As the saying goes, good news doesn't leave the house, but bad news travels a thousand miles.
The news of Uchiha Genya publicly condemning an ordinary Konoha villager and even dragging her to the Uchiha Security Force spread through the entire village of Konoha like a whirlwind.
Before the Anbu could make a single move, Fugaku stormed into Genya's office in a fit of rage.
He couldn't even wait to formally summon Genya, and an unusually defensive expression of anger appeared on that eternally oblong face of his.
"Uchiha Genya!" Fugaku shouted, directly using Genya's full name in anger.
Genya sat behind his desk without the slightest change in expression.
"I'm right here, Clan Head. You don't need to shout so loudly."
Watching Genya display this thoroughly unbothered attitude, Fugaku took a deep breath, barely managing to suppress his fury.
"What on earth are you trying to do! Do you have any idea that doing this will make the entire Uchiha Security Force the target of public criticism in Konoha?"
Genya leisurely took a sip of tea and looked back at Fugaku, asking counter-responsively, "You say that as if the Security Force... no, as if the Uchiha aren't already the target of public criticism for the entire village."
Fugaku's voice hitched, instantly left speechless by Genya's retort.
Yet he recovered almost immediately, shouting loudly, "This is no justification for you to act recklessly!"
"Today you must give me a reasonable explanation!"
Hearing Fugaku say this, Genya knew his goal had already been achieved.
Because Fugaku merely asked him for a reasonable explanation, without any intention of punishing him.
In other words, if Genya could provide an explanation that was sufficient to convince him, Fugaku would compromise.
Compromising personalities really were easy to handle.
Genya put down his teacup and slowly said, "I won't go over the whole sequence of events, but haven't you wondered what excuse I used to arrest that Konoha villager?"
Fugaku frowned, quickly recalling the intelligence his subordinates had passed up.
"You mean... the Second Hokage?"
If there was one thing among the reasons Genya had found that baffled him completely, it was the fact that throughout the law enforcement process, he kept emphasizing that the Uchiha Security Force was established by the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, and operated according to his revered will.
Inside the Uchiha, Senju Tobirama's reputation was actually exceptionally poor, because the suppression of the Uchiha Family had begun precisely with his generation and continued all the way to the present.
Even Konoha's current high command was essentially a faction composed of Senju Tobirama's disciples.
Uchiha family members felt such extreme resentment toward Senju Tobirama that they almost never uttered his name in daily life.
"You want to make an issue out of the Second Hokage's identity? But the Second Hokage is already dead, and he has been dead for a very long time. Right now, the Lord Third and Fourth Hokage jointly hold power."
A flash of disappointment crossed Fugaku's eyes, feeling that Genya's political awareness was far too naive.
As expected, was he still too young?
Genya revealed a meaningful smile:
"That's where you're wrong. Sometimes dead people are more useful than living ones."
"Because dead people don't speak, nor do they defend themselves, so we can embellish them however we please."
Fugaku felt his entire body break out in goosebumps from Genya's gaze.
What did that sentence mean? Why were dead people more useful than living ones?
Even though it was the middle of summer, Fugaku felt a chill run through his entire body.
Just as he wanted to continue asking, an Uchiha member hurried over and said to Fugaku:
"Clan Head, the Lord Third has come to the Security Force. He says he is here to seek justice for the innocent villagers persecuted by the Uchiha."
The veins on Fugaku's temples throbbed, and the look he cast at Genya spoke volumes.
This is all the fault of the mess you stirred up!
Yet right at that moment, Genya stood up.
"Clan Head, today I will let you see what it means for the power of the Security Force to be limitless."
Watching Genya's spirited back, Fugaku ultimately let out a deep sigh.
Opening the Mangekyō at this age, he could understand a young man's youthful arrogance.
Basically, every clan member who had any understanding of the Uchiha Family's current plight was trying their absolute best to find a way out.
But politics was not such a simple thing.
Still, it might be good for Genya to take a hard knock; hopefully, he would learn a lesson.
No matter what, Genya was still an Uchiha, and furthermore an Uchiha who had unlocked the Mangekyō Sharingan—one of the family's trump cards.
No matter the circumstances, he had to be protected.
Upon hearing the Anbu's report, Sarutobi Hiruzen simply could not believe his ears.
Since when did the Uchiha Family have such backbone?
That's right, from Sarutobi Hiruzen's perspective, this was having backbone.
Where were those Uchiha who used to let villagers accuse and revile them, who were misunderstood yet too arrogant to deign to defend themselves?
Where was the Uchiha who used to hold such profound disdain for his teacher?
How did an Uchiha waving the banner of Senju Tobirama suddenly appear today?
Naturally, the moment Sarutobi Hiruzen understood this situation, he immediately thought of a way to suppress the Uchiha while simultaneously elevating his own prestige.
That was to make a personal visit and personally demand justice for that wronged villager.
By rescuing that villager himself, followed later by public opinion and hype, the Uchiha's reputation in Konoha would instantly become universally reviled.
Sarutobi Hiruzen did precisely that. Upon arriving at the Security Force, he didn't even step through the gates, standing with his hands behind his back right in front of the main entrance.
He wore the attitude of someone who would stand right here until Fugaku invited him in, just to see who couldn't take it in the end.
Yet instead of Fugaku, a young Uchiha walked out.
"Yo, isn't this the Lord Third? What are you doing running over here instead of resting properly at home after retirement?"
Genya's single sentence instantly captured Sarutobi Hiruzen's attention.
He had an impression of this young Uchiha, who had defeated Kakashi not long ago and become a jōnin.
However, he was not here to bicker, and arguing with a junior would also beneath his dignity.
Sideways glancing at this impolite junior, Sarutobi Hiruzen snorted.
Truly worthy of being a naturally evil Uchiha brat, so completely lacking in manners.
Seeing that Sarutobi Hiruzen seemed to have no intention of engaging with him, Genya helplessly spread his hands, then immediately issued an instruction to Inabi beside him.
"Dispose of the corpse of the criminal we just executed, and broadcast the crime of treason to the entire village."
Genya's single sentence caused Sarutobi Hiruzen to completely shatter his composure.
"What did you say?"
Genya said with a look of surprise: "Does the Lord Third not know yet? Under the enlightened leadership of the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, the Security Force, starting from Commander Fugaku downwards, has always taken the maintenance of Konoha's fairness and justice as its principle."
"Just now, someone on the main street suspected of being a foreign spy openly attacked the Security Force. According to Konoha's laws, they were convicted of espionage, and without trial, executed on the spot."
"If the Lord Third has come to take this 'spy' away for interrogation, then you are going to be disappointed."
"Because you won't be taking anyone away—you can only carry out the remains."