Watching Kakashi's retreating figure, Yuhara's expression remained calm.
He didn't regret saying such harsh words to Kakashi. Even though he truly liked Kakashi as a character, there were some things that had to be said.
Because right now, they were undeniably in a war.
It was just that this war was rather unusual—perhaps a purely bloodless political struggle. But whoever lost would likely have no future.
And if they failed to control the intensity, or if Hiruzen Sarutobi reacted violently, then this would turn into a high-intensity civil war within Konoha.
Such a clash would definitely be a bloody one—real weapons, real death, a life-or-death struggle.
Yuhara didn't know how far things would go, but he knew that at this stage, nothing could go wrong.
Kakashi was the key—too crucial. He held the secrets. He was the one capable of landing a fatal blow on Sarutobi and his allies.
Because he knew where the "key" was hidden. And truly, only he could retrieve it.
"I wonder how he's going to get that Yamato guy out... and how long it'll take."
Yuhara rubbed his chin. But soon, he couldn't be bothered to think about it anymore.
It would take time, after all. Kakashi couldn't just snatch up Yamato immediately.
They still had a lot to do—like how the Nara clan was heading to meet the daimyo, or how the Inuzuka and Aburame clans were setting up in Konoha.
If Kakashi lost his mind and dragged Yamato in tomorrow, Yuhara and the others would be stuck dealing with a logistical nightmare.
Still, today Yuhara had gotten fantastic news, and Kakashi had even handed over the documents he acquired.
They didn't detail too much about the experiments, but they definitely implicated Sarutobi, giving Yuhara more room to maneuver.
Shaking his head, Yuhara set aside the thoughts. What mattered now was sharing this intel with his six partners.
That needed proper discussion. And letting them know he'd "settled" Kakashi would work to his advantage.
"There really has been a ton going on lately, huh? Somehow it all just got tangled together…"
Yuhara truly hadn't expected this much on his plate. First and foremost: taking down Hiruzen Sarutobi.
That was his core mission. Even though most of the groundwork was done, until Sarutobi stepped down, it wasn't over.
They still needed to be ready for if Sarutobi or his faction snapped and tried something extreme.
On top of that, there was the experiment involving Shisui and Fugaku—that too needed to move forward. Their first experiment had been ages ago.
Yuhara, having unlocked the Ascension Stairway to restore bloodlines, could tell both men's bodies had now fully adapted to the impact of the White Zetsu cells.
Naturally, it was time for a second round of tests—and this time, the dosage would probably be increased.
But Yuhara felt they should wait until the Sarutobi matter was resolved first. If something went wrong and it left them unable to fight, it would be a colossal loss.
Postponing the test was fine, but preparations had to continue—like adjusting dosages and so on.
He was also still thinking about how to replicate that White Zetsu arm and mass-produce it to distribute throughout the clan.
But that hit his knowledge wall—after all, he'd been a humanities student in his past life.
Science and engineering just weren't his thing. He could only hope the clan's medical ninja could handle it.
"If it comes to it, once Shisui's Kotoamatsukami is ready, we'll just use it to control Orochimaru.
Worst case, I'll just pay a visit to Obito."
Going after Obito would be a last resort—but undoubtedly one of the most effective.
The problem was, if Yuhara went looking for Obito with a clear goal of collecting White Zetsu tissue, even an idiot would suspect something.
And Obito wasn't an idiot. And Zetsu definitely wasn't.
So attacking Obito really had to be the very last option.
With the experiment matter reviewed, Yuhara turned to the Police Force.
Unless something unexpected happened, recruitment for the Police Force would begin today. After that, various clans would send their people in.
Even though he'd left most of that to Shisui and Fugaku, Yuhara couldn't afford to ignore it completely.
Especially when it came to assigning clan ninja—if he let go of everything, it would lead to big problems.
Once internal matters were sorted, he still had a ton of external stuff to handle.
The channel to Hoshinobi Village had just opened. Now he could funnel weapons in there freely, and since that place was a chaotic mess, he could also send mercenary ninja to earn money.
