Sarutobi Hiruzen: Uchiha Kazuto Was Utterly Loyal

The next day, Uchiha Kazuto filled out a funding request form and went to the Hokage's Office to hand it to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

At the sight of the request form, Hiruzen Sarutobi shot up from his chair, staring in disbelief at all those zeroes.

"Kazuto, are you sure you didn't make a mistake?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi held the application in his hands and checked again.

"Lord Hokage, there's no mistake. Lord Hokage, this is all for the village. As you know, the Military Police Force recently recruited some of the village's ninja. The Military Police Force bears the great responsibility of protecting the village. It's an important and extremely dangerous job. It used to be our Uchiha Clan's duty, but now, to ease the rift between the village and our clan, I've changed the Military Police Force's traditions and recruited ninja from the village. They're risking their lives to take on dangerous duties that should have fallen to the Uchiha Clan. I've dragged everyone in the village into danger for the sake of my own aspirations. I feel terribly guilty about it, and the only way I can repay them is by raising their salaries!"

Uchiha Kazuto nodded and looked Hiruzen Sarutobi in the eye, speaking with utter conviction. Then his face filled with guilt. He even believed his own words. That was right: he was absolutely not offering such high salaries to win people's hearts and make it easier for those ninja to pledge their loyalty to him.

No, he was doing it for the village's safety, to make it up to them. That was why he was paying them so much. It was absolutely true. If anyone had tried to detect a lie in Uchiha Kazuto's words just then, they would have found that everything he said was true, every word sincere.

Whether before or after he crossed over, Uchiha Kazuto had been an ordinary person. But he was honest and sincere. In all his life, he'd never told a lie, because everything he said was true—to him, at least.

Hiruzen Sarutobi smoked as he looked at the request form in his hands. He could feel the sincerity in Uchiha Kazuto's voice and see the guilt on his face. It was absolutely not an act. In other words, Uchiha Kazuto really did think that way.

This guy really believed that having the village's ninja join the Military Police Force put them in real danger. In his heart, the Konoha Military Police Force truly was an organization that kept the village safe, was loyal to the Hokage, and protected him.

If only Fugaku had been this enlightened back then.

Hiruzen Sarutobi took a drag on his cigarette and sighed inwardly. He almost felt bad telling Uchiha Kazuto that the Military Police Force wasn't nearly as dangerous as he imagined. In all these years, Konoha's Military Police Force had suffered almost no casualties. It was an extremely safe department.

But that had been when the Military Police Force was at odds with Konoha. Now, its commander was Uchiha Kazuto, a genuinely sincere, kind-hearted, upstanding member of the Uchiha Clan who deeply understood the Will of Fire. He wasn't like the other Uchiha.

Under his leadership, the Military Police Force's members really might encounter danger. After all, a leader who got things done was completely different from one who did nothing—or even planned to rebel!

Take Uchiha Fugaku, for example. That guy's head was full of sinister schemes. He was merciless toward the villagers, but when something actually happened, he'd retreat like a turtle to preserve his strength for the Coup.

But Uchiha Kazuto was different. Hiruzen Sarutobi believed that if real danger arose, Kazuto would lead the Military Police Force charging straight into it. Under Uchiha Kazuto's leadership, the force really would be in danger!

But...

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the request form again. It was too much—more than even the Anbu's budget.

"Kazuto, it's good that you feel this way, but you know the village has its difficulties too. The salaries you've requested for the Military Police Force are too high. Cut them back a little."

Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head, set the request form on the desk, then took out a pen and crossed out several zeroes from the requested amount.

"Th-this... Lord Hokage..."

Uchiha Kazuto looked up, his face showing utter bewilderment, as if he had no idea how outrageous his request had been.

But then, Uchiha Kazuto seemed to realize something and quickly composed himself.

"Thank you, Lord Hokage. I was rash. I only thought of myself and overlooked the village's difficulties—and yours, Lord Hokage. I'm sorry!"

Uchiha Kazuto copied the manner of those who bowed to apologize and bent at the waist before Hiruzen Sarutobi, as if he truly believed he'd done something wrong. No matter what, apologizing first was the way to go.

As long as I bow, I can be forgiven for anything.

Watching Uchiha Kazuto, Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded. Now, this was what it meant to be an Uchiha. Talking with Uchiha Kazuto made him feel at ease. He was sensible and admired him. If Kazuto hadn't been a member of the Uchiha Clan, Hiruzen Sarutobi would have wanted to take him on as his student.

Unfortunately, he was still an Uchiha. After Hiruzen Sarutobi stepped down, he could hand Uchiha Kazuto over to the next Hokage. Kazuto would make a fine dog for Konoha to use to control the Uchiha Clan.

Watching Uchiha Kazuto, Hiruzen Sarutobi sometimes even thought it was a good thing Danzo had died. If not for Danzo and Fugaku's schemes, how would he ever have learned that there was an upstanding Uchiha like Uchiha Kazuto in the Uchiha Clan?

The other ninja clans would never take resources meant for their own clan and use them to train the village's ninja.

If the Uchiha Clan had been as it was before, how could it have recruited members of the Military Police Force from the village? And if the Military Police Force had remained as it was before, how could it have trained its members to shout slogans like "For the village! For Lord Hokage!"?

The Military Police Force as it was now delighted him. Since taking office, Hiruzen Sarutobi had never seen anyone organize a group to march around Konoha shouting things like "For Lord Hokage!" He had a very favorable impression of the current Military Police Force.

If Uchiha Kazuto hadn't requested such an enormous amount of funding, Hiruzen Sarutobi would probably have approved it outright instead of crossing out a few zeroes first.

If anyone told Hiruzen Sarutobi that Uchiha Kazuto had ulterior motives, or that he was training the Military Police Force to stage a Coup, he would be the first to disbelieve it.

Just look at those kids. Every day, they shouted, "For the Hokage! For the village!" They were so devoted, so loyal. How could they possibly stage a Coup?