After three blows, villagers who'd sheltered fleeing rioters instantly regretted their decision.
"Sir! Please stop! I have nothing to do with this!"
"Nothing to do with you? Then why are these rioters in your house?" the officer retorted, cracking his baton across the villager's waist. "You're clearly an accomplice! Take them away!"
…
While the chaos raged, Naruto was at Ichiraku Ramen, buying noodles for himself and Kakashi. But as he stepped outside with the takeout, he saw the open street brawl.
"What… what's going on?" Naruto gawked at the scene.
He recognized the person being beaten six times a second as someone who used to curse at him, but his kind heart made him want to speak up.
Before he could, someone grabbed his collar.
Turning, he saw a Uchiha police lieutenant glaring at him with blood-red Sharingan.
"Where did this kid come from? Didn't you hear about the village curfew?"
Uchiha Police's actions alarmed Naruto's ANBU bodyguards, who quickly appeared.
But before they could speak, he tossed Naruto to them. "Good timing—take this kid home and don't let him wander around!"
"Understood." The masked ANBU nodded, taking Naruto. After all, as a jinchuuriki, his safety was paramount—they'd been startled when the Police grabbed Naruto just now.
…
While the brawl raged outside, Seiryu, Fugaku, and Sixth Squad Captain Aburame Shikai sat calmly in Fugaku's office, brewing tea.
"Seiryu, aren't you going out to check?" Fugaku asked, confused—Seiryu had gone straight to make tea after giving orders.
"I can't go out yet," Seiryu replied with a smile. "Otherwise, the Third Hokage really won't be able to sit still."
"Come, have some tea!" Seiryu poured for the two.
"I've always heard Clan Head Seiryu's tea skills are superb. Didn't expect to finally try it today," Shikai said, taking the cup with a smile.
…
At the same time, the chaos on the street reached Sarutobi Hiruzen in the Hokage office.
"Hiruzen, you see this?!" Koharu Utatane, eager to complain, jumped up as soon as she heard the ANBU report. "The Uchiha are attacking villagers! This is clearly rebellion! Hiruzen, you can't hesitate any longer!"
Hearing his old teammate's nagging, Hiruzen grew impatient, waving her off before turning to ask the new ANBU commander, "Where is Uchiha Seiryu now?"
"Lord Hokage, Uchiha Seiryu is still in the police department, not acting."
"Is that so?" Hiruzen nodded, relieved. "Good."
Hiruzen sighed—if Seiryu had meant to revolt, he'd be leading the action, not sitting idle.
"Kakuryu, go invite Clan Head Seiryu to the Hokage building," Hiruzen instructed the new ANBU captain.
"Understood." Kakuryu nodded and left.
"Hiruzen, you really can't hesitate any longer! Isn't the Uchiha rebellion obvious?" Homura Mitokado chimed in.
Hiruzen ignored them, lighting his pipe.
"Hiruzen! You'll regret this!" Homura stamped his foot—but Hiruzen didn't even bother to say "I'm the Hokage."
Those two geezers were always meddling, but even Danzo, when plotting, would at least inform him. These two acted without a word. When Hiruzen heard the rumors about Kakashi, he wanted to throttle them both.
Hiruzen had planned to give Naruto's guardianship to Kakashi to win him over, but the duo's blundering only pushed Kakashi closer to the Uchiha. Worse, their actions were so sloppy that now, with the police exploiting the situation, Hiruzen had no legal grounds to intervene.
After dealing with Seiryu before, Hiruzen knew he wasn't like previous Uchiha leaders—he wouldn't be fooled easily.
After a long silence, Hiruzen finally sighed. "Send the ANBU out—control the situation a bit. Then have the Ino-Shika-Cho clan leaders and their jonin squads support."
"Understood." Another ANBU in the office accepted the order and left.
…
Soon, the messenger ANBU reached the base, gathered the on-duty squad, and hit the streets.
The ANBU hadn't even split up before seeing a police officer chasing three rioters with a baton.
"What's going on?" an ANBU asked, stepping in to halt their actions.
The fleeing civilians quickly scrambled behind the ANBU for safety.
"Police department on duty, clearing out those spreading rumors about Konoha hero Hatake Kakashi and violently resisting police enforcement. Are you ANBU trying to shield these rioters?" barked the officer, a mere genin, but showing no fear before the elite ANBU.
"Oh, I see, I misunderstood." The ANBU nodded and stepped aside. "Just don't kill anyone."
Before the stunned civilians, the ANBU leaped away.
This scene played out repeatedly across the village. Most ANBU, after asking the police their purpose, chose to stand back, at most warning them not to go too far or kill anyone.