They Are Them, We Are Us!

As previously mentioned, Sarutobi Sasuke possessed formidable strength, and even the members of the Uchiha Clan had to show him a measure of respect.

Furthermore, as the leader of the Sarutobi Clan, even if the Uchiha privately looked down upon them as "Senju lackeys," they still had to maintain a facade of outward respect.

"Sarutobi," Uchiha Eisen spoke up, his tone not particularly pleasant, "what are you doing here? Does the Hokage have a mission to assign to us Uchiha?"

Sarutobi Sasuke smiled again.

"If you're talking about missions, there is indeed one. Eisen, during the days that Madara has been missing, it is thanks to you that the Uchiha Clan hasn't fallen into chaos."

Uchiha Eisen stared at him for a moment before replying.

"If the Hokage is looking to inquire about the whereabouts of our clan head, then I am afraid you will be disappointed. Although we are searching with all our might, we have yet to find any trace of him. Recently... the clan has been considering electing a new head."

Although Uchiha Madara was the strongest of the Uchiha and their current clan head, he had long since veered toward the extreme.

Even within the Uchiha, a clan already known for being somewhat "paranoid," he did not receive much recognition, and the rift between him and his clansmen was deep.

"That is not what I am here for." Sarutobi Sasuke waved his hand. "Madara is highly skilled, and the Hokage is not worried about his safety abroad. I came today for another matter.

I assume you are aware that there are many deep-seated problems in the village. We were too busy dealing with external enemies to handle them before, but now we can finally spare the time to think of a solution."

"If you are here to talk about the Ninja Academy, the Uchiha's stance is already very clear," Uchiha Eisen said in a deep voice.

"No, it is not about the school." Sarutobi Sasuke looked at him, his voice lowering slightly. "It is about a brand-new system that the Hokage is planning. We call it the... 'Konoha Police Force'."

At these words, Uchiha Eisen's eyes flickered.

A police force? He had heard rumors of this. It was said that the Hokage intended to establish a security force specifically to maintain order in the village and handle malicious incidents. The fact that Sarutobi Sasuke had suddenly come to his door to bring this up made the underlying intent worth pondering.

Undoubtedly, once this system was established, whoever controlled it would hold a significant portion of the power within the Hidden Leaf Village. Did the Uchiha want power? Of course they did!

"What... do you mean by that?" Uchiha Eisen pondered for a long time before finally asking.

Sarutobi Sasuke curled the corner of his mouth into a meaningful smile.

"Ahem... that is a long story."

Meanwhile, it was not just the Ino-Shika-Cho trio discussing the matter in the village. Other ninja clans, such as the Aburame Clan, the Inuzuka Clan, and even prestigious families like the Hyuga and Uchiha, were all debating it.

The Hyuga Clan was an old and prestigious family in Konoha. Although their current strength and influence were slightly inferior to the Senju and Uchiha, if one were to talk about historical origins and bloodline purity, they could claim to be the number one in the ninja world without exaggeration.

Therefore, after the Uchiha were wiped out and the Senju declined, the Hyuga Clan openly declared themselves the strongest in Konoha.

Why were they so confident? Because their clan's bloodline was said to trace back to Otsutsuki Hamura, the second son of Otsutsuki Kaguya.

In contrast, the ancestors of the Senju and Uchiha were merely the two sons of the Sage of Six Paths.

By that seniority, the Hyuga Clan could be considered the "younger uncle" of those two families, so they naturally felt a cut above the rest.

However, unlike the Senju and Uchiha, the rules of the Hyuga Clan were extremely strict, having practiced the system of the Main House and the Branch House since ancient times.

While this system had preserved their bloodline for thousands of years, it had also made the entire clan exceptionally rigid and conservative.

When there are too many rules, one becomes slow to act; this saying could not be more fitting for the Hyuga Clan.

While the Ino-Shika-Cho trio and the Sarutobi Clan had already publicly expressed their support for the Hokage's school, the Hyuga were still bickering in their clan meetings.

Most of the clan elders felt they should wait and see; after all, the concept that clan interests were paramount had been passed down for countless generations and was already etched into their bones.

Therefore, many even found the idea of building a school absurd and advocated for strong opposition.

However, families that can survive for thousands of years often rely on the principle of "moderation." Thus, there were opposition factions and conservative factions, and the situation was impossible to sort out for the time being.

Even the current clan head decided to observe the wind direction first before stating his position.

Perhaps because of this, although the Hyuga Clan held a high status in Konoha, they never truly managed to squeeze into the core circle of power.

The successive Hokage actually saw it clearly: the Hyuga Clan had a fatal flaw—they were slow to act and always put the clan before the village.

Allowing such a clan to hold too much power would likely do more harm than good; if they weren't careful, the entire Konoha might end up "leisurely" retiring along with them.

Contrary to the Hyuga, the Uchiha Clan had no intention of waiting and seeing.

Their bloodline inheritance was truly excellent, producing a genius every few years.

Relying on the convenience of the Sharingan, although they were famous in the ninja world for their Fire Release, they had also accumulated many ninjutsu of other attributes and hid many secret techniques that outsiders had never even heard of.

Therefore, to them, this Ninja Academy was completely meaningless.

Cultivating civilian ninjas who leaned toward the clan? What a joke! Did such a noble bloodline as the Uchiha need civilians to make up the numbers? They were too clumsy even to tie their sandals.

As for learning the ninjutsu and basic knowledge of other clans? The scrolls in the Uchiha library were overflowing; did they really need to go elsewhere to learn?

