Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

and,

The taiyaki tasted great!

After get off work, I can buy some to take back to the orphanage. Nine out of ten of those kids love sweets. Of course, most importantly, my mother also loves sweets. However, due to the orphanage's livelihood issues, my mother hasn't bought many sweets lately.

[Chapter 245. A Money-Giving Plan Made Without Thinking]

"Izumi, you haven't answered the question I asked you earlier? Why are you sighing?" Looking at Uchiha Izumi who was happily eating the three-colored dumplings, Uchiha Torajiro curiously brought up his previous question again. He knew very well how energetic his little subordinate was, and it was very rare for him to be sighing like this.

"It's the missing person case that Kabuto is investigating, but he has no clue whatsoever. It's a bit of a hassle."

When this matter was brought up, Uchiha Izumi couldn't help but sigh again.

As a very responsible young woman, she disliked this feeling of being lost and powerless.

"The disappearance of that construction worker?"

As the squad leader, Uchiha Torajiro had heard Kabuto Yakushi report on the case before. At the time, he didn't pay much attention to it and just told Kabuto to investigate slowly. He could take this opportunity to familiarize himself with the work of the police department, although in his experience, most cases of missing persons of outsiders like this were difficult to solve.

"Yes, there are four confirmed missing persons. There are also three people who have been missing for less than 48 hours, so they are not included in the count. However, I don't think they are likely to reappear within 48 hours."

"Seven people? All of them disappeared within a week?"

Uchiha Kojiro's expression turned serious.

That's quite a number!

In the past, most of the missing persons cases I encountered involved one person, or at most two or three. The most crucial thing is the time frame. So many people have disappeared in such a short period of time... And this is only based on the information that Yakushi Kabuto found out, with family or friends reporting the case. As for those who have no relatives or friends, who knows if there are even more missing people.

"Within five days."

"Drug Master Kabuto corrected me."

"Five days?"

Uchiha Torajiro frowned.

Five days seems like two days less than a week, but the result of the shortened time is that an average of two people go missing every day. This is because this is a newly built area with a large floating population and a small permanent population, which is why nothing serious has happened. If this were in other parts of the village, the Hokage would probably have known about it by now.

but,

If this rate of disappearances continues, things are bound to escalate sooner or later.

"Kabuto, go back to the police department first and report this matter." Uchiha Torajiro said in a deep voice, "This matter... to be honest, may be a big case. Our team is too small and may not be able to handle it. After all, we have other work. Of course, you are the one who found this out. If you want to continue the investigation, I will apply to let you continue to follow up."

The main job of the Public Security Division is to maintain public order and stability. Generally, complex cases like this are handled by specialists. However, the department has undergone reforms, and Uchiha Torajiro is not sure how this matter will be arranged.

"I see."

The pharmacist had no objections.

He was indeed quite interested in this missing person case. It wasn't out of a sense of justice; he simply found the case very interesting, especially since he was the one who uncovered it. If possible, he wanted to find out the truth about it.

The three of them, escorting the thief captured by Uchiha Izumi, returned to the police department.

They reported the thief, who was involved in a case, along with the missing person case, and kept passing the information up the chain of command. The thief who was caught was connected to high-ranking officials of the Kado Company and the Daikura Province of the Land of Fire. The captain of the Sixth Enforcement Brigade felt that he could not handle it all, so he could only hand over the documents to his superior, the director of the Public Security Bureau, and even handed over the missing person case as well.

after all,

As the deputy head of the police department, Uchiha Arashiyama had personally instructed him to pay close attention to Uchiha Torajiro's squad.

The first director of the Public Security Division was Uchiha Naruto.

This veteran police officer also felt that this matter was very troublesome. The Land of Fire has a dual system of one country and one village. Nominally, the Fire Daimyo is the supreme leader. Legally, even the succession of the Hokage requires the approval of the Fire Daimyo, and he also has the power to launch wars against foreign countries. The Daimyo is by no means the kind of figurehead who reigns but does not rule.

