359. Reform

If Jiraiya's appointment as the head of the Public Relations Department was widely anticipated, then Danzo's subsequent appointment seemed even more inevitable.

"Due to Koharu Utatane's dismissal, the position of Medical Department Head has become vacant. I hope Tsunade will take on this role."

This appointment was passed unanimously without any opposition.

After all, Tsunade was already the strongest medical ninja in the shinobi world, and the entire medical ninja system of Konoha was initially proposed and built by her.


If she hadn't been so disheartened by war and lost herself in gambling, the position of Medical Department Head would never have fallen to Koharu Utatane in the first place.

In fact, ever since Koharu was placed under house arrest, Tsunade had already been handling the affairs of the Medical Department under Danzo's orders.

Now, making her position official was completely natural.

Thus, although Hiruzen Sarutobi was under house arrest, his two disciples remained unaffected.

Instead, they both assumed roles as department heads, effectively stepping into the ranks of the upper echelons.

After appointing the heads of the Public Relations and Medical Departments, Danzo did not stop there.

"The fourth matter is that due to Konoha's expansion and the influx of a large number of outsiders, the Military Police Force has been under tremendous pressure. The Uchiha clan alone is no longer sufficient to handle the security tasks of the entire village. Therefore, I hope the Military Police Force can recruit additional ninjas from other areas to bolster its ranks."

As soon as these words were spoken, the meeting room fell into silence once again.

Everyone instinctively turned their gaze to Fugaku, the head of the Uchiha clan. After all, everyone knew that the Konoha Military Police Force had always been the exclusive domain of the Uchiha clan!

Its members were entirely composed of Uchiha clansmen, a privilege granted by the Second Hokage as the greatest authority given to the Uchiha.

Now, Danzo wanted to insert outsiders into the Military Police Force—how would the Uchiha clan leader react?

Although the relationship between the Uchiha and the village leadership was no longer as hostile as before, it certainly wasn't amicable enough for such a concession.

Would the Uchiha clan really agree to give up their authority over the Military Police Force?

To everyone's surprise, Fugaku, faced with Danzo's request, nodded without hesitation and said, "Elder Danzo is right. The Military Police Force has indeed been under increasing pressure recently and urgently needs to recruit talented individuals to fill the gaps."

His words left everyone in the room stunned!

Even the Uchiha jonin who had accompanied him to the meeting looked at their clan leader with disbelief.

If Fugaku hadn't already awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, they might have suspected that he had been placed under a genjutsu by Danzo!

They wanted to argue, but this was a serious high-level meeting, and the Uchiha jonin couldn't just start yelling.

They could only sit there, their faces red with frustration.

To an outsider, it might have looked like they were about to activate their Sharingan in anger...

Danzo, however, paid no attention to their reactions.

Satisfied with Fugaku's agreement, he nodded and handed Fugaku a list of candidates for review, hoping that these promising individuals could be integrated into the Military Police Force.

As the meeting concluded, the Uchiha jonin who had accompanied Fugaku immediately couldn't hold back their questions.

"Clan Leader Fugaku, what exactly was the meaning of your actions in today's high-level meeting?"

"That's right! Why did you agree to let Danzo insert outsiders into the Military Police Force?"

Facing their questions, Fugaku smiled calmly and explained, "I simply don't want the Uchiha clan to continue being misunderstood and isolated by the villagers."

Hearing Fugaku's response, the Uchiha jonin were immediately filled with confusion.


These straightforward individuals couldn't comprehend Fugaku's motives at all.

Seeing this, Fugaku, who had anticipated their reaction, continued to explain:

"Why do you think the Uchiha clan has always been viewed with hostility and isolation by the villagers?"

Faced with this question, they hesitated before offering their own answers.

"Because of our law enforcement duties, right? We often punish the villagers, so naturally, they resent us."

"But it's only because they break the rules that we punish them! Yet they always complain about our attitude..."

The Uchiha jonin spoke with a hint of grievance.

Fugaku smiled and said, "That's exactly the problem."

"Our Uchiha clan has always been proud, even to the point of arrogance. Yet, such a proud clan is tasked with the most thankless job of maintaining order in the village. It's no wonder we're met with hostility and isolation!"

"Moreover, since the Military Police Force is composed entirely of Uchiha clansmen, it's easy for ordinary villagers to direct their resentment toward the entire clan. Over time, this resentment and prejudice only grow stronger, until it becomes unbearable..."

Fugaku's voice grew solemn and heavy as he spoke.

Before Danzo came to power, many clansmen had already expressed deep dissatisfaction with the Uchiha's situation, even suggesting the idea of breaking away from the village.

However, Fugaku, as the clan leader, had suppressed these ideas.

Although the relationship between the clan and the village had improved somewhat, the recent influx of outsiders had made maintaining order in the village significantly more challenging.

As a result, the pressure on the Military Police Force had increased, and their attitude had naturally worsened.

This led to both old and new villagers forming increasingly negative opinions of the Military Police Force, resulting in numerous complaints reaching the higher-ups.

This was the decisive factor in Fugaku's decision to step back.

If the Uchiha continued to monopolize the Military Police Force, these tensions would only escalate, eventually becoming the spark that ignited a clan-wide crisis!

After hearing Fugaku's explanation, the jonin who had accompanied him began to understand his reasoning.

However, their faces still showed deep concern.

They could understand Fugaku's decision, but other clan members might not.

Moreover, the Uchiha clan itself was divided between hawks and doves.

Among them, the influential elder Uchiha Setsuna was a staunch hawk.

He had already been dissatisfied with Fugaku's moderate approach.

If he learned that Fugaku was willingly giving up the clan's authority, he would undoubtedly take action.


It was entirely possible that he would rally other hawkish members to oppose Fugaku as the clan leader...

Fugaku noticed the concern on his subordinates' faces but reassured them with a smile, "Don't worry. I'll hold a clan meeting to explain everything properly. You don't need to worry about it."