Yuhara figured participating in mercenary warfare wasn't too bad. It would help the clan's elites grow.
The chance of awakening Mangekyō Sharingan was low, but their basic skills and mastery of the Sharingan could still improve.
As long as strong shinobi were overseeing them, everything would be fine.
"But arms sales alone won't cut it. Just one Hoshinobi Village isn't enough to swallow that much inventory."
Yuhara rubbed his chin and thought silently. Overthrowing the Third Hokage might loosen up the finances a bit.
But not by much. Especially since profits from arms sales had to be shared with others—that was part of their alliance. So the business couldn't stop.
With even more clans joining in now, their collective strength had grown—but so had their expenses.
"Well, I guess not all that money has to go into the Police Force. Using some to fund the clan is fair too."
The Police Force needed development, and so did the clan itself. And development required cash.
With that thought, Yuhara was even more convinced that expanding their weapon markets was absolutely necessary.
All those chaotic matters piled together made Yuhara feel truly exhausted. There was just so much going on.
"Uncle, you wanted to see me?"
In the Nara clan compound, Kotoha Nara walked into Nara Shikaku's house with a helpless look.
That morning, her uncle had Shikamaru pass along a message asking her to come by. She'd wanted to slack off, but ended up dragging herself out of bed.
Honestly, she was pretty satisfied with her current life. There wasn't much to do.
Her mission squad had disbanded, and now she mostly helped handle some clan affairs—nothing difficult or stressful. She was more than happy with that.
But her uncle didn't seem to want her life to be so easy. This wasn't the first time he'd tried to convince her to "get more experience."
Like asking her to join the administration department—just the thought gave Kotoha a headache. That place was so dull!
Let alone being unfamiliar with the work, just the kind of stuff the admin department handled would kill any motivation.
Besides, that was her uncle's turf. Sure, she'd get some favoritism, but he'd watch her like a hawk.
Basically, if she went there, she'd be stuck like any other junior clan member—working dutifully, with zero chance to slack off.
So today, when her uncle called her over, Kotoha suspected he'd bring up something similar again—and that made her dread it.
"You're here. Sit down first."
Shikaku looked at Kotoha's attitude and could already tell what she was thinking. He couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head.
Kotoha sat quietly and lowered her head, eyes on her nose, nose on her mouth, saying nothing—as if to say "whatever you say goes."
She just hadn't expected Shikaku's first words would immediately make her lift her head.
"I want to ask you—what are your specific thoughts on that old classmate of yours?"
"Old classmate?" Kotoha looked at Nara Shikaku in confusion. After a long pause, she asked uncertainly, "You mean... Yuhara?"
"Yes, Uchiha Yuhara," Nara Shikaku nodded. "The youngest clan head of the Uchiha clan. The one stirring up Konoha's entire situation."
Hearing her uncle say that, Kotoha was momentarily speechless—especially at that phrase "stirring up Konoha's situation," which left her a bit dumbfounded.
Of course, she couldn't deny that Yuhara was indeed that person. The things he'd done truly flipped Konoha's balance upside down.
But what was her uncle bringing him up for now? Did he do something again?
Kotoha thought carefully. Honestly, Yuhara had been relatively well-behaved recently.
Other than taking out a group labeled as Root remnants, he hadn't done much else.
And according to Konoha's own statement, those Root remnants attacked Yuhara first for revenge over Danzo, so technically it wasn't even Yuhara's fault.
"Could it be... the Police Force?"
Suddenly, Kotoha picked up on something.
Her uncle would never say anything pointless, so there had to be something hidden—some clue she had seen but hadn't thought deeply about.
And those clues probably pointed to the Police Force. The changes there had been huge lately, especially their rapidly improving reputation.
While Kotoha admitted some of that change came from internal reforms—
She'd even gone out of her way to observe the Police Force in action when she had free time.
And she had to admit, the difference from before was night and day. Before, they were cold, "impartial," and carried that signature Uchiha arrogance.