Otherwise, the Daimyo of the Land of Wind wouldn't have blamed the Sand Village for their incompetence after their defeat, and wouldn't have even directly cut funding to the Sand Village, forcing the Fourth Kazekage to become a gold miner and single-handedly try to keep the Sand Village's finances from collapsing.

And so it went. The Sand Ninja never considered rebelling against the Wind Daimyo. Instead, they focused on Konoha, trying to regain the Wind Daimyo's trust and reliance by attacking or even destroying Konoha.

Of course, the situations in different countries are not exactly the same, and generalizations cannot be made.

Konoha was the victor in every Shinobi World War, proving its formidable strength through countless bloody battles. Therefore, the Fire Lord never forcibly interfered in Konoha's internal affairs, nor did he ever express any opinion on the succession of the Hokage; he simply acted as the village's purse.

Since the Fire Daimyo is aware of the situation, Konoha will naturally not interfere in the Daimyo's affairs. Therefore, troublesome matters involving the Daimyo's residence are not something that Uchiha Naruto can handle.

that's it,

The relevant documents were eventually delivered to Zongxuan's desk in his office.

"Wow! Catching a petty thief has uncovered such a big case." Zong Xuan looked at the freshly printed report in his hand and clicked his tongue in amazement. "Kado Company... which shipping company sells contraband? Bribing those people in the Ministry of Finance, interesting."

"Stop talking about whether it's interesting or not, tell me what we should actually do about this?"

Uchiha Arashiyama was helpless.

This matter is quite troublesome. If not handled properly, it could easily cause a rift with the Daming Prefecture, which would not benefit the village or the family. To be honest, if this matter hadn't already passed through the hands of many people, he would be very unwilling to get involved in this hot potato.

"What do you mean, 'what should we do'? How can we miss such a great opportunity to make money? You just mentioned the department's tight budget a couple of days ago, have you already forgotten?"

"A chance to make a fortune? Zongxian, you..."

Uchiha Arashiyama was a little confused.

What the hell is this? How can I make a fortune?

"First, find out if the thief still has the dirt she has. If not, help her recall it and create a copy. Then, try to contact officials in the Ministry of Finance who aren't involved. Let's work together to deal with those corrupt officials in the Ministry of Finance and the Kado Company, this criminal organization disguised as a company. They'll seize power, and we'll get the money. Isn't that wonderful?"

A crude money-transfer plan was thus created.

Uchiha Arashiyama's eyelids twitched as he listened, feeling an endless stream of complaints he wanted to vent, but he held back in the end and said with a straight face, "It's easy to say. The Ministry of Finance is completely in the dark about everything, and that guy Gato is not so easy to deal with. Gato's company can only have developed to this extent without some tricks up its sleeve."

"so what?"

Zong Xian glanced at him sideways. "He's just a black market dealer who made his fortune selling contraband. Even if he has some tricks up his sleeve, does he think he can rebel against us?"

How could a mere businessman resist the fists of the police department? Uchiha Arashiyama knew very well that as long as there was a legitimate excuse, what difficulty was there in dealing with a businessman? The hardest part was finding a legitimate excuse that wouldn't provoke a backlash from the businessman community.

The fact that Kado Company bribed high-ranking officials in the Ministry of Finance was undoubtedly an excellent excuse.

"Who should handle this?"

"Uchiha Arashiyama asked."

Although Zongxian's verbal money-giving plan was indeed crude, it was not entirely unfeasible and was still worth trying. It's just that the person in charge would probably have a particularly tough time.

"······Arashiyama?"

Zongxian stared intently at Uchiha Arashiyama.

"...So you really did whip a fast horse to death, huh?" Uchiha Arashiyama glared at him, annoyed.

"Haha! The capable should do more work, the capable should do more work."

Zongxian chuckled twice.

"Even a donkey wouldn't pull a millstone 24/7, and I... phew!" The words were barely out of his mouth before Uchiha Arashiyama realized the analogy wasn't quite right. How could he be a donkey? He took a breath, not wanting to talk about it anymore. "What about that missing person case?"

He did not refuse the task of sending the money.

