Uchiha Kō rose to his feet amidst applause and began to speak.
"Thank you for the trust of the clan leader and the clan members. I, Uchiha Kō, will certainly do my best as the head of the Police Force. However, I must make it clear first that the members of the Police Force from now on will not only be ninjas of our Uchiha Clan."
Everyone nodded and smiled at the first part of the sentence, but some clansmen frowned at the second part. Due to Uchiha Kō's prestige and power, they dared not say anything in public.
Uchiha Hirotomo simply closed his eyes; this was no longer his concern. Now he only cared about his clan, not the village, which made things very easy for him.
As for Xiao Jun, that depends on his abilities.
Uchiha Kō glanced around, taking in everything, then sneered and said, "Do you know why the villagers were so hostile to us before?"
Everyone was "unaware"
Uchiha Kō chuckled. "If you were villagers or street vendors, and were driven away by the Police Force, would you be happy? The villagers just want to make some money, but they're being driven away for disturbing the peace. Do you expect them to have the awareness to reflect on their actions?"
"Furthermore, how do we arrest people who cause trouble and fight? If we just give them a dirty look and a warning, and that doesn't work, we resort to force and beat them up. Yes, we're following the rules and regulations, but will those people even care?"
After Uchiha Kō finished speaking, the crowd was no longer the clueless, headstrong people they had been at the beginning, but were now thinking carefully.
"We all know that you are law-abiding villagers, but there will always be people who are dissatisfied and disobedient when the law is enforced. At this time, we need to think about whether the law or human feelings are more important."
"Here, I want to say that the law is important! But procedures are also important, and the methods and attitudes of law enforcement are even more important!"
Uchiha Kō used a lot of novel terms, which the other Uchiha members couldn't understand but found impressive and awe-inspiring!
"Enforcing the law inevitably offends others, especially those who break the law and commit crimes! In the past, we would arrest people and take them away directly, with villagers watching. Didn't you have mouths?"
"With so many villagers, how would anyone know what you're doing! You arrest people, then don't say a word, just stand there with your heads held high, thinking you're so cool and proud. What are you trying to do!" At this point, Uchiha Kō slammed his hand on the table.
Clan leader Uchiha Hirotomo swallowed hard, cautiously watching Uchiha Kō, thinking to himself, "Brother, take it easy."
The Uchiha members lowered their heads and remained silent, because Uchiha Kō was saying was their current situation, or rather, what they had always done.
"I don't care how you enforced the law before, listen up from now on: when you arrest someone, first identify yourself. I'll make a Police ID for each of you later, so show your ID before you arrest anyone!"
"Then loudly proclaim his crimes, letting everyone know that we Uchiha are investigating cases, catching criminals, and that we are on the side of the people! Do you all understand?"
"Secondly, no violent enforcement! Every operation must have two people, one to supervise and one to enforce the law. If I catch anyone using violent enforcement, they're all fired!" Uchiha Kō a strong bandit-like air about him, unlike Uchiha Hirotomo.
But it is precisely this bandit-like aura that effectively commands respect.
Just then, a Jonin from the Uchiha Jonin forward. "Sixth Elder! We all agree with what you've said about internal reforms, but what about what you said earlier about the Police Force not being just Uchiha?"
Uchiha Kō nodded and smiled, "I know, everyone thinks the Police Force was an organizational unit specifically created by the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju, for the Uchiha."
"But have you ever considered that old man who always talks about the inherently evil Uchiha, is he really that good?"
"Enforcing the law will offend people! Power is enormous. If it's held by just one family or clan, let alone the villagers, would the other ninja clans be willing? You eat the meat, but don't give everyone a sip of soup?"
"Does he really think he's Uchiha?" Uchiha Kō publicly mentioned Uchiha's name, causing everyone present to gasp and a hint of guilt to flash in their eyes.
Far away in the Land of Water, Uchiha sneezed and frowned. "It's getting a bit cold lately. Black Zetsu! Go chop some wood!"
"Yes, Lord Madara!" Black Zetsu then vanished into the ground.
Clan meeting
Uchiha Kō scanned the crowd. "Since the power of law enforcement is great, it also offends many people. Let other ninja clans join in to share the pressure. We can maintain top leadership and have more than half of our own people."
"Some people might worry about what will happen to the brothers who have been laid off and are unemployed! It's simple. I will apply to the Lord Hokage to expand the temporary staff. Temporary staff will have the same benefits as regular staff, but they will become Auxiliary Police. Afterwards, the clan will encourage entrepreneurship, and when the time is right, we will either make our temporary staff permanent or let them go into business."
Before making the reforms, Uchiha Kō had already thought a lot about it. Although the Police Force was a privilege granted to the Uchiha Hokage, the behavior of him eating the meat while everyone else didn't even get a sip of soup was not conducive to unity.
Therefore, he mentioned these things at the clan meeting first, so that anyone with questions could clarify them face-to-face, instead of grumbling behind their backs.
The Uchiha ninjas looked at each other. The Sixth Elder had thought things through thoroughly enough, and they didn't know how to refute him. The reasoning had been made clear to them.
Power remains in the hands of the Uchiha, but some official positions will be sacrificed for other clans. The original Police Force members will simply lose their official positions, but their other benefits will remain the same.
After thinking it over, all of this was for the sake of the clan. Finally, the ninjas raised their hands in agreement with the proposal. After reporting to Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi Hiruzen, Uchiha Kō officially took office as the leader of the Uchiha Police Force, no, the Konoha Police Force!
It wasn't until midnight, with those receiving awards and those being promoted, that everyone left the meeting hall.
Uchiha Hirotomo smiled and said, "Lord Owl, is it really impossible for the Police Force to be completely under our own control?"
"Clan Chief Guangzhi, I understand your feelings, but the truth is, there's no good end to hoarding things. You should understand this better than I do!" Uchiha Kō's eyes were filled with suspicion.
What kind of clan leader are you? Don't you even understand this basic principle?
Uchiha Hirotomo understood, he understood better than anyone else, but power is intoxicating. Legislation, law enforcement, and trials are all under the control of the Uchiha Clan —how prestigious they are!
He was just pretending to be confused. He sighed and patted Uchiha Kō on the shoulder. "Owl-kun, I hope you'll take good care of the Uchiha from now on! I've already had those who bullied you arrested. You can decide how to deal with them."
Uchiha Kō glanced at Uchiha Hirotomo, somewhat surprised. To be honest, the war and negotiations of this period had made him forget about the original owner being bullied.
Surprisingly, Uchiha Hirotomo remembered and even offered to let him handle it.
"Clan Chief Guangzhi, you've got a good plan. Let's exile those ninjas to the border and have them guard the frontier for Konoha." Uchiha Kō smiled.
"That's it?" Uchiha Hirotomo thought Uchiha Kō was going to personally teach them a lesson, or even kill them, but this is how it ends?
"Otherwise, should we kill them? It's not necessary. Let them go to the frontier to gain experience. Maybe they can bring glory to the Uchiha Clan in the future!" Uchiha Kō smiled.
Sure enough, the higher one stands, the different one's mindset becomes. While Uchiha Hirotomo was delighted, he also felt somewhat complicated. It seemed that Owl was more suitable to be the clan leader than he was.