Uchiha's personal opinion

Although he didn't dare to turn against the Hokage, who was in a state of paranoia, nor did he dare to go against the powerful Uchiha clan, he still had the courage to get close to Sakumo Hatake, the leader of the Jonin class.

After all, the Jonin squad leader is the nominal leader and coordinator of will for all Konoha Jonin.

This perfectly aligns with the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi's calculations.

Even though he was forced to agree to the terms of reconciliation to avoid the outbreak of civil war under the coercion of Uchiha Tokumitsu and Hatake Sakumo, as the leader of Konoha, he still used political maneuvering to plant many seeds of trouble in the Jonin class.

Firstly, the police department did indeed give the Uchiha clan a complete break in terms of power. Freed from their constraints, the Uchiha lived up to expectations, but their excessive force infringed upon the interests of most ninja clans.

Unlike the relatively closed police department, the Jonin Team is an open organization.

In theory, all Jonin who have received Konoha certification are members of the Jonin Team. As the representative of the Jonin, the Jonin Team Leader also has the obligation and responsibility to coordinate the interests of the Jonin.

However, Jonin who come from ninja clans are often deeply bound to their families. These are precisely the people the police department has offended the most.

Therefore, after their actual interests were violated or divided, the Jonin would naturally seek out their nominal leader—the Jonin squad leader—to complain.

Who can blame him when Sakumo Hatake is known as a kind-hearted person?

If Sakumo Hatake continues to remain silent on the police department's arbitrary actions, his reputation will naturally be questioned, and he may even lose his position as the Jonin team leader in the next Jonin team election.

However, if they choose to question the police department, it will inevitably cause dissatisfaction within the Uchiha clan. The stubborn Uchiha will think that Sakumo Hatake has turned his back on them after taking power, which will lead to a strained relationship between the two sides and even a breakdown.

Without the support of the Uchiha clan, even if many commoner ninjas chose to support Sakumo Hatake, a powerful ninja from a small clan, the Third Hokage would have countless ways to control him.

Without Sakumo Hatake's support, the Uchiha clan, with its already poor reputation and unscrupulous behavior, would have been easily manipulated to portray the Uchiha clan as the opposite of Konoha and used as a target to unite the Konoha ninja and civilians.

"It's a pity... Orochimaru has seen too much darkness, he's no longer suitable to be a candidate for Hokage..."

After signing the order appointing Orochimaru as the vice-head of the Anbu, the Third Hokage addressed his two advisors.

The position of head of the Anbu is of paramount importance; even his beloved disciple Orochimaru was not given such an important post.

"A leaf cannot exist without roots."

Mitokado Homura said seriously, "In that case, let Orochimaru be the one to bear the darkness for the village. Someone has to take on this responsibility."

“Yes, Hiruzen, you’re still young. Don’t rush to choose the next generation. There’s plenty of time to train him.” Koharu Utatane echoed in support.

"I was indeed a bit too hasty in the past, but thankfully you all reminded me..." The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, nodded solemnly, indicating that he could continue to selflessly dedicate himself to Konoha for another thirty years.

Since their old friend Danzo Shimura died, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane have never used their friendship to argue with the Hokage again, which has made their relationship and connection even closer.

"Should we recall Toru? It's not really appropriate to keep him in charge of the dispatched army headquarters..."

Xiaochun, turning to her new room, asked tentatively.

“No need…” The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, decisively shook his head and refused. “The Ino-Shika-Cho trio won’t have any objections. Even if they do, they can raise them in the Jonin class.”

"Furthermore, the situation in the Land of Rain has never been peaceful. Iwagakure's offensive is fierce, and Hanzo may not be able to withstand it. It would be just right for Torifu to be stationed there to oversee things..."

"What about the police department's recent actions? There needs to be some kind of procedure, otherwise..."

Mitokado also spoke up.

His family business has recently faced scrutiny from the police department, which has had a significant impact.

"Just ignore it for now, let things take their course and observe the outcome..."

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, let out a laugh.

Then he signed the appointment document appointing Tsunade as the head of the medical department again.

……

Even as the Hokage, he had to give way to the combined forces of the Uchiha clan and Sakumo Hatake.

The Uchiha clan possessed wealth and power, while Hatake Sakumo had prestige and a good reputation. The combined energy of the two was far more than simply one plus one equals two.

