By now, how could Hiruzen Sarutobi not know exactly what these people were doing?
The Konoha Military Police Force had suspended operations, issued an announcement, and even gotten it printed in the newspaper.
They had dumped the matter straight into the Hokage's lap for the time being.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had clearly been caught off guard.
The villagers had evidently accepted the arrangement.
After all, the Konoha Military Police Force had reflected on its recent shortcomings and decided to conduct internal training, temporarily leaving its duties to the village.
Was there anything wrong with that?!
There was absolutely nothing wrong with it!!
After all, through that gradual shift in perception, people had come to see this as the village's responsibility in the first place, merely delegated to the Uchiha.
And the Uchiha had shown such a good attitude!
Look!
The villagers had raised concerns, and the Uchiha had immediately reflected on their actions and launched an internal review.
Whatever happened in the end, the villagers saw nothing wrong with that. In fact, the Uchiha clearly weren't like the rumors claimed. They were willing to humbly accept feedback.
So they would just go to the village for now.
Once the training was over, perhaps the Uchiha would handle things even better!
And so, every issue over the past few days had landed on Hiruzen Sarutobi's doorstep.
The villagers of Konoha also discovered that the village seemed to handle these matters about as well as the Uchiha-and sometimes far worse!
Quite a few villagers suddenly realized that they might have misunderstood the Uchiha all along!
So Konoha wasn't anything special either!
Wasn't it just as bad at handling these matters?!
Public dissatisfaction with Hiruzen Sarutobi surged.
Before Hiruzen Sarutobi could react, Bai Ye brought the Uchiha's three elders to see him again. "Lord Hokage, I've fulfilled my end of the agreement. So when will you be moving out?!"
For Hiruzen Sarutobi, Bai Ye's arrival was like a heavy hammer slamming into him.
He had already guessed some time ago that once Bai Ye won over the Hyuga Clan, there would be virtually no way to keep that land in his hands.
But...
He really didn't want to hand it over.
"Bai Ye..."
"Lord Hokage, people should keep their word, shouldn't they?! Why make this unpleasant for everyone? Three days. I'll give you three days to prepare. Then I'll bring the Uchiha Clan over.
"Of course, if you're worried that your clans won't have anywhere to live, we Uchiha can let you stay at our old compound free of charge!"
After speaking, Bai Ye slapped the documents down in front of Hiruzen Sarutobi, then left with the three elders.
Although they had only gone through the motions, the three elders couldn't have felt more satisfied.
"You have no idea! When I saw Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression, I honestly wanted to laugh!!"
Uchiha Setsuna spoke without the slightest restraint.
Just thinking about bringing the Uchiha back to their original clan grounds in three days...
Filled him with excitement.
"But won't our Uchiha be targeted even more after this?!" Uchiha Setsuna asked worriedly.
It was certainly an exhilarating development.
But Hiruzen Sarutobi would never let it end here.
The Uchiha were now openly refusing to show him any respect.
Setsuna couldn't imagine Hiruzen Sarutobi doing nothing about it.
Even if Hiruzen Sarutobi did nothing, Danzo wouldn't be able to sit still.
He was the village elder most committed to targeting the Uchiha, yet the Uchiha now controlled public opinion within the village.
They had also resolved their previous situation of having alienated the villagers, ninja clans, and ordinary shinobi.
They couldn't exactly be called popular, but at least they were no longer being targeted or subjected to so much hostility.
That was what the Uchiha wanted to see, but it wasn't what certain others wanted.
For Danzo, who had always devoted himself to suppressing the Uchiha, this was worse than death.
Uchiha Huo was actually quite worried that this matter would develop into an outcome he didn't want to see.
"Let's head back. I'll tell you the next part of the plan."
"The next part of the plan?!"
Wait!!?
There was still more to the plan?!
Hold on...
At first, they had thought things would more or less end here.
Even Uchiha Setsuna, radical as he was, felt they had already reclaimed everything that belonged to the Uchiha.
Viewed that way, hadn't they essentially achieved their goal?!
But hearing Bai Ye's words, they couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.
Could it be...
