The strength his father gave him

After sighing inwardly, Zongyan stopped dwelling on what had already happened.

What was done was done. Although Naruto now had a violent disposition, he had also completely escaped his original fate of being insecure, cowardly, and at everyone's mercy. The outcome was a mixture of good and bad, impossible to judge.

He patiently chatted with Naruto for a long while, listening to the boy talk endlessly about his daily life and his plans for future training. Finally, under Naruto's expectant gaze, he nodded and promised to meet him often whenever he had time.

With that answer, Naruto immediately beamed, waved goodbye to Zongyan in delight, and dashed excitedly into the Ninja Academy grounds.

Only after Naruto had gone some distance did Zongyan turn around alongside Uchiha Itachi, and the two left the Ninja Academy entrance together.

When they reached a fork in the road, the usually taciturn Uchiha Itachi stopped of his own accord and said softly, "I have to report to the Anbu. I'll leave you here."

Zongyan nodded slightly. "Be careful on the way."

Uchiha Itachi gave a quiet acknowledgment. His figure flickered as he used the Body Flicker Technique, vanishing down the street in an instant as he headed for Anbu headquarters.

After the brothers parted, Zongyan returned to the Uchiha Clan Compound alone, making his way home without incident.

Nothing like that interception by Root all those years ago happened along the way. For once, the Third had followed through on a promise.

When he pushed open the door, he saw Fugaku sitting upright in the tatami sitting room, his expression solemn. He had clearly been waiting there for his return for quite some time.

Zongyan understood. Knowing that his father must want to discuss the Military Police Force position mentioned that morning, along with clan matters, he stepped forward and quietly took a seat.

Before he could speak, Fugaku raised a hand and passed him a stack of paper lists. Neatly written names and brief personal histories filled the pages.

"Take a look at this list."

Fugaku spoke in a low, serious voice. "These are clansmen I've observed in secret and selected over the past two years. Every one of them belongs to our faction. They're dependable, sufficiently loyal, and have all awakened the Sharingan before."

Zongyan looked down at the list. After a moment's thought, he immediately grasped his father's intention. Looking up, he asked, "Have all these people already used the Vein Altar to complete one awakening?"

Fugaku nodded and explained frankly, "That's right. Having the same person undergo a second awakening consumes a frightening amount of resources. It isn't worth the cost."

"But the Altar can be activated once every month. Leaving it unused would be far too wasteful. So I specifically selected these loyal clansmen who had decent talent but had never managed to awaken their eyes, and gave every monthly awakening opportunity to them."

Zongyan nodded slowly, thoroughly agreeing with his father's considerations.

He himself was the best example. The first time he had used the Altar to awaken his bloodline, it had consumed only one ton of rough iron ingots-a tiny price.

But during his second awakening, when he unlocked his two-tomoe Sharingan, it had taken a full ten tons of rough iron ingots just to activate the Altar's function and trigger his bloodline's transformation.

If the increase continued at that rate, using the Altar for a third bloodline awakening to unlock three tomoe would probably require another tenfold increase in resources.

With the Uchiha Clan's current reserves, it simply could not support such a terrifying expenditure.

Besides, his father was still the only one allocating resources at present; he did not dare draw on the strength of the entire clan.

Rather than pour enormous resources into strengthening himself for very little return, it was better to distribute those precious monthly awakening opportunities among clansmen who had perseverance and ability, yet remained unable to awaken the Sharingan because of their bloodline limitations.

This approach served several purposes at once.

It could raise the overall potential of clansmen in batches and revitalize the clan's lower-level fighting strength, while also winning genuine allegiance and greatly reinforcing the cohesion and loyalty of their own faction.

Zongyan understood all this clearly, and his approval of his father's arrangements deepened.

The sizable Uchiha Clan had a total population of over four hundred, with registered shinobi making up a considerable portion. It was far from the united bloc it appeared to outsiders.

Undercurrents ran through the clan, and even openly, it was divided into three major factions.

The Radical Faction was domineering and uncompromising, advocating standing against the Konoha High Command as equals and fighting hard for the Uchiha's power and standing;

the Neutral Faction kept out of trouble and avoided factional struggles, seeking only to train in peace and protect the Clan Grounds;

then there was the Village Faction, which blindly catered to Konoha and complied with the high command's arrangements.

His father, Fugaku, had originally been the central leader of the Village Faction, spending years navigating among the Konoha High Command to maintain the balance between the clan and the village.

But over the past two years, as the Konoha High Command's suspicion and suppression of the Uchiha grew increasingly apparent, coupled with the Altar's immense power, Fugaku's mindset and stance had quietly begun to change. He had started edging toward the Radical Faction.

It was precisely this change in mindset that had made Fugaku willing to invest effort and resources into winning over clansmen, quietly strengthening his own faction and laying plans for the clan's future.

After thinking for a moment, Zongyan looked up at Fugaku before him. A question arose in his mind, and he asked, "Father, does the fact that you've brought out this list of members of our faction mean that all these clansmen currently serve in the Konoha Military Police Force?"

He paused, then followed up with certainty in his voice. "You intend to give me full command over them once I join the Military Police Force?"

Fugaku nodded approvingly, his eyes filled with recognition. "You're perceptive. You saw through my intentions at a glance."

"Since you've decided to remain hidden in the shadows and protect the clan, since you want to become a blade for the Uchiha, you cannot be without a force of your own."

"No matter how powerful an individual is, there are limits. One person alone cannot hold everything together. Without anyone to assist you, the countless trivial matters ahead will be enough to bury you completely, leaving you with strength but no way to put it to use."

Zongyan agreed wholeheartedly and nodded gently.

He understood this principle all too well. The Shinobi World's conflicts were treacherous, its struggles for power layered upon one another. Being invincible as an individual had never been enough to guarantee peace of mind.

The powerful needed an organization to support them and trusted aides to assist them. Otherwise, alone, they would ultimately be unable to shoulder everything.

Without saying more, Zongyan took the list and lowered his gaze to read through it carefully.

Names, family circumstances, specialized ninjutsu, and assigned posts were all clearly laid out. Everyone listed was a reliable clansman whom Fugaku had painstakingly selected and secretly assessed one by one over the past two years.

Within just a few minutes, Zongyan had committed everyone's information to memory.

He handed the list back neatly, his expression composed. "Father, I've memorized everyone on the list and all their relevant information."

Fugaku took the list, carefully put it away, and placed it somewhere safe.

A moment later, he slowly rose, straightened his clan attire, and turned to Zongyan, speaking in a low voice. "Let's go. It's getting late."

"I'll take you to the Konoha Military Police Force and formally complete your enrollment paperwork."

With that, father and son rose together, walked out of the residence, and headed toward the Security Force headquarters at the center of the Clan Grounds.