The emotions that had been suppressed for too long completely exploded at this moment. Pride, excitement, ecstasy, grievance... all kinds of complex emotions were intertwined, making these elders who were usually serious and unsmiling lose their composure.
Uchiha Fugaku looked at the scene in front of him, his eyes were a little red.
He raised his hand and pressed down weakly. After the boiling emotions in the room calmed down a little, he slowly sat down and said in a deep voice, "Everyone, don't be too happy. Lord Hokage has given us trust and given us another opportunity. And this opportunity requires us to show corresponding sincerity."
He slowly explained the plan of "personnel exchange" between the Public Security Department and Konoha Military Police Force proposed by Senju Chen.
At first, the elders nodded repeatedly, thinking that this was a matter of course. Showing goodwill to the fifth generation brother, the now powerful Minister Public Security Department, and sending some elites from the clan there was a sure-fire deal.
But when Fugaku came to the end and announced the core conditions, the atmosphere changed subtly again.
"...Chen-kun means, in order to better perform lurking and intelligence tasks, and to better cultivate talents. It is best that the age of the personnel we exchange with the Public Security Department should not be over 18 years old."
As soon as he finished speaking, the originally warm atmosphere instantly cooled down.
The smiles on the faces of the elders froze. They looked at each other with confusion and confusion in their eyes.
"What?!"
Finally, a burly radical elder with a scar on his face - Uchiha Tekka, slammed the table and stood up.
His face was full of anger, and Three-Tomoe Sharingan turned on unconsciously, staring at Fugaku.
"Patriarch! Are you right? That Senju Chen only wants children under the age of eighteen?!" He roared, "What does this mean? Do you look down on us Uchiha?! Do you think our battle-hardened Jonin can't compare to a bunch of young boys?!"
"That's right!" Uchiha Yashiro, another elder with more conservative ideas, also said with a sullen face, "This is simply humiliating! They are treating our Uchiha future as cannon fodder! They are trying to deceive our best juniors from his Public Security Department and serve as his dead soldiers to explore the way!"
"When did I, Uchiha Clan, need to rely on a group of children in exchange for credit? Fugaku! Were you deceived by that Senju Chen!"
Opposition, like a ignited fuse, quickly spread among the elders.
They can't understand.
In their understanding, exchanging combat power means sending the strongest elites to carry out the most dangerous tasks. This is respect for their allies and confidence in their own strength. This is also their Uchiha Clan pride.
But now, the other party actually only wants a group of children?
In their opinion, this is simply a humiliation to them Uchiha Clan!
Looking at the excited elders, Uchiha Fugaku's face darkened little by little.
Once upon a time, he might have had the same idea.
But now, what echoed in his mind were Senju Chen's words, his magnanimity and courage that transcended his age.
Looking at the tribesmen in front of them who were blinded by pride and prejudice, an unprecedented anger, mixed with a hint of disappointment, welled up in my heart.
"Everyone... shut up!"
A roar mixed with Chakra, like thunder on the ground, instantly silenced the entire conference room.
Uchiha Fugaku stood up suddenly. In his eyes, the three Tomoe rotated rapidly and instantly merged into a pair of magnificent and complex patterns that exuded an ominous atmosphere.
Mangekyō Sharingan!
An invisible and terrifying pupil force pressure, like a physical mountain, suddenly pressed down!
All the elders, under this coercion, felt that their pupil power was being suppressed and their breathing was suffocated. They looked at Fugaku in horror and lowered their heads one after another.
"Short-sighted!"
Fugaku's voice was so cold that it contained no emotion. He looked around at the silent crowd, his eyes filled with disappointment.
"Humiliation? Cannon fodder? Is this what you see?!"
"Chen-kun has helped us so much over the years and provided us with so many valuable suggestions. Even this time we Uchiha Clan can leave the village, it was Chen-kun who fought for us."
"Chen-kun's mind is beyond your imagination!"
He retells Senju Chen's grand narrative of "cultivating talents for Konoha" in a way that is more oppressive and more in line with Uchiha's pride!
"Where is Public Security Department? It is the most trusted department of Lord Hokage today! They have the most advanced intelligence analysis, the most secretive lurking skills, and the most complete interrogation methods! Are these things that our descendants can learn within their own clan?!"
"Chen-kun named our young people, they are not humiliating us, on the contrary, they are giving us Uchiha Clan and opening up an unprecedented path for talent cultivation!"
"He is using the resources of the departments directly under Hokage to forge the pillars of our future for us Uchiha! When our children return from their studies, they will be the best commanders in the clan with the sharpest eyes! By then, will I, Uchiha Clan, still be short of talents who can be put to great use?!"
"Chen-kun said, this is not for the Uchiha Clan, this is for the future of Konoha."
The pressure in Fugaku Mangekyō Sharingan is even stronger.
"You say this is a conspiracy? Then let me ask you, whose conspiracy is to help others cultivate offspring to become powerful opponents?! Do you think this is using children as cannon fodder? Do you think that I, Uchiha Clan's young genius, can't even withstand this test?! Or do you think from the bottom of your heart that the children in our clan are not as good as others?!"
A series of questions, like a heavy hammer, hit every elder's heart hard.
The elders who had clamored against it just now were all red-faced and lowered their heads in shame, not even daring to take a breath.
Yeah...
What the patriarch said seems... more reasonable.
They only saw the "loss" on the surface, but failed to see the long-term interests behind it that could change the family's future.
Looking at the tribesmen who were completely suppressed by him, Uchiha Fugaku slowly put Mangekyō Sharingan away.
He knew that from today on, his prestige in the Uchiha Clan would reach an unprecedented peak.
And all of this was brought to him by that young man.
"This matter is settled." He made the final decision in a tone that could not be criticized. "Within three days, I want a list of all the qualified teenagers. Remember, I want the best!"
"At the same time, we must also prepare candidates to go out to carry out missions. This opportunity is too rare for us Uchiha Clan. Once we go out to carry out missions in the village, we must complete them successfully, and we must not allow any opportunity for criticism from the senior officials in the village."
"Yes, patriarch!"
This time, no one objected, and all the elders agreed excitedly.