"During the Second Hokage's reign, Uchiha Setsuna rebelled, but Lord Tobirama received advance intelligence, which nipped the rebellion in the bud."
"As for the captured hawks, Uchiha only punished Setsuna and the other ringleaders of the Lord Tobirama by imprisoning them, while releasing most of the others back to their clans."
"Furthermore, the Uchiha Clan was not held accountable, and they were allowed to continue their duties in the Military Police Force."
"The only real punishment is to relocate the Uchiha Clan's territory to a location next to Konoha Prison, in order to prevent the next Setsuna from appearing."
After listening to Danzo's explanation, Kazashiro considered the situation from the perspective of the village's higher-ups and realized that the village's suspicion of the Uchiha Clan was indeed not unfounded.
Despite having two prior convictions for treason, the Uchiha Clan was still able to control the Military Police Force and enjoy autonomy shows that the higher-ups have indeed been extremely kind to them.
If the Uchiha Clan didn't live in the Hokage world, but rather in some ancient Eastern dynasty...
It might end up like this: eggs will be shaken until the yolks are broken, earthworms will be split in half vertically, and ant nests will be doused with boiling water.
"To show goodwill to the Uchiha Clan, Lord Tobirama Uchiha the steady and reliable Kagami Uchiha to the guard team, intending to recruit him into the village's upper echelons in the future."
"Then Kagami Uchiha died under mysterious circumstances."
Danzo's expression turned grim when the death of Kagami Uchiha was mentioned.
Kazashiro was taken aback. Many people thought that Danzo was responsible for Kagami Uchiha's death, but after hearing his father say this, it seemed that the Uchiha Clan was the more suspicious Danzo.
Thinking about it carefully, it makes sense Kagami Uchiha was only 25 years old when he died, Danzo at that time was far less extreme than he became later.
When Hiruzen Sarutobi questioned him, Danzo admitted that Kagami Uchiha had helped him more than once using his Dojutsu.
At that time, Danzo probably hadn't yet developed any desire for the Sharingan.
"Even now, Kagami Uchiha's descendants are not highly regarded within the clan. Many hawkish Uchiha believe that the rise of the pacifist faction within the Uchiha Clan is all Kagami Uchiha's fault."
Composing himself, Danzo continued to explain to Kazashiro.
"Therefore, after Kagami Uchiha's death, the Third Hokage did not promote any more members of the Uchiha Clan to higher positions."
"Tell me, what kind of power should we grant to such a clan so that they can live in peace with the village?"
Danzo then threw the final question back at Kazashiro.
"Uh... the Hokage Position?" Kazashiro asked hesitantly.
If we look at it this way, the only option to quell the resentment of the Uchiha Clan is the Hokage Position.
But that's not right either.
In the original story, what fueled the Uchiha Clan's discontent was not only the lack of leadership, but also the discrimination they faced from villagers and ordinary ninjas.
The deep-seated prejudice also prevented the Uchiha Clan from settling in Konoha.
"Is there any way to eliminate the village's prejudice against the Uchiha Clan?" Kazashiro clicked his tongue and asked when Danzo's face turned ugly because of his previous answer.
"Prejudice against the Uchiha Clan... Not bad, you can even see that." Danzo suddenly felt that his son's intelligence might actually be salvageable.
"The Uchiha Clan's prejudice stems from their character."
"Due to their personality, the Uchiha Clan is overly rigid and inflexible in law enforcement. However, this alone wouldn't be enough to cause such strong resentment among the villagers."
"But they also retain autonomy, which means many criminal Uchiha members can only be tried by themselves. Imagine if you were a villager..."
Danzo paused for a moment, then continued:
"Hiruzen and I once discussed whether to separate the Military Police Force from the Uchiha Clan, but the Uchiha Clan regarded the power of the Military Police Force as their exclusive domain and would never allow anyone to touch it, so several attempts failed."
The problems that Kazashiro could see, Hiruzen and Danzo could naturally see as well.
But as Danzo said before, the Uchiha Clan, who had not entered the core of power, had regarded the Military Police Force as their last lifeline. Although stripping them of this power could alleviate the conflict between the two sides, such an action would only exacerbate their tensions.
This is so awkward!
"We need to find a way to persuade them to reform the existing Military Police Force system."
"In return, we can promote moderates like Fugaku Uchiha to the position of advisor, thereby easing the Uchiha Clan's resistance. As for the staunch hawks, we should take strong measures, but it would be best to let the Uchiha Clan resolve this internally, so that the village won't have anything to criticize."
After listening to Danzo's explanation, Kazashiro also had some ideas.
"It's easier said than done. The human heart is the most unpredictable thing. Fugaku Uchiha may seem like a moderate, but no one can really say what he's really like at heart." Danzo shook his head.
If it weren't for his son's reputation, he would have killed him long ago.
Human desires grow gradually. Weren't the Uchiha Clan quite well-behaved when they first joined Konoha?
If we manage to appease them this time, what if they become dissatisfied again in the future over something else?
After all, that's just their personality—extreme and stubborn.
Even so, Danzo was already quite satisfied.
At least my son's IQ isn't as low as I thought, as long as I continue to guide him...
Completely relieved, Danzo looked up at the tent window and realized that the sky outside had already begun to darken.
He rushed over in a hurry and hadn't even had a chance to hand over command to Mitokado Homura.
He had already planned how to thoroughly bleed the Uchiha and Kirigakure after taking command.
After listening to Kazashiro's explanation, Danzo saw many issues more clearly.
The Uchiha Clan likely did not merge with Kirigakure on a large scale, and the front lines remain stable.
The Kirigakure did not launch a final counterattack after losing one of their Tailed Beast proves that the enemy did not know where the Tailed Beast had gone.
This means that the Uchiha Clan did not completely merge with Kirigakure; otherwise, given their numbers on the front lines, they should have been able to easily reclaim the Tailed Beast.
There may be Uchiha members outside the village who belong to neither Konoha nor Kirigakure, and who are extremely familiar with Konoha.
A fleeting remnant? If so, that's not so terrible.
What's scary is another guy...
Danzo had already made up his mind.
It seems the Uchiha doesn't need to be bled anymore; the only ones who need proper bloodletting are the Kirigakure clan.
"Hmph, my son dares to make a move? It's time for you to pay the price."
With a gloomy face, Danzo led his men out of the tent where Kazashiro was, and strode towards Mitokado Homura's camp.
Seeing Danzo leave, Kazashiro finally breathed a sigh of relief.
No, communicating with my own father is too mentally taxing.