As the deputy minister of the police department, second only to Zongxian, he is no longer a lone commander. He has enough people under his command, and his complaints are just a habit to avoid getting more and more work.

"Whoever discovers it should investigate."

Zongxian's answer to the disappearance case was simple and concise.

He didn't take this matter to heart at all. As long as it wasn't Obito Uchiha causing trouble, he wasn't worried about anyone coming to Konoha to cause trouble in the current ninja world, not even Orochimaru. Orochimaru's greatest strength was his ability to survive without being killed.

Speaking of which, I wonder if Orochimaru went to Amegakure to cause trouble for Nagato.

Zongxian's mind wandered again.

Uchiha Arashiyama didn't ask any more questions. He understood what was going on. To put it bluntly, it was just a matter of handing it over to that newcomer named Yakushi Kabuto. It seemed that Sogen really thought highly of that newcomer. This kind of complicated case was indeed quite troublesome, but if handled well, it would be easy to get promoted.

······

And so it went.

After going around in circles,

The female thief was taken away, but the missing person case was handed over to the second squad of the sixth law enforcement brigade.

"Torajiro, this construction worker disappearance case is yours to handle. From today onwards, your squad will focus solely on this case. Patrol duties will be temporarily taken over by other squads. Do your best, the captain and vice-captain are watching from above!"

When the captain said this, he patted Uchiha Torajiro on the shoulder and pointed his right index finger at the ceiling above his head.

Although Uchiha Torajiro always felt that the captain's words were strange, as if the captain and vice-captain had already died, he only pondered it in his mind and dared not discuss the art of speaking with his superior.

After leaving the captain's office,

Uchiha Torajiro quickly returned to their squad's office and relayed the news to his only two subordinates.

"· ...

"clear."

The pharmacist nodded slightly.

"I thought the Special Countermeasures Division would take this case!" Uchiha Izumi's eyes widened, inexplicably excited.

After the reorganization, the police department was divided into several different departments. The main task of the Public Security Division is to patrol and maintain the security and stability of the village. Minor cases can be dealt with on a whim. However, if a major case, serious case, or a very complicated and time-consuming case is encountered, according to the new regulations of the department, it must be handed over to a department called the Special Countermeasures Section.

Compared to the Security Division, which is mainly composed of junior and junior ninja, the Special Countermeasures Section, which is directly under the command of the Minister, is an elite force composed mainly of senior ninja, special senior ninja, and a number of experienced junior ninja.

"The Special Countermeasures Division probably doesn't care about our case! After all, I heard they have very few people there, so they probably have more important things to do..." Uchiha Torajiro guessed randomly. "Never mind, Izumi, don't think too much about it. Anyway, this case is now our responsibility. What do you all think we should do?"

This is where the rarity and value of Uchiha Torajiro as a superior becomes apparent.

The police department is full of autocratic Uchiha officers, and superiors like Uchiha Torajiro who consult their subordinates are few and far between.

"...Investigate the scene? No, it seems the scene of the disappearance isn't even confirmed..."

Uchiha Izumi racked her brains, a troubled look on her face.

Although she joined the police department earlier than Kabuto Yakushi, before that, Izumi Uchiha's main job was patrolling the streets, mediating disputes among residents, and catching thieves. This was the first time she had seriously participated in a complex case.

Uchiha Torajiro shifted his gaze from Uchiha Izumi, who was deep in thought, and placed it on Yakushi Kabuto's face.

"I don't have any leads right now either. I've done a lot of investigation over the past two days, but unfortunately I haven't found any useful clues. However, we can now focus on investigating this case and expand the scope of the search, which should bring new results."

"I am Kabuto," the pharmacist replied calmly.

"What you're saying is too vague. What are your specific plans?"

Uchiha Torajiro pressed for an answer.

"...Well, according to the current investigation, the missing persons all disappeared after dusk. They were seen by some people during the day, and people have been disappearing every night for the past few days. So I was thinking that we might try to wait for them to come tonight. If we're lucky, we might get something out of them. Captain, what do you think?"