Yan's Reputation Soars Within the Clan, While the Third Hokage Still Wants to Pass the Buck!

"I am who I am. I have nothing to do with any faction. Everything I do is simply for the Uchiha, for the clansmen working in the Police Force."

The Anbu had been monitoring him for half a year already. What would be wrong with tightening the surveillance a little?

In the short term, as long as Yan did not jump on the higher-ups' heads and stomp all over them, even if Danzo wanted to deal with him, the Third Hokage would not allow it.

Because he feared it would provoke a backlash from the Uchiha.

Besides, assassinating a jonin on Uchiha territory was no easy task.

Yan's life and work followed a regular routine. He was either at the clan compound or patrolling alongside his subordinates.

Even if Danzo had the nerve, he would not be able to find a good opportunity to strike.

If Danzo were truly so powerful that he could kill anyone he wanted, he would not need to make petty moves in the shadows. He could simply drive the Third Hokage from office and become Hokage himself.

"If putting myself in danger is the price of doing this for the clansmen and for the clan, then I accept it."

After saying that, Yan opened the door, then shut it behind him, leaving Shisui alone outside.

"Ahh..."

After standing in the darkness for a long time, Shisui let out a sigh and quietly departed.

Rather than returning home to rest, he headed straight for the Hokage Office Building. He needed to report what had happened at the clan meeting to the Third Hokage.

That was also part of a double agent's job.

As for how much important information about the village Shisui was willing to report to Fugaku, perhaps only Shisui himself knew.

In Yan's view, rather than calling Shisui a double agent, it was more fitting to call him a spy for the village's higher-ups.

His heart was not with the Uchiha at all. Like his predecessor Uchiha Kagami, he had long since completely sided with the village.

Upon learning of this, the Third Hokage canceled his plans to go home and rest. He remained in the Hokage's office, frowning as he considered how to deal with Fugaku tomorrow.

The next day, word of what had happened at the clan meeting gradually spread. For a time, quite a few Uchiha cheered in approval.

That alone showed how much frustration the Uchiha had endured over the years.

The ridiculous part was that the clan head and elders clearly knew, yet no one had wanted to change anything. They had not even made the most basic effort to fight for their rights.

The clan head backed down again and again, while the elders busied themselves recruiting supporters and strengthening their factions.

"Yan!"

"Morning! Hahaha, you did great last night."

"Say it boldly. This old man supports you."

The Ninja Academy was not open today, so Yan did not need to make a special trip there.

Whenever he could not stake out Sasuke and Naruto, Yan would use his once-daily copying opportunity on other people, such as Shisui or clan head Fugaku.

Although copying them made it difficult to obtain critical-hit rewards,

the things he gained were still better than what he could get from others.

As word spread, far more people took the initiative to greet Yan.

It was foreseeable that once the news had fully circulated, Yan's reputation within the clan would receive a major boost.

That happened to be exactly what Yan needed.

The greater his reputation, the less Danzo and the Third Hokage would dare touch him.

To change the Uchiha, he first needed sufficient achievements and a reputation that could earn others' trust.

If some unknown person jumped out and shouted about changing the clan's situation and leading the Uchiha forward, he would absolutely be treated as a lunatic—a delusional lunatic spouting nonsense.

It seemed there was no need to go out of his way after all.

As Yan was heading to the Police Force, he had not expected to run into Sasuke, who was eagerly trailing behind his older brother.

It looked like Itachi intended to take Sasuke out for training while he had time and Sasuke was free from school.

Since they had run into each other, he could not waste the opportunity.

Yan decisively used Copy on Sasuke.

"Copy successful. Obtained partial Sharingan ocular power. Fuse?"

"Fuse."

If he was not stimulated, or if his emotions did not fluctuate greatly, then as his spiritual power and Sharingan ocular power continued to grow, could the three-tomoe Sharingan successfully evolve into the Mangekyo?

Yan's speculation had yet to be proven.

Over the past half year, he had absorbed and fused quite a bit of Sharingan ocular power and spiritual power.

He had also fused quite a bit of Indra's and Asura's chakra.

Perhaps his ocular power, spiritual power, and chakra had not yet reached a critical threshold, which was why the changes were not obvious.

Little by little, Yan believed that one day it would bring about a qualitative transformation—perhaps even a surprise.

Although there was a high chance the trip would be in vain, Fugaku still decisively went to the Hokage Office Building.

Whether the problem could be solved would depend on the outcome of their discussion.

But whether he came or not was a matter of whether he, Uchiha Fugaku, was willing to take responsibility.

If the clansmen discovered that he, the clan head, had agreed verbally but taken no actual action, it would likely bring him considerable negative repercussions.

Inside the Hokage's office, Fugaku did not hold back. He got straight to the point and brought up the matter.

He believed the Third Hokage had already prepared himself, perhaps even thought of how to persuade him.

After all, Shisui would have reported the news immediately.

After Shisui's report last night regarding the constant complaints against the Uchiha, the Third Hokage had carefully considered the matter.

Shisui did not need to spell it out for him. The Third Hokage knew that the Uchiha had accumulated deep resentment over the years.

It was simply that no one had brought it up before.

Now, someone had flipped the table and laid everything out in the open, leaving the Third Hokage with no choice but to address it.

He could play dumb before, but not now.

"Fugaku, I have seen the Uchiha's current situation. But you also know that ever since that incident, the village has lacked new talent and experienced a shortage of capable personnel. Regarding the handling of those complaints, it is not that I do not wish to help, but that I lack the means to do so."

Addressing the matter was one thing, but how it would be addressed was another matter entirely.

The same old routine: passing the buck.

I agreed to deal with it, but we do not have enough manpower or enough capable people, so your Uchiha will just have to endure a little longer.

It was not that I, as Hokage, was unwilling. There was simply no one available.

At the mention of the Nine-Tails Night, Fugaku's expression darkened.

Since Konoha's founding, this had been the worst smear campaign the Uchiha had ever suffered, yet the Uchiha had no way to refute it.

After all, the Uchiha were highly suspicious. The masked man had used the Sharingan to control the Nine-Tails, resulting in Kushina's death,

and indirectly causing the death of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.

The Uchiha could neither accept this blame nor shake it off.

It was an obvious excuse, but Fugaku had no way to deal with it. Before coming here, he had already expected this outcome.

This was still the better result.

If Danzo had been here, he would certainly have cursed the Uchiha for not knowing what was good for them and said all sorts of unpleasant things.

Even so, Fugaku could not simply give up.