Initial Success!

After hearing Danzo's promise, Uchiha Fugaku no longer insisted.

Now wasn't the time to make a move against the High Command.

"Then I'll leave it to you, Lord Danzo."

"The Uchiha Clan still needs me to return and oversee the move of the entire clan, so I'll take my leave."

Uchiha Fugaku gave a slight bow and disappeared.

"Danzo, you..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at Shimura Danzō before him with deep displeasure.

Even knowing the reasons behind this, Sarutobi Hiruzen still needed an explanation that would hold water.

"The Uchiha... have changed."

"Lord Hokage, wouldn't you feel uneasy if you couldn't keep them under constant watch?"

Danzo said evenly.

Before coming here, Danzo had already prepared his explanation.

This sudden change in the Uchiha would surely make Sarutobi Hiruzen uneasy.

On top of that, the Uchiha's reputation was improving, and the village would have to pay for the restoration of their compound.

If they gave too little, the villagers would think the Konoha High Command was being too narrow-minded.

But paying the full amount would mean an expense Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't want to cover.

The best solution was to let the Uchiha move back to their compound.

Not only would it save a huge sum of money, it would also make surveillance by the Anbu easier.

"You're still... Never mind. You have plenty of other things to do. Go."

Sarutobi Hiruzen had originally wanted to say something.

But after thinking it over, he realized he couldn't get to the heart of the matter with Danzo, so he couldn't be bothered to continue.

After Danzo left, Sarutobi Hiruzen returned to the window.

So much had happened in the space of a single month.

First, the Uchiha Clan's temperament had changed dramatically, and they were now getting along much better with the villagers.

Then his own son had gone looking for trouble, only to get caught in the act.

After that, Danzo had stirred up trouble, only for the Uchiha to handle it perfectly and even reclaim their clan compound.

Every one of these signs was telling Sarutobi Hiruzen that the Uchiha were about to make a big move.

But knowing that was one thing. Sarutobi Hiruzen still had no idea how to deal with it.

There was no way to counter such an open strategy without overwhelming strength.

"Is it time to go see him?"

"Ha..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed, then returned to his seat, his expression heavy.

Unlike the somber atmosphere among the Konoha High Command, the Uchiha were practically celebrating New Year's early.

With help from the Konoha Military Police Force, every member of the Uchiha Clan quickly returned to their original compound.

Most of them went back to their former homes.

Uchiha Fugaku also returned to his original courtyard.

"Clan head, everyone's settled in."

"We've brought all their belongings over, too."

"Should we keep doing things this way?"

Uchiha Nagasawa appeared behind Uchiha Fugaku and asked curiously.

The reason Uchiha Fugaku had been able to persuade the Hardline Faction to cooperate so easily with Roy's plan was that Roy had promised he could get them back into their old compound in a short time.

With that promise in place, these proud Uchiha had agreed to cooperate with Roy.

Now that they'd achieved their goal, Uchiha Nagasawa no longer wanted to keep acting the way they had before.

That sort of thing only lowered the Uchiha's standing.

"Nagasawa, do you think all we've gained during this time is this compound?"

Uchiha Fugaku smiled at Uchiha Nagasawa.

Clearly, he was in a very good mood.

"Fighting, and making the High Command take a hit, were pretty satisfying, too."

After a moment's thought, Uchiha Nagasawa replied slowly.

Last night's battle had helped many Uchiha shinobi recapture the feeling of fighting.

"You may not have noticed, but the villagers' attitude toward us Uchiha has already started to change."

Uchiha Fugaku spoke evenly.

"The villagers?"

"What does their attitude have to do with us Uchiha?"

Uchiha Nagasawa was puzzled.

In his eyes, those weak people...

Aside from needing their help, they couldn't provide the Uchiha with any support at all.

"The reason the Uchiha were reduced to moving the entire clan into the village was partly because we were suspected of causing the Nine-Tails Incident."

"But the main reason was that nobody trusted us Uchiha!"

"When no one trusts us, everything we say is meaningless."

"That's also why I didn't try to defend myself back then and agreed to the High Command's demands."

Uchiha Fugaku spoke evenly.

At the same time, the corners of his mouth lifted almost imperceptibly.

It seemed his hopes from before had come to fruition.

Roy really had given him a third path to take.

Of course, there were still plenty of obstacles to overcome if they wanted to keep following this path.

The greatest obstacle, naturally, was the Konoha High Command, which still hadn't given up its schemes.

"Can those ordinary villagers really..."

Uchiha Nagasawa still wanted to argue, but he couldn't bring himself to continue.

"All right. Everyone's worked hard lately."

"Go get some rest. Don't worry about me."

Uchiha Fugaku could see Uchiha Nagasawa's confusion. He wasn't in a hurry to change everyone's minds all at once.

"Understood, clan head."

Uchiha Nagasawa nodded and left.

Meanwhile, Roy...

Roy was rapidly unleashing ninjutsu and using the power of the Mera Mera no Mi.

Thanks to the double chakra refinement and the completion of random missions during this time, Roy's chakra reserves had improved by leaps and bounds.

He could now maintain Elementalization for more than a few seconds.

His Mera Mera no Mi abilities had also grown much stronger.

Most importantly, his Sharingan was about to reach 100% proficiency.

"Ding! Sharingan proficiency has reached 100%. Automatically upgrading to the Three-Tomoe Sharingan."

As a mixed electronic chime rang out, Roy felt a strange energy flow into his eyes.

Roy took out a mirror and activated his Sharingan.

Three magatama appeared around his pupils.

"My visual prowess has improved a lot, and I've also gained a special ocular technique."

Roy's face lit up with delight.

Roy had always thought that the genjutsu used by the Uchiha were learned later on.

But he hadn't expected that they weren't genjutsu at all.

They were ocular techniques inherent to the Sharingan.

No wonder other shinobi had such a hard time dispelling Uchiha genjutsu through ordinary means.

"Next, it's about time to make a move against the Konoha High Command."

"Danzo, you can't hold out much longer, can you?"

Roy looked up at the full moon in the sky.

Just like Konoha right now.

It looked bright and radiant... yet it gave off not the slightest warmth!