Fugaku blushed under his gaze.
He could no longer keep his stern expression in place and hurriedly burst into laughter to change the subject.
He reached out with his broad palm and gave Chikage's shoulder a heavy pat.
"What nonsense are you spouting, brat!"
"Do you think your uncle only cares about benefits?"
"I'm worried about you!"
"You're a rare talent among our Uchiha, and my own nephew besides. How could I not care about you?"
Fugaku delivered those words with magnificent righteousness.
Chikage rolled his eyes without giving him any face.
"Uncle, could you stop staring at my head while you say that?"
Fugaku coughed twice in embarrassment and quickly looked away from Chikage's head.
"Ahem, you're seeing things. Definitely seeing things."
Meanwhile, on the top floor of the Hokage Building.
The atmosphere in the Hokage's Office was so oppressive it was hard to breathe.
Hiruzen Sarutobi stood before the wide window.
He held his trademark pipe but had yet to light it.
He looked down through the glass at the activity in the plaza below.
Nearly a hundred elite members of the Uchiha Clan were withdrawing in orderly fashion under Fugaku's lead.
They neither raised their voices nor made any provocative moves.
Yet their perfectly synchronized footsteps and the renewed confidence on every face...
Were more unsettling than any outright bluster.
Shimura Danzō stood beside the desk.
His wooden cane struck the floor hard, making dull thuds.
His lone eye was bloodshot.
An irrepressible air of violence radiated from him.
"Hiruzen!"
Danzo finally erupted.
He pointed toward the departing Uchiha outside the window, his voice hoarse with anger.
"You're just going to watch them leave?"
"You're letting those Uchiha swagger around in front of the Hokage Building?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi turned to face the raging Danzo.
His voice was calm, but he could not conceal his exhaustion.
"What else should I do?"
"Send the Anbu down to fight them?"
"Or have your Root arrest them all in front of the entire village?"
Danzo slammed his cane against the floor.
"Why not!"
"Root's elites are standing by. Just give the order, and I'll take Fugaku and that brat Chikage down immediately!"
"Once we seize their leaders, the Uchiha outside will lose their backbone!"
"They dared bring men to surround the Hokage Building today. That's an open challenge to the authority of the higher-ups!"
"We must stamp out these signs of rebellion before they grow!"
Mitokado Homura, who had been sitting silently on the sofa, stood up as well.
He cut Danzo off without ceremony.
"Danzo, haven't you caused enough trouble today?"
"Arrest them?"
"On what grounds?"
"The Uchiha brought an itemized list of the South Street merchants' losses and came to demand an explanation from you in accordance with the law!"
"You just signed that payment receipt for 350,000 Ryo. The seal paste on your handprint hasn't even dried yet!"
"If you send people to arrest them now, the village's uproar will drown the Hokage Building tomorrow!"
Utatane Koharu chimed in, her voice full of reproach.
"Exactly."
"That Uchiha Chikage invoked the First and the Second at every turn."
"He knows the Konoha Public Security Administration Regulations better than anyone."
"If we act now, we'll be openly violating the laws the Second established."
"Who can bear that responsibility?"
Under the repeated reproaches of his two old friends, Danzo trembled with rage.
He turned to glare at Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu.
"You two have been scared witless by a mere child!"
"The First, the Second, the Public Security Regulations!"
"They're all excuses he uses to conceal the Uchiha's ambitions!"
"Can't you see that?"
"The Uchiha's obsession with strength and power has never disappeared!"
"Today, they dared use the rules to pressure us and force me to pay."
"Tomorrow, they'll dare use those same rules to demand even more power, perhaps even reach for the Hokage position!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi walked to the desk, picked up a match, and lit his pipe.
He took a deep draw and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke.
"Danzo, calm down."
"This all started because your nephew, Shimura Ken, went to South Street and vandalized the shops."
"Then your Root overstepped its authority and arrested a captain of the Konoha Military Police Force without a written order."
"It was only natural that the Uchiha would fight back."
Danzo stiffened his neck and argued loudly.
"I was guarding against the Uchiha!"
"South Street is an important commercial district in Konoha. How could we let the Uchiha control it all by themselves?"
"Root arrested him to find out whether they were hiding a conspiracy!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head, his tone growing stern.
"Guarding against them doesn't mean handing them leverage!"
"Look at what you've done today!"
"Not only did you fail to suppress the Uchiha, you put them entirely in the right and forced all of us higher-ups to face the villagers!"
"You dragged the Hokage Building's authority down with you!"
Hiruzen's rebuke left Danzo speechless.
His chest heaved violently.
His teeth ground together with an audible rasp.
He wanted nothing more than to rush downstairs and tear that brat Chikage to pieces.
But he could not.
He had signed the payment receipt for 350,000 Ryo himself.
The Hokage's written order to release the prisoner had also been issued in front of everyone.
The higher-ups had suffered a crushing defeat in this round.
Danzo gripped the handle of his cane tightly.
He pointed out the window again.
"Hiruzen, you'll regret this!"
"Your concession today will only make the Uchiha push their luck further!"
"That cancer called the Uchiha will erupt sooner or later!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi ignored Danzo's threat.
He walked to the window and gazed at the now-empty plaza.
"Call it a concession. Call it weakness."
"At least no blood was shed in Konoha today."
"Next, I'll have the Anbu keep a close watch on the Uchiha's movements, and I'll investigate that Chikage again."
Hiruzen turned to the furious Danzo and did not forget to twist the knife.
"Oh, and Danzo."
"Remember to pay that 350,000 Ryo in fines and compensation to the Konoha Military Police Force on time."
"If you miss the deadline, that Chikage might come back to the Hokage Building tomorrow with the regulations in hand to collect."
"When that happens, I won't clean up your mess again."
At those words, Danzo tasted blood in his throat and nearly spat it out.
He shot Hiruzen a vicious glare.
"That's none of your concern!"
With that, Danzo turned and strode toward the office door.
Bang!
Danzo slammed the heavy solid wood door shut.
Silence returned to the office.
Mitokado Homura sighed and sat back down on the sofa.
"Hiruzen, Danzo's temper really is getting worse."
"But he was right about one thing. The hard line the Uchiha took today warrants caution."
"That Chikage-why have we never heard of him before?"
Utatane Koharu picked up the conversation.
"I heard he's only a Genin."
"Usually, he just organizes case files and copies reports at the Konoha Military Police Force."
"Who could have imagined he would prove so eloquent today?"
"With him there, the Konoha Military Police Force will probably become harder and harder to deal with."
"The Uchiha used to know only how to resort to violence. We could still keep them in check by invoking the greater good of the village."
"Now that they've learned to argue with rules, evidence, and public opinion, we're the ones constrained at every turn."
"First, investigate his record, background, and ninjutsu capabilities. Then find a way to transfer him out of the Konoha Military Police Force."
"This Uchiha Chikage must not be allowed to remain in that position."
Before you continue