"Shisui, coming to see me this late, you must have something important to report."
Sarutobi Hiruzen walked behind his desk and instinctively reached for his pipe, intending to take a few puffs to wake himself up.
But he had barely lit it when Shisui's next words made him choke. Even an old smoker like him was coughing so hard that tears streamed from his eyes.
Shisui immediately said:
"Lord Third-sama, this is bad! The Uchiha clan is in an uproar. Clan Head Fugaku has been pretending all along—he is actually the biggest hawk among them!"
"Tonight, he stirred up the entire clan's emotions. If this is not handled properly, an Uchiha internal rebellion may break out at any moment!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen coughed several more times before he could barely process the news.
He no longer cared about smoking. He tossed the pipe aside and hurriedly asked Shisui:
"Tell me everything you know."
Shisui recounted what he had seen and heard at the Clan Assembly that day.
Especially Xuanye's sudden rise, as well as the explosive increase in the clan head's prestige within the clan with Xuanye's "help."
At the end of the Clan Assembly, Fugaku had even called Xuanye away alone. No one knew what they had discussed.
But it was highly likely that they had been discussing the timing and specific arrangements for an Uchiha uprising.
After hearing this, along with Fugaku's performance at the Clan Assembly, Sarutobi Hiruzen was completely numb.
Was this still the usual timid Fugaku, the man who had not dared to resist even as the village pressed him step by step?
Why did he smell a hint of conspiracy in all this?
Yes, he was absolutely certain about that much.
Because every time Danzo was about to stir up trouble, he had this same premonition.
Over time, it had practically developed into something like a sixth sense.
But Shisui's intelligence could not possibly be false. Could Fugaku truly be a dove pretending to be a hawk?
The truth was that, through Xuanye's series of moves, the emotions of the entire Uchiha clan had been stirred up.
And Fugaku's prestige had, unsurprisingly, reached its highest point since he became the Uchiha clan head.
By the principle that whoever benefited most was the most suspicious, Fugaku indeed seemed highly likely to be the greatest force behind the scenes.
Could it be that Fugaku had been putting on an act all these years?
The Third Great Ninja War had only just ended, and Konoha was already badly weakened.
Moreover, to guard against retaliation from the other ninja villages, large numbers of shinobi were stationed at the borders. This truly was the best time to launch a coup.
Did Fugaku believe this was the best opportunity to launch a coup, so he was no longer even bothering to pretend?
If that was truly the case, then Uchiha Fugaku's temperament and patience were terrifying to imagine.
At that thought, Sarutobi Hiruzen instantly lost all sleepiness. Cold sweat drenched his back.
If the Uchiha shinobi, who could generally fight three opponents at once on the battlefield, staged a coup within Konoha, the damage to Konoha would be unimaginable!
One had to remember that the Uchiha clan compound had not yet been moved to the outskirts of the village. It was located in the heart of the village!
The moment he thought of that, Sarutobi Hiruzen completely panicked. He wished he could summon the Konoha F4 immediately and hold a meeting to discuss suppressing the Uchiha riot that was about to erupt.
But before that, there was something even more important to do.
Sarutobi Hiruzen forced out a smile as he looked at Shisui and said, "Shisui, the intelligence you provided this time is extremely important. It may even prevent a large-scale catastrophe."
"You are Konoha's hero."
Shisui immediately straightened up and said, "Wherever the leaves of Konoha dance, the fire shall burn on."
"I have always kept the Lord Third-sama's teachings firmly in my heart."
Sarutobi Hiruzen patted Shisui's shoulder with satisfaction and watched him leave.
But once Shisui's footsteps had faded away, Sarutobi Hiruzen's gaze turned cold.
"Guards!"
At Sarutobi Hiruzen's command, an Anbu agent who remained on standby around the clock appeared behind him and dropped to one knee.
"Immediately summon the Hokage Assistant and the two Hokage Advisors to the Hokage Office for a meeting!"
Early the next morning, Xuanye got dressed and prepared to report for duty at the Uchiha Police Force.
He still remembered Elder Yashiro promising him the position of squadron captain.
The mission issued by the system required him to gain sufficient prestige within the Uchiha. He could not rely solely on manipulating Fugaku from behind the scenes; he still needed to show himself and do some real work.
For example, Xuanye found it utterly baffling that the Uchiha, who completely controlled Konoha's internal police force through the Konoha Security Division, had ended up being despised by everyone.
Aside from Fugaku repeatedly yielding ground, the Uchiha clan's aloof nature was also a major reason.
The Security Division held enormous power in peacetime, and there was plenty of room for maneuver. With even a little flexibility, one could secure many benefits for oneself.
It was time for every one of Konoha's unruly commoners to understand that the Security Division's authority could be limitless!
Xuanye registered his jonin information. Word had already been passed down from above, so Xuanye easily obtained the right to form his own unit.
The entire Konoha Security Division had only eight squadrons including Xuanye's, and every captain was an elite Uchiha who had awakened the Three-Tomoe.
Each squadron commanded three to five teams. Every team followed the standard three-person configuration, all of them Uchiha clansmen who had awakened their eyes, with even the weakest being outstanding among chunin.
The Security Division itself was the Uchiha's violent enforcement branch, gathering the clan's elite shinobi.
However, Xuanye's squadron currently had only him, a commander without troops. He would have to recruit its members from within the clan himself.
Xuanye was considering whether to bring Inabi into his squadron and make him vice-captain.
For now, his direct subordinates did not need to be especially powerful, but they had to be trustworthy.
He could not possibly remain a lone commander whenever a squadron captain like him went out on patrol in the future, could he?
As for Xuanye skipping over team captain and being promoted directly to squadron captain, almost no Security Division member objected.
The Uchiha did not care for seniority. Since Xuanye had awakened the Three-Tomoe and defeated Kakashi to prove his strength, he was qualified to serve as a squadron captain.
Xuanye planned to go out first to familiarize himself with the work and, incidentally, beat someone up to get a feel for it.
As he walked through Konoha's streets, Xuanye could clearly sense the fleeting disgust in the eyes of the surrounding villagers when they saw the fan-shaped clan crest on his clothes.
Xuanye was not as thin-skinned as the other Uchiha. He would not suffer a blow to his self-esteem over the looks of a few unruly commoners.
In his view, these Konoha commoners had simply never received a real beating.
They only despised the Uchiha Security Division for meddling in their affairs, never considering how many potential crimes the Uchiha Security Division had helped them prevent.
Such disloyal attitudes were dangerous. Uncle Xuanye needed to help them properly correct the ideas in their heads.