Peace Is Fought For (Please Vote! Please Invest!)

Shisui signed his name on the Resignation Letter with indescribably complicated feelings, then handed it to the masked Kakashi.

Of course, the Anbu was not something one could simply leave whenever they wished.

Its full name was the "Special Assassination and Tactical Squad."

During the Second Hokage's administration, it had been a killing force renowned throughout the Shinobi World. Back then, one could enter the Anbu but never leave it. The only way out was to die in battle, and even in death, they remained anonymous, with not even their names carved upon the Memorial Stone.

However, that feared Special Assassination and Tactical Squad was already history.

Under the Third's support and cultivation, today's Anbu appeared to have expanded more than tenfold compared to the past. Yet it had also lost its original purity. It was now a mixed bag, and even its rules had grown lax. Leaving the Anbu, once impossible, had become possible. To win the support of the Various Clans, the Third had more than once allowed clan shinobi who joined the Anbu only to regret it, or who had never been able to adapt, to withdraw from it.

"My Resignation Letter probably won't be approved so easily."

Shisui watched Kakashi's back vanish into the darkness in the distance and spoke with some concern.

"You needn't worry about that. It's something I, as clan head, should be concerned with. As for you, Shisui... I have a task for you. I need you to help me establish a new department within the Police Force." Sōken changed the subject.

When it came to political scheming, Sōken knew himself well enough to recognize that it was not his field of expertise.

Fortunately, he understood one principle.

A skilled commander did not use his weaknesses against an enemy's strengths, but his strengths against an enemy's weaknesses.

Scheming was not Sōken's forte. His strengths were the swords in his hands and his ability to kill, not the ability to plot against others. Or rather, the Uchiha Clan as a whole was terrible at that sort of thing. Looking through the entire clan, there were barely any skilled at playing mind games. On the other hand, the clan's geniuses had been so thoroughly duped by that bullshit Will of Fire that the Uchiha, who had originally possessed the strength to fight back, were ultimately destroyed by their own people.

Force, that was what the Uchiha excelled at.

Rather than rack his brains competing in wits and courage with those old men, he might as well openly demonstrate both the resolve to fight and the strength to pose a threat. Peace was fought for, not begged for on one's knees.

"A new department?"

The abrupt shift in topic left Shisui utterly confused.

By then, the clan members on the Rooftop had already dispersed. After sending Kakashi away, Sōken continued his unfinished speech from earlier. With just a few simple words, he openly placed his companions into the Police Force's various departments that held real authority.

Uchiha Arashiyama and Uchiha Akitaro, for example, were assigned to the Patrol Corps respectively commanded by Narukami Uchiha and Uchiha Yashiro, serving as their deputies.

Uchiha Jun, the fellow who was even prettier than girls his own age, entered the Finance Office. His mind was the most meticulous among the group—even Uchiha Chihaya and Uchiha Futaba, the two girls, could not compare.

As for Uchiha Chihaya, Uchiha Futaba, Uchiha Hokuto... Sōken stuffed them all into the Secretariat to serve as his work secretaries.

Those three, aside from fighting, were best at causing trouble.

To avoid having to clean up after them every day, he could only keep them as close by as possible and restrain them.

Once he had temporarily settled his companions, Sōken announced the end of this impromptu meeting. The clan members who were still on duty returned to their posts, while Uchiha Arashiyama and the others immediately entered work mode and began adapting to their respective roles.

After that, Fugaku Uchiha, the former clan head, silently left the Police Force as well.

This place no longer belonged to him.

In the end, only Sōken, Shisui, and Sōken's three newly appointed secretaries remained on the Rooftop. They had stayed because Shisui's work situation still needed to be resolved. Since he had signed that Resignation Letter, Shisui needed a new job.

One that would make Shisui feel it was even better than remaining in the Anbu.

To be honest, there were no positions in the Police Force that could satisfy Shisui's needs. Or rather, there were currently no vacant positions at all for Shisui to take. Even Uchiha Arashiyama and the others had been forcibly squeezed in by Sōken; the Patrol Corps, already at full capacity, had been pushed over its quota.

Fortunately, Sōken had another plan.

That was—

to establish a new department.

"A new department? Sōken, what are you... trying to do?"

Shisui furrowed his brow in distress. As expected, he still could not keep up with his friend's wildly unconventional train of thought.

Sōken walked over to the railing at the Rooftop's edge, resting his elbows on it as he looked out at the village beneath the moonlight. He spoke bluntly. "Shisui, do you know this? Since the Second Hokage established the Police Force and handed it over to the Uchiha Clan, the village's Administration Department and Education Department have been reorganized several times over the past few decades. Even the Medical Department, the youngest of them all, has been constantly innovating. Only our Police Force... has always maintained its original form."

"Therefore, I intend to reform this clumsy, chaotic Police Force and establish a new Police Force that can keep up with the times."

"To put it simply, I intend to expand the Police Force's authority."

Hearing this, Shisui's brows drew tightly together. He felt that Sōken was simply indulging in a fantasy. Even he understood that the village could never allow the Police Force to grow stronger, otherwise it would not have remained in its original form after all these decades.

"I know this sounds like a madman's dream." Sōken did not give Shisui a chance to speak and continued, "But... it isn't entirely without hope. Shisui, have you ever looked into what powers the Second Hokage granted the Police Force when it was first established?"

Shisui shook his head blankly.

The three beside him, Uchiha Chihaya and the others, shook their heads in perfect unison as well.

"The original text is rather complicated, so I won't repeat it. I'll just give you the main points. The Police Force is responsible for maintaining internal security and stability in the village, formulating the village's laws and regulations, arresting criminals, guarding imprisoned criminals, and mobilizing personnel to participate in war when one breaks out... That is roughly the extent of it."

The document issued by the Second Hokage was preserved in the Police Force archives. Hardly anyone bothered with that sort of thing nowadays. Sōken was the only person in the past twenty years to look it up. Fortunately, the archives had been well maintained. Even though no one came to inspect these old documents, they had still been diligently preserved.

Shisui listened in a daze.

He still did not understand what Sōken meant.

It was not just him. Uchiha Chihaya and the other two were equally at a loss, wearing blank, bewildered expressions.