Recognition

Danzo's Root Organization spent the day fanning the flames throughout the streets.

Or stirring up conflicts and chaos, yet the Uchiha Clan members of the Police Force never appeared to deal with them.

The merchants who suffered losses all went to the Police Force headquarters to file complaints.

Yet the Uchiha Clan seemed utterly unmoved.

Their unified response was that the personnel who had been complained about had been suspended for reflection, leaving them short-handed.

As for shops owned by Uchiha Clan Members, Root Organization had no chance to cause trouble at all.

Several members of the Uchiha Guard Team constantly patrolled back and forth, while turning a blind eye to every conflict occurring on the other streets.

Many merchants even took their complaints directly to the Third Hokage.

The Third Hokage looked at the thick stack of complaint forms before him.

He rubbed the center of his forehead. "So the Uchiha Clan suspended eighty percent of its squads in a single day?"

The Anbu below responded, "Yes. This morning, the Uchiha Clan dealt with everyone who had previously received complaints. They were all suspended for reflection. The Police Force is now severely understaffed, and all kinds of public security incidents are breaking out on the streets outside. No one is handling them."

What was Natsuki playing at? Or rather, what was Fugaku playing at?

The Third Hokage simply could not figure out what the Uchiha Clan was doing. These minor public security matters did not seem like retaliation against Konoha, either.

After all, if things got out of hand, the Anbu would step in to stop them.

And Natsuki had already given notice in advance, contacting the Hyuga Clan and having them send personnel to fill in.

The Third Hokage picked up his pipe and took a puff. "How are the talks between the Hyuga Clan and Natsuki going?"

"Uchiha Natsuki handed over all of the Police Force's deployment routes and daily patrol routes to the Hyuga Clan without holding anything back."

"However, the Hyuga Clan will need a week to fully reassign personnel and familiarize themselves with the routes."

The Police Force's deployment and patrol routes had always been managed by the Uchiha Clan, and the Hyuga Clan truly needed time to transfer personnel.

The Third Hokage knocked out his pipe. "Then have the Anbu keep watch this week. If anything gets serious, intervene directly. Once the Hyuga Clan takes over, withdraw."

"Yes!"

Uchiha Clan Compound, training grounds.

After suspending more than half of the Police Force members, the Fourth Elder had kept them all within the clan compound.

With nothing else to do, most Police Force members had voluntarily come to the training grounds to practice.

"Hey! Haruki!" Uchiha Haruki, who had been practicing shuriken, stopped. It was Oura and Rikuto, members of his squad.

"What is it?" He had worked with these two for a long time, and they were close friends outside of work.

Oura grinned. "You haven't gone out, so you probably don't know. Kiyomizu Izakaya got burned down today."

Haruki raised a brow. "That izakaya on Third Street?"

"Yeah. He got into another fight with a drunk today. The drunk refused to accept being beaten and came back to burn down his front entrance. He won't be able to do business for the next few days." Rikuto sounded somewhat pleased by the misfortune.

"No one stopped it?" Haruki asked curiously.

Oura shook his head. "Who was there to stop it? All of us Uchiha Clan members from First Street to Seventh Street have been suspended."

"And they didn't file complaints?"

Rikuto laughed loudly. "Of course they did. How could they not? But complaining is useless. There's no one in the Police Force now."

"Those shop owners used to make such a fuss. Either they said we were lax in enforcing the law, or they complained that we used excessive force. Now that we Uchiha Clan members aren't serving them anymore, they come running over with puppy-dog eyes. What a bunch of ingrates."

"I heard the Fourth Elder was especially happy today. He was even humming while he walked."

Haruki laughed as well. "The Uchiha Clan has taken so much grief over the years. Those people deserve it."

Oura asked, "The Fourth Elder suspended us without mentioning any mission. Haruki, do you know what the Vice Clan Head plans to have us do?"

Haruki shook his head. "I'm not too sure either, but the Vice Clan Head said we had all worked hard in the Police Force, so he was giving us a week off. There'll be a mission for us in a week."

Night fell.

Uchiha Natsuki had been training at the clan compound's practice grounds the entire time. Having just obtained the Mangekyō Sharingan, his abilities had taken a qualitative leap.

Whether it was his perception, genjutsu, or taijutsu, all had improved tremendously.

Yet aside from unlocking Susanoo, his Mangekyō had not awakened any ocular techniques.

This left Natsuki deeply puzzled, though he was not in any hurry. He had no use for them right now anyway.

Natsuki could clearly feel that his ocular power far surpassed that of the others.

As he trained, he also checked the Faction Template for members of the clan with a talent for business.

However, most Uchiha Clan ninjas only excelled at combat. Those with talents for business and management were few and far between.

One youth named Uchiha Keimei stood out brightly. Though he had only awakened Two Tomoe at seventeen, his other talents were quite interesting: business, research, and logistics.

Keimei had also once been Natsuki's teammate. This kid was an all-rounder? He had never noticed before. He needed to be properly nurtured.

Aside from Uchiha Clan ninjas, the clan's ordinary villagers were also listed in the Faction Template.

Most of these ordinary villagers ran small businesses in Konoha. Some of them possessed decent talents.

Natsuki recorded each of them one by one, completing the final piece of his plan.

Around Natsuki, Uchiha Clan Members practiced in small groups of twos and threes.

He could hear, more or less, all kinds of things happening outside.

After training himself tired, Natsuki walked to the side, sat down, and drank some water to rest.

At that moment, Fugaku happened to be listening to reports from the Third Elder and Fourth Elder.

"Clan Head, today I taught the Hyuga Clan all of our Police Force deployment arrangements and patrol routes. From reassigning their personnel to having everyone fully in place, it will probably take a week."

Fugaku nodded.

"Did those people cause any trouble after returning?" Fugaku asked.

The Third Elder shook his head. "No. After those troublemakers returned today, they either practiced at the training grounds or gathered together to chat. They caused no trouble."

The Fourth Elder took over. "Of course they wouldn't cause trouble. Today, they were all watching those people make fools of themselves."

"What fools?" The Third Elder had spent the entire day within the clan compound and had paid little attention to news from outside.

The Fourth Elder beamed. "The merchants on those streets. Back when we Uchiha Clan members were there, they filed complaints every day. Either we were too lax in enforcing the law, or too slow, with excessive force being the most common complaint."

"Today, they all came asking where the Police Force had gone. You should have seen them, asking with puppy-dog eyes when we could send people over. The look of expectation in their eyes."

The Fourth Elder clicked his tongue as he spoke, clearly delighted.

Now they remembered how good the Uchiha Clan was? Heh, the Uchiha Clan was done serving them.

He was beginning to understand the meaning behind what Natsuki had done.

The Third Elder also caught on and looked toward Fugaku.

Fugaku nodded. "I saw it too. Natsuki is using this method to give the clan members an outlet to vent. Natsuki said this is only the beginning. There will be even more places that need the Uchiha Clan afterward."

The Uchiha Clan was actually best suited for the Police Force, because Uchiha Clan members were basically versatile in every field.

With genjutsu, they could instantly subdue troublemakers. With their perceptive eyes, they could promptly spot trouble wherever it arose.

Their taijutsu was fierce, and they moved quickly, allowing them to reach the scene at once.

But because of historical issues, Konoha's people had selectively ignored all of that.

And the Uchiha Clan members had always wanted the villagers to acknowledge them.

In truth, the Uchiha Clan had never needed anyone's acknowledgment.

Because the strong needed no acknowledgment!