Speak Louder, I Can't Hear You!

Unless he fully activated a unit, but that wasn't possible—it would directly alert the enemy.

So, what should he do?

If he kept going at this slow pace, when would he ever make the members of the Military Police Force genuinely loyal to him from the bottom of their hearts?

When would he be able to kick that old geezer Hiruzen Sarutobi down and become the new Hokage?

When would he be able to lead the village to become stronger? Every day Hiruzen Sarutobi remained in power, Uchiha Kazuto felt like he was losing money—and he really was losing it. Only by becoming the leader of Konohagakure could the laws he enacted achieve maximum effectiveness.

So, what was the solution? Uchiha Kazuto began searching for a way.

After some experimentation, Uchiha Kazuto discovered a method: conducting obedience training on the unit members. Through obedience training, he could quickly turn these unit members, who had only paid lip service to loyalty, into truly loyal ones, without having to grind away slowly like before.

"Loyalty! Gratitude! As members of the Konoha Military Police Force, we must hold ourselves to the strictest standards—our batons must have force, our kicks must have precision. Only then can we live up to the village, live up to Lord Hokage's expectations of us, live up to your identities, and live up to the great Will of Fire!"

Uchiha Kazuto walked through the First Unit, holding a baton.

"Stand straight! Don't slouch! Don't fidget!"

The next moment, the hard baton slammed directly into a ninja who hadn't been standing properly, his eyes darting around.

"If you can't even stand properly, if you can't even handle this small thing, how can you protect the village? How can you catch criminals? How can you call yourself a ninja!"

Uchiha Kazuto swung the baton and shouted sternly.

Hearing Uchiha Kazuto's words, the ninja who had failed to stand properly showed a look of shame on his face. Yes, if he couldn't even stand properly, if he couldn't even handle this small thing, what right did he have to talk about protecting the village?

He was no longer the ordinary Genin he used to be. He was now a member of the Military Police Force. He was someone who needed to protect the village!

"Yes, sir!"

The ninja's expression immediately turned serious as he straightened his back and placed his hands at his sides.

"Too quiet! Can't hear you!"

Uchiha Kazuto tilted his head and shouted loudly.

"Yes, sir!"

The ninja shouted again, this time a little louder than before.

"Can't hear you! Can't hear you! With a voice that small, you want to protect the village? You want to be a member of the Military Police Force?"

Uchiha Kazuto frowned. The volume wasn't enough, the spirit wasn't there!

"Yes, sir!!!"

The ninja took a deep breath, then the next moment, he threw his head back and roared like a beast.

"Good, very spirited! This is how the members of our Military Police Force should be—full of spirit, full of power!"

Uchiha Kazuto's face showed a satisfied expression as he slapped the ninja hard on the shoulder, giving him a firm encouragement.

After this little episode, the ninjas standing at attention put away their stray thoughts and began earnestly standing at attention.

Yes, if they couldn't even stand properly, if they couldn't even handle this small thing, what qualifications did they have to be ninjas?

Seeing this, Uchiha Kazuto nodded. Sure enough, as long as he used "for the village," "for the Hokage," and "for the Will of Fire" as slogans, these ninjas would obediently listen. As for whether it was really for the village or for the Hokage... well, couldn't he, Uchiha Kazuto, become the Hokage? Couldn't he represent the village?

Was Konoha only supposed to have Hiruzen Sarutobi as the acting Hokage, as if he were the only authority?

Time passed quietly, and the sun grew larger. Sweat began pouring from these ninjas, each one looking like they'd been pulled out of water. Standing at attention might seem simple, but in reality, when you actually did it, it was extremely torturous and painful—legs went numb.

Especially since Uchiha Kazuto forbade these ninjas from using Chakra to strengthen their bodies.

Without the aid of Chakra, although these ninjas were still stronger than ordinary people, they remained at the level of mortal flesh—they got tired, they hurt, and their bodies hadn't reached the point of being impervious to blades.

"Alright, stop."

Uchiha Kazuto checked the time. They'd been standing for three hours. Good, it was time to start the next item.

As Uchiha Kazuto's words fell, all the ninjas breathed a sigh of relief.

After letting them rest for a moment.

"Everyone, attention!"

Uchiha Kazuto held a megaphone and gave the order.

Here we go again?

Next, Uchiha Kazuto had these ninjas start doing push-ups, running, and frog jumps, and during the training, he made them shout slogans.

Of course, the slogans couldn't be things like "For Lord Kazuto" or "Loyalty" right now—that would turn into raising private troops.

"For Konoha!"

"For Lord Hokage!"

"Loyalty!"

"Loyalty!"

"For the Will of Fire! Loyalty!"

The ninjas of the First Unit, without using Chakra, left the Death Forest and ran continuously along Konoha, shouting slogans that were very politically correct.

Even Uchiha Kazuto was shouting along with them.

The First Unit's rule was unconditional obedience to the commander's orders, and the commander of the First Unit was Uchiha Kazuto, so what they said didn't matter, what they thought didn't matter—none of it mattered. What mattered was the loyalty increased through obedience training.

All of this was to lull Hiruzen Sarutobi into complacency.

Anyway, shouting slogans cost nothing.

While Uchiha Kazuto was training the First Unit, the other units were also training, but under the guidance of Uchiha Kazuto's Shadow Clones.

In the Hokage's office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at the Crystal Ball before him.

Inside the Crystal Ball was the scene of Uchiha Kazuto leading the unit in training.

"Uchiha Kazuto..."

He took a drag from his pipe, watching the scene before him. His hesitation grew stronger—no, originally, the suspicion that Uchiha Kazuto was up to something was just his guess. Uchiha Kazuto might have issues, but it was also unlikely.

Earlier, when the Military Police Force began expanding outward under Uchiha Kazuto's orders, it made him uneasy. For no reason, why recruit new members? And within the village? That was suspicious!

But now, watching this scene, listening to those shouts of slogans, Hiruzen Sarutobi's anxious heart settled down.