Chapter 690: The Opportunity to Obtain Sage Techniques
Fugaku's words fell like a bombshell, instantly causing an uproar among the Uchiha ninja below.
"Why are Police Force members being suspended from duty? Is Konoha's leadership trying to encroach on the Police Force's authority?"
"Who exactly will be suspended?"
The Uchiha ninja immediately voiced their confusion to Fugaku.
Among them were chunin who had only recently joined the Police Force, as well as jonin who had served within it for more than ten years.
Even the genin who had not yet entered the Uchiha Police Force could not help asking questions, believing the Village's leadership was preparing to suppress it.
Fugaku looked toward Shisui.
This was how deeply the Uchiha Clan had become tied to the Police Force. If someone attempted to separate the Uchiha from it, the first people to object would be the Uchiha themselves.
Shisui nodded, stood, and said, "Everyone, please quiet down and listen to me for a moment."
Many Uchiha immediately closed their mouths and looked toward him in silence.
Although Shisui was still young, his strength and achievements had earned him a reputation within the Uchiha Clan that was no lower than that of the clan elders.
No Uchiha would dislike a clan member who was both powerful and devoted to the family.
"First, only some Police Force ninja will temporarily be suspended from their duties. This is temporary. Their positions will not be revoked," Shisui explained.
"Second, this is not an attempt by Konoha's leadership to seize the Police Force's authority. It is because the Fourth Hokage trusts the strength of the Uchiha Clan."
The Uchiha ninja looked at Shisui in confusion.
They did not understand how this matter involved the Fourth Hokage, nor why trusting their strength would require suspending their Police Force duties.
"After the war ended, Konoha received a large number of high quality missions," Shisui continued.
"There were so many lucrative missions that the Village could not complete them all, causing Konoha's mission completion efficiency to decline.
"The Fourth Hokage believes that the ninja of our Uchiha Clan are powerful. In a time of peace like this, limiting them to maintaining public order within the Village would be a waste of their talents.
"Therefore, he decided that a group of capable Uchiha ninja should temporarily suspend their Police Force duties and complete those high quality missions, allowing our clients to witness Konoha's strength."
As soon as Shisui finished speaking, the Uchiha who had been grumbling about persecution from the Village leadership immediately quieted down.
Their opinions changed almost at once.
"Am I on the list of those being suspended from Police Force duty?" an Uchiha jonin asked confidently.
A capable Uchiha?
That obviously meant him.
If he was not selected, who else could possibly be?
Shisui nodded.
As long as an Uchiha jonin was not too eccentric, there was a high chance that he had been selected.
Although Shisui's original intention was to reform the Police Force, it was also true that Konoha lacked capable jonin to complete its current mission assignments.
After receiving Shisui's confirmation, the Uchiha jonin immediately puffed out his chest.
He was now a capable ninja recognized by both the clan and Konoha's official leadership.
"Clan Head, Shisui, am I on the list?"
The other Uchiha ninja who considered themselves capable could no longer remain seated and began questioning the two of them.
Those who received confirmation showed confident smiles, while those who were denied looked dissatisfied.
The sight amused Obito.
These clan members changed their expressions far too quickly.
At first, they had been agitated and convinced that they were being persecuted. Yet after Shisui praised them a few times, their attitudes instantly changed.
"Those who aren't on the list don't need to worry," Shisui reassured them.
"This is only the first attempt. If the results are good, more capable Uchiha ninja may be selected in the future to help build Konoha's powerful image."
His ultimate goal was to completely separate the Uchiha Clan from the Police Force.
In the end, only a minority of Uchiha ninja would remain within the Police Force, preventing others from continuing to view it as an organization belonging solely to the Uchiha.
Thus, in an unexpectedly harmonious atmosphere, every Uchiha ninja agreed to the proposal of temporarily suspending the Police Force duties of selected members.
The more observant Uchiha noticed that during this clan meeting, the clan's high ranking members had shown no disagreement whatsoever.
Every elder openly supported the proposal.
Once the discussion ended, Fugaku asked Shisui and Obito, the clan's two mission experts, to explain their experience in completing various high rank missions.
"The atmosphere within the team is extremely important during a mission," Shisui explained.
"If the team is united, the mission can be completed with half the effort and twice the results. If the team lacks unity, it will take twice the effort for half the result, and the mission itself will become far more dangerous."
The Uchiha on the list listened attentively with serious expressions.
Although Obito and Shisui were younger than them, in this field, they were undoubtedly their seniors.
The next day, another major event occurred within the Uchiha Clan.
The Fourth Hokage had personally brought the Hokage Assistant to inspect their work.
This was extremely rare.
The previous Hokage had certainly paid attention to the Uchiha, but not in this manner. They had usually sent Anbu to observe them instead.
"Lord Fourth!"
Many Uchiha ninja greeted Mugetsu with respectful expressions.
A large number of Uchiha held special feelings toward this new Hokage. Otherwise, they would not have unanimously voted for Mugetsu during the jonin election.
"Hello, everyone. How has the Police Force's work been recently? Do you find it relaxing or exhausting?" Mugetsu asked with a smile.
