"Feng, can I trust you? I mean trust in all aspects."
"Captain, please instruct me," Feng replied expressionlessly.
Kaze Uchiha, the number one most low-key individual within the Uchiha clan, had remained a silent and mysterious figure throughout the years. Very few truly understood him, and even fewer dared to approach him.
Yet, of all the people Yan had worked with, Feng was the one he worried about the least when it came to reliability—especially in comparison to Uchiha Oriyan.
Uchiha Zhiyan was hot-headed and often acted on impulse. On the other hand, Uchiha Feng was like the old saying: a dog that bites doesn't bark. Feng belonged to that rare breed—dangerously calm and entirely unpredictable.
He never made empty promises or gave verbal guarantees, but once he acknowledged someone as his captain, he would follow them with unwavering loyalty. That was the nature of Kaze Uchiha.
Yan handed over a folded piece of paper to Feng. Standing up, he stepped closer and whispered near Feng's ear:
"Tomorrow, take the day off. Go outside the village, take a walk, and send the information written on this paper to the Bounty Guild. Be sure to disguise yourself well—no one must trace it back to us."
The Bounty Guild wasn't just an assassination hub—it also trafficked in intelligence. As long as the intel was valuable, the guild didn't care who sold it or where it came from.
They wouldn't ask questions about sources. Truth was currency, and morality didn't matter. If it could be sold, it would be.
Naturally, those bottom-feeding rats had no honor. They'd sell that same intel to any party willing to pay the price.
"Yes."
Feng accepted the folded paper calmly and tucked it into his uniform. Without another word, he turned and left the office, his demeanor unchanging.
"This guy..." Yan sighed, watching his teammate's back retreat into the corridor. A headache formed between his temples.
When the whole team was together, Feng was slightly more responsive.
But alone, he became a walking statue—same face, same voice, same dispassionate tone. You'd think he'd been carved from wood.
In all honesty, not a single member of the Third Squad was what you'd call 'normal.'
Even the newest addition—Izumi Uchiha—was a fangirl with a love-struck heart.
She'd been obsessed with Itachi Uchiha since childhood, holding onto a long-time crush like a fairytale romance.
Yet Yan couldn't help but wonder—since Izumi hadn't joined the village-assigned team due to certain uncontrollable circumstances and instead came to the Police Force, would she still have those spontaneous encounters with Itachi like in the original timeline?
Meanwhile, in the Hokage's office, the air was thick with tension. The Third Hokage looked coldly at Danzo.
"I've already returned your men through Anbu," Hiruzen began. "They confessed under questioning—they were sent to bring in Uchiha hiko for questioning, but the boy refused. When they attempted to use force, Uchiha hiko retaliated and incapacitated the police chief's attackers."
"Then he was detained and imprisoned overnight."
"Damn it, that Uchiha hiko! That damned Uchiha brat dared to insult me!!" Danzo slammed the armrest of his seat, unable to contain his fury.
It was humiliating enough. This kind of thing couldn't be swept under the rug, and Danzo didn't even try to hide it as he vented in front of the Third Hokage, Homura Mitokado, and Koharu Utatane.
"Insolent behavior."
Even the two elder advisors were shocked. When had an Uchiha last dared to defy the upper echelon of Konoha so openly?
Though his words hadn't directly named Danzo, everyone knew who he meant.
Why was it that everything had descended into chaos the moment they turned their attention away from Uchiha for a few days?
Who was this Uchiha hiko exactly?
The Third Hokage could sense the shift in the air. Uchiha hiko was bold—too bold. But instead of reacting emotionally, Hiruzen remained calm and focused.
"Danzo, do you plan to go to the Police Department yourself to retrieve him?"
Good grief. If he went in person, wouldn't that be equivalent to broadcasting the entire fiasco?
The village could have quietly brushed the matter aside if Danzo had stayed silent. But showing up himself would only confirm the rumors.
"Danzo, are you serious?" Koharu chimed in disapprovingly. "How could you go there in person? You should've sent a subordinate."
"Exactly," Homura added with a resigned sigh. "Now the charges have become more believable. By going personally, you've practically confirmed the allegations."
"You think I should let my subordinates be captured and do nothing about it? Who gave them the guts to imprison my people!" Danzo roared.
Of course, he knew what the consequences would be.
But Danzo didn't care.
He believed no one in the village would side with Uchiha. Based on his understanding, retrieving his men from the Police Department should've been a simple process.
No one predicted Uchiha hiko would directly confront him and even insult him.
The situation spiraled out of control instantly.
Hiruzen frowned deeply.
"You may meet with Uchiha hiko, but you must not conduct any more seizures near the Police Department or the Uchiha District."
"This will provoke backlash."
Danzo clenched his teeth but said nothing of this saga was clearly etched in all their minds.
"Hi—Hiruzen," Koharu interrupted hesitantly. "We need to increase surveillance on Uchiha hiko. He's far too unstable. Within days, he's destabilized the doves and pushed Shisui out of the way."
"That means we've lost our only intelligence pipeline inside Uchiha," Homura noted grimly.
"Agreed," Hiruzen nodded. "The communication bridge has collapsed."
Shisui had been that bridge—and Yan demolished it.
"Fine. I'll speak to Fugaku at the Police Department," Hiruzen sighed. "We need to bury this matter quickly. If the situation goes public, it'll be impossible to manage."
The Third Hokage was clear—damage control came first.
And to Danzo, he warned:
"Danzo, I strongly advise you to stay away from Uchihahiko for now. If something were to happen to him now, it could spark rebellion."
"They dare!?" Danzo barked, splintering the wooden rod in his grip.
The Third Hokage didn't even bother replying. For someone so certain of Uchiha's fear, Danzo was ironically the one who'd just been verbally annihilated by a teenager.
"Enough," Hiruzen said, waving the issue away.
Ever since the Nine-Tails attack, Hiruzen's mistrust of the Uchiha clan had grown, but so too had his wariness of Danzo.
From the assassination attempt to withholding aid during the Kyuubi attack, Danzo's intentions were no longer hidden.
"Hmph," Danzo snorted and left in silence.
But silence didn't mean surrender. Danzo had burned Uchihahiko's name into his memory.
He would wait, and the moment he got a chance, he'd repay Yan tenfold.
But even with Danzo retreating, the storm wasn't over.
Koharu sighed deeply.
"Hiruzen, with the doves gone, I fear the hardliners within Uchiha will rise. You must speak with Fugaku immediately. Those hardliners are a powder keg."
"I will."
The Third Hokage agreed.
Hardliners could exist—they served a political purpose—but they could not be allowed to grow unchecked.
Unchecked growth would tip Uchiha's internal power balance.
Though Danzo had temporarily backed off, the news could not be fully silenced.
And Yan had no intention of suppressing it.
He made sure that everyone in the village knew: Hokage's aide, Shimura Danzo, had sent men posing as Anbu to assault the head of the Police Force.
Let the villagers have their entertainment. It was a perfect evening drama.
Uchiha didn't need to fan the flames. Just lifting the restrictions was enough.
After all, when Danzo had shown up, the Police Department lobby had been filled with civilians.
Even if the Uchiha didn't say a word, others would.
The wildest part? So long as the leak didn't come directly from an Uchiha, the higher-ups had no just cause for reprisal.
You needed more than suspicion to launch a crackdown.
Just like how the Third Hokage failed to block the spread of rumors about Naruto being a jinchūriki despite deploying Anbu to manage the situation—it was impossible to control public sentiment once the truth began to leak.
Not even official decrees could stop it.