That Bai Ye had some other goal?!
"I want to become Hokage. We've accomplished the first step. Next, we'll drive Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo, and the others out of power.
"Only once they're gone will the persecution of the Uchiha end. Besides, the village no longer needs such a rotten Hokage!"
Konoha had rotted from its roots.
Only by toppling this great tree and starting over could the decaying Konoha be brought back to life.
Bai Ye's plan had never ended with reclaiming what was theirs.
Unless he resolved the matter completely, reclaiming those things now wouldn't really accomplish much.
They would still face persecution later, perhaps even worse than before.
"Really?!"
Bai Ye really was even more radical than he was!
Uchiha Setsuna had originally thought this matter was more or less over, but since Bai Ye had said that...
Then they had to do it!
It wasn't as though their Radical Faction had never considered removing Hiruzen Sarutobi and making an Uchiha the Hokage.
"Bai Ye, isn't this too rash? The village might not support us, and Hiruzen Sarutobi..."
Uchiha Hui gave Bai Ye a puzzled look.
This...
He had thought he understood Bai Ye's way of doing things.
Making such a rash decision wasn't like the Bai Ye he knew.
Didn't Bai Ye realize that very few people in the village would agree to an Uchiha becoming Hokage?!
"I'm just letting you know. This will require a detailed plan. We can't become Hokage just by saying we will."
Bai Ye offered a few reassuring words.
He was only beginning the second stage of his plan.
It wasn't as though he intended to become Hokage immediately.
After hearing Bai Ye's explanation, Uchiha Hui breathed a sigh of relief.
He had genuinely been afraid that Bai Ye's recent successes against them had gone to his head.
Bai Ye had brought this up because of the notification the system had given him today.
The Uchiha's clan fortune had risen again.
It had gone from -3800 to -2000.
After the changes to the police force and the reversal of public opinion, the Uchiha's fortune was still negative.
But it was much better than it had been at the start.
However, as long as the Uchiha's ultimate crisis remained unresolved...
Their clan fortune would remain negative.
That was also why Bai Ye wanted to drive Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others out of power.
Now that their fortune had improved, the system had notified him of a new reward, though he hadn't claimed it at the time.
System, claim the reward!
Bai Ye issued the command silently.
[Ding! Congratulations, host, on improving the Uchiha's clan fortune. Reward obtained: Sage Body]
A sage body!!!?
Surprise flashed through Bai Ye's eyes. It was actually a sage body!
He had been wondering whether he would need to transplant Hashirama cells later.
After all, a few more uses of his Mangekyo Sharingan might leave him completely blind.
Its abilities were simply too powerful. Neither his ocular power nor his chakra could keep up.
So if he wanted to go to war with Konoha, he would at least need to acquire a sage body.
That would allow him to keep Susanoo active.
But that brought him back to one unavoidable issue: Hashirama cells.
As for approaching Naruto, that was essentially impossible. Relations between the Uchiha and the village had worsened again.
It would have been an oversight on Hiruzen Sarutobi's part if he hadn't assigned more people to watch Naruto.
Bai Ye knew very well that approaching Naruto was virtually impossible at present.
Hashirama cells were even further beyond his reach.
He couldn't even be sure there were any left now.
After all, so many years had passed, and Orochimaru and Danzo had experimented with them countless times.
He really might not be able to obtain any.
Without Hashirama cells, he couldn't use his Mangekyo Sharingan freely.
Obito's Kamui was powerful, wasn't it?!
But without half his body being made of Hashirama cells, he probably would have gone blind long ago.
Yet now, with this sudden sage body reward...
Bai Ye could change his original plan entirely.
He could confront Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others head-on.
At least not every shinobi and clan in the village supported Hiruzen Sarutobi.
When he had sounded out the Hyuga Clan, their dissatisfaction with Hiruzen Sarutobi and his circle had been plain to see.
Even staunch allies of the Sarutobi Clan like the Ino-Shika-Cho would have their own considerations on certain matters.
After all, no matter how loyal an ally you were, your own clan came first, not someone else's.
From the beginning, Bai Ye's opponents had only been those few people.