That kind of attitude pissed off anyone who came near.
But now, the Police Force showed two clear behaviors: if the offense was minor, they treated you like a concerned neighbor or relative—
They'd explain what you did wrong, have you clean some streets or just apologize—and that was it.
If the offense was serious, only then would they strictly follow Konoha's laws in issuing punishment.
Even then, they'd explain exactly what rule you broke and why the punishment fit the law.
With that kind of transparency, even people facing harsh punishment didn't really blame the Police Force—they were just following the rules.
Kotoha hadn't expected that something as small as "fully informing suspects" could create such a drastic shift.
Maybe that's just human nature. In her opinion, people's emotions were way more complicated than rational analysis—something she wasn't great at handling.
Outside of the Police Force's changes, Konoha had also been hyping them up a lot, otherwise that image turnaround wouldn't have happened so fast.
Still, it was strange that the higher-ups were so eager to help the Police Force fix its image.
Suddenly, Kotoha furrowed her brows. She realized—something was off.
"Uncle, before I answer your question, let me ask you one: has something happened with the Police Force? Otherwise the Hokage wouldn't be cooperating with Yuhara like this, would he?"
"Indeed. Originally, Clan Head Yuhara reached an agreement with the Hokage.
After all, he was going to expand the Police Force. He even approached me about it, but I haven't agreed yet.
And because of the bad blood between Yuhara and the Hokage, our dear Hokage pulled a little stunt."
Shikaku chuckled and nodded, just beginning to speak when Kotoha interrupted him.
"He helped improve the Police Force's image, knowing that they'd soon be recruiting. So he sent his own people to infiltrate it.
And since Yuhara sought your help, he must be trying to bring in clan shinobi. Which means clan shinobi and civilian shinobi will be mixed together.
He has to favor the clan shinobi and his own Uchiha... but the civilians..."
At that point, Kotoha's face had already changed. Shikaku nodded slightly.
His niece really was sharp—she'd deduced all that from just a few hints. No wonder, being his cousin's daughter and all.
But watching her now, clearly worried, he found it slightly amusing.
This concerned expression was rare on someone as usually calm and lazy as her.
"Don't worry. Your old classmate is far sharper and harder to deal with than you think."
Shikaku gently shook his head and smiled.
"He's already prepared a solution and knows how to handle it. Even now, I'm working with him.
But what I think of him is only based on what I've seen. You, on the other hand, have known him far longer.
This isn't the first time I've asked you—but I'll ask again: What kind of person do you think Clan Head Yuhara is?"
"He's smart. Sometimes a little sly, but also very reliable."
Kotoha didn't hesitate too long this time. She replied to Shikaku seriously.
"That's what I've come to believe about him—since I knew him back in school, and after we teamed up again.
He's not your typical Uchiha. He's always been someone who considers other people's feelings.
Of course, that's just from my perspective. He's the Uchiha clan head now—maybe his mindset has changed."
Kotoha didn't speak in absolutes. Everything she said came strictly from her personal viewpoint.
Shikaku nodded thoughtfully, then suddenly spoke with deep seriousness.
"You're right—people do change. Like how some people become so corrupted by power they end up killing the ones they love most."
Kotoha blinked, full of question marks.
Sure, the words made sense, but it felt like her uncle was hinting at something. Like there was more behind his words.
Unfortunately, he didn't continue. And that left her feeling a bit disappointed.
She had a feeling there was something big behind all this. But the next moment, her gossiping mood vanished completely.
"Which is why—if we want to truly understand Uchiha Yuhara—I plan to send you to the Police Force."
"The Police Force? Me?" Kotoha pointed at herself in disbelief.
"Yes. You."
Nara Shikaku nodded seriously, then smiled.
"After all, you're quite familiar with him, and I already promised that members of the Nara clan would join. Of course, you won't be the only one—there'll be a lot of others with you. Your old classmate sure has a massive ambition."
"Massive ambition..."
