Can't Afford to Offend the Uchiha, but You Can Afford to Offend Me?

"Yeah, I was a little worried at first. After all, the target of your mission this time was Orochimaru, one of the famed Sannin," Uchiha Fugaku said with a smile.

At that moment, Uchiha Toko took out the Mission Scroll he had obtained from Lord Yamamoto and placed it on the low table.

"Toko, this is?" Uchiha Fugaku asked curiously, but Uchiha Toko merely gestured with his eyes for him to open it himself.

Uchiha Fugaku picked up one of the scrolls and fed a bit of Chakra into it. After just one glance, he could no longer sit still. He looked up at Uchiha Toko. "These... are all?"

"A total of 1.5 billion ryo," Uchiha Toko said. "If we hadn't been pressed for time and if I'd brought more Sealing Scrolls, there should have been even more."

"You really outdid yourself, Toko." Uchiha Fugaku was delighted. Even after deducting essential family expenses such as ninja tools, the Uchiha Clan would need several years to save up that much money from its businesses. Yet Uchiha Toko had brought back so much after a single trip, and from the sound of it, this was far from all of it.

"Send two jonin from the clan to Tanzaku Town tomorrow. This is the payment for a long-term protection mission," Uchiha Toko said.

"I understand." Uchiha Fugaku nodded.

"How has the Military Police Force been these past few days while I was away?" Uchiha Toko asked.

"Things have been fairly good. With the work manual you left behind before departing, the new ninjas picked things up quickly. They can already patrol and stand duty normally," Uchiha Fugaku said. "It's just..."

"Did something happen?" Uchiha Toko noticed Fugaku's hesitation and asked.

"These past few days, the Military Police Force has received several times more complaints about patrol and duty personnel than before. They were all directed at those newly recruited Commoner Ninjas, while there hasn't been a single complaint against our original clan ninjas," Fugaku said.

"Is that so?" Uchiha Toko chuckled. "Did those new members fail to observe Smiling Law Enforcement?"

"How could they?" Uchiha Fugaku rubbed his brow in distress. "There are currently four brigades and twenty-eight squads in the Military Police Force. Before every patrol, the captains repeatedly remind everyone about Smiling Law Enforcement. Yesterday, the entire force even stayed behind for a meeting to emphasize it, yet the complaints have only increased. Toko, won't this affect your plan to integrate the clan into the village?"

"Don't worry, Elder Fugaku. I'll deal with this tomorrow," Uchiha Toko said calmly. He had anticipated something like this from the very beginning.

After all, he knew those troublesome villagers' nature all too well. When the Military Police Force had consisted entirely of Uchiha Clan members, they might have restrained themselves somewhat under the Uchiha Clan's intimidating reputation. But now that Commoner Ninjas had joined, everything was different.

They can't afford to offend the Uchiha, but they can't afford to offend you? That perfectly described the mentality of those troublesome villagers.

Uchiha Toko was actually happy to see this happen. First, with those Commoner Ninjas standing at the forefront, the Uchiha Clan's public reputation within the village would improve significantly. Furthermore, those Commoner Ninjas were enforcing the law impartially, yet were being maliciously reported. They would surely build up plenty of resentment. When the day came that they needed to act against those troublesome villagers, their police batons would likely hit much harder.

"As long as you have a solution," Uchiha Fugaku said. "Other than that, there's also a personal matter of mine."

"Please, Elder Fugaku," Uchiha Toko said.

"I would like to ask you to become Sasuke's teacher."

"Oh?" Uchiha Toko raised an eyebrow slightly. "Why did Elder Fugaku suddenly have this idea?"

"Sasuke has reached the age where he can formally begin training in ninjutsu. The day before yesterday, I taught him the Great Fireball Technique, the clan's standard introductory ninjutsu," Uchiha Fugaku said. "But Sasuke's performance was far inferior to his older brother's."

"Is that so?" Uchiha Toko smiled as well. He recalled that when he had studied that ninjutsu at the clan school, there had been twenty-eight Uchiha children in his class, and he had ranked twenty-seventh. For a time, he had even wondered whether he simply was not suited to being a ninja.

"But because there is a precedent in the clan with you, I had Sasuke test his Chakra attributes. His Chakra affinities are fire and lightning. I then had him try learning Lightning Style, and his talent for Lightning Style far surpasses his talent for Fire Style," Uchiha Fugaku said with a bitter smile.

Sasuke's talent for Lightning Style was no less than Itachi's talent for Fire Style. After reading the Lightning Style: Lightning Ball scroll twice, he could already release a Lightning Ball with a diameter of a full meter. But their entire family specialized in Fire Style. Although Mikoto's Chakra also had a lightning affinity, she had not studied Lightning Style deeply. Thus, how to teach Sasuke had become a difficult problem.

Fortunately, there was someone in the clan whose circumstances were similar to Sasuke's. As the former Clan Head, Uchiha Fugaku knew Uchiha Toko's history very well. While Uchiha Toko had been studying at the Ninja Academy, he had performed reasonably well thanks to the clan's natural gifts. Within the clan, however, he had been utterly ordinary. His grades at the clan school, which mainly taught Fire Style ninjutsu and Genjutsu, had been abysmal. At the time, the clan had even planned to give up on training him. It was only after he had worn down an elder guarding the clan's ninjutsu repository and obtained his first Lightning Style ninjutsu that he truly began to reveal his talent.

Therefore, faced with Sasuke's current situation, Uchiha Fugaku naturally considered having Sasuke take Uchiha Toko as his teacher.

"Besides, Toko, you know that I'm truly not good at raising children. Itachi has already gone astray, so I want to entrust Sasuke to you," Uchiha Fugaku said.

"I understand. From now on, have Sasuke come here after school," Uchiha Toko said with a smile.

"Then thank you, Toko," Uchiha Fugaku said solemnly.

"You're too kind, Elder Fugaku. Being able to help a child in circumstances similar to my own avoid some detours is something I would be more than happy to do," Uchiha Toko said.

"No, Toko. This is a father's gratitude," Uchiha Fugaku said with emotion. "Please take good care of Sasuke."

"I will." Uchiha Toko nodded.

"Then I won't disturb you any longer." Uchiha Fugaku took his leave, and Uchiha Toko rose to see him out.

After Uchiha Fugaku left, Uchiha Toko finished maintaining his sword and went to rest.

The next day, after arriving at his office in the Military Police Force, Uchiha Toko looked over the office his subordinates had redecorated for him during the days he had been away on his mission and nodded in satisfaction.