He had originally intended to wait until he resolved the drawbacks of his Mangekyo Sharingan.
But now that they were already resolved, everything was different!
With a sage body, he could now use his Mangekyo Sharingan abilities freely.
And the abilities of a sage body...
Wait, there's no Senjutsu?!
Damn it!!
Senjutsu was treated as a separate reward?!
According to the setting, a sage body should have come with Senjutsu. Jugo was an example: he couldn't control his own sage energy because his sage body was incomplete.
The sage body was inherited from the Sage of Six Paths. More plainly put, Asura plus sage arts equaled a sage body.
Without sage arts, this wasn't a complete sage body.
After all, why had Madara Uchiha deliberately absorbed Hashirama's Senjutsu energy after being revived?!
Essentially, his body had still been missing a form of energy.
At the time, Madara Uchiha had sage eyes and Hashirama cells. To attain Six Paths power afterward, he still needed Senjutsu energy and the Ten-Tails' chakra.
That was also why Obito's abilities fell short of Madara Uchiha's.
Obito lacked Senjutsu energy. In his understanding, the Ten-Tails' chakra, Hashirama cells, and sage eyes were enough to equal Six Paths power.
The reason the Sage of Six Paths later said that Madara Uchiha was approaching his level was that Madara Uchiha had already gathered every component of Six Paths power.
Senjutsu energy, Hashirama cells, the Ten-Tails' chakra, the Rinnegan, and Yin-Yang Release.
Yet the sage body he had now only granted regenerative abilities. It didn't include Senjutsu.
Looks like I'll have to learn Senjutsu from the Three Great Sage Lands, or draw it as a reward later...
Bai Ye thought it over and decided that even without Senjutsu, this was enough for now.
At least it would be enough to deal with them at this point in time.
That meant he could probably start making preparations now.
As things stood, he was still missing quite a lot before he could assemble Six Paths power.
He now had the bare shell of a sage body. He still needed Senjutsu chakra, Eternal Eyes that could then evolve into the Rinnegan, and finally the Ten-Tails' power.
Some other abilities might also interfere with his reward pool.
Viewed that way, he should resolve Konoha's problems sooner rather than later.
At least for now, Obito and Nagato were the highest known benchmarks of combat strength.
As long as he had enough strength to match them, he could more or less carry out his entire plan.
By the time Madara Uchiha was revived, if Bai Ye advanced another step, he could leave even Madara Uchiha dumbfounded.
And with that kind of strength, whether Madara Uchiha could even be revived was another question entirely!
So the sage body had arrived at just the right time.
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
At that moment, Danzo, Utatane Koharu, and Mitokado Homura were in the Hokage's Office, glaring furiously at Hiruzen Sarutobi. "Hiruzen, everyone in the village knows the Uchiha are moving back now!!
Our clan members are all making a fuss about it. Are you really going to hand it over!!!?"
The three of them could no longer sit calmly as they had before!
Now that the whole village knew about it, even their own clans were in an uproar.
They had been against it from the start.
And now look what had happened!
Were they really going to give it back?!
"I told you back then to act against the Uchiha sooner! How could there have been so much trouble if we had!? Hiruzen, why don't we just make our move!!!"
Danzo hurriedly chimed in.
In his view, if they had acted against the Uchiha earlier, how could they have ended up on the back foot like this?!
The main problem was that Hiruzen Sarutobi was far too indecisive.
Those Uchiha would never be satisfied!
Those inherently evil Uchiha!!!
"Hiruzen, tell us what to do. If we give up the land, are we really supposed to move to where the Uchiha live?!"
Utatane Koharu looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi, who remained silent.
She, too, was growing restless.
How much longer was he going to hesitate?!
They had already set a deadline-three days. In three days, they would have to move out!!
"Let's wait a little longer. Shisui and Itachi will be back soon. Let those two boys give it a try!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi took a puff of his pipe, then spoke slowly.
Shisui Uchiha and Uchiha Itachi were coming back.
Perhaps... those two boys, who had inherited the Will of Fire, could settle this matter?!
Before you continue