Quick, Go Invite Clan Head Fugaku

Seeing that Eiji still didn't quite understand, Fugaku explained the matter with Danzo again.

"Originally, the Uchiha clan members needed to go to Root Organization for questioning, but with this incident happening, I used the excuse that the Security Division was too busy and we'd deal with it later."

"No matter how arrogant Danzo is, he wouldn't dare defy the Hokage's will."

"So, Eiji, your contribution to this matter is undeniable."

On the surface, Eiji remained perfectly calm, but inside, a storm was raging.

Damn, I've accidentally become the Uchiha clan's great benefactor.

"Clan Leader Fugaku, I was raised by the clan's elders. Doing a little something for them is only right."

Fugaku poured Eiji another cup of tea. "Since you negotiated this with Lord Hiruzen, you'll take full responsibility for investigating the spy."

"During this time, all Uchiha clan members are at your disposal."

"Including me and Itachi."

Sasuke pointed at himself. "Father, what about me?"

Fugaku patted Sasuke's head. "Sasuke, you're still young. There are many things you can only do when you grow up."

"Oh, fine then."

Sasuke pouted, looking less than happy.

Next, Fugaku pulled out a stack of documents.

Eiji recognized them at once—weren't these the supplementary clauses for the Security Division regulations he'd requested from Fugaku earlier?

Could it be...

Sure enough, Fugaku waved his hand and signed his name directly on them.

"Even though I haven't read them, since you made the decision, Eiji, I trust there's no problem."

Eiji hadn't expected Fugaku to be this terrifyingly decisive when he was in the mood.

I should've slipped in a line like, 'All Security Division assets belong to Uchiha Eiji.'

Just as Eiji was regretting being too honest, Fugaku had somehow sent Itachi and Sasuke away.

"Eiji, what do you think of Itachi?"

Wait. Eiji's CPU spun at maximum speed.

The next line better not be, 'The heir is frail; you must take up the mantle.'

"Hm, Itachi. He's good. Better than me. In a few more years, maybe even better than the clan leader."

Facing Eiji's rambling nonsense, Fugaku just smiled.

"Eiji, I'm going to speak to you from the heart. Listen carefully."

"Please, speak, Clan Leader Fugaku."

Fugaku sighed softly and spoke in a low voice. "Ever since I succeeded as clan leader, the clan has never been at peace. Back then, there were a few elders to advise me, but now they're either old or dead."

"Not only that, the village's suppression of the Uchiha has never stopped."

"And now it's only getting worse."

"It's also my fault for lacking the ability to guide the clan onto the right path..."

For the next while, Fugaku unloaded a heap of useless grand principles onto Eiji.

Eventually, Eiji couldn't take it anymore. Bro, stop rambling here—there's a pile of crap waiting for me to clean up.

"So, Clan Leader, what exactly are you getting at?"

Eiji rubbed his hands together excitedly. It's not like you're about to announce me, Uchiha Eiji, as the next clan leader and head of the Security Division, right?

As it turned out, Eiji was overthinking it.

"Eiji, you'll always stand with the Uchiha, won't you?"

Without a moment's hesitation, Eiji nodded seriously.

"I, Uchiha Eiji, will be forever loyal to the Uchiha!"

"Those words are enough. Reviving the Uchiha—your generation must not shirk this duty!"

They chatted a while longer before Fugaku finally let Eiji go.

After Eiji left, Mikoto stepped out from the room.

"Fugaku, are you really placing the hope of reviving the Uchiha on an eleven-year-old child?"

"Besides... we haven't had much contact with him before."

"What if he gets bought off or brainwashed by the Hokage's faction? Could he become a blade thrust into the Uchiha's heart?"

Fugaku looked somewhat resigned. "There's no other choice. The Uchiha have reached a point of no return."

Then Fugaku shifted his tone.

"I've already spoken with Itachi. The Hokage believes Itachi's thinking has transcended the typical Uchiha, but recently Eiji has been too dazzling and temporarily overshadowed him."

"In a while, Itachi will submit his application to join the Anbu."

"With the intelligence he provides, it'll play a crucial role in planning our future actions."

Hearing this, Mikoto understood.

The so-called plan still referred to the path of armed coup.

"Fugaku, have you made up your mind?"

Fugaku gazed out the window at a small blade of grass by the wall. "I don't know. I'll think it over some more."

"I don't know, I don't know!"

"Still not talking, huh? Looks like you're begging for a beating!"

Inside the Security Division's interrogation room, Inaho was pounding a suspect with a flurry of blows.

