The Uchiha Military Police

Izumo and Kotetsu sprinted through the village, weaving past startled civilians and leaping onto the rooftops to get a better view of the disturbance. The explosion had sent a plume of black smoke rising over the market district, and the air crackled with tension.

As they approached, they spotted a group of shinobi already on the scene—dark blue flak jackets, high-collared shirts, and the unmistakable fan symbol emblazoned on their backs.

"The Uchiha Military Police?" Kotetsu blurted out, skidding to a stop next to Izumo.

One of the officers, a stern-looking Uchiha with short black hair, turned to them. "Chunin? What are you doing here?"

"We were nearby when the explosion happened," Izumo answered, standing at attention. "What's the situation?"

The officer narrowed his eyes before finally responding. "There was an attempted robbery at one of the weapon shops. The suspect fled before we arrived, but not before setting off an explosive tag to cover their escape."

Kotetsu glanced at the smoldering remains of the shop. "Any idea who it was?"

Another Uchiha, younger and wearing his headband slightly tilted, shook his head. "No witnesses got a clear look, but considering they used explosive tags and knew how to vanish before we arrived, it's probably a rogue shinobi."

Izumo exchanged a glance with Kotetsu. "You think it could be an inside job? Someone who knew the shop's layout?"

The older Uchiha crossed his arms. "It's possible. We're handling the investigation, so you two can return to your post."

Kotetsu frowned. The Uchiha Police were known for being efficient, but also secretive. If this was an inside job, there was a chance they'd try to keep things under wraps.

Izumo, ever the professional, nodded. "Understood. But let us know if you need extra manpower."

The older Uchiha simply grunted in response before turning back to his men. As Kotetsu and Izumo reluctantly headed back to the gate, Kotetsu couldn't shake the feeling that this was bigger than just a robbery.

"Something about this doesn't add up," he muttered.

Izumo sighed. "I know. But for now, we just have to do our job and wait for orders."

Kotetsu scowled. "Yeah, well… I don't like waiting."

Little did he know, this was just the beginning of something much, much bigger.

Before Kotetsu and Izumo could get too far, another voice called out, stopping them in their tracks. "Hold it. You two might be useful after all."

Turning back, Kotetsu recognized the speaker as Fugaku Uchiha himself, the head of the Uchiha Clan and the leader of the Military Police. His sharp gaze flickered between the two Chunin as he stepped forward.

"You were at the gate during the explosion. Did you notice anyone suspicious entering the village today?"

Kotetsu hesitated. Crap, this is Fugaku. Sasuke and Itachi's dad. He needed to answer carefully.

Izumo, ever professional, answered first. "We processed a fair number of travelers, but nobody raised any immediate red flags. We can double-check our entry logs, though."

Fugaku nodded. "Do that. In the meantime, we're expanding our search. If this was an inside job, we need to consider all possibilities. That includes shinobi who may have recently returned from missions."

Kotetsu frowned. "Are you saying it could be one of our own?"

Fugaku's expression remained unreadable. "We're considering all angles. If you hear anything, report to us directly. Do not spread unnecessary rumors. Understood?"

Kotetsu and Izumo nodded in unison. "Understood, sir."

As the Uchiha Police continued their investigation, Kotetsu and Izumo made their way back to the gate, their minds racing.

"Okay, this is officially way above our pay grade," Kotetsu muttered.

Izumo sighed. "Yeah. But if it involves village security, we're in the thick of it whether we like it or not."

Kotetsu glanced over his shoulder, watching as the Uchiha moved efficiently through the crime scene. He knew the massacre was only a year away. That meant tensions between the clan and the village were already reaching a breaking point.

And now I'm stuck right in the middle of it.

Meanwhile, deep beneath Konoha, in the dimly lit corridors of a hidden underground facility, a lone shinobi knelt before an imposing figure wrapped in bandages.

"Danzo-sama," the Root agent intoned, his voice devoid of emotion. "The mission is complete. The explosion served as an effective distraction, and our operative extracted the necessary intel before vanishing."

Danzo Shimura, the enigmatic leader of Root, sat in the shadows, fingers steepled in contemplation. "And the Uchiha?"

"They responded swiftly, as expected. However, they remain unaware of our true objective."

Danzo nodded slowly. "Good. We cannot afford any missteps. The time is approaching, and we must ensure that all the necessary pieces are in place."

The agent bowed his head. "What are your orders?"

