Surviving Is Just a Disgrace

"Captain, everyone is here."

Uchiha Tekka was followed by over a dozen Uchiha clansmen; these were all the ninjas on duty at the Uchiha Military Police Force today.

Usually at this hour, most of them would still be patrolling the commercial districts, snack streets, and other areas of Konoha.

Even though the Ninja World War had been raging for eight years, the lives of ordinary people in Konoha had not been significantly affected.

Fighting and killing were the business of the ninjas; what did that have to do with the common folk? The Five Great Shinobi Villages had a tacit understanding regarding this.

However, those smaller ninja villages were not as disciplined. When they couldn't make ends meet, they would resort to extortion and plunder the assets of the civilians within their own villages.

Some ninjas from small villages even defected to become Missing-nin just to avoid the combat missions assigned by their villages, banking on the fact that these small villages lacked the capability to hunt them down.

This led to civilians from small villages fleeing toward the Five Great Shinobi Villages, and the most suitable place to settle down was naturally Konoha.

In contrast to the decrease in the number of Konoha ninjas, the population of ordinary civilians in Konoha had actually risen rather than fallen following the First Ninja World War.

This made Konoha's commerce even more prosperous, which in turn kept the workload of the Uchiha Military Police Force consistently heavy.

With more people came all sorts of eccentric characters, and petty crimes occurred one after another, all of which had to be resolved by the Military Police Force.

Not only that, but it wasn't just civilians coming to Konoha; there were also spies from various major ninja villages hidden among them. The Uchiha Military Police Force also cooperated with the Anbu under the Hokage to secretly handle these spies.

"Captain, what's going on that you had to call over all the personnel on duty? We've been worked to death these past few days."

"Yeah, Captain, what's the status on expanding the Military Police Force's establishment? Lord Hokage still hasn't given us an answer. We don't have enough people right now; we need to pull some ordinary people from the clan. After all, it's just managing civilians; they don't necessarily have to be ninjas."

Inabi Uchiha stood behind Uchiha Tekka, complaining. He and Tekka were twins, and they had been in the same squad as Uchiha Nan on the battlefield.

The two of them were not ninjas within the official Konoha registry and were not officially listed in the village.

They were ninjas trained within the clan, belonging to the Uchiha's private army. The First Ninja World War had lasted for eight years, and even a portion of the clan's private army had been drafted to the front lines.

The two brothers had a good relationship with Uchiha Nan; after all, they had been on the battlefield together, and Uchiha Nan had even saved Inabi, Tekka's brother, once.

As soon as he entered the room, Inabi began to complain boisterously about the pile of trivial matters lately.

"Captain, I really don't want to have retired from the front lines. Dealing with these petty, trivial matters every day is worse than letting me fight on the battlefield."

"Captain??"

Uchiha Nan didn't speak, just stared at Inabi. The look in Uchiha Nan's eyes made Inabi Uchiha feel afraid.

The last time the Captain had been this serious was when they had been cornered in a stone cave by over a dozen Kumogakure Jonin. If the Captain hadn't suddenly exploded with power and slaughtered them all, they would have left their lives there.

"Captain, I didn't say anything wrong, did I?"

Inabi Uchiha chuckled sheepishly while signaling his brother, Tekka, with his eyes.

"Inabi, shut your mouth. The Captain hasn't said a word, yet you're the only one yapping away."

Tekka tapped Inabi on the head, then turned his gaze toward Uchiha Nan, waiting for him to speak.

The other Uchiha, seeing Inabi go quiet, wisely shut their mouths as well.

Although Uchiha Nan had always presented himself as friendly and gentle within the clan—after all, having received nine years of compulsory education under the red flag before transmigrating, he spent his days silently accumulating good karma and spinning the wheel to grow stronger—no one dared to cross him.

On the battlefield, Uchiha Nan was a powerhouse. Cloaked in lightning, with blade-light hidden within the brilliant glow, he could send an enemy's head flying in an instant. His position as Captain of the Military Police Force wasn't earned through nepotism; it was promoted through merit on the battlefield.

Clearly, every Uchiha present could sense that Captain Uchiha Nan's attitude today was unusual.

"Inabi, you were complaining just now that the Hokage refuses to expand the Military Police Force's roster?"

Uchiha Nan let go of Manji, stood up to stretch his body, and looked at Inabi Uchiha.

"Is there something wrong with what I said?"

Inabi Uchiha rubbed his head; that hit from his brother Tekka had actually hurt quite a bit.

"Hmph."

Uchiha Nan let out a cold laugh.

"The expansion of the Uchiha Military Police Force will likely be delayed for some time. The Hokage won't have the chance to approve it anyway."

"I just received news: the Hokage has been killed in action during the negotiations with the Raikage."

Uchiha Nan's words struck the Uchiha present like a heavy hammer, leaving everyone's head spinning.

"Captain?"

"You're not joking, are you? The Hokage is dead?"

"And he died during negotiations?"

Tekka Uchiha's tone was filled with disbelief; he found the death of Tobirama Senju to be absurd.

That man was notoriously cunning. The elders in the clan who had survived the Warring States Period would, when cursing Tobirama, always prefix his name with words like "sly," "black-hearted," and "a bastard full of schemes."

Some pessimistic elders had even declared, "That cunning guy Tobirama will probably outlive me. It looks like the Uchiha won't have a chance for decades. No one in the clan can outwit that black-hearted bastard Tobirama. Heaven does not favor us Uchiha."

Having been taught by the clan's seniors since he was young, Tekka had heard these words far too often.

Among those elders who survived the Warring States Period, some held a deep-seated hatred for Tobirama. Forced by the situation, they could only curse him behind his back, but even in their cursing, they were highly unanimous about one thing: Tobirama Senju was incredibly hard to kill.

"Is this the kind of thing one jokes about?"

Uchiha Nan looked at Uchiha Tekka and said earnestly.

"According to the intelligence I've received, the Second Raikage's subordinates, Kinkaku and Ginkaku, launched a coup and ambushed the Second Raikage and Lord Tobirama at the negotiation table."

"The Second Raikage is dead, and Lord Tobirama is severely wounded. He was being hunted by Kinkaku and Ginkaku's elite forces while leading the Shadow Guard Squad. In the end, to cover the Shadow Guard Squad's escape, he drew the pursuing forces away alone and fought until his death."

Uchiha Nan briefly explained the sequence of events. Uchiha Tekka felt his head throbbing; if it weren't for the fact that the person in front of him was Uchiha Nan, Uchiha Tekka would have wanted to slap him across the face.

What kind of nonsense are you making up here? What do you mean by the Hokage covering the Shadow Guard Squad?

Which village's Shadow Guard Squad would let their Kage cover their escape!

If they survived like that, it would be shameful enough as it is!