Konoha.
Inside the conference room.
Upon hearing Shikaku Nara's words.
Chiba nodded in satisfaction.
He then turned his gaze toward Fugaku Uchiha and Hyuga Hiashi.
"Fugaku, Hiashi."
The two immediately straightened up.
Their attitude was ten times more respectful than when facing the Daimyo.
"Starting today, the Konoha Police Force will be reorganized."
"The Uchiha and Hyuga Clans will each provide half their personnel and jointly take over the village's public security defense."
"Additionally."
"The border patrol outside the village will also be coordinated by your two clans."
Boom!
It was as though something exploded inside Fugaku Uchiha's mind.
His blood rushed straight to his head.
How many years had the Uchiha Clan been suppressed?
They had always been trapped in the Police Department, serving as scapegoats.
Now, not only had they retained their authority, they had even gained military control over the border patrol!
Hyuga Hiashi was so excited that he clenched both fists.
Though the Hyuga Clan was a prestigious family, it held very little real power.
With that one sentence from Chiba.
The Hyuga Clan had directly risen to become Konoha's true military core!
"We swear to serve Lord Chiba unto death!"
Fugaku Uchiha and Hyuga Hiashi roared almost in unison.
Both men's eyes were faintly red.
To be trusted so completely and entrusted with such great responsibility.
It was something they had not even dared dream of for decades.
Chiba also assigned the Aburame Clan to handle intelligence handovers with the Anbu.
He distributed the remaining tasks among those who were capable.
In just a few words.
Konoha's vast and complex power structure was carved up and distributed as easily as slicing a watermelon.
The atmosphere in the room instantly reached its peak.
The heads of the Major Clans all flushed red, their breathing heavy.
Only Sarutobi Hiruzen and the two Advisors.
They stood frozen in place, as though every drop of blood had been drained from their bodies.
"Mad... You're completely mad!"
"You're splitting Konoha apart!"
"If you scatter all the power, what will you have left as Hokage?"
"They'll Kong you into a figurehead!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen completely panicked.
He had never expected Chiba to pull something like this.
This was completely against all convention!
Sarutobi Hiruzen roared sharply.
As though he wanted to conceal the extreme terror in his heart through this method.
"As the village's Kage."
"You must hold all power firmly in your own hands!"
"Otherwise, once these clans develop disloyal thoughts, the village will immediately descend into civil war!"
"Chiba, you simply don't understand how to control others!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen roared sharply.
He wanted to hide the extreme fear in his heart this way.
On the other side.
Faced with Sarutobi Hiruzen's accusations.
Chiba did not even change his posture.
Resting one hand against his cheek, he looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen with some pity.
"Sarutobi Hiruzen."
"You've truly lived your whole life into a dog's belly."
After a moment.
Chiba finally spoke.
His voice was not loud, yet it drowned out all the noise.
And his words were vicious to the extreme, trampling Sarutobi Hiruzen's dignity into the mud.
"You..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes nearly bulged out.
But Chiba gave him no chance to speak and cut him off directly.
"Sarutobi Hiruzen."
"Do you think being Hokage means sitting in an office every day and playing political games?"
"Do you think that as long as you control every department in the village, you're invincible?"
At this point.
Chiba slowly rose to his feet.
This young man, only around six feet tall.
Now appeared in everyone's eyes like a deity holding up heaven and earth.
"Let me tell you!"
"What the core truth of this world is."
"The most important thing in this world has never been some goddamn authority."
"It is... absolute strength!"
"As long as I possess the power to easily destroy Konoha."
"As long as I can blow apart anyone who dares defy me with a single punch."
"Even if I throw all power to them."
"Would they dare rebel?"
Gulp.
Shikaku Nara swallowed hard.
Cold sweat slid from his temples straight into his collar.
They would not!
Absolutely not!
That hundreds-of-meters-tall Wood Golem was still deeply imprinted in everyone's minds.
Was that a monster human strength could contend with?
It was practically a moving natural disaster!
"If you haven't gone senile yet."
"Then you should think carefully."
"If you had even half the strength of the First."
"Would you need to exhaust yourself every day maintaining all those balances?"
"Would you need to compromise with other villages?"
"Would you tolerate Danzo carrying out those shameful little schemes in secret?"
Chiba walked over to Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Looking down at him from above, he openly mocked him.
Every word he spoke was like a red-hot blade, piercing Sarutobi Hiruzen's chest with precision.
"Why do you cling to power so desperately?"
"Because you're old."
"Because your strength has reached its peak, and you can no longer take even one step forward."
"You've begun to fear."
"You fear that those younger and more talented than you will surpass you."
"Such as the White Fang, Orochimaru, and even... the Uchiha."
Upon hearing the names White Fang and Uchiha.
Quite a few hearts in the room suddenly tightened.
Those were Konoha's untouchable taboos, yet Chiba had exposed them all without a care.
"You've lost the courage to pursue greater strength."
"So, you could only take another path."
"You began frantically gathering power."
"You tried to use power to conceal the decline of your own strength."
"You used the Will of Fire to brainwash the young, sending them to die on the battlefield."
"While you hid in the absolutely safe rear, enjoying your so-called peace."
At this point.
Chiba's tone grew colder and colder.
The surrounding temperature seemed to drop by more than ten degrees.
"Sarutobi Hiruzen."
"You and Danzo are birds of a feather."
"The only difference is."
"That beast Danzo at least understands the importance of power."
"He knows his talent is lacking."
"So he conducted human experiments without scruple, trying to seize the power of the Senju and Uchiha."
"And you?"
"You don't even have the guts to conduct experiments."
"You only know how to hide in the Hokage Office, smoking your pipe while watching others risk their lives."
"You use your so-called power to satisfy that pathetic little vanity of yours."
"Sarutobi Hiruzen."
"You are a complete and utter failure!"
"..."
As Chiba's words fell.
The Kong-air in the conference room seemed to have been drained away.
The heads of every clan stared wide-eyed, yet none of them dared say a word.
Chiba's words were far too vicious.
He was completely denying Sarutobi Hiruzen's entire life!
"No..."
"That isn't true..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen tried to argue.
But he could not find a single point to refute.
Because everything Chiba had said was true.
The bloodiest truth.
Power had to be attached to absolute strength.
Power without strength to support it was a Kong-in-the-air castle.
Just like now.
Chiba did not even need to issue orders.
He only needed to display that overwhelming power.
And the clans in the village would immediately come forward on their own to declare their loyalty.
"The Uchiha Clan will serve Lord Chiba forever!"
"Should we break this oath, may heaven and earth destroy us!"
Fugaku Uchiha suddenly stepped forward.
He dropped heavily to one knee, letting out a dull thud.
Was Chiba arrogant?
He was overwhelmingly arrogant!
He did not place anyone in his eyes at all.
But it was precisely this arrogance, this undisguised bluntness,
that gave Fugaku Uchiha an unprecedented sense of security.
Compared to Sarutobi Hiruzen, that hypocrite who preached morality while stabbing people in the back,
someone like Chiba, who laid everything out in the open, was far more worthy of following.
Because he simply disdained playing schemes and tricks.
Whatever he wanted, he reached out and took directly.
Dare to resist?
He would kill you outright.
Simple and brutal, yet extremely effective.
"The Ino-Shika-Cho will never betray you!"
"The Aburame Clan awaits your orders."
"The Hyuga Clan swears to follow Lord Chiba unto death!"
"..."
Before you continue