Konoha Prison wasn't a place just anyone could be thrown into.
The Police Force's reforms included changes to the prison as well.
In the past, anyone sentenced to jail time was simply locked up here. But now, things were different.
Cases involving petty crimes like theft or street fights were handled separately—offenders were kept in dedicated detention centers under the jurisdiction of the Police Force.
Only criminals involved in major and heinous crimes were imprisoned here, and such cases were rare in Konoha.
The main population of Konoha Prison consisted of ninjas—those who attempted to infiltrate the Land of Fire or Konoha for sabotage or espionage, unfortunate individuals captured by the ANBU during cross-border operations, and Konoha missing-nin who betrayed the village.
Even among these prisoners, the prison implemented a classification system.
For ninjas who had some value but not enough to warrant extra precautions, they were held in a shared facility, with only an eight-hour guard shift. Once those eight hours passed, the iron gates would be shut, and water and electricity were cut off—what happened inside was up to them.
For high-value prisoners, they were individually confined in a separate sector, under 24-hour surveillance with constant water and electricity supply.
As for civilian criminals, including spies captured while working for other nations or ninja organizations, they were held separately but received the same treatment as the low-value ninjas—except that these people had zero chance of fighting back.
This time, the riot came from the group of shared-facility ninjas.
It wasn't the first time.
Some had voiced concerns about these periodic uprisings, but the Security Force believed these incidents were necessary to ensure the prison guard forces stayed combat-ready. So, no changes were made.
After all, if a prisoner got killed, the autopsy department could still extract some remaining value from the body.
More importantly, maintaining the combat skills of the guard force was seen as the greater priority. Although guards rotated, their shifts lasted an entire year, and a ninja who didn't fight for a year lost their edge.
To the military division, a ninja's first and foremost duty was to be able to fight. Without that, nothing else mattered.
Under the students' nervous yet eager gazes, the prison break operation—or rather, the execution—began.
In a world where Earth Release existed, digging an underground tunnel was suicidal.
But digging through walls?
That was possible—even if the walls had special reinforcements.
The shared facility was located east of the execution observation chamber.
Suddenly, one of its walls silently "melted away."
A dozen figures slipped out and crept toward the edges of the courtyard.
The next moment—
Floodlights illuminated the entire courtyard.
The escapees froze for a split second, then charged forward.
There was no point in sneaking anymore—brute force was the only option left.
But the once-empty courtyard now seemed to spawn dozens of guards out of thin air.
No shouting.
No commands.
No hesitation.
Just real warriors going straight into battle.
The fight was over in an instant.
The students didn't even get to witness any flashy ninjutsu—it was brutal, efficient, and over before they could react.
If one had to describe it—
It was simply a swarm of guards rushing in, prisoners falling, and then bodies being dragged away.
For the students, it was their first time witnessing a real battlefield—but it was nothing like they had imagined.
The escapees didn't have any grand moment of shouting, "For freedom!"
The guards didn't waste words asking, "Who goes there?"
Shurikens flew. Explosive tags detonated.
That was it.
The only thing the students found impressive?
Both sides moved insanely fast.
One moment, there was distance between them—the next moment, they clashed.
And once blades met flesh, life and death were decided instantly.
"All right, observation is over. You all get to leave early today," said Masashi, standing up and addressing the stunned students.
"But tomorrow, I expect a 3,000-word reflection paper."
This wasn't something kids should keep watching.
Might as well turn it into a homework assignment.
A new teacher may come, but reflection papers were forever.
"Teacher, what should we write about?" one student asked, still dazed.
"Anything you want." Masashi shrugged. "Watching this battle must have changed your understanding of ninja combat, right? Just write whatever comes to mind."
"For example—ninja battles aren't like tournament duels. If you can gang up on your enemy, do it. If you're outnumbered, don't be a fool and try to solo them."
"As long as it's 3,000 words, it's fine."
Under his urging, the students snapped out of their daze and left the observation room.
In the hallway, he had them line up properly before escorting them out.
No need to return to school today.
Instead, he personally took each student home.
If their parents worked in the Police Force, it was easy—he dropped them off at their parents' workplace.
Except for Haku.
After delivering the last student, Masashi took Haku with him to the shopping district to buy some snacks for the two kids before heading back to the Uchiha clan compound.
His house was next door to Fugaku's now.
Previously, Haku and Hikari had lived alone, but he had moved across from them.
His old house was close to the Police Force, which was convenient for work, but these days, Fugaku often called him over for discussions, so he relocated.
Other Uchiha clan members now occupied his old place.
As for the house across from his old home—which once belonged to Obito and later to Pakura—it was vacant again.
---
Standing at his front door, Masashi knocked.
"I'm back!" he called out as footsteps rushed toward the door.
The door swung open immediately.
A tiny figure darted out and latched onto his leg.
Good thing he was prepared—he lifted the bag of snacks higher to keep it from getting knocked over.
The little girl had silver-white hair, a small ponytail sticking up, and a rosy headband that bounced as she ran.
"Saeko, don't run around like that," Haku chided, his tone affectionate.
"Haku-nisan!" The girl, Saeko, let go of Masashi's leg and hugged Haku's instead. "I'm hungry."
"…"
Was this child blind? Couldn't she see the bag of food in his hand?
"Saeko," he shook the bag, making it rustle, "guess what Papa brought?"
Saeko looked up, spotted the bag, and her eyes sparkled.
"Papa!" She immediately clung to his leg again. "I want to eat!"
"Yes, yes, we'll eat." Masashi chuckled. "But first, let Papa go inside."
At the doorway, Hikari leaned against the frame, smiling warmly.
"Saeko, come to Mama. If you cling to Papa like that, he won't be able to walk."