This is a force capable of truly shaking Hiruzen Sarutobi's control over Konoha.

But it doesn't matter. In the Third Hokage's eyes, the Jonin team's unrestricted power would cause the friendship between the two groups to deteriorate and turn into an adversarial relationship. In addition, the Jonin team members' constant complaints and grievances against the Uchiha clan will eventually lead to Hatake Sakumo choosing to go further and further away from Uchiha Tokumitsu due to differences in ideology, and even seeing him as an enemy, just like Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara did in the past.

In particular, aren't the Jonin Team supposed to be monitoring the actions of the various Konoha factions? Now that the Uchiha clan's police department has already begun blatant retaliation, why is the Jonin Team turning a blind eye?

Sakumo Hatake was particularly troubled by the constant objections raised by many ninja clans in the Jonin class.

So he took some time to find Uchiha Tokumitsu again.

"Sakumo-kun, when do you plan to hold the Jonin meeting?"

After listening to Hatake Sakumo's tactful explanation of his purpose, Uchiha Tokumitsu pondered for a moment before responding.

"I have no plans at the moment..."

Upon hearing this, Hatake Sakumo was slightly taken aback, somewhat puzzled.

When he arrived at the police department, he was prepared to face Uchiha Tokumitsu's wrath.

Based on their tacit understanding and mutual trust, the Uchiha clan expanded the scope of the police department's authority, while Hatake Sakumo led the Jonin team to promote reforms. However, now the Uchiha clan has completed the expansion of power as agreed, while the Jonin team is still entangled in the ninja clan's messy affairs, and the so-called reforms have not made any progress.

"Was it someone from the ninja clan who complained to you?"

Uchiha Tokumitsu noticed Hatake Sakumo's predicament and offered to speak up.

“Yes…” Sakumo Hatake was a little embarrassed, and his face showed a rare hint of unease. “So, I came to the police department for a visit, and this is the first time I’ve been to your office…”

With his promotion to Assistant Chief of Police, Uchiha Tokumitsu had become the number two figure in the police department.

Furthermore, although Uchiha Tokumitsu did not publicly reveal his Mangekyou Sharingan, rumors of it were already circulating privately within the clan.

Uchiha Tokumitsu had also secretly sent people to investigate the origin of the Mangekyou Sharingan rumors, only to find that it came from some of the clan's elders, who claimed to have "smelled" the Mangekyou Sharingan in Uchiha Tokumitsu's chakra.

Uchiha Tokumitsu adopted an indifferent attitude towards these seemingly plausible rumors, neither denying nor confirming them, but simply demanding that such topics not be mentioned to outsiders before ignoring them.

"I understand."

Uchiha Tokumitsu nodded. "The Jonin team does indeed have the right to supervise the various Konoha factions, and I won't make things difficult for you..."

"However, since the Jonin class has objections, I will represent the police department to explain at the next Jonin meeting."

"That's not a good idea. Actually... I know why those people mentioned the police department."

Sakumo Hatake felt even more guilty.

“I haven’t finished yet…” Uchiha Tokumitsu seemed to have thought of something funny, “I just don’t know if the ninja clans will still have the face to confront me then.”

“…Fine, then I won’t interfere.” Hatake Sakumo thought about it and decided that since Uchiha Tokumitsu didn’t seem to care much, he might as well let it be.

"However, it's settled then. Whatever I say at the Jonin meeting, I will bear all the consequences myself. But Sakumo-kun, please don't try to stop me anymore."

Uchiha Tokumitsu said seriously.

"So what topics does Tokumitsu-kun intend to talk about?" Although Hatake Sakumo had already decided to let Uchiha Tokumitsu do as he pleased, these words still piqued his curiosity.

"...a dialectical question concerning the strength and power of the ninja clan."

After pondering for a long time, Uchiha Tokumitsu gave his answer.

Chapter 124 Game of Thrones

The power struggle between clan rights and shadow rights, and the conflict of interests between clan ninjas and commoner ninjas.

These are the two most important and fiercely contested contradictions in Konoha at present.

The ninja clan has its own internal system, with rules governing everything from the inheritance of secret techniques to the allocation of training resources. However, the rules and systems of the ninja clan often conflict with those of the ninja villages.

As the highest authority in Konoha, the Hokage is nominally the commander of all Konoha ninjas, but this authority is limited to those on the official register.

