Someone Isn't Good With Words

"How did you bewitch this pack of wolf cubs? I know our Uchiha well; raw power alone is not the key to making them submit to you." As the only remaining elder, Uchiha Setsuna was somewhat bewildered.

Uchiha Madara possessed absolute, overwhelming power, yet even so, the Uchiha clan did not follow him. This fact alone proved that power was not absolute.

As an old man who had lived from the Warring States period to the era of the Third Hokage, what kind of scene had Uchiha Setsuna not witnessed? (Strike that), he truly had never seen a scene like this!

"Bewitch?"

Uchiha Yuji shook his head slightly. "I am not a man skilled with words."

"I merely told them the reality, told them the truth of their situation. Since they have no way to change this desperate fact themselves, they naturally pin their hopes on someone who can."

Uchiha Setsuna glanced at the clansmen in the room. The vast majority were young, but there was no shortage of elite middle-aged ninja; these people were the backbone of the Uchiha.

The original Doves, Hawks, and neutral factions were all present.

"What is your first step?"

"The Uchiha clan has always been wolves, never house-guarding dogs." Uchiha Yuji said, appearing indifferent. "A bone with no meat left on it—something that should have been discarded long ago—I will not let it continue to exist."

Uchiha Yuji did not explicitly state what the "bone" was, but Uchiha Setsuna understood instantly.

The Police Force!

Or, to be more precise, the Uchiha Police Force.

Uchiha Setsuna narrowed his eyes slightly, peering through the thin slits to carefully examine the young man before him.

"To many, that is the glory of the Uchiha."

"I do not consider that glory; it is merely a dog leash binding the Uchiha." Uchiha Yuji looked straight at Uchiha Setsuna.

"Konoha Hospital and the Anbu are the departments with real power. The Ninja Academy holds implicit power. And Elder Setsuna, don't you think the jurisdiction of our Police Force overlaps significantly with the Anbu?"

"We transfer personnel involved in major intelligence to the Anbu, leaving us with nothing but trivial, annoying chores. Given the temperament of our Uchiha clansmen, can we really handle those properly?"

As for this trashy Police Force, reduced to nothing more than city management work, whoever wants it can have it.

Drag others in to shoulder it together?

Who could the Uchiha possibly see eye-to-eye with?

Everyone had at least a little self-awareness.

Uchiha Setsuna also slowly shook his head.

"Or are you, Elder Setsuna, also senile? Do you believe those distributed medals are true honors?"

Assigning the battle-hardened Uchiha—everyone of whom is either tsundere or excessively proud—to handle civil disputes is a sinister plot designed to constantly drag the Uchiha's reputation through the mud.

This is an invisible blade.

Uchiha Setsuna laughed, a hearty, unrestrained sound.

"The glory of the Uchiha?"

"Don't make me laugh. Since when has the glory of the Uchiha been about handling petty matters like catching thieves?"

"The battlefield! Only victory on the battlefield is the true glory of our Uchiha!"

"To have that pack of fools grovel and lick a bone with a few scraps of meat on it—it is an utter disgrace to the face of our Uchiha!"

"Besides, if we suddenly drop our tools during wartime, Sarutobi will only come to appease us!"

The old man's voice grew increasingly resonant, his cheeks flushed with an unnatural red amidst the sparks.

With the meager funding the Police Force received, and the way they were constantly ordered around, what right did it have to be called the glory of the Uchiha?

After Uchiha Madara left, his own influence within the clan was not significant. Suggestions he raised were not accepted by the growing Dove faction, and even the neutral faction would not agree to the proposal of abandoning the Police Force. Naturally, he would not invite humiliation by offering such unreliable opinions.

He lacked the power, the resolve, and the hope to change the status quo.

But today was different; the old man spoke his true thoughts.

"Exactly so, which is why I have stepped forward."

Uchiha Yuji took a light sip of clear tea, gazing at the bright, full moon emerging from the dark clouds, watching the silver radiance spill over the Uchiha compound.

"The dawn is almost here, isn't it?"

The night was at its deepest, yet Uchiha Setsuna wore a smile. "That's right, the dawn is almost here."

The night passed in a flash of anticipation. Autumn morning mist permeated Konoha, and the massive Hokage Rock was obscured by the hazy white fog. The sounds of bustle gradually began to play out within the thin mist.

Prosperity replaced the cold silence. The joys and sorrows of people are not shared, and people cannot truly understand one another; disputes followed in their wake.

And these disputes pushed the bustling popularity to even greater heights.

Yet, as they argued, some people noticed something wrong.

"Why has it been so long, and the people from the Police Force still haven't come?"

"Come to think of it, I haven't seen a single Uchiha patrolling today. Did something happen?"

Although Konoha was peaceful, fierce battles were unfolding at the borders. The war had been going on for a long time, and it had not ceased to this day.

It was a bit shameful to admit.

In times of peace, this group of poker-faced, neurotic Uchiha only made them feel disgusted. But when the outside world was filled with the chaos of war, a squad of Uchiha ninja was enough to fill them with a sense of security.

This was the formidable strength the Uchiha clan had forged from the Warring States period to the present day.

The fact that even the Uchiha patrol units were suddenly reassigned meant only one thing—Konoha was already at a disadvantage in the war!

Once this realization dawned, the bickering ceased, and the onlookers quickly shifted from a posture of amusement to one of fleeing for their lives; chaos replaced prosperity, rapidly spreading throughout the entire village of Konoha.

"Where are those Uchiha fellows?" Sarutobi Hiruzen rubbed his temples in distress. "There are already enough problems lately; I don't need those people causing me any more trouble."

No matter how stern Danzo's expression was, he could not hide a trace of joy. "I told you long ago that the Uchiha clan cannot be trusted. The fighting is still ongoing at the border, and we still hold the advantage."

"They disregard the big picture now; if Konoha were at a disadvantage, who knows what they might do! Hiruzen! We must not let the Uchiha clan off easily!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen glanced at Danzo as if looking at an idiot, then simply shook his head.

Many of the Uchiha clan's elites had already been deployed by him to the most grueling battlefields; once anyone learned of the situation within the village, no one could predict what those lunatics might do.

If the defensive line were to be breached, there was no telling how many lives would have to be sacrificed to hold it.