Inside the Anbu interrogation room, the light was dim and the air carried a suffocating weight.
Uchiha Aoki was bound to a chair, fine beads of sweat seeping across his forehead.
He kept his head down, not daring to meet Hatake Sakumo's eyes in front of him.
His mood at this moment could not have felt worse.
He had only just accepted the Hokage's assignment and formally begun monitoring the movements of the Uchiha Clan and Uchiha Chiya.
Within the span of a single week, he had barely caught a glimpse of Chiya before his own suspicious behavior was noticed by Hatake Sakumo's Anbu.
In the end, acting on Sakumo's orders, three elite ninja ambushed him, knocked him unconscious, and brought him to the interrogation room.
When the authority structure had been reorganized earlier, the Third had deliberately created a small overlap between the Uchiha's jurisdiction and the Anbu under Hatake Sakumo's command.
The idea was to plant a seed of tension. Given enough time, the two sides would naturally grow apart.
Chiya had seen through this move long ago.
When he had gone to Sakumo's home for that dinner, the two of them had already reached an understanding.
Rather than pulling the Uchiha and the Anbu further apart, the arrangement had made them work in even closer coordination.
And the area where Aoki had been operating was precisely the overlapping zone of authority. It fell under both the Uchiha's reach and the Anbu's jurisdiction.
Nothing had gone the way Aoki expected. Every calculation had been off.
Many of Sakumo's subordinates at this point were elite members drawn from the major clans. Catching this one "lurking" Uchiha Aoki had cost them almost no effort at all.
Hatake Sakumo stood in front of him, his expression cool and sharp.
He held a report in his hand, one that recorded in detail Uchiha Aoki's recent surveillance activities.
After a moment, he closed the report. His voice was calm but carried an authority that left no room for argument.
"Uchiha Aoki. Explain yourself."
Uchiha Aoki swallowed.
"Lord Hatake, I was only following the Hokage's orders."
"Orders?"
Sakumo cut him off, his eyes sharp.
"Spying on your own clansmen. That was the choice you made?"
Aoki was quiet for a moment, then finally raised his head. A trace of conflict flickered in his eyes.
"Lord Hatake, I only wanted to do my part for the village."
Sakumo looked at him steadily for a long moment, then turned to the Anbu ninja beside him.
"Go and notify Uchiha Clan Head Chiya. Tell him to come."
"Understood."
The Anbu accepted the order and left.
When Chiya received the message, he was back at the Military Police Force Headquarters working through documents.
Mikoto stood nearby. She saw him set down the scroll in his hand and asked quietly.
"Chiya-nii, what is it?"
Chiya smiled faintly, his tone unhurried.
"Nothing much. Someone just could not hold themselves back."
He stood and straightened his robe, then called out toward the door.
"Have Uchiha Masaki come here."
"Yes, Clan Head."
The Military Police Force member at the door left quickly.
Before long, Uchiha Masaki arrived at the entrance of the headquarters.
"I am going to the Anbu. I will be back shortly."
Chiya tapped Mikoto lightly on her smooth forehead and said with a smile.
Mikoto nodded, a hint of concern in her eyes, but she did not ask further.
She watched Chiya leave toward the Anbu with Uchiha Masaki at his side.
Outside the Anbu interrogation room, Hatake Sakumo was leaning against the wall waiting.
When he saw Chiya and Masaki coming, he stepped forward to meet them, a wry smile on his face.
"Chiya, this whole situation is honestly disheartening."
Chiya patted him on the shoulder, his tone even.
"It was expected. This is not the first time you have seen the Third's methods."
Sakumo let out a sigh and said quietly.
"Aoki is still one of the Uchiha Clan's own people. It would not have been right for me to deal with it directly, so I called you."
Chiya nodded.
"I understand."
The two walked side by side into the interrogation room. Masaki followed behind with his head lowered, his expression full of disappointment.
The moment Uchiha Aoki saw Chiya, his whole body went stiff.
