Lack of Manpower

Hokage's Office.

After listening to Kakashi's report, the Third Hokage frowned. "Go invite Hizashi over."

The Byakugan, the strongest scouting ability, had actually been caught in a sneak attack. It was simply unbelievable.

Konoha's perimeter had always been guarded by the Uchiha Clan before, and they had never suffered such a major loss.

Who would have thought that the moment the Hyuga Clan took over, Mist Village would come knocking?

Fortunately, they had managed to set off the warning flares. Otherwise, if those Mist Village shinobi had slipped into the village, the consequences would have been unthinkable.

After Kakashi left.

Accompanied by the sound of a cane striking the floor.

"Hiruzen, I told you long ago that Konoha's joint defense was the top priority. Those great clans simply cannot be relied on. My Root should be allowed to join the Police Force."

The person who arrived was none other than Shimura Danzō, who had already been stripped of his post.

The Third Hokage was not surprised to see Danzo. After all, even though Danzo had been removed as Hokage Assistant, he was still an Advisor Elder.

To him, the position of Hokage Assistant had merely been a title.

After all, there were many things the Third Hokage could not conveniently handle himself and still needed Danzo to take care of.

The Third Hokage picked up his pipe and took a puff.

"Danzo, you've been behind the recent public security problems, haven't you?"

"Hmph. I don't know what you're talking about."

"Now that the Uchiha Clan has completely withdrawn from the Police Force, the few remaining Uchiha Clan Members only guard their own shops. Settle down."

Danzo had indeed caused trouble for two days. Later, he realized that the Uchiha Clan simply would not take the bait, making everything he did into a joke.

Danzo did not pursue the matter and instead continued with his earlier proposal.

"Every member of Root is utterly loyal. They are well suited to be stationed in the Police Force."

The Third Hokage knew perfectly well what Danzo was plotting. Irritated, he waved his hand. "We can discuss this later. First, I need to ask Hizashi about the situation."

"Hiruzen, think it over carefully."

Danzo did not press the issue. He knew the Third Hokage would never allow him to extend Root's reach into the Police Force.

So he slowly left, leaning on his cane.

At that time, news that the Police Force had been attacked, losing one squad and one Hyuga Clan Member, had already reached the Uchiha Clan compound.

Natsuki was visiting Shisui at the time. Shisui's eyes had already been transplanted back. It had to be said that eye transplantation really was simple.

Even without a special physique, an eye transplant was considered an especially easy minor operation here.

Just look at how Rin Nohara had been able to transplant Kakashi's Sharingan right on the battlefield.

That showed just how widespread medical techniques in this field were in this world.

Of course, the most remarkable was still Tsunade and the Mystical Palm Technique she had passed down.

It could rapidly heal all kinds of wounds, greatly reducing the death rate.

If Shisui had not suffered other injuries, the eye transplant alone would not have kept him bedridden for a week.

"Senior, I'm already fine. Why do you insist on making me stay home for so long?"

Shisui had originally called him Vice Clan Head as well, but Natsuki stopped him. To bring them closer, he told Shisui to just call him Senior.

"Konoha is going through troubled times right now, and many people have their eyes on us Uchiha. I want you to rest at home partly so you can recover completely, and partly because I want this matter to ferment for a while."

In Natsuki's eyes, although Shisui was not very bright, his abilities were genuinely strong.

And Shisui was still young, with plenty of room to grow.

The Sharingan was currently a huge burden on Shisui, and Susanoo could not be used carelessly.

But if Kotoamatsukami was used well, it would be an enormous help.

"Vice Clan Head! So you were here! Shisui, how is your recovery?"

The newcomer was called Uchiha Yōya, one of the more obedient members of the hawkish faction.

After Natsuki had made the Hokage's faction suffer a setback a week ago, Yōya had admired Natsuki greatly.

Interestingly, his younger brother was Uchiha Keimei.

One was carefree and boisterous, while the other was sharp-minded. It was hard to understand how such different people could be brothers.

The Third Elder had simply thrown him to Natsuki to put to use. He had come now to inform Natsuki about the Police Force attack.

"That was what happened. The strange part was that there was a Hyuga Clan Member there, yet they had nearly failed to set off the warning flares."

"As expected, the Hyuga Clan Members are no match for us Uchiha. The Police Force was attacked the moment it no longer had us Uchiha stationed there."