Kotoha looked at Shikaku helplessly, sighed, and said softly,
"Even Uncle is calling it ambition—so do you really think he can handle it? And why are you going along with him in this madness?"
"Because I believe he can handle it. And his ambition is built on expanding and extending the rules reasonably."
Shikaku was still smiling cheerfully, completely unfazed by the resentful look in his niece's eyes—he'd seen that look enough on his own son.
"Maybe 'ambition' isn't quite the right word, but what he's doing really forces me to think that way."
Kotoha twitched her mouth. She honestly didn't know how to respond to this anymore—and she had a growing feeling she'd just been sold out.
"Oh, right. When I said earlier I'm with him, I meant I'm working with him. In full cooperation, across the board. And this cooperation benefits the clan. In every way."
"Even your father is involved. He'll be heading to the Fire Daimyō's capital in a few days to meet the lord himself.
Now that Yuhara is building a foundational framework for the Police Force, I agreed before, so of course I won't back out now.
And as his former teammate and a close friend, honestly, I couldn't think of anyone more suitable than you for this."
"So… I'm counting on you."
Kotoha looked at the full-on smile on Shikaku's face as she digested his mention of "all-round cooperation," and sighed internally.
Yep—definitely just got sold out by her uncle.
"Hey! Hurry up or we'll be late!"
"What's the rush? It's not like we'll actually get picked."
"You guys go slow—I'm heading over first."
"Wait, wait up!"
All across Konoha's streets, many people were rushing toward the outskirts of the normally quiet commercial district. Most of them were clearly shinobi.
It was a day off—students and ninja alike should be resting, unless they were on missions, patrol, or administrative duty.
But they didn't expect to see a shocking announcement that morning:
The Police Force was officially recruiting ninja from all levels starting today. Anyone who passed the assessment could join and become a member!
If this news had come out a year ago—or even six months ago—probably no one would've cared.
Back then, the Police Force was infamously awful. No one wanted to go suffer under them, no matter how tough their life was.
But with all the changes in recent months—especially over the past half-year—everyone had seen the difference.
The Police Force was genuinely getting better. Bit by bit, it had gone beyond everyone's expectations. Its members, once universally disliked, were now even respected.
Someone once had an encounter with a Police Force member during off-hours—more precisely, they were being dealt with by that member.
At the time, they thought they were screwed. Sure, rumors had been going around that the Force had changed…
But rumors were just rumors. No one knew how things would go when it happened to them.
To their surprise, the Police Force's conduct was exactly what the rumors said it would be. That's when they realized—this change was real.
Later, during a break, they chatted with an off-duty member of the Police Force.
At first, they feared the Uchiha would just ignore them—after all, the clan wasn't known for being warm.
But to their surprise again, the Uchiha was polite and friendly, and the conversation flowed naturally.
When they asked, "Why did the Police Force change so much?" the member didn't hide anything.
"It's all because of our clan head—who's also our Police Force commander.
He made it clear: regardless of being Uchiha, we are also part of Konoha.
If we want others to respect us, we need to respect them first.
He personally wrote our new code of conduct and action guidelines. We follow them strictly.
At first, we didn't really understand—but now we do. And we actually like working this way."
That response deeply surprised the man—he knew who the Uchiha clan head was.
That genius boy of Konoha. The one who once led his clan to confront the Hokage.
No one would forget that. And now, he had managed to turn both his clan and the entire department around?
Even the Third Hokage—who had once opposed him—seemed to no longer hold a grudge. It made people realize: maybe he was right to kill Danzo after all.
"After all, that Danzo guy was officially declared a rogue ninja—and a particularly unforgivable one."
The man told this story when chatting with friends, and it spread like wildfire across the village.
Since then, more and more people had grown curious about the Police Force—especially the code of conduct and action guides, which everyone wanted to see.
Unfortunately, the Force didn't let just anyone see those. That left many disappointed.
But the Force kept improving, earning more and more respect. Some villagers now went directly to them when something happened.
Unless they were really busy, the Force always showed up to help—which made people admire them even more.