"Damn it, how many accomplices do you have left?!"

"What accomplices? You've already caught all of us!"

Thump thump!

Inaho threw two more punches.

"You think I'm stupid? Just a couple of small fries like you could sneak into Konoha? You take our Security Division's defenses for a joke?"

Eiji scratched his head awkwardly. To be fair, they kind of were a joke.

The Security Division didn't actually have that many full-time members.

Most of them were busy every day arguing with villagers, helping old ladies find their dogs, and the like.

The ones who actually had time to patrol and do real work were even fewer.

Eiji stopped Inaho. "Take a break. Don't kill him."

He then directed a nearby Medical Ninja to perform first aid. "Keep track of all the medical supplies used. We'll need to bill the Hokage for reimbursement once this is done."

"Understood."

"Don't use anything too expensive. As long as he's breathing, that's enough. If it's not life-threatening, don't bother saving him."

"..."

Eiji gathered the members of the Security Division.

"Everyone, with Lord Fugaku's approval, the Security Division's regulations have undergone a few minor revisions."

"I have an original copy here. Please pass it around and take a look."

"Printed copies will be distributed in the next few days. From now on, all operations will follow the rules in this document."

With that, Eiji pulled out seven or eight "bricks" of paper.

The regulations hadn't changed much—just over four thousand new clauses added.

The detailed rules were a bit more extensive—twenty-five thousand of them.

If you couldn't understand or remember them, it didn't matter, because the Security Division held the final right of interpretation.

Shisui flipped through a few pages of the regulations and frowned.

"Eiji, aren't these punishments a bit too harsh? Just for saying something inappropriate, someone gets detained? Even if we doubled the prison size, it wouldn't be enough."

Eiji shook his head.

"Shisui, you've misunderstood. Are we updating these regulations to punish the villagers?"

"No. We're doing this to protect the honor of our heroes."

"Think about it. Today, these people dare to say I kill people at will. Tomorrow, they'll dare to say the Hokage has defected. The day after that..."

"If this keeps up, will there be any trust left among the villagers?"

"If the villagers can't even maintain basic trust in each other, does this village still have any hope?"

Shisui made a stopping gesture.

Don't go on. Even if you dare to say it, I don't dare to listen.

Eiji looked Shisui straight in the eye. "Everything I do is to uphold the blazing Will of Fire."

"Eiji, I understand."

After spending time together recently, Eiji had noticed something.

On the surface, Shisui seemed loyal to Hiruzen, but in truth, he was loyal to the Will of Fire.

As long as you could slap the label of "Will of Fire" on something, Shisui would believe in it.

It was like when you couldn't sell a product, so you gave it the label of "love" instead.

Either way, it was just fooling the gullible.

As time slowly passed, the interrogations at the Security Division finally yielded some progress.

They followed the trail and were on the verge of tracing it back to Ryoma.

This gave Danzo a headache.

Ryoma was, after all, his subordinate. If something really happened, it wouldn't be easy to cut ties.

A dangerous thought suddenly surfaced in his mind.

What if he killed Ryoma and then framed the Security Division for it?

Danzo felt this plan was very feasible.

For the future of Konoha, sacrificing one Ryoma was a very worthwhile trade.

It would not only cut off their investigative leads but also give the Uchiha a nasty jab.

Maybe Hiruzen, in a fit of rage, would even revoke the Security Division's investigative authority.

The next step was to find the right opportunity and make sure he died in the right place.

Danzo thought it would be best if Ryoma died inside the Uchiha Clan Compound.

But that place wasn't so easy to get into. What should he do?

He couldn't exactly tell Ryoma, "Go sneak into the Uchiha compound and kill yourself."

Danzo thought for a long time but couldn't find a suitable method.

In a dark corner, the Masked Man appeared silently.

"Worthless Danzo, just like Kakashi—trash among trash."

"Killing one person, and you need to go through all this trouble? Konoha is full of fools breeding even more fools."

Zetsu slowly emerged from the ground, wanting to hear what brilliant idea the clever Masked Man had.

"So, what are you going to do?"

The Masked Man faded away slowly. When he reappeared, there was already a corpse slung over his shoulder.

"It's time to let this stupid brat know just how cruel this world really is."

Late at night, Uchiha Clan Compound.

Several clan members were still on patrol.

Suddenly, a lump of black something fell from the sky, crashing to the ground with a clatter.

They jumped in fright and hurried over to check.

"This is... Aburame Ryoma!"

"Quickly, summon Clan Head Fugaku!"