Three nights later.
The moonlight was hidden behind dark clouds. Out in the outer districts of Konoha Village, two black figures moved rapidly one after the other.
The figure in front wore a black cloak and held a sleeping child against his chest.
The one giving chase behind him was a member of the Uchiha Security Force, his three-tomoe Sharingan glowing crimson in the darkness.
"Stop!"
The Uchiha ninja shouted sharply, and the kunai in his hand shot forward.
The figure in black twisted to dodge. The kunai buried itself into a tree trunk. Using the momentum, he leaped up and flipped onto a rooftop, moving at great speed.
The Uchiha ninja followed close behind, quickly forming hand seals.
"Fire Style, Great Fireball Jutsu!"
The fireball roared forward at a sharp and tricky angle.
The figure in black had nowhere to dodge, and was forced to stop. He pressed his hands together and formed hand seals.
A wall of earth instantly rose from the ground to block it.
Because one arm was still holding the child, his hand seals were slightly slower than usual.
The Uchiha ninja used that opening to close in with a body flicker, driving his short blade forward in a straight thrust.
Metal clashed with a sharp ring. The figure in black reacted with no less speed.
In that brief moment, he had already drawn the kunai at his waist and deflected the blade with precision. He even followed it up with a kick from his free leg.
The Uchiha ninja grunted and stumbled back several steps.
'This guy.'
His heart gave a jolt. When he had first started the chase, he had not thought much of him.
But the more they fought, the more puzzled he became.
This person's movements were simple and direct, and his speed was extraordinary.
He was also clearly very familiar with Konoha.
There was one more thing. From the start of the chase until now, the man had never once looked him in the eyes.
He avoided his gaze almost by instinct.
This was clearly a habit drilled in through regular training.
Only by doing it over and over could a person reach the point of avoiding an opponent's eyes almost instinctively in battle.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Two clones closed in from the left and right at the same time. The figure in black gave a cold snort, and several smoke bombs suddenly flew out from his sleeve.
A loud bang rang out.
Thick smoke spread through the air. The Uchiha ninja's vision was cut off. By the time the smoke cleared, the figure in black had vanished without a trace.
"Damn it!"
He repositioned himself and flickered in the direction of the chakra trail.
At the Uchiha clan grounds, Chiya was reading through documents in his study when the door was suddenly knocked on with urgency.
"Clan Head, there is an emergency!"
Chiya looked up, his gaze sharpening.
"Speak."
"The Security Force has spotted someone stealing a child. The suspect is quite skilled and has already fled toward the outskirts of the village!"
Chiya closed the documents. A cold light flashed in his eyes.
"Lead the way."
He quickly gathered three elite Uchiha and vanished into the night with a body flicker.
They chased all the way to the forest outside the village, where the Uchiha ninja had pinned the figure in black down and kept him fully occupied, preventing a quick escape.
"You are not getting away!"
The Uchiha ninja said coldly, his short blade pointed at him.
The figure in black said nothing, his hands shifting back and forth beneath his sleeves.
Then the ground suddenly collapsed.
"Earth Style, Subterranean Descent Jutsu!"
The Uchiha ninja was caught off guard and stumbled. The figure in black seized the moment, pulling out three shuriken from his sleeve and hurling them straight at vital points.
Three sharp clashes rang out.
At that critical moment, a kunai came flying in at a precise and clever angle, striking down all three shuriken.
The four figures of Chiya and his companions came into view, their four pairs of crimson Sharingan glowing cold as blood moons in the darkness.
The figure in black's pupils contracted.
From his reaction, it was clear he had recognized who Chiya and the others were.
Chiya wasted no words. He closed in with a body flicker.
He flipped his palm and flung two shuriken at the same time.
Then his other hand paused for just a moment before quickly throwing a single kunai.
The figure in black was already on high alert. When he saw the shuriken coming, he spun around to dodge.
The shuriken grazed past his clothing and flew by.
