Let's Have a Pleasant Hospital Stay Together! (Seeking Votes! Seeking Investments!)

Holding Uchiha Sōken accountable? Don't be ridiculous.

Hashirama Senju dared to lecture the rogue ninja Madara Uchiha because he had the strength to pin his best friend down and beat him senseless. The fact that Danzō had been defeated so easily filled the Third Hokage with deep wariness. He asked himself honestly—he didn't think he could defeat Danzō that easily. Even with Uchiha Genjutsu, it shouldn't have been enough to send Danzō into unconsciousness, unless...

A thought he was far from happy to entertain surfaced in his mind.

He glanced at Sōken, who was covered in blood but actually not seriously injured, and silently sighed. Then he looked at Uchiha Shisui, who had effortlessly held off Aburame Ryoma from start to finish, and at Uchiha Fugaku, who had done nothing but coast along without making a single move... The latter wasn't worth mentioning.

Just the first two alone were enough to give him a headache.

Not to mention that the Uchiha Clan still had so many exceptionally skilled jōnin!

It seemed the matter of pressuring the Uchiha would have to be set aside for now. Pushing too hard, if it came to a fight to the death that left Konoha crippled, and then the other four villages swooped in to pick up the scraps... He absolutely could not allow that to happen.

"Uchiha Sōken, the Police Force is not anyone's toy. I hope you don't stray down the wrong path!" the Third Hokage said, word by word.

With that, he turned and left.

The area around the Meeting Room was wrecked beyond recognition. Earth Release ninjutsu couldn't fix a building with a reinforced concrete structure—it would take a professional engineering team. Fortunately, the Hokage's Office wasn't nearby and hadn't been caught up in the earlier battle, so he wouldn't have to relocate his workspace.

Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, those two elders who had grown as shrewd as foxes with age, also left without a word.

"The future of the Uchiha is naturally this clan leader's responsibility. That's not something the Hokage needs to worry about," Sōken called out loudly, watching the Third Hokage's retreating figure.

The meeting ended anticlimactically.

The Third Hokage and his group hadn't achieved their goals; instead, they'd lost Shimura Danzō. And the Third Hokage's parting words essentially acknowledged Sōken's position as head of the Konoha Police Force. This was out of fear that pushing the relationship too far might lead to accidental conflict—that misunderstandings or provocation from someone with ulterior motives could cause Uchiha Sōken to initiate war with the village.

Until they understood exactly how strong Uchiha Sōken had become, starting a war rashly was far too risky!

In this world where power was concentrated in individuals, a true strong enough could change the course and outcome of a great war. Numbers were meaningless at times—something the Third Hokage knew best, having witnessed the battles between the First Hokage and Madara Uchiha.

Uchiha Sōken.

Perhaps he possessed the same power as Madara Uchiha—that power called the Mangekyo Sharingan!

Walking toward his office, the Third Hokage's heart was heavy. The only silver lining was that Uchiha Sōken didn't seem intent on starting a war with the village—at least, there were no signs of it yet. That let him breathe a little easier.

"Uchiha... Hah. Sensei, you were absolutely right. The Uchiha are a dangerous and evil clan."

In the ruined Meeting Room area, The clan heads who had come to attend began to disperse, walking in small groups and whispering among themselves. But without exception, they all steered clear of Uchiha Sōken. Not opposing the Uchiha didn't mean being friends with them—after all, few people liked being friends with a bunch who looked down their noses at everyone.

Torifu Akimichi, that fat old man, made a swift escape. As soon as the Third Hokage left, he led Nara Shikaku and Yamanaka Inoichi away with him, desperate to avoid any association with the Uchiha Clan. Even though he had been helped many times by Kagami Uchiha back in the day, personal debts could never outweigh the importance of one's clan!

But, Among the many clan heads, one person secretly stared at Uchiha Sōken for a long time, only reluctantly leaving with his friends when two other clan heads he was close with urged him on.

"Sōken, what are you looking at?"

Shisui approached.

"Nothing. Just felt like someone was staring at me for a while. Curious who it was..." Sōken shook his head. "Forget it. Anyway, Shisui, see this? This is what so-called peace is made of—by fighting!!!"

He pointed at the wall before them, full of holes, and the cracked, broken floor.

Shisui gave a wry, helpless smile.

He was indeed moved. When Danzō fell, he thought everything had gone wrong—that an irreparable bloody war between the village and the clan was inevitable... But then the plot took a sudden turn. The bloody war never came, and instead, Sōken's succession as head of the Police Force was approved.

"This is too absurd."

Shisui looked frustrated and confused.

Even though the outcome was good, he still couldn't let it go. He couldn't accept that the village's rulers were so fickle, with no backbone or conviction, changing their faces faster than he could blink.

"Not absurd at all. This is the rule of the world we live in—the strong rule, the victor is king!!!"

With a sharp riiiip, Sōken tore off a sleeve and wrapped it around the wound on his thigh like a bandage. The bleeding had stopped, but without a Medical Ninja, the flesh wound would take a day or two to heal.

"Hey, Shisui, how long are you going to keep brooding? Can't you see I've hurt my leg? At least come over and give me a hand!"

Sōken looked up at Shisui, still lost in thought, and shouted at him irritably.

And so, Not long after Danzō was hospitalized, the new clan leader of the Uchiha Clan and the new head of the Konoha Police Force was also hospitalized. Though the doctors said the flesh wounds could be treated at home, Sōken insisted on staying. He wasn't doing this to prevent Danzō from rising from the ashes or anything—he just wanted a couple of quiet days in the hospital.

These past two days had worn him out!

First, the hasty coup for the clan leadership, then weathering the pressure from the village... For now, the surface-level threats to the Uchiha Clan had been smoothed over. As for the murky undercurrents beneath the water, he'd rest for two days before dealing with them.

Besides, he needed time to thoroughly study his own dojutsu.

If he went home, as clan leader, he'd inevitably be swamped with a pile of troublesome matters. If he went to the Police Force, as its head, he'd definitely never find peace. After thinking it over, staying at Konoha Hospital, pretending to be an injured man and resting his mind here, was the best option.