Uchiha Makoto sat there, unmoving, eyes on the elders who were all talking at once. He simply sipped his tea in silence, with no intention of stepping in.
After a long bout of arguing,
the Uchiha elders still hadn't reached a conclusion. They had carefully weighed the pros and cons and all understood that right now they really should heed Uchiha Makoto's advice and hand over half of the Konoha Military Police Force headcount to Konoha's other ninja clans.
Hogging everything for themselves was truly a deadly mistake.
Put themselves in others' shoes for a moment.
If they were other Konoha clans watching the Uchiha monopolize the whole pie, they probably wouldn't support Uchiha clansmen becoming Konoha's Second Hokage in the future either.
But if they did that, the Uchiha membership would explode in outrage.
After all, from top to bottom the Uchiha believed the Military Police belonged to them by right, the treatment due a founding clan of Konoha.
The elders of course could offer their clansmen a justification—this was for the chance to produce a Second Hokage from the Uchiha, for the greater good of the clan.
But even if it's "for the greater good"... who exactly is supposed to be the sacrifice outside that greater good?
None of the elders present wanted to be the first bird to stick its head up. It wasn't only deeply offensive to people; it also meant he himself would have to set the example first, which meant the Police Force headcount would be lost to the Uchiha line behind him.
"Makoto... do you have any good way... to hand out half the Uchiha Police Force slots... yet not leave the clan's people... if we could have it both ways..."
"That would be best."
"Yeah... for the Uchiha... Makoto..."
Saying this out loud was frankly a bit shameful.
In their view,
Uchiha Makoto had already done a lot for the Uchiha.
Without Uchiha Makoto, they wouldn't have an extra one billion ryō in discretionary funds. Without him, they likely couldn't have forced Senju Tobirama to give ground, and the Uchiha wouldn't have gained the entire Konoha Military Police Force.
So when they spoke, the elders' words came out haltingly.
Fortunately, they were appealing to one of their own—Uchiha Makoto—so pride hardly mattered. They only hoped he could produce a win–win plan that both ceded half the Police Force headcount and kept the clansmen from rebelling.
Uchiha Makoto set down his teacup and put on a troubled look.
"This really just comes down to money... but you know, elders, while I am an Uchiha, I'm also the Light Shadow of Akatsuki Village. Using Akatsuki's money... even as the Light Shadow, I'd draw criticism from the great families of Akatsuki Village..."
"Elders, this is just... hard to handle. Very hard."
"Makoto, think of something. If the Uchiha produce a Hokage and we join hands... the ninja world will be our Uchiha's domain!"
Seeing Makoto's troubled expression, the elders began to paint him a rosy picture.
Those words made Uchiha Makoto sneer inside.
"Trying to sell me on dreams? No one understands painting rosy pictures better than I do."
"Rely on you pig-headed teammates?"
"If you had any sense at all, you would never have let that innately malicious old Senju Tobirama sit openly in the Hokage's office in the first place!"
"Second Hokage? Better go to bed early and dream on."
Makoto had no interest in their fantasies. After a bout of internal grumbling, he went straight to laying out terms.
"I may be the Light Shadow, but Akatsuki Village still lacks trusted confidants... could the clan perhaps..."
Between the lines, he was asking the clan to send some of their people to leave Konoha entirely and join Akatsuki Village.
That condition was lethal.
Even if Makoto did come from the Uchiha, he was not a Konoha shinobi. He was a Kage of another village.
And while Konoha is nominally a village, in truth it's a strictly regimented military organization.
As a military organization, how could Konoha allow its ninja to freely quit and join another village?
This touched a red line the village absolutely could not yield on. Such an opening could never be allowed from the start.
If one clan split off people today for some reason, and another clan did the same tomorrow, the village would dissolve sooner or later.
Such behavior was village betrayal.
And the Uchiha were a founding clan of Konoha. If they took the lead in breaking the rules, the consequences would be obvious.
Senju Tobirama would use that as a perfectly legitimate pretext to hammer the Uchiha to death.
"Makoto... it's not that I don't want to agree, it's that... you are a village shadow yourself. You know what this means."
"We cannot cross a red line of outright village betrayal."
The elders' faces turned grim at once.
On a question of principle that touched the betrayal red line... once crossed, Uchiha Makoto as the Light Shadow might come out fine.
But they themselves could spend the rest of their years in the Anbu dungeons... the kind even Uchiha Madara couldn't save them from, where they'd have to demand public self-sacrifice of their own.
"Apologies, I hadn't thought it through..."
Makoto apologized with his mouth—but he had never intended to take people from the Uchiha so directly.
Such a move was far too dangerous, and Konoha would never accept it. He was only laying the groundwork for his real ask to come.
It was just a small negotiation trick.
Given a choice between tearing off the roof and simply opening a window... human nature tilts toward the compromise... now that the elders had already refused him once, it would be much harder for them to turn down his second request.
"How about this, then.
"I've already negotiated with Whirlpool Village to launch a program called the Study-Abroad Ninja Project... I hope the Uchiha can also take part, sending clan youths to Akatsuki Village to study. And I hope the clan will vigorously promote this program in Konoha. There are plenty of Konoha ninja clans..."
"I want to strengthen cooperation between Akatsuki Village and Konoha's clans. After all, Akatsuki and Konoha are allies... and allies must keep deepening their ties."
Makoto made his second proposal.
Letting the youth of one village's clans receive education in another village... the elders wanted to refuse this too at first.
But compared to the first proposal that cost lives, this one seemed... reasonable.
"Just study?"
