Brother Hiashi, Please Stay Calm!

The sparrows outside the window were chattering away on the telephone wires...

Hyuga Hiashi had certainly said something shocking!

Senya was so taken aback that, for a moment, he couldn't tell who was supposed to be the "Uchiha." Hiashi was even more resolute than the Uchiha hardliners. At the slightest disagreement, he wanted to lead his clan straight into a coup!

Senya hurried to talk him out of it.

"Brother Hiashi, you absolutely can't do that! Think about your two daughters. If there's a coup, what will happen to Hinata and Hanabi? We need to think this through carefully."

"Hyuga Hiashi has suffered a mental breakdown. Successful replication. Physical attributes increased by 20%."

Senya's face went straight to O.o.

Wait, I hadn't meant to make Hiashi break down! Wasn't I trying to comfort him? Was the system bugging out?

At first, Hyuga Hiashi had only been pounding the table. But when Senya brought it up, Hiashi completely lost it.

He got to his feet, about to stomp the tea table to pieces.

"Brother Hiashi, calm down! You have to stay calm!"

Senya grabbed Hiashi's arm, trying to help him settle down.

"How am I supposed to stay calm?! You're right. Hiruzen and Danzo, those two old crooks, definitely won't spare Hinata and Hanabi in the future. They're beasts! Those two bastards are my sworn enemies!"

It took Senya quite a while to get Hiashi to sit back down and calm down.

Remembering how he'd just acted, Hiashi felt a little embarrassed at having lost his composure in front of Senya. He picked up his teacup and pretended to drink, covering up his awkwardness.

"So, little brother Senya, do you have a plan? Your Uchiha Clan has already started handing over authority in the Police Force. Are you really going to compromise with the village leadership?"

Senya gave a cheeky grin. He looked bright and cheerful, like someone guileless and innocent who didn't know the first thing about scheming.

"Brother Hiashi, who do you think really has the say in Konoha?"

Hiashi was taken aback, but he still answered.

"Of course the Hokage has the say."

"No, no. What if—I mean, just hypothetically—what if the villagers and clans joined forces to choose a new Hokage? I wonder how our aging Third would handle that?"

Hiashi's Byakugan widened, and his pupils suddenly contracted.

"You want to force Hiruzen out of office!"

But then he thought it over. The Uchiha were opening the Police Force to outsiders, which would inevitably reduce their power. Once they were weakened, how could they get the villagers and clans to unite against the current village leadership?

Seeing that Hiashi was still deep in thought, Senya decided not to keep him guessing. Some things were still too complicated for people like them; they'd need him to explain and simplify things before they could understand.

"Brother Hiashi, I came up with a saying: the shadow is like a boat, and the people are like water. Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it."

"The Uchiha Police Force is sharing authority, but not all of it. The important positions will stay in our own hands. So does that really count as giving up power? We're providing good jobs for ordinary people and benefiting the village."

"Once the Uchiha have earned the villagers' support, we can bring the Ino-Shika-Cho clans over to our side. Then everything will fall into place."

After hearing Senya's words, Hiashi suddenly saw the light. His thoughts were perfectly clear.

"That's certainly a good plan. But aren't you worried the Ino-Shika-Cho clans will see through it? If they figure out what you're planning and tell that old geezer Hiruzen, wouldn't you be digging your own grave?"

Senya tapped his fingers on the tea table and shook his head.

"No, the Ino-Shika-Cho clans won't do anything unnecessary. They're loyal to the 'Hokage,' not to Hiruzen Sarutobi."

"Besides, Brother Hiashi, if Danzo dared to target the Hyuga, why wouldn't he dare to target the Ino-Shika-Cho clans and the other families?"

Senya's question opened Hiashi's eyes. He finally understood. The four members of the village leadership had already offended far too many ninja clans. They were like leeches sucking the other clans dry!

They took benefits away from the ninja clans, then claimed they were using them to help civilian ninja, and called themselves "civilian ninja clans."

Could "civilian" and "ninja clan" even go together?

Thinking about it, Hiashi felt his anger start to surge again.

Fortunately, after the first two emotional outbursts, Hiashi had learned to keep himself in check. Now that he'd heard some of Senya's ideas, he knew it wouldn't be difficult to bring down the current village leadership and replace them wholesale.

Seeing that Hiashi was considering his words, Senya began recalling the events of the original Naruto story. Then he suddenly remembered that the anime had shown a group of Root ninja of similar ages who came from various major clans.

Sure enough, just as he'd expected, that old dog Danzo would make his move. He wanted to drag every child he could into Root and brainwash them into becoming his tools.

After a while, Hiashi had come up with a plan of his own. Now that he was calm, he had decided to join forces with the Uchiha Clan, but he still needed to secure some benefits. That was the only way to silence the Main Family elders and satisfy them.

"Vice Clan Head Senya, I wonder how much authority in the Police Force you can give the Hyuga?"

Since he'd decided to join forces with them, Hiashi didn't see any point in beating around the bush. He might as well ask Senya directly. Senya had come up with a way to topple the Third, so there was no need to play petty games in front of him.

"Brother Hiashi, there's no need to be so formal. Just call me little brother Senya. Below the head of the Police Force, there are five department heads and thirty squad leaders. How about giving you one department head and six squad leaders?"

Senya's sincerity stunned Hiashi. That was a full fifth of the Police Force's middle-ranking positions being handed over to the Hyuga.

Don't underestimate that fifth! The Police Force was open to the entire village, and there were plenty of powerful ninja clans among them. There were the Hyuga, the Ino-Shika-Cho clans, the Aburame, and the Inuzuka. Even if the Ino-Shika-Cho clans counted as one, that still made four major clans!

And there were also smaller clans like the Shiranui, Namiashi, and Gekko!

Senya had given him an incredible gift! Once the department head and squad leader positions were in Hyuga hands, the Hyuga could arrange the squad memberships however they liked, as long as they didn't go too far!

Senya's generous offer left Hiashi dumbfounded. But Senya thought that giving the Hyuga this much authority was nothing at all. Once they accepted, they would be on the Uchiha's boat, with no chance of getting off again.

He hadn't opened the Police Force to everyone out of some great kindness. It was all just bait—an enticing lure called "power" to catch fish...

Whether they came willingly or without realizing it, once the "fish" were in the "fisherman's" hands, the ninja clans and civilians alike would never be able to return to the lake called the "Third."

Hiashi was pleased with the gift Senya had given him, and Senya was just as pleased with Hiashi and the Hyuga Clan for choosing to take the Uchiha's side...