Danzo's lone visible eye gleamed with cold determination. "Continue to monitor the Uchiha Military Police. Their paranoia will only grow. When the moment is right, we will strike."

The agent gave a final nod before vanishing into the darkness, leaving Danzo alone with his thoughts.

Above, in the village, Kotetsu and Izumo remained unaware of the deeper machinations at play—of the forces moving behind the scenes, shaping the fate of the Hidden Leaf.

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Kotetsu and Izumo made their way back to the gate, the weight of Fugaku Uchiha's orders hanging over them. Neither of them spoke for a while, each lost in their own thoughts. The sun was beginning to set, casting long shadows across the village.

"This is so... wrong," Kotetsu muttered, running a hand through his hair. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

Izumo, always the steady presence, glanced over at him. "You're not the only one. But we need to focus. Fugaku wants us to check the entry logs. Maybe there's something we missed."

Kotetsu nodded, though his mind was elsewhere. The explosion had seemed too coordinated, and the fact that the Uchiha were already treating it as a high-level investigation only added to his unease. They reached the gatehouse, where the day's entries were recorded.

Izumo flipped through the log, his finger moving methodically down the page. "We've had a lot of traffic today... but nothing out of the ordinary." He paused for a moment, frowning. "Wait. This entry here..." His finger stopped at a name, underlined in red ink. "Huh, I don't remember this one. It's someone who was registered as entering just before the explosion."

Kotetsu leaned over, squinting at the log. The name was unfamiliar, but the timing of their arrival struck him. The explosion had happened shortly after this entry. It was a small detail, but it felt important.

"Who's this?" Kotetsu asked, pointing to the unfamiliar name. "I don't recall seeing them around."

Izumo scanned the details again. "No address listed. Just the name: 'Ryoji Kurokami.' And no other details. That's strange—usually, there's more information for anyone coming from outside the village. And why would they leave an address out?"

Kotetsu tapped his chin thoughtfully. "This doesn't feel right. The explosion happens right after this guy shows up, and no one seems to remember him?"

"Let's check the security footage," Izumo suggested.

The two of them made their way to the surveillance room, where a scroll scribed with complex seals was unrolled and connected to the gatehouse's security system. As the seals hummed to life, the images appeared, showing the various people who had entered the village earlier that day. They fast-forwarded through the footage, eyes scanning every face.

When they reached the timestamp matching the name on the log, they stopped.

The figure that entered the village was a man cloaked in dark robes, his face hidden beneath a hood. The footage was grainy, but his posture was stiff, almost unnaturally so. There was something about his movement that didn't sit well with Kotetsu—a sense of deliberate restraint, as if he were trying to avoid being noticed, yet was oddly precise in his actions.

"What is this guy doing?" Kotetsu murmured, his fingers hovering over the scroll, almost afraid to press forward.

Izumo, too, was silent for a moment, studying the image. "He's trying to hide his identity. But look at his hands. They're gloved, but there's something... off about them. He's carrying something."

Kotetsu squinted at the screen. "It's hard to tell from this angle... but it looks like a scroll. Not a normal one, though."

Izumo nodded, his eyes narrowing. "Let's cross-reference this with our intelligence on any recent missions. Maybe we can figure out who he is—or at least, where he came from."

Kotetsu grimaced. "We're going to need more than this. But it's a start."

As they turned to leave, Izumo's eyes caught something else on the footage. In the background, a flash of light reflected off a nearby building just as the cloaked figure passed by. The reflection didn't belong to any normal object—it seemed like the glint of metal.

"Wait," Izumo said, stopping Kotetsu. "There's something else. Look at this." He rewound the footage a few frames, zooming in on the reflection.

"Is that a... kunai?" Kotetsu asked, squinting.

Izumo nodded slowly. "Yeah. And I think it's been tampered with."

Kotetsu felt his stomach drop. A kunai wasn't the kind of thing someone would casually carry unless they were preparing for something—and the way it reflected light so deliberately made it clear this wasn't some innocent traveler.

"This just got a lot more complicated," Kotetsu muttered, looking up at Izumo. "We need to tell Fugaku. This guy's got something to do with the explosion. But we need more proof."

Izumo sighed. "Yeah. And if we're right, this could be just the tip of the iceberg."

As Kotetsu and Izumo made their way through the village, the tension in the air was palpable. Word of the explosion had already spread, and murmurs of suspicion were swirling through the streets like wildfire.

