After the uninvited guests scattered, the bustling, noisy mourning hall regained its proper emptiness and quiet.
"Whew."
Uchiha Senmon's heart was still as water. Compared with being the center of everyone's attention earlier, this suited him far better.
Preferring quiet to activity, Uchiha Senmon had always politely declined all manner of banquets and invitations.
With his current status and power, only a handful of people at the very top of this country could make Uchiha Senmon, director of the Supernatural Konoha Military Police Force and the foremost superhuman, go through the motions of being civil. These local bigwigs from Shizuoka Prefecture did not have the standing to earn a second glance from him.
"Sorry for the trouble, Namiru, but I'll leave revitalizing the village to you."
While the host family was preparing for the overnight vigil, Uchiha Senmon took Sakaki Namiru aside and instructed her:
"Not just economically. I'd also like to delve deeper into the village's history and culture."
Having rushed back for his great-uncle's funeral and then seen how frail the elderly village chief had become, Uchiha Senmon could not help feeling saddened by how things remained while people changed. He felt he could do something.
Besides, he could not stay in the village long and had little confidence that he could uncover the Uchiha Clan's secrets hidden behind history, or its ancestral grounds, Naka Shrine.
Using support for the village's development as an opportunity to visit its elderly residents and survey the old sites and historical remains nearby might turn up some clues.
Two birds with one stone.
"History? Culture?"
Sakaki Namiru was utterly confused.
She had no objection to her brother-in-law investing in his hometown to give something back, but she could not quite understand his desire to explore the village's history and culture.
Born and