No More Pretending

After Ren left, the meeting ended as well.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sent Nara Shikama as an envoy to contact Kirigakure. At the same time, he ordered the troops stationed along the coast to prepare themselves.

Ren returned to the Konoha Military Police Force. At last, he understood his own shortcomings. He had strength, but he lacked a position worthy of that strength.

The real reason Ren lost his composure during the meeting was fear. He feared Obito, and he feared the butterfly effect caused by himself changing the course of the shinobi world.

In the meeting room, as he watched Mitokado Homura, who was useless aside from running his mouth, he had genuinely felt the urge to kill.

In the end, however, reason suppressed those emotions. His dissatisfaction with Hiruzen Sarutobi stemmed more from the latter's indecisiveness, which had delayed a crucial opportunity. For a moment, he had even considered replacing the Hokage.

However, there was not much dirt on Hiruzen Sarutobi. Even if Ren revealed all of it, it would merely deal him a blow and would not affect him too greatly, especially with war on the verge of breaking out.

Ren did not intend to concern himself with Kirigakure any longer. Hiruzen Sarutobi had been right about one thing: he was the Hokage, so there was no need for Ren to worry about it.

Ren only needed to remain in Konoha and properly protect the Uchiha Clan.

Having recognized the issue of his own lack of influence, Ren decided to expand it. The simplest way was to seize power.

By seizing power, he did not mean overthrowing the Third Hokage. That was utterly unrealistic at present. Rather, he intended to reclaim the authority that rightfully belonged to the Konoha Military Police Force.

The first step was to wrest back from the Anbu the authority to arrest and interrogate spies.

Theoretically, the Anbu was merely a private armed force directly subordinate to the Hokage. It was not part of Konoha's political framework.

Because outsiders could not interfere, and because every Hokage had strengthened the Anbu's authority ever since the Second Hokage established it, the Hokage's authority had become increasingly centralized.

Ren was not one to drag things out. He directly had Mitsuba draft an operation notice, then posted it throughout Konoha.

Its general meaning was that, due to Kirigakure's unusual movements and the possibility of war, the Konoha Military Police Force had decided to launch a special operation targeting spies from other countries. For Konoha's safety, villagers were asked to cooperate.

Having not conducted spy arrests for decades, the Konoha Military Police Force naturally had no ability to distinguish spies from ordinary villagers.

Furthermore, after years of handling village management, they knew nothing about intelligence concerning spies. The Konoha Military Police Force was completely at a loss when it came to arresting spies, with no idea where to begin.

The members of the Konoha Military Police Force who received the orders enthusiastically began their operation, but the moment they reached the streets, they were dumbfounded.

With absolutely no experience, they either thought everyone looked like a spy or felt that no one had any problems.

The Konoha Military Police Force's operation was grand and imposing. Whether it achieved anything or not, they had at least put on a convincing show.

Seeing such a display, along with the Konoha Military Police Force's notice, Konoha's many villagers understood what was happening.

Hiruzen Sarutobi naturally received the news. After reading it, he merely smiled faintly. It was good for young people to run into a few walls.

The waters of espionage and counterespionage ran far too deep. You could not handle them.

However, Hiruzen Sarutobi was not angry over Ren's performance that day. If anything, he was secretly delighted.

Ren had always struck Hiruzen Sarutobi as cunning as a fox and exceptionally skilled at concealing himself. Ren's loss of composure had finally allowed him to discover Ren's weakness.

That weakness was youth. No matter how mature he appeared, he was still far too young in the end.

It was not as though Hiruzen Sarutobi did not understand the advantages of making the first move. But having lived through the First Shinobi World War, the Second Shinobi World War, and the Third Shinobi World War, he knew that temporary victories and defeats proved nothing.

The shinobi world's situation was ever-changing. As Hokage, one had to remain calm at all times. A turning point would always emerge.

Nor did Hiruzen Sarutobi develop any desire to target the Uchiha Clan because of this. With the threat of war before them, internal strife was an act that harmed others without benefiting oneself.

Konoha's peace and stability stood above all else!

That was the ultimate purpose behind every one of Hiruzen Sarutobi's actions.

But Hiruzen Sarutobi not wanting to deal with Ren did not mean Ren had no intention of targeting Hiruzen Sarutobi.

The Konoha Military Police Force's first day of operations could be described as thunder without rain. Not only had they failed to catch a single spy—

They had also mistakenly arrested several villagers, forcing Ren to personally apologize.

The reason those villagers had been arrested was simple. Two members of the Uchiha Clan had taken one look at them and decided they did not seem like good people.

After discussing it, the two decided that anyone who looked like that definitely could not be a good person. Even if they were not spies, they had to be criminals, so they arrested them.

Ren did not blame them when he found out. After all, they had spent so long managing the village—what competence could he expect from them?

That night, Ren specifically gathered all the captains, deputy captains, and squad leaders for a meeting.

He told them how to arrest spies. Spies had previously always been handled by the Anbu and Root.

Now that Root was gone, it was precisely the time for the Konoha Military Police Force to lead by example and step forward.

The operation was simple. Other than those dispatched outside to gather intelligence, the Anbu remaining in the village were also clearing out spies within Konoha.

What the Konoha Military Police Force needed to do was follow behind the Anbu shinobi and, when they were about to take away a spy, snatch that spy from their hands.

In any case, the Konoha Military Police Force had more people than the Anbu, as well as more experts. There was no way they would fail to take the targets.

The Uchiha who heard this all wore unusually excited expressions. Of course, some quick-witted ones looked worried, but in the end, no one objected.

After the meeting ended, Mitsuba asked with a worried expression, "Chief, is this really all right? What if the Third Hokage decides to..."

"Don't worry. Arresting spies is an authority granted to the Konoha Military Police Force by the Second Hokage, something the Third Hokage acknowledged and personally recognized."

Ren replied to Mitsuba without the slightest concern.

"But what if the Third Hokage decides to deal with the Uchiha Clan because of this?"

Mitsuba could not help but remain worried.

"No need to worry. Hiruzen Sarutobi does not dare."

Ren answered with certainty.

Ren felt that he already understood very clearly what kind of person Konoha's Third Hokage was.

If the young Third Hokage had deserved the title of "Shinobi Hero" in both strength and character—

Then White Fang's suicide, Orochimaru's defection, and Tsunade and Jiraiya's successive departures had each caused him to doubt himself time and again.

After the Fourth Hokage's death, Hiruzen Sarutobi lost his wife and returned to the position of Hokage. By then, he had long lost his former boldness, though Danzo had still been there to support him.

Hiruzen Sarutobi comfortably played the Third Hokage people remembered. Only after Danzo left did he finally reveal the weakness beneath his powerful exterior.

The current Third Hokage could endure anything except village betrayal, so long as it was for Konoha. In another sense, he had become a Shinobi Hero.

Ren was not worried in the slightest that the Konoha Military Police Force's actions would invite direct retaliation, because the Third Hokage did not dare.

After witnessing Shisui's Susanoo and Ren's Mangekyō Sharingan—

So long as the Uchiha Clan did not betray the village, the Third Hokage would not enter into direct conflict with them for Konoha's sake.