gravely, "What if those outsiders deliberately refuse to sign?"
"Then record who refused, when, and why."
Uchiha Gen answered without hesitation.
"We aren't keeping records to beg for their cooperation. We're doing it so every incident leaves a trail."
Just then, footsteps sounded outside the door.
Two members of the Hokage's Anbu entered the Police Force headquarters.
They weren't wearing the kind of emotionless masks Root wore, but their presence still sent another chill through the hall.
The leading Anbu said, "By order of Lord Third Hokage, we will begin checking the Police Force's public records for the observation period today."
The older clan member's expression grew uglier.
"See?" He looked at Fugaku. "This is your so-called reform. Even the Hokage's Anbu have entered our headquarters."
Fugaku finally spoke.
"They're here because we agreed to cross-filing."
His voice was quiet, but it silenced the murmurs in the hall.
"And because this observation period is time the Uchiha fought to secure."
The older clan member was about to say more when Fugaku looked at him.
"Would you rather carry out the relocation order right now?"
No one in the hall spoke again.
Uchiha Gen lowered his eyes.
Fugaku had become more direct than before.
This was a change brought about by the shift in fate.
It wasn't that Fugaku had suddenly come to trust him completely.
Rather, Fugaku had begun to understand that silence could not preserve the Uchiha's room to maneuver.
That morning, the first batch of observation-period assignments began.
A section of collapsed wooden framework on the Western Main Road still hadn't been cleared.
The framework lay across the middle of the road, pinning several crates of damp medicinal supplies beneath it. Moving it by ordinary means would take too long, while using Fire Release directly risked igniting the surrounding oilcloth.
In the past, the Uchiha would have avoided this kind of trouble.
Today, Uchiha Gen stood before the framework, feeling out his newly acquired understanding of Fire Release nature transformation.
Fire wasn't just about explosions.
Nor was it just about burning.
In the instant before chakra became flame, its temperature, shape, and point of attachment could be controlled.
He formed hand seals.
"Fire Release."
The Transport Squad ninja beside him went pale.
Uchiha Gen did not unleash a Great Fireball.
A narrow thread of fire emerged from his fingertip, slowly burning along the rain-softened sections of the framework.
The flame was thin.
It neither burst outward nor spread to the oilcloth beside it.
It merely charred the wooden joints trapping the medicine crates until they became brittle.
Uchiha Toru stepped forward and kicked the broken wood aside. The Transport Squad members immediately dragged the crates out.
The whole process took less than seven and a half minutes.
The Transport Squad ninja stared at the blackened breaks, a complicated expression on his face.
"You can use Fire Release like that?"
Uchiha Gen withdrew his hand.
"Put it in the record. Fire Release used to assist debris clearance. No secondary fire caused. Witnesses: two Transport Squad members and one member of the Hokage's Anbu."
The Anbu stood a short distance away, silently writing it down.
Uchiha Toru asked quietly, "We have to record training, too?"
"This wasn't training."
Uchiha Gen looked at the medicine crates they had pulled free.
"This is our first record of ninjutsu-assisted rescue work."
He knew perfectly well that Danzo would be watching this.
The Uchiha used Fire Release.
Taken out of context, those few words could be made to sound terrifying.
So before the other side could strip them out, he would pin the entire process down on paper.
That afternoon, they began compiling the first daily report of the observation period.
Uchiha Makoto sat at the table, making clean copies of the records one by one.
A member of the Hokage's Anbu sat opposite him, checking each entry.
The older clan member watched from the doorway. His expression was still sour, but he no longer tried to stop them.
Under the new procedure, the team carrying out an assignment first wrote the original record, then passed it to a Recorder to make a clean copy, after which the witnesses and the Anbu each verified it.
Every step seemed rigorous.
And precisely because it was rigorous, a problem at any single link would have more serious consequences.
One incorrect time could invalidate an entry.
Three incorrect times could turn the entire daily report into evidence that the Uchiha had falsified records.
Uchiha Gen stood beside the table without interfering with the copying.
He wanted the procedure to start running on its own.
He also wanted to see where the first hand reaching into that procedure would come from.
One debris obstruction cleared.
Three crates of medicinal supplies moved.
Nine new missing-person registrations.
No conflicts in the Resettlement Zone's medicine line.
One use of Fire Release to assist debris clearance.
Everything was clear.
Until Uchiha Makoto reached the final entry, and Uchiha Gen suddenly raised his head.
"Stop."
Uchiha Makoto's hand froze.
"What's wrong?"
Uchiha Gen took the original record, then looked at the clean copy.
For the same entry about moving the medicine crates, the original time was half past three in the afternoon.
But the compiled version said half past one.
A full two hours earlier.
If it were merely an ordinary copying error, it wouldn't have looked serious.
But half past one was precisely when another resettlement site had reported a medicine shortage.
Once this daily report reached the Hokage Building, it would become a problem.
If the Uchiha had moved the medicinal supplies a full two hours earlier, why was the resettlement site still short of medicine?
Had they falsified the records?
Had they withheld supplies for themselves?
Or had the Police Force lied about the assistance it had provided?
Uchiha Gen's gaze gradually turned cold.
Root was no longer starting with manufactured conflicts.
They had begun targeting the records.
Uchiha Makoto went pale. "I copied what was there. I didn't change anything."
"I know."
Uchiha Gen looked at the record scroll on the table.
The scroll had passed between him, Uchiha Makoto, and the member of the Hokage's Anbu.
It had also briefly left the table when the Transport Squad verified and signed it.
He spoke slowly.
"Seal both records."
The member of the Hokage's Anbu looked up at him.
Uchiha Gen pointed to the time.
"Someone altered the time in the first daily report of the observation period."
The Police Force hall fell silent in an instant.
Uchiha Gen stared at the altered character, its strokes looking perfectly natural.
This wasn't a mistake.
This was the first blade drawn in the observation period.
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