Inside the Hokage Tower, in the Hokage's office.
Bang!
Once he confird there was no one else around, Hiruzen Sarutobi could no longer suppress the anger in his heart. He slamd his palm heavily onto the desk.
"What are they trying to do?! What exactly are those Uchiha trying to do?! Revising the law—how dare he even say such a thing! Are the Uchiha planning to rebel?!"
Hiruzen barked furiously, venting the rage he had been holding back.
Standing before the desk, Shimura Danzō, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu remained silent. None of them wanted to provoke Hiruzen at this mont.
After a while, once his anger had subsided sowhat, Hiruzen gradually cald down.
At the right mont, Koharu spoke.
"Hiruzen… sothing about the Uchiha clan feels wrong. More precisely, that Uchiha Ren feels wrong."
"He doesn't seem like an Uchiha at all."
During the earlier eting, Koharu had remained silent the entire ti, quietly observing Uchiha Ren . The more she watched him, the more sothing felt off.
Homura also spoke up.
"Koharu is right. I didn't notice it before, but now that I've cald down and thought it through carefully, that Uchiha Ren is indeed strange."
"In today's eting, he controlled the entire discussion. With just a few words he provoked us repeatedly, leading us by the nose the whole ti."
"He's completely different from other Uchiha."
The characteristics of the Uchiha clan were actually very distinct.
The Uchiha were a cradle of geniuses. Their combat instincts were exceptional, and they possessed high intelligence.
But their flaws were equally obvious—arrogance, stubbornness, emotional decision-making, and poor social maneuvering.
It was precisely because of these traits that ever since the founding of Konohagakure, the Uchiha clan had been firmly suppressed by the Hokage faction.
When facing enemies, the Uchiha could simply draw their blades.
But when facing political suppression from their own allies, they were often at a loss—and ultimately chose to endure it in silence.
Yet Uchiha Ren was an anomaly among the Uchiha.
Hiruzen took out his pipe, lit it, and slowly took a puff before speaking in a low voice.
"The Uchiha clan has so many mbers. It's not unusual for one or two anomalies to appear."
"But the fact that this Uchiha Ren managed to hide himself so well and only make his move now… that's no simple matter."
"And by proposing revisions to the law, he's directly seized our vital weakness."
"To put it bluntly, the Uchiha already control the Konoha Military Police Force. That ans they effectively hold the power of life and death over most people in the village."
"With soone like Uchiha Ren pulling the strings, all it takes is a little maneuvering for countless clans to start flattering the Uchiha."
"That would instantly turn all our previous efforts into nothing."
Hiruzen looked at the others.
"Do any of you have a way to solve this problem?"
The office fell silent once again.
In the past, when they suppressed the Uchiha and other clans, everything had been done within the rules.
So even if those clans were dissatisfied, they had little ground to openly object. Like the Uchiha, they could only endure it.
This thod had worked extrely well.
It had even pushed the Uchiha clan to the brink of flipping the table and staging a rebellion.
But now, Uchiha Ren was also acting within the rules.
If they forcefully obstructed him, they would be the ones flipping the table—and the other clans in the village would never agree to it.
Yet if they didn't stop him, they had no effective counterasures.
After all, due to long-standing historical issues, the Uchiha currently held an absolute advantage in this matter.
Unless the Uchiha clan ended up like the **Senju clan—nearly wiped out—**there was simply no way for them to turn the situation around.
"Sensei… you were wise your whole life. How did you beco confused at such a crucial mont and leave us with such a huge problem?"
After failing to find an answer for a long ti, Hiruzen sighed from the bottom of his heart.
At that mont, Koharu suddenly spoke again.
"Actually, given the current situation, the fact that soone like Uchiha Ren has appeared within the Uchiha clan might not necessarily be a bad thing."
Hiruzen and the others were stunned and turned to look at her.
Koharu cleared her throat and explained:
"In the past, it would have been almost impossible for us to get the Uchiha clan to hand over the authority of the Konoha Military Police Force."
"Those extremists would never allow the village to extend its influence into the Police Force."
"But now that soone like Uchiha Ren —a reasonable person—has appeared among them, doesn't that an the Uchiha are finally capable of normal communication?"
"Judging by normal logic, Uchiha Ren should understand that it's impossible for the Uchiha clan to revise the village laws entirely on their own."
"We won't agree. The village won't agree. And the other clans in the village won't agree either."
"So he should be waiting for us to offer so benefits in exchange—allowing us to participate in the law revision process."
"Of course, the premise is that we must give the Uchiha fair treatnt."
Koharu's aning was clear.
They should offer part of their authority as a bargaining chip in exchange for participation in the law revision—at the very least ensuring that the new laws wouldn't contain clauses threatening their interests.
Homura frowned.
"If that's the case, why don't we simply oppose it to the end? Without our support, even if the Uchiha create new laws, it will be difficult for them to implent them in the village."
Koharu glanced at him.
"First, you should rember that the village's law enforcent authority is in the hands of the Uchiha. Even if we refuse to support them, they can still enforce the new laws through the Police Force."
"Sooner or later, the villagers will have no choice but to accept the new laws, no matter how dissatisfied they are."
"Second, don't forget about that anomaly—Uchiha Ren . He could easily use these new laws to win over the other clans in the village. If they support him, our opposition will beco nothing more than a joke."
"Third…"
Halfway through her sentence, Koharu suddenly stopped. She shook her head and swallowed the words she had been about to say.
What she had originally intended to say was that Hiruzen Sarutobi was no longer the Hokage.
His authority and credibility within the village had already fallen by more than half.
But considering that the soon-to-be Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, was also aligned with their faction, Koharu decided not to say it—so as not to upset Hiruzen.
However, at that mont, the usually silent Shimura Danzō suddenly spoke.
"Third—Hiruzen is no longer the Hokage. Any orders he gives now won't carry the sa weight as before."
"As for that brat Namikaze Minato… heh."
"He's just a hotheaded kid. Easy enough to manipulate—but in the end, he's not truly one of us."
The mont those words were spoken, Koharu and Homura both turned to Danzō in surprise.
Hiruzen narrowed his eyes and looked at him coldly.
"Danzō… what exactly are you trying to say?"
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