In front of the old site of the Hidden Leaf Police Force.
Looking at the somewhat dilapidated building that still faintly bore the Uchiha clan emblem, Shinji felt a bit emotional.
Behind him, Mumei, Haku, and Karin stood side by side, also looking up at the building in front of them.
After a moment, Karin asked curiously, "Shinji, from now on, we won't be part of the Anbu anymore, but members of the Police Force instead?"
"Yeah."
Shinji nodded lightly.
Mumei also asked, "What does the Police Force do?"
"Simply put, the Hidden Leaf Police Force is responsible for the village's security." After a pause, Shinji smiled and said, "But right now, the Police Force only has the four of us, so in terms of authority, it temporarily overlaps somewhat with the Anbu."
A Police Force with only four people obviously couldn't handle the village's security issues.
So Tsunade's arrangement was that the village's security would still be handled by the Anbu for the time being, and after Shinji completed the rebuilding of the Police Force, the Anbu would hand over the authority back to the Police Force.
Shinji had no objections to the village's arrangement.
He hadn't really wanted to rebuild the Police Force in the first place; he had just used it as a pretext to dispel the village leadership's suspicions about Takamagahara. Now that his goal had been achieved, when the Police Force could reclaim its authority was secondary.
In fact, Shinji didn't want to take on something like village security, which was thankless and laborious.
After hearing Shinji's words, Mumei, Haku, and Karin understood their current situation.
In plain terms, they had gained a powerful department, but this department was currently just an empty shell.
Haku asked, "Shinji, do you have any plans for rebuilding the Police Force?"
Shinji smiled. "With the great battle imminent, the matter of rebuilding the Police Force can be taken slowly."
Seeing that Shinji wasn't in a hurry to recruit and expand, Haku secretly breathed a sigh of relief. What he had been most worried about was Shinji taking too big a step too quickly and being exploited by those with ulterior motives.
Having set the tone, Shinji turned to the three and said, "From now on, we'll be operating under the identity of the Hidden Leaf Police Force. In terms of authority, we're no less than the Anbu, so there's no need to worry about anything. You just need to be responsible to me alone!"
"Yes!"
Mumei, Haku, and Karin nodded in unison.
As news of the rebuilding of the Hidden Leaf Police Force and the appointment of Uchiha Shinji as the new Police Force captain spread, the entire Hidden Leaf was abuzz.
This was almost the most explosive news related to the Uchiha clan since the Uchiha clan massacre.
Regardless of whether they were politically sensitive or not, everyone sniffed out something unusual from this news.
As a result, rumors quickly spread through the streets and alleys of the village that Uchiha Shinji had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan.
If it were peacetime, the village would surely suppress the public opinion.
But now that the village leadership had decided to open Shinji's Takamagahara to all shinobi in the village, there was no need to suppress such news.
In the small training ground.
Sasuke, who had recovered half of his dojutsu power, was diligently training.
The news Kakashi had brought him earlier hadn't defeated him, or rather, he was far more resilient than others thought!
"Huff huff."
After completing a set of training, Sasuke began breathing heavily.
Sakura at the side of the field quickly handed him a towel and a water bottle.
Taking the towel to wipe his sweat, Sasuke said, "Has there been any movement from Shinji lately? The village hasn't done anything to him, right?"
"No, no!"
Sakura hurriedly waved her hands.
She still felt a bit guilty about this matter, but fortunately, Sasuke hadn't blamed her for it, which let her breathe a slight sigh of relief.
"That makes sense!" With a light snort, Sasuke said, "Facing two Mangekyo Uchihas at the same time, even if the village leadership wants to do something, they'd have to weigh it carefully!"
Sakura stood by, not saying a word.
Sasuke didn't mind and tossed the towel back to Sakura, instructing, "If there's any movement from Shinji's side, notify me immediately!"
Sakura hesitated for a moment, then suddenly said, "I heard that the village has rebuilt the Hidden Leaf Police Force and appointed Shinji as the new Police Force captain."
Sasuke was struck like lightning: "What!?"
"I-I just heard it too."
Sakura was startled by Sasuke's reaction.
She had clearly underestimated the significance of the Hidden Leaf Police Force to the Uchiha clan and Sasuke's determination to revive the Uchiha clan.
Sasuke was momentarily stunned.
The rebuilding of the Hidden Leaf Police Force, with a new captain from the Uchiha clan, was undoubtedly proof that the Uchiha clan was on the path to revival.
By rights, he should feel happy, but deep in his heart, these things should be accomplished by him, not by others!
Soon, Sasuke arrived in front of the Hidden Leaf Police Force building.
At this time, there were quite a few people coming and going inside the Police building—some were cleaning, some were moving items—and without exception, they were all his familiar peers from the same class.
Seeing Sasuke and Sakura, Shion greeted them from afar: "Sasuke, Sakura, you're here too!"
Sasuke walked over and pointed to the busy peers around: "What's going on here?"
"Oh, Shinji has become the captain of the Hidden Leaf Police Force, and this is the Police Force's office building, so we came to help with the cleaning!" Smiling, Shion said, "With this building, we'll have a base from now on!"
Undoubtedly, Shion had already regarded this Police building as a gathering spot for everyone after graduation.
Sasuke frowned slightly, then walked past Shion and into the Police building.
Everything here was very familiar to him. Returning here, he even felt a bit dazed, as if he had gone back to his childhood days when he followed his father and brother to the Police building, with Uchiha clansmen bustling about inside once again in his eyes!
"Sasuke, don't just stand there, come help!"
Suddenly, a voice snapped Sasuke out of his daze, pulling him back to reality.
Sasuke looked up and saw that the speaker was Shikamaru, who was moving an old cabinet with Kiba, seemingly preparing to throw it out of the building.
Sasuke didn't go up to help but asked, "Where's Shinji?"
Shikamaru said, "Shinji? He should be upstairs, I think?"
Sasuke ignored Shikamaru and Kiba and hurriedly headed upstairs.
In an office on the second floor, Sasuke found Shinji and directly asked, "Shinji, how did you do it?"
Shinji, who was flipping through some old Police Force files he had requested back from the Anbu, looked up at Sasuke and then said indifferently, "You'll know soon enough."
Shinji knew that not only Sasuke, but probably the entire village was curious about how he had made the village leadership compromise and allow him to rebuild the Hidden Leaf Police Force.
But he didn't need to explain, because with the announcement of Takamagahara, everyone's doubts would be resolved!