To be fair, the ninja clan's autonomous rights should neither be demonized nor overly praised. While the ninja clan's rights did indeed involve oppression and even exploitation of some clan members, the protection provided by the ninja clan to ordinary clan members was correspondingly stronger than the protection provided by villages to civilians.

At least the great ninja clans wouldn't have their own members silently abducted by the likes of Root.

It was this protection and relatively favorable training conditions provided by shared blood ties that maintained the relative independence of the ninja clans in Konoha.

Furthermore, besides the Uchiha clan, each of the Konoha ninja clans had their own trained "clan ninjas" to serve the clan's higher-ups. These unregistered clan ninjas, in turn, directly obeyed the clan leader or elders, carrying out missions that were not convenient for others to know about.

Meanwhile, some long-established ninja clans will also take on special missions from their long-term employers through special channels, including but not limited to espionage, assassination, and sabotage.

Even if these tasks conflict with the interests of the ninja village.

Therefore, the Second Hokage established the Ninja Academy to train new recruits of Genin on a large scale as a supplement. By leveraging their numbers, he diluted the ninja clans' monopoly on ninjutsu and ninja education. The Ninja Academy only taught basic ninja knowledge and the Three Body Techniques, allowing ninja clan members to form a bond with some talented commoner Genin through mentor-student relationships by acting as Jonin (high-ranking ninja) leaders. This led the ninja clans to tacitly approve of the Ninja Academy and send some of their members there to form a bond.

In addition, the "Will of Fire" education promoted by the Ninja Academy has to some extent reduced the personal dependence relationship within the ninja clan, making more of the younger generation of ninja clans inclined to the village rather than limiting their thinking to their clan.

Overall, in the conflict between clan power and Kage power, the Hokage lineage is in a stronger position.

However, the conflicts between the ninja clan and the common people are relatively more diverse.

The process of promotion, mission acceptance, and job competition is rife with conflicts and contradictions between the ninja clan and ordinary people.

Although the commoner ninjas were numerous and powerful, their overall quality varied greatly, and they lacked any sense of unity. Among them were geniuses like Orochimaru and Jiraiya who came from commoner backgrounds, but most were middle-aged genin who only knew the Three Body Techniques and throwing kunai. In competition with clan ninjas, apart from a very few exceptionally talented individuals, most commoner ninjas were utterly outmatched.

The Uchiha clan gained the qualification to issue their own Genin certificates to the police force through the police preparatory school, while members of the three-tomoe clan also gained the qualification to be directly promoted to Jonin in the police force. This is a blatant act of division.

Both the ninja clan and ordinary people outwardly expressed extreme indignation at this.

Regardless of whether the Uchiha clan infringed upon their interests, the fact that the Uchiha had power that I did not immediately made them feel unbalanced.

This psychological imbalance over the distribution of power, coupled with the various retaliatory actions taken by the police department in recent law enforcement operations, prompted them, under the guidance of certain individuals, to jointly file a complaint with the Jonin Squad Leader, Hatake Sakumo, thus leading to the early convening of this Jonin Squad meeting.

……

"What do you plan to say at tomorrow's Jonin team meeting?"

Inside Elder Setsuna's residence, Uchiha Tokumitsu and Elder Setsuna sat facing each other.

“In the past, no matter what we argued, it would be twisted into something else, so this time I'm going to be direct…”

Uchiha Tokumitsu maintained appropriate respect and bowed slightly as he spoke.

"Get straight to the point?"

Upon hearing this, Elder Sha Na's interest was immediately piqued.

“Teach them how to behave in front of the Uchiha, based on their strength and status.” Uchiha Tokumitsu’s tone remained respectful, but his words were full of arrogance and unruliness.

"Since the Uchiha are the number one powerful ninja clan, they should naturally possess power commensurate with their strength; that's only natural," Uchiha Tokumitsu continued calmly. "We can't just assume they're right because they're weak, can we?"

"Does the clan leader know about this?" Elder Shana remained noncommittal.

"Perhaps they know the general outline, but the four clan chiefs have no intention of interfering in this matter."

“As the Assistant Chief of Police, it’s only right that you step forward,” Elder Setsuna nodded. “But given the scope of this matter, it’s best not to be too ostentatious, but it must be impressive enough!”

"According to the Jonin Team meeting agenda, there are 68 other Jonin attending this Jonin meeting, so I plan to lead 86 Uchiha Jonin to the meeting."