Natsuki ignored Yōya's bragging. He understood why they had been attacked even with the Byakugan.

The Byakugan had an extremely long visual range, but not a 360-degree extremely long visual range.

Its viewing distance differed when looking in one direction versus monitoring all 360 degrees.

When members of the Hyuga Branch Family used the Byakugan to look into the distance, they habitually turned their bodies to observe.

That was because they had a one-degree blind spot extending backward from their first thoracic vertebra. When looking into the distance, they habitually used the field of vision in front of their eyes.

If someone had a visual range that surpassed theirs, they could notice the Hyuga Clan Members turning their bodies.

The Byakugan's visual range depended on the purity of the Byakugan and the user's strength.

The only eyes capable of surpassing Morisuke Hyuga's visual range belonged to a member of the Main Family with jōnin-level strength.

Since Mist Village was involved, there was an eighty to ninety percent chance that Ao from Mist Village had done this.

After all, the Hyuga Clan had only lost a Main Family Byakugan during the Third Shinobi World War.

Last time, Ao had wanted to cause trouble in Konoha, but Shisui had frightened him off with a single genjutsu. He was a very cautious person.

"Hizashi Hyuga has already gone to report to the Third Hokage. Vice Clan Head, do you think the Hyuga Clan will come ask us Uchiha for help?"

Natsuki looked at Yōya with some amusement. Although he was already a Three Tomoe jōnin and would certainly count as command personnel in another shinobi clan.

Yōya's thinking was somewhat simple. Though he had been promoted to jōnin during wartime, he had earned it through his own strength and had barely ever commanded other squads.

In his mind, if the Uchiha Clan could do something well but other shinobi clans could not, then those other clans would definitely come asking for help.

Because the Uchiha Clan was the strongest.

"They will definitely come, but we won't be wading into this mess again."

"Yōya, go invite the Clan Head to the meeting room. Tell him I'll be waiting there."

"Yes! Vice Clan Head!" Guessing that the Vice Clan Head might be planning something, Yōya was extremely excited.

Watching Yōya's energetic retreating figure, Natsuki waved his hand. "Shisui, make your preparations. You'll be needed in a few days."

Shisui touched his eyes and nodded with a determined expression.

By the time Natsuki arrived at the meeting room, Fugaku was already waiting there.

"Natsuki, what do you think about this matter?"

Fugaku had been the one to have the earlier information passed along.

"The Hyuga Clan is certainly qualified to serve as the outer perimeter of the Police Force. This attack was an accident."

"Because the Byakugan of their Branch Family has a flaw, and that flaw has led to a problem in how they use it."

Natsuki then explained to Fugaku the Caged Bird, the visual blind spot it created, and how the Byakugan's purity and the user's strength affected its scouting range and visual distance.

He also told him his speculation about the attackers.

Fugaku suddenly understood. No wonder the Hyuga Clan had been attacked. The Hyuga Branch Family's Byakugan actually had such a flaw.

Was an eye that glimpsed the future really that powerful?

Fugaku automatically assumed it was Natsuki's Mangekyō Sharingan ability. Otherwise, an outsider could not possibly know such secrets.

"Natsuki..."

Fugaku spoke earnestly. "The Mangekyō Sharingan's eye techniques cannot be used recklessly."

"Otherwise, your eyes will soon go blind."

Natsuki nodded. It seemed Fugaku truly trusted him now. "Don't worry, Clan Head. I know what I'm doing. Thank you for your concern."

Only when he saw that Natsuki understood did Fugaku nod in relief.

"How will the Hyuga Clan handle this?"

"As long as the Hyuga Clan sends two Branch Family members to form a squad, they can completely make up for this problem. But the Hyuga Clan has one fatal problem: they lack manpower!"

The Uchiha Clan had fewer shinobi than the Hyuga Clan.

Because everyone in the Hyuga Clan could activate the Byakugan, nearly every member could fight.

Naturally, their numbers were substantial.

But the Hyuga Main Family would not leave the clan compound, and even the Main Family's guards were Branch Family members.

That immediately cut the available personnel in half.

Moreover, external patrols required at least chūnin-level strength.

The Hyuga Clan had already spread most of its manpower thin maintaining security within the village, so they would definitely be stretched thin when it came to external patrols.

"Clan Head, you are still the captain of the Guard Team. The Hyuga Clan will definitely come discuss this with you."

"When that happens, we can..."