The Change Begins!

The next day, early in the morning, Roy hurried toward the Military Police Force.

"Reporting!"

Upon arriving at the Military Police Force, Roy discovered that all the members of the Fourth Squad were already there.

Uchiha Natsume was also standing at the very front with a rather grim expression on his face.

"Fall in."

"Yes!"

"Alright, our Fourth Squad is now fully assembled."

"Roy, you will lead these three and conduct a patrol within the village."

"The rest of you, come with me to the training grounds."

After Uchiha Natsume finished speaking, he led the others away.

"What's wrong with the captain?"

"Big Brother Roy, I get the feeling the captain is acting a bit strange today. Do you know anything about it?"

"Yeah, Big Brother Roy."

All three of them shifted their gazes toward Roy.

They were among the six who had joined the Military Police Force alongside Roy, so they knew that Roy had been called away by Uchiha Natsume during the training session.

Coupled with the fact that Roy had been directly appointed as a squad leader, they all assumed that Roy had some sort of special connection with Natsume.

"I'm not sure."

"However, as long as we do our job patrolling Konoha well, we can't go wrong."

"Let's go, move out."

Roy was also a bit unsure of the situation.

However, it was highly likely that Shisui's actions yesterday had provoked Natsume.

What Roy didn't know was that after Natsume left Fugaku's study, he had gone to find Shisui immediately.

And then... he had been soundly defeated by Shisui.

"If you only wanted to show me the strength of the Uchiha, I have already seen it."

The victorious Shisui had left behind those words before walking away.

This had undoubtedly further provoked Natsume, which was the reason for today's extra training.

"Naishiro, go over there and help that old man push his cart."

"Shu, there's an old lady over there, go help her carry her things."

"Uncle, these items cannot be left on the road; they need to be moved immediately. Let me help you."

"Yoichi, come over and help as well."

In the afternoon.

"Did you see that? Those are members of the Military Police Force, actually helping to move things."

"I know, they even helped me cross the street today. There used to be a cute Uchiha boy who loved doing things like that."

"I think the Uchiha are actually quite good; not only are they powerful, but they have also become much more polite than before."

Among the people they helped, opinions of the Uchiha began to slowly change.

At the same time, the actions of Roy and his team were being observed by Sarutobi Hiruzen.

However, his expression at this moment was not very pleasant.

"These are the files on the four of them."

"Uchiha Roy, Uchiha Shu, Uchiha Yoichi, Uchiha Naishiro."

An Anbu member quickly placed the information on the four individuals in front of Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"Uchiha Roy?"

Hearing this familiar name, Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned slightly.

He had a nagging feeling that something was about to happen.

But... he was merely a Chunin...

"Aside from these activities, have they engaged in any other unusual actions?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen was very concerned about any movements from the Uchiha.

"Of the four squads in the Military Police Force, everyone except these four has gone to extra training."

"Among those undergoing extra training, there are at least seven Jonin-level ninjas, and the four captains are all at the level of Elite Jonin."

"The Uchiha are likely making preparations."

The Anbu member spoke once more.

"Preparations?"

"I understand."

Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded.

The Anbu member vanished from the spot immediately after.

He took out two files: one for Uchiha Itachi, and one for Uchiha Shisui.

Both of the Uchiha's geniuses had just completed the paperwork to resign from the Anbu today.

"Uchiha Fugaku, what is it that you are planning?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen felt uncertain.

If it were before, he would not have been this vigilant toward the Uchiha.

But now...

Of course, Roy did not care at all that such matters would affect Sarutobi Hiruzen.

As long as the things he needed to do had already begun, that was enough.

Uchiha Fugaku was no fool; he would certainly be able to perceive the changes within the village after taking such actions.

"Big Brother Roy, is there any special reason for what we did today?"

Inside the Military Police Force, Uchiha Shu looked at Roy with curiosity.

The other two also shifted their gazes toward him.

"Shu, was the old lady's apple delicious?"

"Naishiro, the old man treated you to water, didn't he?"

"Yoichi, the ramen we ate together wasn't bad, right?"

"Doing what we can for the village, and then receiving recognition and rewards in return—isn't that quite interesting?"

Roy said with a smile.

"Big Brother Roy, now that you put it that way, I really do feel like I gained something strange today. So, it was recognition, huh?"

Uchiha Shu scratched his head and said with a silly grin.

"This is also a part of our training, once we have people to protect and goals to strive for."

"Our strength will also improve very quickly as a result."

Roy added.

After finishing up, the four of them returned to the Uchiha compound together.

Late at night.

Several figures flickered outside Konoha.

"My lord."

"This is the shipment for this time. Could we avoid trading in the vicinity of Konoha next time?"

"It's still a bit dangerous."

The man leaned against several crates, his face showing a hint of complaint.

"Understood."

"This is the final transaction."

A figure revealed a pale face under the moonlight.

"My lord, what do you mean by that?"

"Is it that the goods we provided..."

"Hiss..."

Before the man could finish his sentence, two snake shadows struck out instantly, directly ending the man's life.

The man died without ever understanding why Orochimaru had suddenly turned on him.

"Lord Danzo, since you've arrived, you might as well come out."

Orochimaru opened the crates and summoned several large snakes, which swallowed the corpses whole.

"Orochimaru, if you cannot give me a satisfactory answer within a short period of time..."

"Then, these matters, I may no longer be able to..."

"It is almost time."

"I still need one thing: the eyes of an Uchiha."

Orochimaru turned to look at Danzo.

The smile at the corner of his mouth was deathly pale.

"I understand."

"That fellow escaped last time, and he is quite active within the village now."

"It is about time we used some methods to obtain what we desire."

"Orochimaru, you... had better not be lying to me."

After Danzo finished speaking, he vanished into the darkness.

Seeing Danzo depart, Orochimaru flicked his tongue.

"A threat?"

After Orochimaru whispered gloomily, a giant snake surged from the ground and carried him away directly.

At the same time, members of the Root organization quickly departed the village.

The next day, Uchiha Shisui also led a team out of the village.

New Year was fast approaching, and they had to head to the location of the Land of Fire daimyo in advance to stand by.