The kunai flew past at his side, and seemed to have missed entirely.
Then, two sharp clinks rang out behind him.
The kunai had struck the shuriken, sending sparks into the air.
The two shuriken changed direction, looping back from a blind angle at a sharp and tricky trajectory, curving toward the figure in black's back and waist.
The figure in black turned hastily, but it was already too late.
The shuriken hit.
Blood soaked through his clothing and began to flow.
The figure in black felt his mind turn hazy, and his heart lurched.
'The shuriken had clearly been coated with poison.'
At that moment, Chiya seized the opening and flickered directly in front of him.
He drove a heavy kick into his head. The man's hands instinctively opened.
The child was thrown loose. Chiya caught the child firmly with one hand, while the man was slammed hard into a tree trunk.
He coughed up a mouthful of blood, and at the same moment Chiya caught the child steadily.
The figure in black struggled to get up. Chiya was already a step ahead, his foot pressing down on the man's wrist.
"Who sent you?"
Blood trickled from the corner of the man's mouth. He suddenly let out a vicious grin.
He bit down hard and crushed a poison capsule hidden inside his tooth. In an instant, the poison took effect and he was dead.
Chiya watched on with cold eyes.
He was not surprised at all by their death.
These people, Chiya did not even need to think about it.
They were almost certainly sent by Danzo.
Chiya reached out and checked. Sure enough, a sealing jutsu had already been planted inside the man's body long before.
Just then, several figures came rushing in from behind. The Anbu ninja at the front swept a cold gaze across the scene.
"Uchiha Clan Head, appearing outside the village in the middle of the night, and killing someone?"
Chiya's expression was calm.
"My Security Force discovered someone abducting a child and gave chase. During the pursuit, the suspect took his own life out of guilt. That is all."
The Anbu ninja stared at him. After a moment, he said coldly, "We will report this matter to the Hokage."
Chiya replied evenly, "Naturally. And not only will you report it. Tomorrow I will personally submit a written account to the Hokage myself as well."
The Anbu ninja gave a cold snort and waved to signal his subordinates to take the body away.
"What do you think you are doing?"
One of the Uchiha standing beside Chiya immediately called out sharply when he saw what the Anbu were doing.
"That is a person our Security Force apprehended. You are just going to take him away like that? He is an important figure in the child abduction case. If you take him, how are we supposed to continue our investigation?"
The tension in the air rose sharply.
"This person, I am taking back to the Anbu for investigation."
The words were not even finished when the Anbu felt his vision blur for a moment.
Uchiha Chiya had appeared directly before him. The vivid crimson three-tomoe Sharingan was staring straight at him.
His words cut off, and the look in his eyes went blank.
Uchiha Chiya shifted his gaze to the other Anbu standing behind.
His three-tomoe rotated slightly.
The moment their eyes made contact, they fell into a genjutsu just as the first man had.
"Head back."
Chiya turned and glanced at his three clansmen.
"Clan Head, are we just going to leave these Anbu alone?"
One of the clansmen looked at the Anbu, who now stood frozen in place like statues, and could not help but ask with some concern.
"It is fine. Let them learn a lesson too."
"But."
"No buts. Our actions tonight were because a child had gone missing and we were pursuing the culprit. This falls squarely within the authority of my Security Force. Furthermore, this Anbu did not present any official documentation authorizing him to take a person into custody. Attempting to forcibly take someone without proper documentation is simply not in accordance with the rules."
Hearing Chiya's explanation, the three clansmen quietly felt a wave of relief, and at the same time their admiration for Uchiha Chiya deepened even further.
They had not expected there to be so many layers to this.
The Third Hokage had indeed stated that for the Anbu to take someone into custody, strict documentation was required, along with the Third Hokage's personal signature. Without it, the major clans naturally had every right to refuse.
"Clan Head, and this child."
One of them looked at the child in Uchiha Chiya's arms and asked quietly.
"Take the child back to the Security Force first. Find out which family the child belongs to, then return them."