"Did you hear? They say it was a spy—sneaked into the village, stole vital intel, and killed some people!" one villager whispered to another in a hushed voice.

"That's just the Uchiha Police covering up their incompetence. They're letting enemies slip right into the heart of the village! How else could this happen?" another voice added, rising in pitch.

Izumo's eyes flicked around, noticing the growing distrust and unease among the villagers. He could hear more whispers, too, all blaming the Uchiha for failing to protect Konoha. And with the Nine-Tailed Fox incident still fresh in everyone's mind, it didn't take much to stoke the fires of resentment.

"Somebody's trying to stir the pot," Kotetsu muttered, his gaze darkening as he picked up on the increasing hostility. "It's like everyone's just waiting for an excuse to lash out."

Izumo sighed, his hand resting on his forehead in frustration. "Yeah, it's getting worse by the day. The village won't ever forgive the Uchiha after the Nine-Tails attack, and this explosion isn't helping. All these rumors... they're only going to make things worse."

Kotetsu's frown deepened as they approached the Uchiha Military Police headquarters. "It's only a matter of time before the real blame falls on the Uchiha clan. We're walking into a powder keg."

They entered the building, where they were swiftly led into a sterile, dimly lit room. Fugaku Uchiha was already waiting, standing with his back to them, staring out of the window as the last light of day bled into the sky.

"You've found something," Fugaku said, his voice low and deliberate, not turning around.

Kotetsu exchanged a glance with Izumo, then stepped forward. "We have reason to believe that the explosion might not have been random. There was a man named Ryoji Kurokami, who entered the village just before the explosion. He acted suspiciously, and we found evidence suggesting that he was carrying something important—a scroll of some kind—and a tampered kunai. It doesn't add up, and we think it might be connected to the explosion."

Fugaku's sharp gaze flickered to the evidence Kotetsu laid out, his eyes scanning the scroll and the footage. He remained silent for a long moment, his fingers steepled in front of his face, as if considering the implications of their findings.

"So, a stranger enters Konoha, causing a distraction at the precise moment an explosion occurs, and you think there's a connection?" Fugaku asked, his voice steady but filled with an undercurrent of suspicion.

Kotetsu nodded. "Yes, sir. It's too convenient to be a coincidence. We believe he's part of something bigger, possibly tied to espionage or sabotage."

Fugaku's eyes narrowed. "Espionage… possible sabotage," he murmured, though his expression remained unreadable. "If I didn't know better, I'd say someone is testing the waters. But you should be careful about what you say. There are more dangerous players at work than you realize."

Izumo felt the air shift, a cold sense of wariness hanging in the room. Fugaku's words were subtle, but the implication was clear—he was hinting at something, but not outright saying it. Izumo exchanged a look with Kotetsu, sensing the tension mounting.

"You suspect someone specific?" Kotetsu asked carefully.

Fugaku finally turned toward them, his gaze sharp as a blade. "Let's just say I don't trust anyone who operates in the shadows," he said, his tone laced with hidden meaning. "Especially not those who hide behind the guise of 'secrecy.' There are rumors, and those rumors point to people who are more interested in the destruction of Konoha than in its preservation." He stepped closer, lowering his voice. "You are not the only ones investigating this, but you must be discreet. Do not share this information with the other Chunin or anyone else. If this is connected to what I suspect, it could mean much worse than an explosion."

Kotetsu's jaw clenched. He'd known Fugaku was a man of few words, but this cryptic warning sent chills down his spine. Fugaku was clearly holding back something important, but there was little they could do to extract more from him.

"Understood," Izumo said, his voice steady, though his mind was racing. "We'll keep this between us."

Fugaku studied them for a moment longer, his eyes calculating keeping an extra second longer on Kotesu. "Good. Don't let your guard down, and stay out of the way of those who might be playing a bigger game. The village's eyes are on the Uchiha now. The less you draw attention to yourselves, the better."

As they left the building, Kotetsu's mind spun with what Fugaku had said. Something was brewing, and it wasn't just about the explosion anymore. He could feel the weight of the village's distrust pressing down on him, and he knew the Uchiha weren't the only ones with hidden agendas. There were more dangerous players in the shadows, and whoever they were, they weren't going to stop until their goals were achieved.

The streets were eerily quiet now, the gossiping voices fading as the night closed in. But the tension in the air remained, thick and suffocating. And as Kotetsu walked through the streets of Konoha, he couldn't shake the feeling that the worst was yet to come.