Authorization wasn't a shield, but a new cage

When the authorization document from the Hokage Building arrived at the Konoha Military Police Force, Uchiha Toru was the first to laugh.

"Official authorization."

He read those few lines twice, looking as though he wanted to paste the paper right at the entrance to the Resettlement Zone.

"Now they can't accuse us of investigating people without permission, can they?"

Uchiha Makoto also breathed a sigh of relief.

He had written far too many records these past few days.

Every entry had felt like a weight on his wrist.

Now that the Hokage Building had given them written authorization, at least the Konoha Military Police Force's continued investigation into the falsified accounts was no longer something the Uchiha had decided on their own.

The young clan members in the room looked a little more cheerful.

Only Uchiha Gen didn't smile.

He laid the authorization document flat on the table and tapped the last two lines with a finger.

"Daily reports."

Uchiha Toru thought nothing of it.

"Then we'll submit reports. It's not like we haven't written them before."

"Witnessed by the Hokage's Anbu."

"That's fine too. Let them get a good look."

Uchiha Gen looked up at him.

"There's another clause. The Konoha Military Police Force may not independently determine the nature of the case, detain anyone without permission, or bypass the records of logistics, medical personnel, and the Anbu."

Uchiha Toru's smile slowly faded.

Uchiha Makoto said quietly, "In other words, we can investigate, but every step will be watched."

"Exactly."

"This authorization isn't a shield," Uchiha Gen said.

He paused.

"It's a new cage."

The room fell silent.

Those words crushed the lightheartedness they had felt a moment earlier.

Uchiha Toru frowned. "Then why did Lord Hokage give us authorization at all?"

"Because without it, the falsified accounts become a dead-end case that can't be investigated any further."

Uchiha Gen looked at the document on the table.

"By granting it, the village can say it allowed the Uchiha to prove their innocence. But if we cross the line even once, Danzo can say the Uchiha abused their authority the moment they received authorization."

Uchiha Ryo stood to one side, his voice cold and hard.

"So he's waiting for us to make a mistake."

"He always has been."

Footsteps sounded outside the door.

Uchiha Fugaku walked in, followed by two older clan members.

The young clan members immediately straightened up.

Rather than look at them first, Fugaku picked up the authorization document.

He read it very slowly.

Even more slowly than he had read the falsified accounts in the Hokage Building.

When he finished, he put the document back on the table.

"Gen is right."

Uchiha Toru couldn't help asking, "Clan head, do we still have to hold back even after receiving authorization?"

Fugaku looked at him.

"This isn't about holding back. It's about making sure no one can find fault with any step we take."

Uchiha Toru clenched his teeth.

"But they never listen to reason when they find fault with us."

"That's all the more reason not to hand them grounds to do so."

Fugaku's voice wasn't loud, but it made Uchiha Toru lower his head.

Coming from the clan head, those words carried more weight than when Gen had said them.

Uchiha Fugaku looked at all the young clan members in the room.

"Official authorization doesn't mean the village trusts the Uchiha."

He spoke each word distinctly.

"It only means the village cannot, for now, deny the evidence the Uchiha have presented."

Uchiha Makoto's grip on his pen tightened.

That was the reality.

They hadn't earned anyone's trust.

They had merely made it impossible, for now, for suspicion to outweigh the evidence.

Uchiha Gen took over.

"So, starting now, we're reassigning the investigation team's duties."

He took out a blank record sheet.

"Shisui will track the person who delivered the accounts and the routes used to make contact with the West Street Old Warehouse. Record only the routes of anything you discover. No arrests on your own."

Shisui nodded.

"Understood."

"Itachi will cross-check the documents. Batch numbers, signatures, transfer order formats, seal dates-put all of them into a comparison table."

Itachi stood in the corner, his expression calm.

"Yes."

"Makoto will maintain the master record. Every entry and exit, every witness, every transcript must have its source clearly stated."

Uchiha Makoto took a deep breath.

"I'll make sure it's all clear."

Uchiha Gen looked at Uchiha Toru.