But since the entire department was made up of Uchiha, outsiders had no way in. That left many people feeling discouraged.
Who didn't want to be someone respected?
And now, suddenly, the Police Force was accepting non-Uchiha—how could anyone not be shocked?
There was no need to say anything more. Everyone rushed toward the Police Force HQ. Especially when they saw on the notice: the pay was decent too.
And once fully hired, there was even training in various jutsu. Even if the standards were high, people couldn't help but want to try.
In no time, the Force's entrance was packed. A constant stream of applicants poured in.
Members of the Police Force could only feel a mix of joy and helplessness. After all, such a massive turnout meant they were clearly doing something right—and people believed in them.
And with so many people coming, even if they only recruited a few, it'd still help ease their current workload.
But now that this many had shown up, the Police Force simply didn't have enough hands.
They still had patrols and other duties to carry out, and the ones left behind weren't nearly enough—even using shadow clones couldn't keep up!
"Clan Head, what do we do now?"
In the Police Force office, Fugaku and Shisui looked at Yuhara with bitter smiles.
Their expressions were filled with helplessness and frustration, but the joy in their eyes was obvious.
They were the textbook definition of "it hurts so good"—being acknowledged and trusted by the people felt damn great.
"I can't help it either. I didn't expect this many to show up... but doesn't that mean we've done well?"
Yuhara shrugged slightly, showing he was just as powerless. That wasn't humility—it was the truth. Even with clones, he had no better plan.
They couldn't exactly copy Naruto and spam Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu, right?
Even if they could, the mental backlash from that many dispelled clones would probably land them in the hospital for a few days.
Yuhara could keep a clone stationed in the village only because of his insane physical and mental strength. Otherwise, he wouldn't dare try it.
Watching all the busy people and the endless stream of applicants outside, Yuhara nodded inwardly.
He didn't even need to be here, but since it was the Police Force's first day recruiting outsiders, he had to show up.
So he left a clone to drag Naruto and the rest back to training, while his real body came to oversee things.
Now that he saw it firsthand, he realized maybe he'd worried too much. Everything was going better than expected.
"That brat already started recruiting?"
In the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the report and muttered under his breath.
But he didn't seem overly concerned. After all, he'd already made preparations—if Yuhara dared to recruit, he was confident he could slip in his own people.
Still, there was a strange feeling he couldn't shake. Everything had gone too smoothly.
Yuhara had used the excuse of killing off Root remnants to pressure Konoha into giving him more funding and cooperation for recruitment.
While that wasn't how Hiruzen had planned things to unfold, it did match the results he wanted.
Konoha wouldn't hand over money, but helping him recruit? That was a compromise that matched Hiruzen's image and stance.
But the smoothness of it all left him uneasy. When things go too well, that's when something's really wrong.
Problem was, he couldn't figure out what had gone wrong.
He'd even suspected there might be moles around him, or that Yuhara had somehow found a way to counter him.
So during this time, he focused a lot on weeding out possible traitors in his ranks.
He first looked at ANBU, ruling out the ones he trusted—like Kakashi. The rest were checked thoroughly and came up clean.
That eased his nerves a bit. After carefully reviewing the situation, he concluded it must've just been an unexpected coincidence—things weren't as bad as he feared.
"But this brat really isn't subtle. He keeps dragging Naruto into the Uchiha clan—don't tell me he's got no ulterior motives?"
Hiruzen slammed the report aside.
To him, Yuhara was a power-hungry brat. First the Police Force expansion, now Naruto? If that's not ambition, what is?
Konoha's Hokage was him, Sarutobi Hiruzen. Konoha belonged to him. He'd never be comfortable with someone like Yuhara who could shake that stability.
"Sigh…"
But soon he sighed again, because he knew he couldn't openly move against the Uchiha or the Police Force—not yet.
Unlike Yuhara, he had to "consider what's best for Konoha."
"For Konoha's sake, this old man will endure—for now. Go ahead and enjoy your moment, brat. Let's see who's laughing in the end.
