Who Agrees, Who Opposes?

"The reason the village's rumors have spread everywhere in such a short time is that we have always allowed others to hold leverage over us. There is no smoke without fire; those behind the scenes now don't want us dead, they want us to look like we deserve to be killed. What they want is legitimacy."

Hayato looked at the clan elder who had just refuted him. "Elder, if we continue down this path, we will only play right into his hands."

"He will say to the Third Hokage, 'Look, the Uchiha truly harbor evil intentions. I only tested them, and they struck back.'"

"The Uchiha's greatest enemy is not the village's upper echelons, but ourselves. We are the ones giving them the 'excuse'." Hayato paused. "As long as we don't give him an excuse, he cannot touch us."

"Vice Clan Head, after all that talk, I still don't see this 'path' you speak of."

Yashiro said with an ugly expression. Sure enough, a beardless youth is unreliable.

He has plenty of empty talk, but it's a pity that the Mangekyo appeared on this brat.

"It's very simple, because the path has always been in our own hands." Hayato looked around the room and said this.

The path is in our own hands?

Inside the shrine, the Uchiha clansmen looked at each other in confusion.

Seeing the bewilderment on everyone's faces, Hayato couldn't help but sigh.

It must be said that Senju Tobirama truly understood the Uchiha clan best. How could these be the "naturally evil" Uchiha? They were clearly just a bunch of stubborn "honest folks."

"Everyone, the full name of the Police Force is the Konoha Military Police Force. Its inherent authority is already extremely vast."

Hayato tapped the table in front of him helplessly.

Even Fugaku, sitting behind Hayato, couldn't help but blink. Is the Police Force's authority... that great?

"The Police Force has always been responsible for maintaining internal security and stability within the village, while also being in charge of arresting criminals, sentencing them, and guarding those who are imprisoned. What is this? It is a purely armed department."

"Is this power not great enough?"

Hayato truly found the Uchiha clan's sense of grievance regarding their current treatment a bit laughable.

They reasonably and legally held a hereditary monopoly over the personnel, military, law enforcement, judicial, and prison management powers of an armed force deployed within Konoha.

This was, in every sense, a centralized institution.

Put that way by Hayato, this power did indeed seem quite significant.

Even Shisui hadn't thought about it that way before, but as Hayato spoke, his thoughts began to drift.

So, is this the reason the village's upper echelons are so wary of the Uchiha?

"But we are monitored by the Anbu, who are directly under the Hokage." Yashiro was the first to speak, unable to hold back. "This is a restriction and a precaution against our clan."

"If you were the Hokage, would you not take this measure? Although our clan co-founded Konoha with the Senju, don't forget certain things." Hayato said calmly.

Konoha could not afford another Madara. The Uchiha clan head's defection had caused the death of the First Hokage and severe damage within the Land of Fire. It was only because Uchiha Madara was presumed dead, and because Senju Tobirama considered that severely punishing the Uchiha would inevitably trigger a violent backlash—potentially splitting the village—that they hadn't been wiped out.

Hayato saying in the Hokage Office that Uchiha Madara wasn't defined as a missing-nin was merely for the sake of appearances.

From Yashiro's words, it was clear that some people weren't unaware of the power the Uchiha clan held; they simply felt that being monitored by the Hokage was a slight against the Uchiha, and they had always cast themselves as victims.

But they didn't stop to think: aside from Madara, did any subsequent Uchiha truly have the qualifications to compete for the position of Hokage?

The Sannin, the White Fang, Namikaze Minato—which one of them wasn't a powerhouse? And who had the Uchiha produced in all these years?

Silence.

It was the main theme of the shrine tonight.

"The path forward for the Uchiha is very simple: stop the disorderly discussions. The clan only needs to agree on one path. Our thoughts, will, and words must be unified; there cannot be a second voice."

Hayato stood up, faced the crowd, and said loudly.

"Who among you is in favor, and who is opposed?"

Before his voice had even faded, Hayato's Mangekyo had already exerted its power, and an invisible pressure radiated from his eyes.

Everyone in the shrine looked at Hayato sitting on the dais, especially those eyes. The pervasive, almost tangible coldness of his ocular power directly shook everyone's spirit.

"I support every decision of the Vice Clan Head!" Shisui spoke up immediately in support.

"I agree!" Yakumi, receiving a look from Fugaku, also spoke in support.

"Agreed." Seiichi, sitting next to Shisui, looked at Hayato on the dais and spoke as well.

Following these voices, the young and strong members of the clan raised their hands in agreement with Hayato, including many from the hardline faction.

The atmosphere in the shrine seemed to have been shifted by something.

Hayato fixed his gaze on Yashiro, and Yashiro stared straight back into Hayato's Mangekyo.

"Elder, I want to ask you one thing: what do you think the glory of the Uchiha is?"

Yashiro was slightly taken aback.

Hayato continued: "The glory of the Uchiha has never been that we are stronger than others, but that our clan can continue, that our children can grow up safely, and that the surname Uchiha can always exist."

"Only by living can there be Uchiha. If we are dead, there is nothing."

Yashiro opened his mouth to speak but hesitated, and it was a long time before he said gruffly, "Fine, fine, I understand. From now on, if anyone mentions rebellion, I will be the first to deal with them."

"But, you brat, tell us: if we don't rebel, what do we do?"

Hayato picked up a blank scroll and a brush from the side, and as he began to write, he said:

"I intend to implement changes within the clan, starting with a reform of the Police Force."

"From this day forward, you must smile while on patrol, nod when you see villagers, explain before enforcing the law, and prioritize mediation over coercion. We must change the reputation of the Police Force to ensure a situation like this never happens again."

Everyone listened in silence, offering no rebuttal; the recent rumor incident had indeed been a close call.

Had Hayato and Fugaku not taken the squad leaders to the Hokage Building before the Hokage himself came to inquire, the nature of the situation would have been entirely different.

Tekka couldn't help but frown. "Smile? But I don't know how to smile."

Hayato looked up at Tekka's face, studied it for a long moment, and then said solemnly, "Then practice. Yakumi and Shisui will be in charge of training you until you can."

Shisui and Yakumi were both taken aback. "Us?"

"Because the two of you have the most approachable faces."

As soon as those words were spoken, everyone else lowered their heads, struggling to hold back their laughter.

Tekka, meanwhile, wore an embarrassed expression; what could he do about having a fierce-looking face? It was what his parents had given him.

"These are the key points for our regular patrols. We will need to refine these further to create a reasonable code of conduct. If possible, once we have completed our reorganization, the Police Force will begin recruiting and absorbing other Konoha ninja."

"Whether they are clan ninja or civilian ninja, this is a necessary step."

"Although the Police Force wields immense power, if our clan continues to occupy it exclusively, it will only deepen the rift between us and the villagers. The Uchiha needs to integrate further with the village."

After Hayato finished speaking, he looked at Fugaku. Today's incident was the perfect opportunity to get the Third Hokage to agree to this, and only Fugaku could be the one to propose it.

"Tomorrow, I will personally make the request to the Hokage," Fugaku nodded and said.