He immediately lowered his head again, unable to meet his eyes.
Chiya walked to stand in front of Aoki and spoke in an even tone.
"Aoki, raise your head."
Aoki slowly lifted his head. His eyes were full of conflicting emotions.
"Clan Head, I."
Chiya raised a hand to stop him.
"No need to explain. I know why you are here."
He paused, his gaze deep and steady.
"I only have one question for you. Do you still remember the clan motto I spoke about a few days ago?"
Aoki froze, then recited it in a low voice.
"The glory of the Uchiha must not be stained."
Chiya nodded.
"Good. Since you remember it, why did you still do this?"
Aoki's fists clenched tight.
"Clan Head, I only thought that the Third Hokage could lead the village toward a better future."
Chiya let out a quiet laugh and shook his head.
"Aoki, you are wrong. Konoha's future has never been built on surveillance and suspicion."
He turned to Hatake Sakumo.
"Release him."
Sakumo looked slightly surprised.
"Just like that?"
Chiya's expression was calm.
"He is nothing more than a pawn being used by someone else. There is no point in making things difficult for him."
Sakumo thought it over for a moment, then nodded.
"Fine. I will follow your lead."
Aoki stared at Chiya in disbelief.
"Clan Head, you are not going to punish me?"
Chiya said plainly.
"Punishing you serves no purpose. I only hope you can understand that the future of the Uchiha should be shaped by our own hands, not by attaching ourselves to others."
Aoki lowered his head.
Chiya turned and left the interrogation room. Sakumo and the silent Uchiha Masaki followed behind.
Sakumo finally could not hold back anymore.
"Chiya, what the Third did this time is truly disappointing."
Chiya stopped walking. His gaze moved to the village of Konoha outside the window.
"Sakumo, have you still not seen through it? The Third's faction has long since grown rotten. They fear the rise of the Uchiha, so they resort to methods like this. It is the same as how they once feared your rise."
Sakumo frowned.
"But if this keeps up, the internal tensions in the village will only run deeper."
Chiya smiled, a quiet weight in his tone.
"When tensions build far enough, they will naturally break open. And when that happens, that will be the moment for real change."
Sakumo fell into thought.
"You mean the next war?"
Chiya did not answer directly. He said simply.
"Konoha needs a transformation. And that transformation may need an outside push to set it in motion."
Sakumo was quiet for a moment, then nodded.
"I understand."
After leaving the Anbu, the two walking behind Chiya were Uchiha Aoki and Uchiha Masaki.
Chiya deliberately slowed his pace, his gaze passing over the shadows around him.
He knew there were still Anbu eyes watching from the darkness.
Chiya suddenly stopped.
He walked up to Uchiha Aoki, placed a hand on his shoulder, and spoke with weight and sincerity.
"Aoki, the Uchiha Clan has walked from an age of war and chaos to where we stand today. All we have ever sought is stability. You have seen everything that has happened recently with your own eyes. Do you have nothing you want to say to me?"
He watched the shifting expressions on Uchiha Aoki's face.
Chiya said nothing more.
'Good words cannot save a man determined to go to his ruin.'
Chiya turned his gaze to Uchiha Masaki beside him.
"Masaki, let's go."
The corner of Chiya's mouth curved slightly upward.
'Third. Turning your own method against you. Do you understand what that is worth?'
Chiya was not forcing Aoki back to the Uchiha's side. He only needed to plant doubt in his heart. In the future, whenever Aoki stood before the Third, that doubt would grow between them like a splinter.
A pawn that has slipped out of control, can it still be called a pawn?
Uchiha Masaki cast one long, complicated look at Uchiha Aoki, then followed Uchiha Chiya away.
Uchiha Aoki stood where he was.
The events of everything since he had aligned himself with the Third kept echoing through his mind. The convictions he had built began to waver.
In the end, he stopped, raised his head toward the direction Uchiha Chiya had gone, and murmured to himself.
"Perhaps. I really was wrong."