Whether it's your Police Force, your clan, or even… your eyes."
"So, Kakuzu and Hidan failed their mission and were killed, is that right?"
In Amegakure, the Rinnegan of Deva Path Pain scanned each person present.
Some were projections; others were physically there. All of them had grim looks on their faces.
Because Akatsuki had lost members.
Sure, deaths happened often—being a ninja was a deadly job. One day you're fine, the next you're just a memory.
But this time was different. They were attacked by a mysterious, unknown group.
The worst part? That group not only took out Kakuzu and Hidan—they even beat Orochimaru.
A hidden, terrifyingly powerful faction had suddenly entered the game. Of course Akatsuki was paying attention.
"They're probably dead. I checked the scene myself. No bodies, but the destruction…"
Orochimaru finally spoke, licking his lips as he recalled the aftermath.
Cracks crisscrossed the earth for nearly a hundred meters, half a meter deep. That wasn't something ordinary people could pull off.
That kind of overwhelming attack… it had to be Susano'o. No one else had that power.
And Orochimaru was certain it had been Uchiha Yuhara. Only someone with eyes like that could wreak that kind of havoc.
"Do you know who they are?" Deva Path Pain asked after a pause. "Were they specifically targeting us?"
"I've got no clue. I couldn't beat them, so I retreated."
Orochimaru licked his tongue again. He had no intention of telling Nagato anything. He never trusted him.
He only joined Akatsuki for Nagato's Rinnegan. He didn't care about anything else.
So he had zero plans to share information—not unless it benefited him.
"But I can tell you they're mercenaries. War-hired ninjas. They only fought us for money."
"Mercenary ninjas?" Pain's face stayed blank, but Nagato, who controlled him, raised an eyebrow.
If they were just paid to fight, maybe it wasn't personal. Different factions, different jobs. Still, this needed to be looked into.
Someone who killed Akatsuki members—especially ones in charge of bringing in money—was worth tracking down.
If possible, they might even be recruitable. Akatsuki was low on members, and strong ones were always welcome.
If not? Then revenge was on the table. Kakuzu was their top earner, after all.
"Leave it for now. Find out who they are. Killing our people and wrecking our plans—they'll have to pay for that."
Pain's voice was cold and lofty, like he really thought he was a god.
"In the meantime, we're short on manpower. Promote Uchiha Itachi from reserve to official member.
Kiba Jūzō and his clan—start gathering intel on the Three-Tails and Six-Tails in Kirigakure. Dismissed."
He finished without waiting for replies. The meeting ended, and Orochimaru licked his lips and cut the connection.
He had been thinking about how to deal with Uchiha Yuhara before being interrupted. Now that it was over, he didn't want to waste a second.
Yuhara's strength had exceeded expectations. Orochimaru wanted that power. Badly.
But the fact that he wiped out two immortal bastards? That wasn't just impressive—it made Orochimaru wary.
Those two had even fought him once. Orochimaru knew their strength.
To see them just… gone—it left him with complicated feelings.
"Looks like dealing with Uchiha Yuhara won't be easy."
Orochimaru let out a low sigh. He'd already decided to revive the dead to fight Yuhara.
But which dead person?
His best options were the Senju brothers—Hashirama and Tobirama. One fought Madara toe-to-toe, and the other had killed a Mangekyō wielder.
He even had the cells ready. But the issue was—how strong would they be when revived?
"The worst part is, if I give them strong enough bodies, they might break free of control. That jutsu was invented by Tobirama, after all…"
Orochimaru wasn't eager to get screwed over. As a genius of forbidden jutsu, he knew all techniques had weaknesses. And Tobirama? That man definitely had a countermeasure.
Too strong, and they'd turn on him. Too weak, and they'd be useless.
"Looks like I'll really have to put in some work…"
Orochimaru thought it over. Then he finally made up his mind.
He licked his lips—and in his mind's eye appeared a figure with blood-red eyes, arrogant and wild…
…
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P/S: If you are interested, you can read up to 30+ at patreon.com/Emik01.