Flipping the Table at the Clan Meeting, Questioning Uchiha Fugaku

"I hope so."

With a wry smile and a shake of his head, Shisui quickly composed himself, returning to his usual cheerful expression. He patted Itachi on the shoulder and teased, "Not bad, young clan head. You've already set a record. Are you planning to join the Police Force next?"

Having always regarded Shisui as both an older brother and a friend, Itachi could not help rolling his eyes at that.

"I'll wait for Father's arrangements."

As a member of the Uchiha clan, a clan prodigy, and the clan head's son, Itachi had neither the right nor the room to choose. He could only silently accept the clan's arrangements.

"Then are we still training today?"

"Yeah."

After parting with Shisui on bad terms, Yan thought about many things on his way back to the Police Force. The time left to him was growing shorter and shorter.

Now that Itachi had passed the Chunin Exams, the day he joined the Anbu was drawing ever closer.

He had somehow transmigrated into the world of Naruto and even become a member of the Uchiha clan. No one would be particularly happy in his shoes.

What made it most unbearable was how utterly screwed up the timeline was.

It would have been fine if he had arrived earlier!

But he had arrived several years after Nine-Tails Night, with only three years left until the night of the clan massacre.

If he did nothing and allowed everything to unfold as it had in the original story, the night of the clan massacre would remain unavoidable.

Even if that black-hearted brat Obito changed his mind, or simply could not be bothered to make a move against the Uchiha, Danzo—the venomous snake lurking in the shadows—would never let the Uchiha go.

He still had to step forward and flip the table.

After half a year of contemplation, Yan had realized that it was not impossible for the Uchiha to escape their current predicament.

It was just that someone needed to step forward and do a few earth-shaking things.

For example, he could start by flipping the table at the clan meeting.

Since there was no way to change the higher-ups' targeting of the Uchiha, he would resolve the problem from within the Uchiha clan itself.

Yan did not believe that Danzo would still dare raise his butcher's blade against the Uchiha if the entire clan stood united as one.

If the Uchiha truly became united from top to bottom, Danzo would not merely be unable to raise a blade. The Uchiha only needed to stomp their feet, and the Third Hokage's heart would probably tremble a few times.

"Captain, that bastard didn't say anything, did he?"

The moment Yan returned to the Police Force, Zhiyan questioned him.

"It's nothing. Just a normal chat."

Smiling, Yan patted Zhiyan on the shoulder and gestured for him not to worry. "Everyone, today's patrol starts now. There's a clan meeting tonight, so finish the patrol early. Oh, and keep pressing the Personnel Department. They're dragging their feet over choosing one person. What the hell are they even paid for?"

The patrol went smoothly. In the area under the Third Squad's responsibility, no fool came out looking to make trouble for Yan.

With the patrol over, the day's work had come to an end.

As night fell, Yan washed up, changed into clean clothes, and headed for the clan shrine.

After the Senju clan became assimilated into the civilian population, aside from the shameless Sarutobi clan that touted itself as a civilian clan, the Uchiha were openly considered Konoha's foremost clan.

Even so, pitifully few people could enter the clan shrine to attend the clan meeting.

Compared to the residential area, the vicinity around the Uchiha shrine was very deserted.

As usual, the seats reserved for the clan head and several elders were still empty, while most of the other attendees had already arrived.

Shisui was among them. It was quite apparent that the stronger members of the younger generation were unwilling to sit with him.

"Captain, over here."

When Yan arrived, Zhiyan, who had come ahead of time, hurriedly waved at him. Quite a few people had gathered around him.

Shisui nodded slightly, but unfortunately, Yan ignored him.

He walked straight toward Zhiyan, making it clear to Shisui: I'm very angry about what happened today. I'm not letting it go that easily, so you'd better know your place, Uchiha Shisui.

Besides, did he not know what position he held within the clan?

"Captain, that bastard is practically becoming a loner."

"Mm."

Yan, whose thoughts were not on Shisui, responded indifferently without much reaction.

He was considering how he should lay everything bare later!

If nothing unexpected happened, once the elders and clan head arrived, the Uchiha's monthly clan-meeting quarrel would begin all over again.

Though the Uchiha were only a shinobi clan, their internal troubles and factions were plentiful.

There was the dove faction represented by Shisui, the hardline faction led by the First Elder, and the neutral faction represented by Clan Head Fugaku.

The three factions never failed to argue endlessly during clan meetings.

The hardliners accused the doves of betraying the clan. The doves accused the hardliners of plotting a coup that would drag the clan into the abyss. As for the neutral faction, as long as the clan head did not take a stand, they simply watched the show.

Perhaps noticing that Yan had no interest in watching the show, Zhiyan soon quieted down and began speaking softly with the others.

Before long, the elders arrived. After they took their seats, Clan Head Fugaku arrived last with his people.

Seated in the clan head's chair, Fugaku swept his gaze over the small meeting room in the shrine and spoke, "Everyone who should be here is here. Then today's clan meeting shall begin. Bring up anything you wish to say."

"Clan Head."

The moment Fugaku finished speaking, the Sixth Elder was the first to jump out and begin complaining. "This month, complaints against our Uchiha Police Force at the Hokage Office Building have continued to increase due to issues of violent law enforcement. If we do not keep it under control, the relationship between the Uchiha and the villagers will only worsen over time."

It was still the same old problem.

The issue of violent law enforcement had always plagued the Uchiha.

Even though the Uchiha had exercised more restraint, the complaints continued without end.

"I will send people to investigate the matter. We must trust Lord Hokage. At the same time, all squad captains must keep their squad members in line and reduce the number of complaints from villagers."

It was an old problem with no solution in sight, so Fugaku could only keep passing the buck.

Hearing this, the Sixth Elder nodded in satisfaction, but those serving in the Police Force could not be happy about it.

Shisui was the sole exception, because he had always advocated for clan members to be more humane and gentler when enforcing the law, hoping to change the villagers' poor impression of the Uchiha through this.

Many people wore long faces. Though they were displeased, they could not openly argue back and could only reluctantly accept it.

Of course, they would still handle things as they saw fit afterward.

They could not possibly turn the Uchiha into obedient little children just because of a few complaints, could they?

If that were possible, the complaints would not have dragged on until today.

"Then..."

Having successfully passed the buck, Fugaku was about to move on to the next item.

"Why?"

"Uh..."

The sudden question caught everyone off guard. Even Zhiyan, sitting beside Yan with an unhappy expression, widened his eyes and stared at him in stunned disbelief.

He seemed unable to believe that his captain would step forward at this moment, using the complaint issue to question the elders and clan head.

Fugaku, who had been preparing to announce the next item, froze.

The elders also looked over in astonishment.

For a moment, every gaze in the room focused on Yan.

"Yan, are you questioning my decision?"

After hesitating for a moment, Fugaku spoke.

Facing everyone's eyes, Yan answered calmly, "Yes. I only want to ask: why?!"

"..."

Yan, who was usually quiet and unassuming, had issued such a forceful challenge that many people were left utterly stunned.