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Watching the two of them stand there dumbfounded, Hane could not help but curl his lips into a smile.

If you asked whether commoners in ancient times from his previous life feared the county magistrate, they absolutely feared him to death.

And did they respect the magistrate? Heh, all that could be said was that if you were not afraid of dying, you were free to curse him as a corrupt official.

Though the Uchiha Clan could not possibly possess the authority of a county magistrate, once they held the power to interpret the law, would it not be easy to deal with these ungrateful wolves? Then Konoha's villagers would learn what it meant for the Uchiha to wipe out an entire family.

Inspiring fear through authority while earning goodwill through virtue—this was the way out Hane had found for the Military Police Force. As for how much goodwill he held toward Konoha's villagers, that was utter bullshit. Whether it was the anime from his previous life or the world he now lived in, he had no favorable impression of these villagers.

They were a group that forgot the greater good over petty righteousness.

"Would the Third approve of this?" Fugaku asked uncertainly after coming back to his senses.

"Hmph! If we had not taken these matters upon ourselves, they were never supposed to be our responsibility in the first place. Besides, the Military Police Force was originally entrusted entirely to the Uchiha by the Second. The Third has no reason to interfere with the Force's internal adjustments. And if we stop taking on these trivial matters, the Mission Department will have more C-rank missions as well. It is a win-win situation. I do not think the Third will refuse."

After thinking it over, Fugaku felt that made sense. Back then, he too had believed the Uchiha needed to slowly integrate into the village, which was why he had tolerated the villagers' unreasonable behavior. The result proved that it had all been his own wishful thinking. Instead, because of his clansmen's attitude, the villagers had grown even more disgusted with the Uchiha.

"Then we shall do as Hane says! I will hold a meeting shortly and make the arrangements. From now on, aside from criminal disputes, murder cases, and crimes, the Uchiha Military Police Force will not accept any other trivial matters."

Seeing Fugaku make his decision, Hane quietly breathed a sigh of relief. He had feared his rigid father would still cling to the old way of thinking. However, there was still one point Hane needed to remind him of.

"Father, once we clear away all those miscellaneous matters, the clansmen will have free time. Have them thoroughly study Konoha's laws. We cannot give the upper echelons of Konoha anything to hold against us. Everything must be justified and supported by evidence!"

As soon as Hane finished speaking, Fugaku frowned. If he asked the clansmen to train, they would certainly not hesitate, but asking them to read books would be somewhat difficult.

Seemingly seeing Fugaku's dilemma, Hane smiled faintly. "Father, why do we not recruit some clerical staff? Those clansmen unwilling to study the laws can become guards in the future. Leave case handling to ordinary young clansmen. That should also greatly ease the clan's employment problem with public funds."

Fugaku's eyes lit up. The reason the Military Police Force did not recruit ordinary clansmen was not because it lacked funds, but because joining the Force required at least the strength of a Genin. Naturally, ordinary clansmen were kept outside the door. If the clan had not provided some benefits to maintain their normal lives, orphaned children might have starved to death long ago.

Public funds could not be casually diverted, but if the Military Police Force recruited clerical staff, would that not solve the problem immediately? It could be justified to the Third, and if any clansmen disagreed, then they could go memorize Konoha's laws themselves.

Thinking of this, Uchiha Fugaku could not help but cast Hane another approving glance.

The next day, the Military Police Force's reforms were announced on the bulletin board. At first, many civilians were indignant and gathered outside the Military Police Force building to cause trouble.

But under the Military Police Force's stern attitude, those civilians could only disperse awkwardly. Otherwise, those Uchiha bastards who looked down on everyone would arrest them for disrupting the Force's normal law enforcement.

Sarutobi looked at the Military Police Force reform proposal on his desk, unable for a moment to understand what the Uchiha were trying to do. However, he did not reject it. The Military Police Force had originally occupied a large number of the village's C-rank missions, and this reform would give the Mission Department more missions for Genin. That would offer certain benefits to maintaining the village's stability.