Therefore, in the eyes of the Uchiha, this lousy school had no benefits for them at all and would instead take away their interests, so they naturally had to firmly oppose it.

As for whether opposing it would provoke public anger... did the noble Uchiha need to consider such a question? It didn't exist. At most, the mere civilians would shout a few times; surely they wouldn't dare to take action?

So, without even giving it a second thought, the Uchiha Clan rushed to the Hokage Building at the first opportunity to express their dissatisfaction and strongly oppose the school's construction. Their reasons were high-sounding, claiming it would break the village's balance, trigger variables, and affect stability, and so on.

Inside the Uchiha mansion, a group of ninjas wearing the clan crest were gathered together, their shouting nearly lifting the roof.

Most were fiercely criticizing the establishment of the school, though a few young clansmen in the corner had conflicted expressions, seemingly wanting to say something but not daring to speak.

No clan lacked clear-headed people, and the Uchiha were no exception.

They were just too intoxicated by the clan's strength and glory to bother looking at others properly. But after the village was built, the thoughts of some young clansmen had indeed changed, and they wanted to try to integrate into the whole of Konoha.

Unfortunately, being young meant having no say, so they could not change the clan's overall attitude. Their role might only manifest in the future; for now... speaking was as good as saying nothing.

Just as this group was clamoring to go find the Hokage to argue again, the door was suddenly pushed open.

An Uchiha ninja stood at the doorway, frowning at the scene of resentment in the room, a look of helplessness on his face.

His movement caused everyone in the room to look over. A clan elder immediately spoke up: "Kagami, weren't you told to go to the Hokage Building to convey our opinion? Why have you returned?"

That's right, the one who arrived was Uchiha Kagami—the only Uchiha clansman Tobirama truly trusted.

Uchiha Kagami replied softly: "The Hokage has already made up his mind, and the process for building the school has begun.

In addition, the Sarutobi, Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi clans have all issued statements of support... now the entire village is praising this decision, and if we..."

"They are them, we are us!" The clan elder furrowed his brow and interrupted sharply. "Kagami, don't you forget that you are an Uchiha!"

"Isn't the Uchiha also a member of Konoha?" Uchiha Kagami retorted without backing down.

These words made the whole room go silent. The clan elder was so angry he nearly coughed up blood—the logic was sound, but did Uchiha Kagami not have any sense of the hidden costs involved?

Just as the situation reached a stalemate, a large hand reached out from behind Kagami and patted his shoulder.

"Kagami, you are still too young," the newcomer said with a chuckle. "How can you speak to your elders like that? Go attend to your business first... didn't the Hokage give you other tasks?"

After hearing this, Uchiha Kagami's emotions calmed slightly. He turned to look at the person behind him and nodded, saying: "Lord Sarutobi, I have learned my lesson. I will go handle the tasks the Hokage assigned."

Having said that, he bowed to Sarutobi Sasuke, turned, and walked quickly out of the mansion that made him feel so stifled.

Once Uchiha Kagami was far away, Sarutobi Sasuke strolled into the room unhurriedly. He scanned the Uchiha experts sitting in the room, his face beaming with a smile, showing not a hint of discomfort.

One had to know that Sarutobi Sasuke's strength was well-established, and no matter how arrogant the Uchiha were, they had to show him some respect.

Furthermore, as the leader of the Sarutobi Clan, even if the Uchiha privately looked down upon these "Senju lackeys," they had to give the necessary respect on the surface.

"Sarutobi, what are you doing here?" That clan elder—Uchiha Eisen—looked up at him, his tone not particularly pleasant. "Does the Hokage have another mission to assign to us Uchiha?"

Sarutobi Sasuke smiled: "If you are talking about missions, there is indeed one. Eisen, during the days that Madara has been missing, it is thanks to you that the Uchiha Clan has remained stable without falling into chaos."

Uchiha Eisen sized him up and said slowly: "If the Hokage is looking to inquire about the whereabouts of our clan head, then I am afraid you will be disappointed.

Although we are searching with all our might, we have yet to find any trace of him... recently, the clan has been discussing electing a new head."

Although Uchiha Madara was the strongest of the Uchiha and their current clan head, he had gone far too far.

Even within a stubborn clan like the Uchiha, he did not receive much recognition, and the rift between his clansmen and him was deep.

"That is not it." Sarutobi Sasuke waved his hand. "Madara is highly skilled, and the Hokage is not worried about him running into any trouble outside.

I came today for another matter... you should have heard that the village has just settled its external troubles. Problems we didn't have time to handle before, we can finally spare the time to resolve now."

Uchiha Eisen's brow twitched: "If you are here to talk about the Ninja Academy, the Uchiha's stance is already very clear."

"It is not about the school." Sarutobi Sasuke looked at him, his voice deepening. "It is about a new system that the Hokage is planning... we call it the 'Konoha Police Force'."

At these words, Uchiha Eisen's eyes flickered slightly.

He had heard rumors about the police force and knew the Hokage wanted to establish a security force to maintain order in the village.

But the fact that Sarutobi Sasuke had suddenly come to bring this up made one have to ponder the underlying meaning.

Undoubtedly, once this system was established, whoever controlled it would hold a significant portion of Konoha's power. Did the Uchiha want power? Of course they did!

"What... do you mean by that?" Uchiha Eisen pondered for a moment before finally asking.

Sarutobi Sasuke curled his lips into a smile and coughed twice: "Ah, it is a long story..."

As he spoke, he naturally walked over to Uchiha Eisen's side and sat down cross-legged. Uchiha Eisen did not stop him and even reached out to pour him a cup of tea.