The Dawn of the Fourth Hokage's Era

It's not about anything else, but what if I happen to have a problem with him and then take the opportunity to criticize him?

He's overthinking it.

"The clan has finally come to their senses..." Uchiha Shingen. "As expected, the clan leader is reliable as long as he doesn't play with calligraphy brushes."

Hyuga Clan Ninja: "???"

Although I didn't understand, it seems this big shot had no objections.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you for your hard work. I'll head back to see the Lord Hokage now."

"Okay, take care." Watching Uchiha Shingen disappear from sight in a flash, the Hyuga Clan ninja activated his Byakugan again, only to see a figure in the distance.

"As expected of the 'White Ghost,' who is on par with 'Body Flicker Technique'..."

The new Police Force, who had just started work today, sighed and then continued his patrol.

Uchiha Shingen had already run far away and didn't hear what the Hyuga Clan clansman said.

Otherwise, he would be very sad to learn that the awful nickname "White Ghost" had finally spread.

Once a name is established, it cannot be changed.

In the blink of an eye, he could see the outline of Hidden Leaf Village and the flow of people in Konoha Gate.

He walked through the crowd and stopped at the entrance, where the Konoha Ninja in charge of registration saw him.

After completing the formalities, he entered the village.

He first returned to his clan's territory and changed out of his Land of Grass attire before heading to the Hokage Building.

When he appeared in the Hokage's office, he had already regained the proper demeanor of Konoha Ninja.

"Shingen, you've worked hard." Namikaze Minato poured Uchiha Shingen a cup of tea. "Try this tea. I've heard you like tea."

Uchiha Shingen took the teacup and carefully examined Namikaze Minato.

His eyes were very sincere; these words weren't meant to be sarcastic.

He was relieved.

This henpecked husband certainly wouldn't know what "drinking tea" means, but his public image hasn't been shaken, which is commendable.

I took a sip; it was an unfamiliar taste.

Namikaze Minato has stopped stealing Uchiha Fugaku's tea leaves? Has he struck it rich? Did he get his year-end bonus?

"Lord Hokage, this tea is quite good," he said.

"Right? I picked it up when I went to eat at the Hyuga Clan's restaurant. I could tell at a glance that it was good tea."

No way, you just think it's expensive.

Uchiha Shingen silently complained to himself.

Since becoming Hokage, Namikaze Minato's income has plummeted.

These days, they're even going to the Hyuga Clan to freeload tea.

"Then let me report to you first?"

"Okay, sit down and let's talk." Namikaze Minato sat down on the sofa and poured himself a glass.

"Well, after my investigation, the 'legacy' is completely fabricated. The traces of the Senju Muzoku have completely disappeared from this world."

"Oh, that doesn't sound like good news," Namikaze Minato sighed. "The village really wanted him to be buried in the Heroes' Cemetery."

"Being buried in a foreign land isn't necessarily a bad thing." Uchiha Shingen put down his teacup. "Lord Hokage, regarding this matter, those who are interested should gather together and clarify things at once, so as to avoid others making wild guesses Tenten."

When would you like it to be?

"Anyway, I'm back, any day is fine."

"Okay, I'll let you know when it's ready."

Chapter Two: The Gradual Advancement of the Fourth Generation

After many twists and turns, the fifty-second year since the founding of Hidden Leaf Village is almost over.

Namikaze Minato's organizational skills in holding meetings were lacking, and he hadn't given Uchiha Shingen a clear message.

Uchiha Shingen wasn't in a hurry, but he regretted one thing.

This year's ice and snow exhibition will also be canceled.

Because the Cloud Village and the Leaf Village have not formally signed a treaty after the ceasefire, the border situation of the Land of Fire has not been completely stabilized.

During this time, Uchiha Shingen learned more about the recent situation of the Uchiha Clan.

Perhaps they had truly come to terms with it, because the Uchiha Clan expanded their Konoha Military Police Force, incorporating all the original clan members into the First Division. The Hyuga Clan was the first to join them.

In fact, the Konoha Military Police Force should have been expanded long ago.

The size of Hidden Leaf Village has been expanding over the past few decades.

The Uchiha Clan's current population is not much larger than when the village was founded; in fact, the number of ninjas has decreased. Even from a duty perspective, the Konoha Military Police Force are far from meeting the needs.

This is also the main reason why the ANBU during the Third era could be involved in some of the functions originally belonging to the Police Force.

While the Uchiha Clan did not delegate administrative authority to the Police Force, they did loosen restrictions on the organization of the Konoha Military Police Force. The Hyuga Clan ninjas formed the second division, which was slightly larger than the first division, and the Konoha Military Police Force's ability to perform their duties increased significantly.

To be fair, in patrol duties, the Hyuga Clan completely outclassed the Uchiha Clan.

Hyuga Clan's rate of awakening his eyes is just too high.

The Byakugan's insight is just too overpowered.

A Hyuga Clan ninja's patrol range is at least equivalent to that of two Uchiha Clan ninjas of the same rank, and his work quality is slightly higher.

All of this was accomplished with the support and coordination of the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato.

However, since Uchiha Shingen is no longer a ninja in the Police Force, he hasn't had the chance to personally experience the working atmosphere after the expansion of the Konoha Military Police Force.

However, as a member of the Jonin Council, he was unable to accept missions because the possibility of war between the three great nations of Fire, Lightning, and Earth remained.

Therefore, spiritual practice became the main activity of his daily life.

Another day, Uchiha Shingen got up early, washed up, and went to the kitchen alone to make breakfast for the whole family before his parents got up.

While eating breakfast alone, he glanced at the calendar. It was the 28th; there were only three days left in the year.

After finishing his meal, he prepared breakfast for his parents, made sure it was kept warm, and then went to the training ground for his morning meditation.