After all, so many Genin graduated every year, and they needed to make a living too. As for the Military Police Force adding clerical staff, Sarutobi considered it and ultimately agreed. That expenditure was not much at all.

It was only because the Uchiha feared the village's suppression that they did not dare casually divert public funds to subsidize their clansmen. After all, how many people did the Military Police Force even have? The funds the village allocated to it every year could practically be considered excessive. It was simply an amount set by the Second, and the Third had not found it easy to reduce it at first.

The Third had recently begun considering that very matter, but after agreeing to this condition, it would not be easy to reduce the Military Police Force's funding in the future.

Thinking of this, Sarutobi sighed softly. He still intended to summon his old companions and ask about the situation.

Very soon, several people arrived at the Hokage Office. They accepted the documents Sarutobi handed them and read through them one by one.

"Could it be that the Uchiha are cutting themselves off from the village?" Utatane Koharu asked in confusion as she read the document.

"Heh! Is that not perfect? It will be even easier to suppress the Uchiha once they have separated themselves from the village!" Danzo said with a cold laugh.

"But why would the Uchiha do this?" Mitokado Homura wore the same puzzled expression.

"What else could it be? Those extremist fools must have given up because they believed helping the villagers would not let them integrate into the village! They never consider that arrogant attitude of theirs!" Danzo said disdainfully.

The others nodded in agreement.

"Haha, now the Uchiha have not only offended the village's people, but because of the several central shops they received as compensation for the last relocation, they have also created rifts with Konoha's other clans. The Uchiha Clan has now been completely isolated from Konoha's center. At last, we have fulfilled our teacher's long-cherished wish!"

Danzo's gloomy face twisted as he laughed wildly. However, his satisfied mood did not last long.

Before long, the Uchiha's several shops opened for business, and the goods they sold made his eyes turn red with envy.

At that moment, Hane stood within the courtyard Uchiha Retsuyō had personally purchased. Watching the twelve clansmen who alternated between crying and laughing within the grand formation he had arranged, a faint smile appeared in his eyes.

After taking the pills Hane had refined, every one of them had entered the grand formation he had set up with immense confidence.

They could clearly feel their spiritual power greatly improving, leaving them just one step away from advancing their eyes.

Originally possessing only two tomoe, they could see their double-tomoe spinning rapidly within the Heart-Refining Formation. Faintly, a third tomoe had begun to appear.

"Ah!"

With a pained roar, one of the youths suddenly widened his eyes. The three tomoe in his eyes completely stabilized.

Tears of pain unconsciously streamed from the corners of his eyes.

Seeing this, Uchiha Retsuyō excitedly clenched his fists at the side.

"Young Clan Head! We succeeded!" Uchiha Retsuyō looked excitedly at Hane, who remained calm beside him.

"Mm, not bad. Rest for a while. Once your Chakra recovers, you should be able to come again and attempt a Mangekyō breakthrough!" Hane said calmly.

"It is all thanks to the Young Clan Head's efforts." Over the past few days, he had stayed by the Young Clan Head's side and personally witnessed just how complicated and exhausting the methods of arranging the Formation Art were.

For the past few days, the Young Clan Head had practically done nothing but repeat the cycle of setting up formations and recovering.

Uchiha Retsuyō hated how useless he was, unable to share even a fraction of the Young Clan Head's hardship.

"How has your spiritual power improved?" Hane turned and smiled at Uchiha Retsuyō, whose face was flushed red.

"Young Clan Head, that pill of yours is simply too powerful. I have never felt my eyes this good before. My ocular power has increased by at least a tenth."

"Mm. When you have time, go through the Heart-Refining Formation a few more times. The formation can be activated at most three times a day now. After three uses, it will need two days to recover its spiritual power before it can be used again."

"Also, this matter must be kept strictly confidential. Do not expose this place because of your movements. This place must also be guarded tightly! If anything unexpected happens and you cannot defeat the enemy, destroy the formation immediately!"

Hane gave the instructions sternly.

"Yes, Young Clan Head!"

The recovered youths answered in unison. At that moment, there was no longer any doubt in their eyes, only absolute determination.