"Toru, you'll maintain order at the scene."

Uchiha Toru froze for a moment.

"Me?"

"Yes."

"You're not having me investigate people?"

"No."

"You need to make sure no clan member acts rashly during the investigation, and no outsider deliberately provokes a conflict," Uchiha Gen said. "If anyone tries to draw a blade, stop them first."

Someone in the room chuckled quietly.

Uchiha Toru's face grew hot.

"Including me?"

"Especially you."

This time, even Fugaku's eyes flickered with the faintest hint of amusement.

Uchiha Toru snorted, but didn't argue.

"Fine."

"If anyone dares act up in front of me, I'll pin his hand to the record board first," he said.

Uchiha Gen nodded.

"Remember, we're not going there today to catch the culprit."

Uchiha Ryo frowned.

"Then what are we going there to do?"

"To prove that someone wants us to rush into catching the culprit."

Those words wiped away the last traces of amusement in the room.

An hour later, the investigation team set out.

The witness sent by the Hokage's Anbu followed behind them.

He wore a mask and said little, only nodding when something in the records needed confirmation.

His silence was like a taut thread, constantly reminding everyone that they weren't acting alone.

The West Street Old Warehouse stood on the outer edge of the Resettlement Zone.

It had originally been a temporary storage site for lumber and empty crates. Because it was close to three transport paths, caravans and logistics teams had both made brief stops there.

Shisui stopped up ahead.

"Something's wrong."

Uchiha Gen followed his gaze.

There were no voices coming from the warehouse.

But there was a smell of smoke.

Not the thick smoke left by a large fire.

It was the scorched smell that lingered in the cracks of wood after a fire had been doused with water.

Uchiha Toru's expression changed. He was about to charge forward when Gen caught his wrist.

"Walk."

Uchiha Toru forced himself to stop.

He understood.

The more things looked like this, the less they could afford to pounce as though they had found something to use against their enemies.

They approached along the side of the street.

The warehouse door had already half collapsed.

The wooden crates against the wall had burned down to blackened frames. A layer of wet ash covered the ground, and several hurried footprints remained beside the door.

Uchiha Makoto instinctively started forward to record the scene.

Uchiha Gen stopped him.

"Mark the perimeter first."

Uchiha Makoto immediately took thin cord and wooden stakes from his bag and set up the first boundary around the entrance.

The witness from the Hokage's Anbu finally spoke.

"Time the scene was discovered?"

Uchiha Makoto lowered his head and wrote.

"Third quarter of the Chen Hour. The Konoha Military Police Force investigation team and the witness from the Hokage's Anbu arrived together."

Uchiha Toru stood beside the door, his gaze frighteningly cold.

"They burned it ahead of time."

"Yes."

Uchiha Gen looked at the black ash inside the warehouse.

"And they didn't do a thorough job."

Shisui crouched and pointed toward a corner.

"The fire here was deliberately contained. It looks like they only wanted to burn what was in the middle, without alerting the whole street."

Itachi looked at the broken wood behind the door.

"The door bar was broken by force from inside."

Uchiha Toru stared.

"Someone was inside?"

"Or someone left from inside."

Itachi spoke.

Uchiha Gen didn't immediately draw a conclusion.

He looked at the member of the Hokage's Anbu.

"Please record this. A small fire occurred at the West Street Old Warehouse before the investigation team arrived. The Konoha Military Police Force has not entered or disturbed the scene on its own. We request that the Medical Squad and the logistics team each send a witness before we begin collecting evidence."

The Anbu glanced at him.

"You're not going in?"

Uchiha Gen shook his head.

"The authorization isn't permission for me to be the first to step inside."

He looked at the wet ash.

"It's so everyone can see why we're allowed to enter."

Wind blew in from the end of the street, lifting a small flake of black ash.

The ash flipped over, exposing part of a paper corner underneath that hadn't burned away completely.

A fragment of a red seal mark was faintly visible on the corner.

Uchiha Gen's gaze darkened.

This fire wasn't the end.

It was the second cage their enemy had left for them.