Utatane Koharu immediately caught the implication in Hiruzen's words.
"Hiruzen, you mean..."
Hiruzen nodded, turning his gaze toward Konoha outside the window.
"Fugaku and Chikage may have gained the upper hand today."
"But they don't represent all the Uchiha."
"And there are young people among the Uchiha who care about both the village and the Family."
"Shisui, for example."
At the mention of Shisui's name,
Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu finally looked a little less tense.
Shisui Uchiha.
An elite member of Konoha's Anbu, a gifted shinobi renowned for his Body Flicker Technique.
More importantly, Shisui had been deeply influenced by the will of fire since childhood.
He valued the village's peace above his own gains and losses, and he did not want to see the village and the Family fall out.
"You both saw how Shisui behaved in the plaza today."
Hiruzen continued.
"He tried to stop Chikage along the way and prevent the Konoha Military Police Force from reaching the Hokage Building."
"At the very least, that shows he doesn't want the conflict between the village and the Family to escalate."
"He wants to protect Konoha, and he wants to protect the Uchiha."
"Someone like him won't readily agree with Chikage's approach of bringing every dispute out into the open."
Utatane Koharu nodded thoughtfully.
"Shisui's strength is unrivaled among the younger Uchiha."
"Even many of the older jonin are no match for him."
"As long as he insists on reconciliation, there will still be more than one voice within the Uchiha."
Mitokado Homura also breathed a sigh of relief.
"Exactly."
"No matter how effective Chikage's regulations are, they're ultimately just grounds for an argument on paper."
"What Shisui holds in his hands is real power."
"And Shisui is utterly loyal to the village. As long as we keep him in the role of mediator, the Uchiha won't easily spiral out of control."
Hiruzen emptied the ashes from his pipe into the ashtray.
"So we mustn't rush to target Chikage now."
"The more openly we suppress him, the more we'll turn him into a hero to the Uchiha."
"What we need to do is make Shisui understand that the leadership's concessions today were meant to preserve the village's peace and prevent bloodshed between the Uchiha and the village."
"As long as Shisui continues to willingly shoulder the responsibility of a mediator,"
"Chikage won't be able to unite the entire Uchiha Clan with just a few regulations."
Hiruzen Sarutobi raised his eyes and looked out at the streets, which were gradually growing quiet.
"Rules on paper ultimately need people with blades to uphold them."
"In this world, fists still have the final say."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's words faded into silence in the Hokage's Office.
Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu exchanged a glance, much of their worry dissipating.
Hiruzen was right. In the shinobi world, strength ultimately mattered most.
A genin who could do nothing but recite regulations would struggle to truly change Konoha's balance of power, even if he had gained the upper hand today.
As long as Shisui Uchiha remained willing to mediate, the Uchiha Clan would not readily turn to extremes.
After the two advisors left, Hiruzen settled back into his chair and continued smoking his pipe.
Meanwhile, at the Root Base beneath Konoha.
Bang!
A sturdy solid-wood table was smashed clean in two.
Shimura Danzō stood amid the shattered pieces, his chest heaving.
The hand gripping his cane was still trembling, and wood chips littered the floor around his feet.
Several Root shinobi wearing animal masks knelt on the floor, not daring to breathe too loudly.
They had followed Danzo for years and had rarely seen their leader lose his composure like this.
"An utter humiliation!"
Danzo roared in fury.
"I, the Hokage Advisor, was forced by a mere genin to leave my thumbprint and pay up!"
"350,000 ryo!"
"A full 350,000 ryo!"
The more Danzo thought about it, the angrier he became. He kicked a plank off the floor.
It struck the wall with a dull thud.
After a moment's consideration, a Root squad leader raised his head.
"Lord Danzo, word is spreading outside that the Uchiha have put you in your place."
"The merchants on South Street are even setting off firecrackers to celebrate."
"Some are saying they'd be better off paying their public security administration fees directly to the Konoha Military Police Force from now on."
Upon hearing that, Danzo lashed out with a backhanded slap.
A sharp crack rang out.
The squad leader fell to the floor, his mask knocked askew.
"Idiot!"
Danzo pointed at the squad leader and angrily berated him.
"You thought those remarks were worth repeating to my face?"
"The whole village knows I signed the Payment Receipt today."
"Someone is deliberately taking advantage of this opportunity to spread rumors and undermine Root's authority and mine!"
The squad leader immediately scrambled up and knelt properly again.
"I spoke out of turn. Please punish me, Lord Danzo."
"Shimura Ken is still being held by the Konoha Military Police Force. Should I arrange for men to retrieve him while he's being transported or receiving treatment?"
Danzo snorted coldly and went to sit in a stone chair nearby.
"Retrieve him?"
"The entire village is watching Shimura Ken today. The moment you act, Uchiha Chikage will come waving his regulations tomorrow, accusing me of ordering Root to violently resist law enforcement."
"Then we'd still have to pay, and Root would also be charged with openly defying the village's laws!"
Danzo closed his eyes, the scene in the Hokage's Office replaying endlessly in his mind.
That brat named Uchiha Chikage had aimed every word at the crucial points of procedure and rules.
He had left both Danzo and Hiruzen without any room to openly refute him.
But.
Danzo abruptly opened his eye, a cold gleam flashing within it.
At that moment, he had reached exactly the same conclusion as Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Rules?
Regulations?
They were nothing but paper shackles the weak used to restrain the strong.
No matter how slick Uchiha Chikage's tongue was, or how well he knew the regulations, he was still just a genin.
An ordinary genin who had graduated at twelve and still had not been promoted five years later.
He had not awakened his Sharingan, his recorded chakra reserves were thoroughly mediocre, and he knew only a few basic techniques from the Three Body Technique.
The intelligence report was perfectly clear: he had long served as a clerk in the Konoha Military Police Force, never volunteered for field assignments, and had no combat achievements worth recording.
Root could send any squad to capture a shinobi of that caliber alive.
"You think a few sheets of paper let you lord it over me?"
A cold smile curled Danzo's lips.
"Naive."
Hearing the killing intent in Danzo's voice, the kneeling squad leader immediately moved half a step forward.
"Lord Danzo, since his abilities match his records, why not leave him to me?"
"The Uchiha Clan Compound is heavily guarded now. Forcing our way in would be ill-advised."
"But he leaves for work and returns at the same time every day, and his movements follow a fixed routine. All we need to do is stage an accident along the way, and he'll disappear without a trace."
The squad leader raised a hand and lightly drew it across his throat.
Danzo shook his head.
"Kill him?"
"That would be letting him off too easily."
Danzo stood and slowly paced through the dim room.
"Why do you think that old fox Fugaku dared to draw his blade today?"
"The Uchiha are desperate for something they can use against the leadership."
"If Chikage meets an untimely death now, Fugaku will be able to use it as a pretext to take the matter all the way to the Land of Fire's daimyo."
"Then public opinion in the village and the other shinobi clans will all swing toward the Uchiha."
The squad leader raised his head.
"Then what do you have in mind?"
Danzo stopped, his gaze settling on the Ninja Blade hanging on the wall.
"I want him alive."
Danzo's voice echoed through the underground chamber, laden with a sinister chill.
"That brat certainly has a sharp tongue, and he thinks fast."
"He used the Public Security Administration Regulations so effectively that even Hiruzen and those two old fossils were forced to concede."
"Killing someone that talented outright would be a waste."
Danzo turned to look at his kneeling subordinates.
"Have him watched closely."
"Find out his schedule, his routes, and where he goes besides the Konoha Military Police Force and the Uchiha Clan Compound."
"The moment he's alone, find an opportunity to bring him back."
Before you continue