"Genya, how many people do you think will join the Chamber of Commerce this time? Do you think Uchiha Fugaku will hate us for it?"
Uchiha Kinya asked, pulling Genya aside. There was curiosity in his voice.
Although his son was young, he was very smart and often thought about things more deeply than others.
"Holding a grudge? It's not just Fugaku who might hate us. Even our Uchiha genius probably resents us!" Genya replied, his tone serious.
Earlier, when they were in the clan's territory, Genya had felt a cold gaze on him. That gaze belonged to Itachi.
He could sense Itachi's resentment and hatred. It seemed Itachi had been influenced by the Hokage, no longer seeing himself as just another member of the Uchiha clan but thinking only of his own interests.
Genya thought to himself, *This is someone who cannot be trusted.*
Itachi had said the Uchiha clan should be self-reliant and not depend solely on the Police Force. But when his father started recruiting Uchiha members, Itachi resented it.
*And this person claims to do everything for justice and the village?* Genya thought bitterly.
*A genius who would sacrifice his own people doesn't deserve to be part of the Uchiha clan, nor does he deserve anyone's respect.*
"What? Itachi already holds a grudge against us?" Uchiha Kinya hesitated but then asked, "Should we stop recruiting Uchiha clan members? Itachi is more talented than Fugaku. If he becomes the clan head, it might be harder for us to stay in the clan."
"Dad, he already hates us. Even if we back down, it won't change that," Genya replied with a smile. "This is just like Konoha and the Uchiha clan now. Konoha won't stop targeting the Uchiha, and Itachi won't stop targeting our family."
"But..." Uchiha Kinya still had some worries.
Genya cut him off, saying, "Dad, we've already started this. At worst, we can gather the Uchiha clan members in the Chamber of Commerce and, in the future, form a new Uchiha clan!"
A new Uchiha clan? Yes. The current Uchiha clan was no longer the same as before.
Uchiha Kinya seemed to have figured things out, and a smile appeared on his face. He took Genya back home.
---
The next day, at dawn.
Ten captains of the Uchiha Police Force gathered at Fugaku's residence. All ten were jonin-level shinobi. Three had awakened the Sharingan with three tomoe, and the remaining seven had two tomoe each.
These ten individuals are among the top fighters of the Uchiha clan.
Right now, their faces are grim, and the atmosphere is heavy.
Although some of them agreed with the Second Elder's idea of giving up half of the Police Force, they still felt uneasy about having to apologize.
"Is everyone here? Follow me to the Hokage's office," Uchiha Fugaku said as he stepped forward, looking at the ten people. He then led them towards the Hokage's office.
When they arrived, quite a few people had already gathered in the Hokage's office. Among them were Sarutobi Hitoshi and Sarutobi Eisuke from the Sarutobi clan, along with a dozen veteran ninjas from their clan, all eyeing the Uchiha members cautiously.
That look didn't sit well with Fugaku and the ten captains, but since they were here to apologize, they held their tongues despite the tension.
"Damn it, I wouldn't have come if I had a choice," muttered Uchiha Shin, the captain of the Police Force Team, quietly. But for the sake of the Police Force and the Uchiha clan, he still showed up to apologize.
The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, sat in the main seat, silently observing everything.
Itachi and Shisui stood behind the Third Hokage, watching the scene with indifference.
"Hokage-sama," Fugaku greeted the Third Hokage respectfully.
"Yes," Sarutobi Hiruzen acknowledged, gesturing for Fugaku to sit down.
Fugaku nodded and took a seat on one side, with the ten Police Force captains behind him. Next to him were Sarutobi Hitoshi, Sarutobi Eisuke, and the dozen or so Sarutobi clan jonin.
"Fugaku, what do you think of the proposal we discussed?" the Third Hokage asked with a smile.
He already knew the outcome after the Uchiha clan meeting yesterday, but he still wanted to hear it directly from Fugaku.
"Hokage, my Uchiha clan agrees to your proposal and will give up half of the Police Force!" Fugaku said, nodding. He then added, "I apologize for any trouble the Police Force has caused you, Hokage."
Fugaku didn't forget to thank the Third Hokage.
If Genya had been there, he would have shouted in frustration, "Damn it! They're targeting the Uchiha clan, and you're thanking them? The Uchiha clan is doomed."
The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, introduced Sarutobi Eisuke to Fugaku: "This is Sarutobi Eisuke, an excellent ninja. He will be in charge of taking over half of your Police Force's responsibilities."
Hiruzen introduced Eisuke to Fugaku, making it clear that Eisuke would handle the new area.
Fugaku, expecting this, greeted Eisuke politely: "Nice to meet you."
Sarutobi Eisuke grinned and said, "Clan Head Fugaku, since the Hokage has spoken, let's sort out the management areas of the Police Force."
He then pulled out a map of Konoha and pointed to a specific area: "This is the part we'll manage."
He pointed to an area mostly occupied by Konoha's major clans and a small civilian area. This made the management easier.
However, the Uchiha clan was assigned some difficult civilian areas, which were chaotic and hard to manage, often leading to problems.
The Uchiha clan members were upset about this. The Captain of the Uchiha team protested, "You're giving us the difficult civilian areas while taking the easier parts for yourselves? We need seven teams to handle these messy areas, but only three teams are needed for the other areas."
It was clear that Sarutobi Eisuke wanted to assign the easiest areas to himself, leaving the Uchiha clan to handle the more complicated ones.
"Uchiha Captain, perhaps you misunderstood. Do you the Uchiha clan look down on the common people of Konoha?" Sarutobi Eisuke said with a smile.
He first accused the Uchiha of being dismissive of the common people, then pointed to a section on the map and added, "I've assigned this area to your Uchiha clan. It's close to your own territory, so you can manage it better!"
The line drawn on the map divided the Uchiha clan from the other major clans in Konoha, symbolizing the Uchiha's isolation. It was clear that Sarutobi Eisuke was deliberately targeting the Uchiha clan.
"You—" Uchiha Shin began to speak up, but was silenced by a look from Fugaku.
Fugaku turned to the Third Hokage, acknowledging that Sarutobi Eisuke's approach was somewhat unreasonable. He said, "Hokage-sama, I believe this area needs to be adjusted. This area..."
****
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