The practice ended promptly at nine o'clock.

The main focus is on training the ability to refine, circulate, and control Chakra. Black Zetsu's teachings are very intuitive, but how far one can go depends on their own abilities.

After finishing his morning practice, he headed to the Hokage Building.

As Kage Level in the village, he makes sure to visit the Hokage Building every day to make his presence felt, whenever he's in the village.

The Jonin Council has an office there.

As one of Leaf Village's Jonin ninjas, Uchiha Shingen is a household name in the Hokage Building. The staff there greet him with smiles and call him "Lord Shingen."

This feels very comfortable.

Instead of what used to be, where getting close to the Hokage Building would make you feel like you were being guarded by a large group of ANBU, as if you were a thief.

However, the Hokage Building doesn't have as many ANBU anymore. Nowadays, the ANBU have almost no function in the village. All the authority over law enforcement has been transferred to the Police Force. The only function they retain in the village is to protect the Hokage and Hokage family.

The awkward part is with Namikaze Minato. Putting aside Namikaze Minato, Uzumaki Kushina, as a perfect Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, could fight ten ANBU with her eyes closed without even breaking a sweat. Saying she was protecting her is a stretch; it was just going through the motions.

So the village's ANBU's only real task was to Naruto Uzumaki, who could only say "Aba aba".

Uchiha Shingen didn't encounter a single ANBU along the way.

The offices of the Jonin Council are located between the Hokage Building and the main building of the Ninja Academy.

The Jonin of Leaf Village often serve as guest lecturers at the Ninja Academy.

In Leaf Village, Ninja Academy students receive close protection from the Hokage Building before graduation.

When Uchiha Shingen entered the office, there was only one person there.

Although it's called an office, it's actually more like a meeting room. After Jonin Council doesn't need to work in an office; they just need someone to be stationed here every day.

A man with a scar on his face was dozing off on the sofa; he was the current class monitor Nara Shikaku.

Despite his seemingly unapproachable appearance, he actually has a very good personality and is very amiable with family and friends.

The Nara Clan also gained the trust of the Hokage lineage starting with him. His son, Nara Shikamaru, was also deeply trusted by Hatake Kakashi and Naruto Uzumaki in the original timeline.

"Squad leader, you're here so early again today?" Uchiha Shingen went up to greet him.

"Good morning, Shingen." Nara Shikaku opened his eyes. "You're training so hard every day, I really envy you..."

He's telling the truth.

Most people practice spiritual cultivation in order to maintain their physical state.

Uchiha Shingen always gained new insights from his training.

"It's just a matter of accumulating strength before unleashing it." Uchiha Shingen understood what the other person meant and smiled.

"That's still quite remarkable," Nara Shikaku said.

He had seen too many people who, unable to break through their limits, became disheartened and lost all hope in their training, becoming numb and passive ninjas.

Uchiha Shingen, on the other hand, always maintained a passion for training.

Of course, Uchiha Shingen is only twenty years old now, and Nara Shikaku would not make any rash conclusions about whether he can maintain this level of maturity in the future.

Human strength has its limits; everyone will eventually reach their limits, it's just a matter of time.

"Minato brought up your matter again yesterday, but I don't think we'll have time to get together anytime soon." Nara Shikaku told Uchiha Shingen the latest news he had learned, then complained, "There have been just too many messy things happening this year."

Nara Shikaku felt that since the outbreak of the Third Shinobi World War, there hadn't been a single year of peace in the village.

He deeply missed the peace of the past.

Namikaze Minato Tenten overtime every day, not because he doesn't delegate authority, but because he has too much to do. The team from the Third era is now just a shell of its former self.

"It's okay, since you already know, class monitor. It's just to tell everyone the result so that no one will overthink it."

"Shingen, please try to understand," Nara Shikaku sighed. "As people get older, they like to reminisce. At this age, people they didn't like before become old friends, and they hope for a good ending. Actually, everyone is still very grateful that you liberated those Impure World Reincarnation."

"I know."

"Let's not talk about that anymore." Nara Shikaku Ninja World War ended, I thought things would get better, but one thing after another has happened, and things are even more tense than during the war."

Nara Shikaku thought of the most important thing right now.

The fourth generation leader's governing team has not yet been established.

Following Konoha's resounding victory over Kumogakure, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had served as Hokage's assistant after Minato Namikaze took office, finally officially announced his retirement.

He moved back to his old house in the Sarutobi Clan and stopped working altogether, only holding the nominal position of consultant.

The position of Hokage's assistant has officially become vacant.

Although the two advisory elders did not say it explicitly, they have recently shown signs of following suit.

The Police Force's reforms brought the differences between the two sides to the forefront, and the same situation arose within the advisory team.

The main reason is that Hokage Namikaze Minato greatly increased the number of advisors, and the current advisory group has no unified voice.

In the words of Uchiha Fugaku, the signs of the arrival of the Fourth Hokage's era were twofold: first, the lights in the Hokage's office could never be turned off before 2 a. m.; and second, the advisory group would argue every time they held a meeting.

This is no longer something the two elders can resolve by relying on their smooth tactics and past prestige; it's understandable that they're considering stepping down.

Nobody wants to ruin their reputation in their later years.

Shimura Danzō as a cautionary tale.

"Shingen, does the Uchiha Clan have any ideas? Don't tell me you don't know."

"You don't need to tell me your thoughts just because you have them," Uchiha Shingen said. "Probably not. The Police Force is only just getting started. Actually, I think retiring on time is a good thing."

When people reach a certain age, they should just retire; it's not a big deal.

This is a ninja village, not a retirement home.

Moreover, the Great Ninja Village provides retirement pensions and a large amount of living allowances for retired high-ranking members. In the past, people would fight tooth and nail for such a good deal.