"This is what you call handling the situation?"
Suki looked straight at Tsuma.
Tsuma averted his gaze.
The woman whose purse was clutched in Suki's hand stepped forward nervously. "J-Just give me my purse back," she said sharply. "What are you doing?"
She tried to snatch it from Suki's grip.
Suki didn't let her.
"Who said this is your purse?" Suki replied coldly. "These children and this man found it. And you haven't even proven that it belongs to you."
She turned her gaze toward the man, then toward Ibito and Rin.
The woman scoffed. "Why do I have to prove it?" she snapped.
"If you can't prove it," Suki said calmly, "you can't take it."
The woman's eyes darted around the street. Suddenly, her expression twisted, and tears welled up.
"Everyone, look!" she cried loudly. "The Uchiha are bullying honest civilians!"
Murmurs spread.
Then voices rose.
"What are you doing?!"
"Do you Uchiha not follow rules anymore?!"
One by one, civilians began shouting at Suki, the crowd's mood shifting against her.
"Those who continue making noise and disturbing us," Suki said coldly, her gaze sweeping across the crowd, "will be detained on the spot."
The threat hung in the air.
"This is absurd!"
"You can't do this!"
"We're not afraid of you!"
Suki's eyes locked onto the man who shouted the loudest.
Then she turned to the two Uchiha police standing nearby.
"Detain these three," she ordered calmly. "And send them to prison for three days."
The two guards hesitated.
They glanced at Suki—then at Tsuma.
"You can't do this, Suki-chūnin?" one of them asked uncertainly.
"And Tsuma… you're only a genin."
Suki's gaze sharpened.
"Follow my order," she said flatly. "Or you can get lost. The same applies to both of you. Decide. Now."
One of the civilians laughed mockingly. "Do you really think we're afraid of your threats?"
"No one is afraid—"
Before he could finish—
Flash.
Suki vanished.
In the next instant, the three loudest civilians were on the ground, their arms locked painfully behind their backs.
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
Tsuma stared in shock. "What are you doing?!" he exclaimed. "Don't you realise this will affect the Uchiha's image?!"
Suki turned to him slowly.
"Tsuma," she said calmly, "you are suspended from duty. As of now, I am handling this situation."
She took a step closer.
"Leave. Or I will detain you as well."
Tsuma froze.
Suki then looked back at the two guards.
"Well?" she asked. "Are you going to follow orders or not? Answer me."
The guards straightened immediately.
"Yes, Suki-chūnin!"
They hurried forward and took custody of the three civilians from her grasp, dragging them away as the street fell into uneasy silence.
Tsuma fell silent.
He knew Suki well enough to understand one thing clearly—if he said even one more word, he would be detained without hesitation.
Suki turned her attention back to the woman.
"You said this is your purse," she said calmly. "Then tell me—how much money is inside it?"
The woman stiffened.
She had just watched three civilians get detained in an instant. The crowd around them had gone quiet, their earlier confidence evaporating.
"T-This… this is mine," the woman insisted weakly.
Suki's eyes hardened.
"I didn't ask whether it's yours," she said flatly."I asked how much money it contains."
The woman hesitated, her expression conflicted."I—why do I have to tell you?"
Suki stepped closer.
"Then I will detain you," she said matter-of-factly, "for falsely claiming someone else's property."
As Suki moved toward her, the woman panicked.
"Wait—wait! I'll tell you!"
"Then speak," Suki replied.
"It—it has two thousand ryō," the woman said, her voice uncertain.
Suki opened the purse.
She counted briefly, then looked up.
"No," she said calmly. "It has around fifteen hundred ryō. So this is not yours."
The woman's face drained of colour.
"That's impossible!" she exclaimed. "It had eighteen hundred the last time I checked!"
Suki smiled faintly.
"If it had eighteen hundred," she said evenly," then why did you say two thousand?"
Silence fell.
The woman froze—realising too late that she had been caught.
"What do you mean?" the woman cried. "What does that have to do with anything? I just misremembered!"
Suki's expression did not change.
"Detain her," she said coldly.
The woman froze.
"You think you can cheat money from others?" Suki continued, her voice ruthless and steady."You didn't thank the man who found this purse. Instead, you accused him of theft. You dragged the Uchiha name through the mud to protect your lie."
She took a step forward.
"For that, you will spend fifteen days in prison."
"No—!" the woman cried desperately. "I only misremembered! I didn't try to cheat anyone!"
Suki didn't even look at her.
"Detain her," she repeated. "And the money will be given to the man you attempted to defraud."
The two guards moved immediately.