---
After returning home, Masashi first took the items to the kitchen.
When he returned to the living room, Haku was playing with Saeko. However, the little one wasn't very interested in playing—she was more interested in eating.
Her nose twitched as she sniffed the delicious aroma wafting from the kitchen.
Masashi sighed helplessly, debating whether he should change his clothes first or prepare some food for his daughter.
"Change your clothes first," Hikari came over and helped him remove his ninja vest. "Saeko actually just had some snacks."
"She eats so much..." Masashi was a little worried.
He cooperated with Hikari to take off his vest. Looking at her, whose hair was now the same color as their daughter's, he could only marvel: Chakra is truly mysterious.
He had been practicing Ice Release, and somehow, it turned his wife's hair white. Their daughter was even born with it…
No one could have expected that his final breakthrough would awaken the true Ice Release.
The awakening itself wasn't the issue, but what was the principle behind the change in hair color?
At the time, he had triggered an Ice Age and accidentally frozen Hikari.
Both he and Hikari had been worried about their daughter's health. Since Hikari had conceived during this transformation, they weren't sure if it would have any effects on their child.
But so far, apart from being born with silver hair, Saeko was completely normal—lively and energetic.
Silver hair itself wasn't unusual… unless one was born into the Uchiha clan.
The Uchiha were known for their strong genetic traits, and their hair had always been uniformly black.
A child like Saeko was exceptionally rare.
In contrast, his one-year-old son was very much an Uchiha.
"Where's Yosuke? Still sleeping?"
"Yeah, he's sleeping soundly," Hikari replied.
Masashi had a son and a daughter. His daughter, Saeko, was his child with Hikari, while his son, Yosuke, was born to him and Pakura.
The two children had completely different personalities.
His daughter was carefree and energetic.
His son, despite being only a year old, already carried himself like a little adult. Masashi was looking forward to seeing his potential when he underwent the Uchiha clan's test.
Pakura wasn't home—she was away on a mission.
When Masashi got married, he didn't hold a grand ceremony. It wasn't because he married two wives at the same time.
After all, this world was still a feudal society. With every war depleting the young male population, most nations valued population growth. Although monogamy was the societal norm, polygamy remained legal, especially among the ninja clans, which prioritized the continuation of their bloodlines.
However, he simply disliked having a bunch of unfamiliar people at his wedding.
Even though he had made the choice himself, marrying two women at once still made him feel like he was doing something bad.
His two wives, on the other hand, had no such concerns.
Hikari and Pakura, as natives of this world, didn't see anything wrong with polygamy. Pakura's initial dislike for Hikari wasn't because of the polygamy itself, but because she saw Hikari as a weakling—a potential liability to their family. However, after Hikari awakened her Ice Release and gained the ability to use chakra, Pakura changed her opinion.
Pakura's open-mindedness was also influenced by Masashi's change in lifestyle.
She had never cared about social norms or external opinions. She only cared about people—what kind of person they were.
As long as she approved of someone, nothing else mattered.
And his actions reassured her that she had made the right choice.
Masashi, who had once preached a no-marriage lifestyle, underwent a dramatic change after marriage—especially after having children. His transformation greatly pleased the Uchiha elders.
When a man had children, he truly matured.
Now that he was a father, would he still refuse to take on the role of clan leader?
Fugaku's confidence in retiring at fifty came from this.
Otherwise, he wouldn't even dare to mention retirement.
The Uchiha clan had grown so vast that if Masashi refused to lead, no one else could handle it.
"I'll go check on Yosuke. You should get Saeko some more food, or she'll start making a fuss," Masashi said, seeing his daughter already pacing in circles with impatience.
Hikari chuckled as she watched him slip away.
Upstairs, he carefully pushed open the door to the children's room and peeked inside—only to be startled.
Yosuke was already awake. The chubby little boy sat on the bed, holding an action figure of Masashi in one hand. In front of his tiny feet was another figure—one resembling the Fourth Raikage.
Action figures were quite popular now. There were even ones made specifically for young children, crafted from soft materials to prevent them from biting or swallowing them.
Yosuke wasn't chewing on his toys. Instead, his eyes were serious—like a great ninja preparing for battle.
"Ada! Ada!"
He suddenly shouted, waving his little hands.
On the bed, "Fourth Raikage" was getting ruthlessly beaten by "Masashi."
"..."
That's my boy.
At such a young age, he already knew to beat up the Raikage.
But, son, your dad doesn't use low blows in fights!
Since the child was already awake, Masashi no longer needed to be careful.
He opened the door with a warm smile.
"Yosuke, it's time to eat."
Hearing his father's voice, Yosuke turned his head, momentarily pausing his "battle."
"Daddy! Fight!"
Proudly, he raised his action figure—frozen mid-kick.
"Alright, alright. We'll fight after we eat," Masashi said with a chuckle as he picked up his son.
Just as he was about to leave the room, he suddenly noticed something. Yosuke had gone quiet.
Alarmed, Masashi turned the boy around to check.
What greeted him was a serious, slightly accusatory, and somewhat wronged expression.
Oh no!
I forgot to follow the script!
"You're amazing, son! You helped Daddy defeat the bad guy!"
Hearing his father's praise, Yosuke was satisfied. He ended his silent protest and ceased his glare.
Masashi carried his little troublemaker downstairs to the dining room.
Saeko was happily eating. Seeing her father carrying her brother over, her little head fell into deep thought.
She wanted hugs.
But she also wanted to eat.
After much deliberation, she came up with the perfect plan—
Eat first, then get hugs!
She was so smart!
Happily, she continued enjoying her meal.
Unaware of his daughter's "brilliant" scheme, Masashi sat down with Yosuke.
Dinner was going to be a battle of its own.