The Police Force Meeting

"Alright, that's all for today's lesson."

As the moon overhead grew brighter, Hayato rose to his feet and spoke.

The crowd gathered there began to leave, while the children ran toward their parents.

They had all come by while Hayato was teaching. The lesson had originally been meant for children, but as Hayato spoke, some adults joined in as well.

Before leaving, everyone thanked Hayato with a grateful nod.

"Hayato, you're really amazing."

Shisui had already come over, looking impressed. "What you said—I only started to suspect some of it after I graduated."

Hayato waved his hand, not making much of it.

He had learned this when he gained the five nature transformations of chakra. If he wasn't mistaken, it had come from Sarutobi Hiruzen's personal insights.

Whatever else you could say about him, they hadn't called Hiruzen the Professor for nothing.

Maybe this was why the Sannin had become so famous?

Their chakra reserves were no small thing. Without such precise guidance when they were young, relying on their own insights alone would have wasted far too much time.

"Let's go."

Hayato and Shisui headed home together. It was clear Shisui still had plenty he wanted to talk about.

Fugaku appeared in the dojo, accompanied by several clan elders.

"Clan head, Hayato's teaching was excellent." Yashiro looked pleased. This was the first time he'd seen so many people come to listen to someone teaching within the clan.

Fugaku was more focused on his son, who seemed to have watched Hayato the entire time.

Perhaps... after Itachi graduated, it would be better to have Hayato guide him.

"See you tomorrow, then, Hayato."

When they reached Hayato's front door, Shisui turned to him and spoke.

"Not coming in?" Hayato asked, seeing that they'd already reached his house.

"No, there's always tomorrow." Shisui smiled and waved, then headed toward his own home.

Hayato watched Shisui leave before going inside. Eagerly, he opened the panel and looked at the Uchiha Guardian Aura, now shining brightly among his passives.

It had now changed into [Guardian Aura: Connection]. The doubled rewards effect remained, but there was an additional feature: (Effect: The more your clan members trust and rely on you, the more your protective will can be turned into real power.)

"Could this be the Guardian Aura's true purpose?"

When the aura advanced, Hayato had felt something within him slowly improving.

His thoughts had also gradually become clearer. It was like an old, run-down car suddenly getting fitted with the latest engine.

"Protection..."

Hayato murmured the word. If there was one thing the Naruto world always emphasized, it was bonds.

Now, his passive Guardian Aura seemed to have taken on a tangible form. The stronger his bonds with his clan members, the more he could improve himself through them.

What a great deal. He loved it.

Early the next morning, Hayato and Shisui finished their training and headed to the Police Force together.

From time to time, they passed other Police Force members, who smiled warmly at Hayato as they went by.

Even Shisui couldn't quite make sense of it.

"What's going on?"

"They're the parents of the children who came to listen to my lesson last night," Hayato replied quietly.

"Looks like your clan members are starting to accept you, Hayato." Shisui smiled. He was glad to see Hayato earn their approval, even if it wasn't his own.

"I still have to work hard."

Hayato replied without showing his feelings. He meant it. Guardian Aura: Connection was only the second stage; if it advanced again, its effects would probably be even better.

If he simply went about things step by step, he might never advance again in his whole life. And if he wanted to prevent the Uchiha Clan from being wiped out, he needed to become a leader.

As the saying went in the Naruto world, people didn't acknowledge you because you became Hokage; you became Hokage because people acknowledged you.

The position of clan head was much the same. Fugaku had been chosen because he had led the Uchiha Clan to distinguish itself in the Third Shinobi World War.

Given Hayato's current standing, he still had a lot of work to do.

Now that he was a squad leader, Hayato no longer had to patrol the streets every day. Instead, he handled various Police Force matters with the other squad leaders.

It was around noon. Hayato was discussing genjutsu techniques with Shisui when Tekka hurried over.

Hayato looked up. Tekka's face was dark.

"What's wrong, Senior Tekka?" Shisui asked in confusion.

"Hayato, Shisui, there's an emergency Police Force meeting." Tekka didn't explain. After saying that, he hurried off, clearly needing to notify the others.

Hayato and Shisui exchanged a look, then both stood and hurried toward the meeting room.

They arrived neither early nor late. Several squad leaders and Police Force members were already in the meeting room.

Hayato led Shisui to their seats as squad leaders and greeted the few squad leaders beside them.

"Senior Yakumi, is something going on?" Hayato asked Yakumi beside him. The atmosphere in the meeting room was distinctly unfriendly.

Even the Police Force members behind them looked grim.

Yakumi glanced at his fellow clan members behind him, then leaned toward Hayato and whispered, "A lot of rumors about our clan have suddenly started spreading through the village."

Hayato considered this for a moment before saying, "They're about our clan."

"Yeah." Yakumi nodded, his expression dark.

Just as the two were about to ask more, the meeting room door opened, and Fugaku walked in with the clan elders.

Fugaku took the seat at the head of the room and surveyed everyone. Tekka checked that everyone was there, then nodded to Fugaku.

Everyone had arrived.

"The meeting will begin," Fugaku said gravely.

The room gradually fell silent. Fugaku then explained the reason for calling the meeting.

"Since this morning, rumors about our clan have been spreading through the village." A cold glint appeared in Fugaku's eyes as he spoke.

At his words, the meeting, which had just quieted down, grew noisy again.

The ordinary Police Force members behind them reacted especially strongly, barely able to hold back their anger.

"Silence!"

Fugaku tapped the table. His voice wasn't loud, yet it rang through the entire meeting room.

"Hmph! The village is trying to drive us into a corner!" Uchiha Yashiro said furiously.