"Yes, just study."
Makoto's lips curled. He nodded sincerely.
Just study?
As if!
Of course it wasn't just study.
The last time Senju Tobirama succeeded with delay tactics in the war between Akatsuki Village and the Hidden Cloud, wasn't it precisely because Akatsuki hadn't cultivated enough of a stakeholder bloc inside Konoha?
Among Konoha's clans only the Uchiha had ties of interest to Akatsuki.
The other clans had nothing to do with Akatsuki at all.
For a mere ally in name with no shared interests, ordinary ninja might offer help to Akatsuki out of moral pressure.
But ordinary ninja only needed to be cannon fodder on the battlefield, while clan heads weighed far more.
War is cruel and saturated with bargaining, so they all chose to tacitly accept Tobirama's decision... and in the end, Tobirama alone took the blame.
Although Akatsuki ultimately didn't lose too much due to Konoha's stalling, this situation was dangerous.
It meant Konoha's clans stood with Senju Tobirama.
If Tobirama tried the same move again, they would likely default to the same attitude... because once his persuasion of the clan heads succeeded, Konoha could reap outsized benefits without shedding blood... and even if it failed, Tobirama would shoulder the blame himself.
Back then Akatsuki wasn't what it is now—no money, few people, little prestige, little influence—so now Makoto absolutely could not let this continue to spread.
He needed a plausible reason to cultivate some spiritual Akatsuki partisans inside Konoha who would work for Akatsuki's interests... the glittering world is seductive; mere ninja can't resist the sugar-coated shells of capital.
If the plan worked,
then the next time that innately malicious old Senju tried to stab Akatsuki in the back, there would be clans inside Konoha to tip Makoto off... even to stand up and sing against Tobirama.
And since that innately malicious old Senju would never agree to such a scheme, Makoto could only go around him.
He would have the Uchiha lobby and mobilize Konoha's clans to push the plan into reality.
"In that case... the Uchiha certainly won't oppose deepening relations between Konoha and Akatsuki. We will fully help you implement this plan in Konoha."
The Uchiha elders weren't fools.
They knew this matter wouldn't be as simple as Makoto's words made it sound.
But after weighing it a while, they still chose to accept his terms.
Makoto... no matter what, he was one of the Uchiha.
Would he harm the Uchiha?
If Akatsuki's voice and influence in Konoha grew, that would only benefit the Uchiha greatly. At a critical moment, the Uchiha could leverage Akatsuki's influence in Konoha to vie for the seat of Second Hokage.
"Many thanks for your understanding, elders."
"Since the clan is doing me such a big favor, I should repay in kind."
"I intend to set up a foundation—an entity independent of villages and for-profit enterprises—dedicated to driving development and change in social, economic, environmental, and ninja rights fields, providing no-strings financial aid to villages, organizations, and clans in need across the ninja world."
"Makoto, how noble!"
"This financial aid... means...?"
"Since the Military Police are crucial to Konoha and short on funds, the foundation can cover half the salaries for its headcount."
Taking a page from the United States' playbook, Makoto immediately set up a foundation and directly placed Konoha's Military Police within its aid scope.
The foundation would provide an annual grant to cover half the Police Force's salaries.
That way, even if the Uchiha handed half the headcount to other Konoha clans and their own people were displeased, as long as the money arrived the elders would have grounds to calm them down, and the Uchiha wouldn't kick up a storm.
"Makoto, that's wonderful!"
"We owe you!"
"A perfect win–win!"
The elders exchanged a look with Makoto, and moments later they happily applauded his generosity... Akatsuki Village really was flush with cash.
Next,
the Uchiha elders didn't waste the opportunity and began discussing with Makoto how best to divide that half of the headcount within Konoha.
After all, the Police Force headcount was limited, and only half of it was going out, while there were many clans in Konoha. No matter how they split it someone would be unhappy, so they had to maximize the benefit.
This time Makoto didn't keep aloof. He joined in at once... being able to take part in internal Konoha power allocation as the Light Shadow of an outside village was a rare thing in itself.
Where there's a first time, there's a second.
Once the elders got a taste of the benefits of Makoto's involvement... and formed a habit of thinking...
Well then...
After a long discussion, they arrived at a general plan.
After that,
the Uchiha elders immediately set things in motion.
Makoto volunteered to go along.
The elders looked troubled.
After all, Makoto's status was the Light Shadow of Akatsuki Village.
If the Uchiha took a village shadow along to call on Konoha's clans one by one,
that would be...
Senju Tobirama wasn't blind.
But Makoto had his reasons.
Normally such a thing would be impossible, but right now was different.
Around the New Year, big and small clans across Konoha visit one another to strengthen ties. The Uchiha could, in broad daylight, bring Makoto along under the pretext of New Year's greetings to make the rounds of Konoha's clans.
The reason was flimsy, but passable. Even if Tobirama questioned them, the Uchiha could brush it off.
What Makoto needed now was to get these elders to accept that reasoning too.
So he said slowly,
"Given that the Police Force must patrol all of Konoha and the commute for patrols is tiring, I think the foundation can provide a monthly stipend of 3,000 ryō to the Police members who keep running all over the village."
"Since Makoto puts it that way, let's go together. You're the backer behind the Police, after all."
A smile appeared on Makoto's face and he nodded in satisfaction.
Though he still preferred the elders' earlier defiant looks.
They set out quickly.
First on Makoto's and the elders' list was the Hyuga clan.
Whether in terms of strength or the functional utility of the White Eye, the Police Force very much needed the Hyuga's power.
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