Naruto?

When he walked into the classroom, quite a few of his classmates looked at him with a hint of disgust. Ye Wuyue paid them no attention and went straight to his seat.

I still need to hurry up with my training! He already had a general understanding of the situation, but in his current state, he could basically do nothing to help. After school this afternoon, he would go find Hiashi. Hopefully, the small favor he had done before would come in handy.

Ye Wuyue immediately entered a meditative state. Flowing Fire had told him that his Spiritual Pressure was still roughly two or three times short of allowing her to manifest in the real world. If that was the case, then the captain-level Spiritual Power value of 48,000 given by the system should be the Spiritual Power required to achieve Bankai.

But he currently had only about half of that. He was still quite far away.

Meanwhile, a heated argument was raging in the Naruto's office.

After Fugaku had been summoned by Minato last night, Minato had not actually said much. He had merely asked about the situation before issuing a wanted order for Uchiha Setsuna.

In truth, this matter was related to the village's

However, since the incident had taken place within the Uchiha Clan, Fugaku, as its clan head, certainly had to bear some responsibility. The punishment Minato had given at the time was to cut the Uchiha Clan's funding by one-ninth. Fugaku had no objections whatsoever. Given the circumstances, this could already be considered a very good outcome.

However, some people in the village were clearly very dissatisfied with this result.

Danzo stormed into the Naruto's office, full of fury.

"Minato Namikaze! Do you know how much trouble the way you handled this could bring to the village?" Danzo addressed Minato by name the moment he entered, but that was completely normal for him. No one had ever made Danzo call them Naruto.

Minato put down the pen in his hand and asked, "I wonder which matter Elder Danzo is referring to?"

"Hmph! Stop pretending you don't know. I'm obviously talking about the Uchiha clansmen who defected!" Danzo snorted.

Danzo's rude words did not anger Minato. He said calmly, "I already understand the whole story. The Uchiha clansmen's defection was indeed related to their clan's lax discipline. I have also punished the Uchiha Clan. Does Elder Danzo have any questions?"

"Minato, are you making fun of me? Cutting their funding by one-ninth—can that be called a punishment? If those Uchiha clansmen who defected sell the village's intelligence, do you know what kind of consequences that will cause?" Danzo narrowed his eyes.

"I have already dispatched ANBU members to pursue them, and the Uchiha Clan is also willing to cooperate in the hunt for the defected ninja.

"The Uchiha Clan has contributed greatly to the village. It was only recently that Shisui of the Uchiha Clan forced the invading forces from Kirigakure to retreat before the battle even began. During the Third Shinobi World War, the Uchiha Clan also performed outstandingly, driving back Kirigakure and protecting the village.

"I don't think there is anything wrong with how I handled this." Minato still stood by his decision. He had already noticed the Uchiha Clan's situation in the village before he even took office.

Such a powerful clan had been constantly ostracized by the village, to the point where it was nearly cut off from the village entirely. That was difficult to justify.

Although the Uchiha Clan members were indeed somewhat arrogant, a closer look revealed that most of them were kindhearted. They also placed great importance on the bonds between comrades.

Thus, Minato had always wanted to help the Uchiha Clan reintegrate into the village. Moreover, he and Fugaku had some history between them, and their views happened to align. This made him even more determined to put his idea into practice. However, once he began, he realized just how difficult it was.

The Uchiha Clan had already split into two major factions. One faction was close to the village and yearned to integrate into Konoha's extended family. The other craved power and strength, wanting only for the Uchiha Clan to dominate Konoha.

That was one obstacle. On the other hand, Minato discovered that the Konoha Military Police Force policy implemented since the era of the Second Naruto had continuously deepened the conflict between the Uchiha Clan and the villagers. Some villagers even hoped that the entire Uchiha Clan would disappear.

That was why Minato had previously thought of allowing other clans to join the Konoha Military Police Force, hoping to use this to weaken the villagers' hostility toward the Uchiha Clan.

However, when he proposed this idea, he discovered another obstacle—one that was also the greatest obstacle at present. Every high-ranking official in the village hated the Uchiha Clan, and not a single one supported him.

Fortunately, this measure was not particularly significant. After overcoming all objections, he had still implemented it. But today's matter was somewhat troublesome. Minato could even imagine that Danzo was not the only one who wanted to kick the Uchiha Clan while they were down.

After hearing Minato's explanation, Danzo sneered twice and said:

"Those are two separate matters. Every clan and every person in the village should contribute to the village. That is nothing worth praising. On the contrary, anyone who has not contributed to the village should be punished! In short, I absolutely do not agree with how you handled this matter."

"I have already made my decision. Is a Naruto not even allowed to make his own decisions?" Minato frowned, a trace of anger rising in his heart.

"Minato, I'm afraid you've forgotten something. If all the elders oppose it, they can overturn the Naruto's decision. I think it would be better to seek more people's opinions on how this matter should be handled." Danzo spoke calmly, as though victory were already in his grasp.

"Indeed, your handling of this matter was somewhat inappropriate." Hiruzen entered while puffing on his pipe, with Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu following behind him.

"Why don't we have all the clan heads in the village meet with us and decide together how the Uchiha Clan should be dealt with?" Mitokado Homura proposed.

"All the elders disagree with your decision, Minato. Are you still going to stubbornly insist on your own way?" Danzo opened his eyes and looked at Minato.

Looking at the four elders before him, Minato personally experienced just how great the resistance was to accomplishing what he wanted.

"Then... you can decide when to hold the meeting." Minato sighed helplessly.

In this situation, there was no point in continuing to insist. The Third Naruto still wielded considerable authority, and some of the ANBU even followed his orders.

He could completely issue an order punishing the Uchiha Clan on his own.

"Then summon all the clan heads tonight," Hiruzen said while puffing on his pipe.

The other three elders nodded in agreement.

Outside Iruka's classroom at the Ninja Academy

Ye Wuyue leaned against the wall with his eyes closed, meditating. Drops of spirit particles continuously merged into his body.

"Wow! Sasuke is really amazing. He can fall asleep even after being called out of the classroom." Naruto stared at Ye Wuyue's closed eyes in amazement. Two other boys stood beside him.

One had a pineapple-shaped head and was leaning against the wall with both hands clasped behind his head. The other was rather plump and looked extremely honest.

"Grrr~" The chubby boy's stomach suddenly growled.

Choji clutched his stomach, looking rather aggrieved.

"Shikamaru, I'm so hungry..."