"I quit, Uchiha Fugaku, I quit!"
Uchiha Shin's voice echoed through the medical room, filled with anger and frustration. The other team leaders behind him looked equally disheartened.
This time, he truly had enough.
Sarutobi Eisuke stood nearby, watching the scene with a smug smile.
"Uchiha Shin, think carefully. If you don't apologize, you'll have to leave the Uchiha clan!" Uchiha Fugaku's gaze was intense as he spoke each word deliberately.
He hadn't expected Uchiha Shin to openly defy him like this.
"Clan Head, remember, I'm resigning from the Police Force, not leaving the clan!" Uchiha Shin held his ground. "If anyone should apologize, let it be you, to those fools!"
"You—!" Uchiha Fugaku hesitated, but his voice remained firm. "What will you do without your job in the Police Force? Your daughter is still young. If you lose this position, don't expect to get any missions from Konoha!"
Perhaps Fugaku spoke in a moment of desperation, without fully considering his words.
"There's no need for you to worry about that!" Uchiha Shin brushed off Fugaku's concern, turning to leave.
In the past, he had looked down on the Uchiha Kinya and his Chamber of Commerce, but after this incident, he felt he had no other choice but to join them.
As for Uchiha clan members engaging in business?
Ha! The once-proud Uchiha had lost their dignity long ago. Now, he realized that following Uchiha Kinya wasn't such a bad idea after all.
At least he wouldn't have to make a humiliating apology.
"Fine, very well!" Uchiha Fugaku responded coldly, then turned to the nine other captains of the Police Force Division. "What about the rest of you? Do you share his thoughts? If you don't want to stay in the Police Force, leave with Uchiha Shin!"
"Clan Head..." The others hesitated.
Given the clan's current situation, without their positions in the Police Force, they might have to take on risky bounty missions outside Konoha—missions that weren't supported by the village.
"Generally speaking, this is illegal!"
The group didn't want to take on such missions unless absolutely necessary.
"Think carefully," Uchiha Shin urged the hesitant captains. "What's the point of having a Police Force if we're constantly humiliated? If we apologize now, how can we enforce the law in the future? Will we have to keep apologizing in such a degrading way? Instead of this, we might as well follow Uchiha Kinya. At least then we wouldn't be so dishonored!"
His words made everyone hesitate. One of them looked at Uchiha Fugaku, wanting to speak, but seeing Fugaku's grim expression, he stayed silent.
{Some might think Fugaku is too weak... If he had been stronger, he would have resisted when Itachi wiped out the clan. He pitied those killed by Itachi, but he did nothing—he just asked Itachi to protect Sasuke. They're all selfish, having been in power for so long that they can't understand the feelings of the ordinary clan members!}
Finally, one captain hesitated but then spoke up, "Clan Head, I quit the Police Force."
His words opened the floodgates, and soon others began to follow.
The captains exchanged glances, and another stood up. "Clan Head, I'm sorry, but I don't want to be a captain anymore."
"Clan Head, I'm leaving too."
"Clan Head, I'm out."
"Clan Head..."
One by one, seven captains spoke up, announcing their resignation from the Police Force.
"Think this through," Uchiha Fugaku warned, "Once you leave, it won't be easy to come back!"
But it was clear that many of them were ready to leave.
The captains all lowered their heads, staying silent and resolute in their decisions.
Uchiha Shin, along with seven others, gathered and left Konoha Hospital. They couldn't bear to stay there any longer.
They all had the same thought—to go to Uchiha Kinya. But first, they needed to visit the Police Force headquarters.
"Damn it!" Uchiha Fugaku muttered angrily, glaring at the only two captains left. "It's all Uchiha Kinya's fault! That traitorous businessman ruined the Uchiha clan's plan!"
If it weren't for what Uchiha Kinya had said the night before, these people wouldn't have turned against him, the clan leader.
Uchiha Fugaku seethed with anger at Kinya and the disloyal clan members.
"Clan leader Fugaku, are you going to apologize or not?" Sarutobi Eisuke, who had been watching the situation unfold, finally spoke up, reminding Fugaku of what needed to be done.
With so many people gone, the only one left to apologize was Uchiha Fugaku.
Fugaku's expression hardened, but he stepped forward to apologize to the injured group. "I'm sorry for what happened earlier. My men acted rashly. I hope you can forgive us."
"Haha! The Uchiha clan leader actually apologized to us. We're honored!" Yamano Sandan laughed loudly, then added arrogantly, "Since you've apologized, Fugaku, we'll let it go. But there are ten of us here. If you pay each of us 50,000 ryo, we'll drop our complaint against the Uchiha Police Force."
Feeling emboldened by the support of Sarutobi Eisuke and the Sarutobi clan, they pushed for as much as they could get.
Sarutobi Eisuke nodded in approval. These guys were proving to be quite useful.
Uchiha Fugaku could feel the shamelessness of these people. His face paled, and he clenched his fists. "Fine, I agree."
"Thank you for your generosity, Uchiha Clan Head," Yamano Sandan sneered.
Konoha Military Police Force Headquarters
Hundreds of people had gathered here, all from the Police Force, waiting anxiously. This negotiation was critical—it would determine their future. The atmosphere in the hall was tense and silent, with everyone feeling uncertain about how things would turn out.
Suddenly, someone shouted, "They're back! Captain Shin and the others are back!"
The crowd quickly rushed out to greet them, but they were surprised to see that only eight captains had returned.
One of the bolder members asked, "Captain Shin, why haven't the second captain, the fifth captain, and the clan leader returned with you?"
Uchiha Shin's face darkened with anger as he thought about Uchiha Fugaku and the other two captains. "Those cowards are still apologizing to those thugs!"
"Still apologizing? But what about you...?" The man trailed off, stunned. It was clear what he meant—the eight captains had left the clan leader and now the other two captains and clan leader haven't returned.
Uchiha Shin addressed the crowd of clansmen firmly, "Since we're back, I won't hide anything from you. The eight of us have decided to join Uchiha Kinya. Who among you wants to come with us?"
****
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