"It isn't exhausting at all. For us Uchiha, this amount of work is nowhere near enough to tire us out!" a relatively young Uchiha chunin replied energetically.
"If I remember correctly, your name is Uchiha Inaho, isn't it?" Mugetsu asked.
"Maintain that spirit, and perhaps one day your name will spread throughout the Land of Fire."
Inaho's eyes widened.
He had not expected Mugetsu to call him by name.
He felt overwhelmed with honor.
Konoha had thousands of chunin, yet Mugetsu, the Fourth Hokage, had actually remembered the name of an Uchiha chunin he had never personally met.
"Every Uchiha temporarily leaving the Police Force to carry out missions requires my final approval," Mugetsu explained with a smile after noticing Inaho's confusion.
As he spoke, Mugetsu also encouraged the other Uchiha ninja who were preparing to leave the Police Force.
"Yakumi, you became a jonin at such a young age. Konoha's continued prosperity depends on young and energetic forces like you."
"Aosui, you…"
Mugetsu accurately called out the name of every Uchiha leaving the Police Force.
Every piece of information he mentioned was completely correct, without the slightest hint that he was merely pretending to know them.
The Uchiha ninja whose names were called became somewhat excited.
They had personally received recognition from the Hokage.
"We must complete our missions diligently and excellently. We cannot disappoint Lord Fourth's expectations!" they thought to themselves.
Everything Mugetsu did made them feel the importance and respect he placed on the Uchiha Clan.
This was something they had never received during the reigns of the Second and Third Hokage.
The atmosphere instantly became exceptionally harmonious.
Even the most aloof Uchiha tried to show Mugetsu a smile.
Their enthusiasm surprised Minato.
Was this truly the same Uchiha Clan he knew?
"Lord Fourth, Assistant Minato, this is our clan's training ground," Fugaku introduced after the inspection officially began.
"Countless Police Force ninja have trained here day and night, working hard to maintain Konoha's public order."
Fugaku led Mugetsu and Minato through the Uchiha Clan Compound.
"Very good," Mugetsu praised as he looked around.
"Konoha has enjoyed long term peace and stability for so many years, and the Uchiha Clan has made a major contribution to that."
The Uchiha ninja immediately straightened their backs.
They believed the same thing.
"We would not dare claim all the credit," Fugaku replied with a smile.
"The Uchiha have merely done what we were capable of doing and what we were responsible for doing."
Afterward, Fugaku led Mugetsu's group toward the Police Force headquarters.
Along the way, they also encountered Uchiha ninja diligently patrolling the streets.
At the end of the inspection, everyone returned to the Uchiha Clan Compound, where Mugetsu summarized the inspection and delivered a speech.
If the staff of the Leaf Newspaper were to write about it, they would probably say that the Fourth Hokage highly praised the work ethic of the Uchiha ninja, affirmed the Uchiha Clan's contribution to the development of Konoha's public security, and expressed his hope that the Uchiha would play an even greater role in the new era while helping build a safer, more harmonious, and more prosperous Konoha.
To put it more simply, Mugetsu praised the Uchiha Clan several times and publicly endorsed Shisui's speech from the clan meeting.
With unity inside the Uchiha Clan and the support of Mugetsu, the Fourth Hokage, this policy, which benefited both Konoha and the Uchiha, quickly entered official implementation.
Several Uchiha jonin and capable Uchiha chunin temporarily left the Police Force.
Mugetsu assigned them to various teams to complete mission assignments.
"With these Uchiha ninja joining the mission system, the Village's mission revenue will certainly increase significantly," Minato said happily to Mugetsu.
"If we can produce results like this in such a short time, the Advisors should have fewer objections when we present new proposals."
Although Minato had been extremely busy recently, he was genuinely happy.
He could clearly feel Konoha moving in a better direction because of their efforts.
This gave Minato an enormous sense of accomplishment.
Under the impact of that fulfillment, even his recent breakthrough in Breathing Technique could no longer excite him as much.
Why had he wanted to become Hokage?
Was it not to create a better Konoha?
Now that he was already walking along the path toward realizing his dream, a mere increase in personal strength could not compare to helping build the Village.
"That isn't necessarily true," Mugetsu replied, shaking his head.
"Even if the Village's revenue increases, the Advisors' salaries will remain unchanged."
Sometimes, collective interests and personal interests were two entirely different things.
Danzo, for example, had often committed immoral acts that harmed Konoha's interests in order to strengthen his own power.
Mugetsu did not know Danzo's subjective thoughts, but objectively, those were the results of his actions.
"It shouldn't be that serious, should it?" Minato asked uncertainly.
After becoming Hokage Assistant, some of his idealized views of Konoha's leadership had indeed shattered.
Even so, he still believed the Village's high ranking officials would not deliberately act against Konoha's interests.
"Let's not discuss that for now," Mugetsu said.
"I want to trouble you to take me to Mount Myōboku."
Celebi's power over space and time had already reached the proficient level, and its strength was now sufficient for self preservation.
It was time for Mugetsu to obtain Sage Mode.
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