Restriction (Seeking Follow-up Reads)

Hearing the voice beside him, Sarutobi Hiruzen silently nodded.

Shaking the raindrops from his body, he then said expressionlessly to Yan, "Uchiha Hideto cannot be handed over to you. He is a part of Konoha, and I am responsible for his life."

Hearing him refuse the request, a trace of disappointment flashed through Yan's eyes.

If they had chosen to hand over Uchiha Hideto, he could have arranged for Hideto to fake his death, then earn a wave of prestige within the clan under the pretext of personally executing a traitor.

He could also use the White Fang incident as an opening to strike at Sarutobi Hiruzen's reputation in Konoha.

And take the opportunity to win over Hatake Kakashi as well.

Killing three birds with one stone!

Sigh... what a pity they hadn't taken the bait.

But Yan did not dwell on it. He raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

Tekka behind him immediately understood and held up an umbrella for Yan.

The torrential rain poured down, running along the umbrella's surface and pooling at their feet.

Yan's mouth twitched as he shot Tekka an annoyed look.

"Did I ask you to hold an umbrella? I asked you to give me the document."

Tekka scratched his head, said, "Oh," and tossed the umbrella aside.

He pulled the document from his robe and handed it over.

This scene left Yan even more speechless.

Good thing I don't play those workplace games, or you'd really be suffering.

He glared fiercely at Tekka before tossing the document to Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"This is the document I drafted regarding autonomy rights."

Sarutobi Hiruzen took it and gave it a glance.

He had to admit, it was quite comprehensive.

It included, but was not limited to, educational autonomy, territorial autonomy, economic autonomy, security autonomy, intelligence autonomy, resource allocation autonomy, and operational autonomy.

Other than diplomatic autonomy, which had not been included, everything else was there.

They really were planning to create a country within a country, a village within a village!

After reading it, Sarutobi Hiruzen tore the document in his hand apart without hesitation.

"This is too excessive. I cannot agree to it. It must be revised, and thoroughly revised."

Watching the scraps of paper stick to the ground under the rain, Yan gave a cold laugh.

"Then what do you propose, my Lord Hokage?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen steadied his emotions and said calmly, "Since I promised to grant the Uchiha autonomy rights, I will not go back on my word."

"But that does not mean you are separating from Konoha."

"Therefore, during major incidents and emergencies, you must comply with Konoha's unified scheduling and arrangements."

"Fine!" Yan agreed readily.

The important thing was to secure the benefits first. As for what came later, that could be dealt with later.

But Sarutobi Hiruzen had not finished speaking.

"Also, your economic autonomy, territorial autonomy, and the like must be subject to certain restrictions. Go discuss that with Shikaku."

"That works too!" Yan continued nodding.

He had expected that condition as well. After all, the Hokage faction was not stupid.

If they had truly agreed to everything outright, Yan would have needed to pack his things and prepare to flee.

When something was abnormal, there had to be something suspicious behind it!

"Then can you release them now?" Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at the villagers surrounded by the Uchiha.

"No rush!" Yan shook his head with a smile. "A little rain is good for the body. Besides, there are Medical Ninjas—they won't die!"

"Let's go to the Hokage Building and have a proper discussion about autonomy rights!"

After all, the next part was the paid segment, and it was not suitable for the Ninja Clan heads watching from the sidelines to hear.

Sarutobi Hiruzen agreed with that as well.

He nodded, turned, and called out to Nara Shikaku. At the same time, he said to Shimura Danzō and the others, "Danzō, Yan, Koharu, you don't need to come."

He only wanted to wrap this matter up as quickly as possible.

If those elders were allowed to sit in, who knew how long they would argue.

Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu were somewhat dissatisfied with Sarutobi Hiruzen, but they had no real objections.

Shimura Danzō, however, refused to accept it.

He was about to make a few sarcastic remarks, only to see that Sarutobi Hiruzen was ignoring him.

Left to make a fool of himself, he could only snort coldly and leave with the Root ninja.

Seeing this, Homura casually gave Yashiro and the others a few instructions before heading toward the Hokage Building.

Inside the Hokage's office.

Sarutobi Hiruzen sat in the Hokage's chair, puffing on his pipe one drag after another.

In front of his desk, Homura and Nara Shikaku were engaged in a fierce debate over the matter of autonomous authority.

"Your conditions are truly excessive. The Hokage just said it himself—Konoha cannot possibly have two Hokage at the same time," Nara Shikaku said heatedly.

"That's why I agreed just now that, in major incidents, we would accept Konoha's arrangements."

"Not 'would,' but 'must' accept 'all' of Konoha's arrangements!" Nara Shikaku emphasized.

"..."

"And there's the matter of security guards." Nara Shikaku pointed at the contents of the document. "We allow you to establish an armed force for the Autonomous Region, but its numbers cannot exceed one thousand. And unless under special circumstances, they are not permitted to leave the Autonomous Region."

"At least three thousand."

"Can you even afford to support that many people, shouting three thousand right off the bat?"

"What business is it of yours whether I can afford them? And since you put it that way, I'll add another condition. Any ninja entering the Autonomous Region must register, or I have the right to kill them."

"One thousand five hundred at most. And the registration rule does not apply to Anbu ninja."

"Fine. Two thousand five hundred, but Anbu only, and they must notify us in advance. Also, tell that bunch from Root to stay the hell away."

"Fine, two thousand. That's the bottom line. No more than that."

"No problem!"

"..."

"There are also restrictions on territorial expansion. The boundaries of the Autonomous Region must be clearly defined, and expansion without authorization is prohibited."

"No problem!"

"..."

"Restrictions on economic activity. Resource development, trade, and other matters must follow the rules and policies established by Konoha."

"..."

"Restrictions on intelligence management. The gathering and transmission of important intelligence must be reported to Konoha. You may not conduct intelligence operations independently."

"..."

"And the two most important points: transparency in decision-making and consistency of laws, along with accepting a certain degree of oversight."

"That's fine too, but my Autonomous Region has the right to enact new laws."

"That is acceptable, but those laws must first receive Konoha's approval and may apply only within the Autonomous Region."

"That's impossible. Are you saying that even if I issue a law banning people from relieving themselves anywhere they please, I have to report it to Konoha?"

"Then let the oversight team decide. Any law that may affect all of Konoha must be approved by Konoha's entire upper leadership before it can be implemented."

"What do you mean by 'may affect'?"

"It may affect people's livelihoods, cause major casualties, impact relations between the Autonomous Region and Konoha, and so on."

"..."

Two hours later.

It was already late at night.

Homura and Nara Shikaku's negotiations had finally reached a point both sides could accept.

They then handed the drafted document to Sarutobi Hiruzen for review.

Looking at its contents, he frowned deeply and shook his head repeatedly.

Though many restrictions had been imposed, the autonomous authority was still far too great.

With the Uchiha Clan at its center, an area with a radius of five li had been designated.

Although one-third of it was uninhabited forest.

One had to know that, excluding the Forest of Death, all of Konoha only had a radius of a little over thirty li.

But this was already the most ideal result after negotiations, so Sarutobi Hiruzen could only grit his teeth and accept it.