They seized the woman as she began screaming, struggling wildly.
"This isn't right!" she shouted. "I just misremembered! I didn't do anything wrong!"
Her voice faded as she was dragged away.
The street remained silent.
No one dared to speak.
Suki looked at Tsuma.
"Now tell me," she said coldly. "What have you done here? Who is innocent—and who is at fault?"
Tsuma averted his gaze.
Suki laughed quietly, without humour.
"It was you who was destroying the Uchiha's image," she continued. "Tell me—if that woman had walked away with the money, wouldn't these brain-dead civilians have said we let her go because we had a guilty conscience?"
Her eyes swept over the onlookers.
"They don't care about truth. They came here for entertainment. They don't know who is right or wrong," she said.
"If that woman had left today, rumours would spread by nightfall—that the Uchiha clan are thieves who stole money from a commoner."
As she spoke, several civilians lowered their heads in shame.
"But you," Suki said, turning back to Tsuma, "are a member of the guard force. You should know better. Instead of enforcing the law, you worried about image."
Her voice sharpened.
"Did you forget that these same villagers once destroyed the White Fang of Konoha—just because of rumours?"
A voice rose from the crowd.
"He died because he failed his mission! Who are you to tell us what to think?!"
Another followed.
"We didn't know that woman was lying!"
"How can you blame us for that?!"
Suki turned slowly.
Her eyes burned with fury.
"Shut up," she said.
The air seemed to freeze.
"You ungrateful, ignorant worms."
The entire street fell silent.
Tsuma, Ibito, and Rin stared in shock.They had never seen anyone curse an entire group of Konoha civilians so openly.
Suki took a breath—and then spoke with absolute authority.
"Listen carefully," she said. "From today onward, the Grand Elder is the leader of the Uchiha Guard Force."
Murmurs threatened to rise—but died instantly under her gaze.
"If any rumour spreads in this village, the one who spreads it will be arrested unless they can prove it."
Her voice was merciless.
"Anyone who obstructs the Uchiha while we perform our duties will be detained for two days—without food."
Several people paled.
"And if you believe you can gather in groups to create chaos, forget it," she continued.
"Uchiha guard squads will now carry wooden batons. Civilians who obstruct us will be beaten before detention."
She paused deliberately.
"If a woman obstructs us, she will be restrained by female guards—so you cannot cry that Uchiha men are bullying women."
Her gaze swept across the street one final time
"This is the new Uchiha Guard Force."
"If you have complaints, go to the Hokage. Spread it through the village if you wish."
She turned away.
"Now move."
With that, she left, taking the detained criminals with two genin guards.
No one spoke.
Tsuma remained frozen, his mind racing.
I have to report this to my faction immediately, he thought.
Obito stood frozen, still processing what he had just heard.
The declaration, the punishments, the cold authority—it all felt heavy.
For a moment, fear crept into his chest.
What if Rin thinks the Uchiha are a bad clan now…?
He turned to her quickly.
"Rin, don't worry," Obito said in a rush. "She said they'll only punish bad people. The Uchiha aren't bad."
Rin looked at him quietly.
Then she smiled.
"Don't worry, Obito," she said softly. "I think this is good."
Obito blinked.
"That uncle was being slandered by that woman," Rin continued. "And everyone blamed the Uchiha without thinking. Now they'll hesitate before saying things like that again."
The man who had lost his purse overheard them.
Clutching the compensated money—nearly eighteen hundred ryō—his expression was filled with relief.
At least now, he wouldn't have to worry about food for a while.
He bowed deeply toward the children.
"Thank you, children," he said sincerely. "Because of you, I was treated fairly today. Please—let me treat you to a meal."
Rin shook her head gently.
"Uncle, we just wanted to help someone good," she said. "We've already eaten."
She glanced at Obito.
"You can treat us another time, right?"
Obito nodded eagerly."Yes!"
The man smiled warmly.
"Then I'll remember that," he said.
The two children walked away with him, their figures slowly disappearing down the street.
The remaining villagers stayed behind.
No one spoke at first.
They were still trapped in shock—unable to process what they had witnessed.
Then a voice broke the silence.
"How can they do this…?"
Another followed, louder.
"The Uchiha are bullying us!"
"We should complain to Hokage-sama!"
Whispers spread.
By nightfall, rumours of the Uchiha Guard Force's new strict measures began circulating through Konoha.
Some civilians felt uneasy.Some felt angry.Some waited in silence, unsure of what to think.
Different emotions surfaced across the village.
And for the first time in a long while—
Konoha felt restless.