Uchiha Enba, as bait, was likely useless now.
Since his return to the village, he no longer mentioned continuing his investigation into the stolen Sharingan outside the village. Instead, he obediently returned to the ANBU squad led by Uchiha Itachi, carrying out routine guard and patrol duties.
Through Itachi's continuous observation, Enba did not appear to be planning any major moves. He seemed more like he was passively waiting for some kind of instruction, or rather, contact from a certain person.
However, the batch of Uchiha clan members he had incited to return were in a completely different situation. After rejoining the Police Force, they directed their hostility squarely at the Hyuga and Aburame clan members who had recently joined.
Their harassment was no longer limited to within the Police Force. It even extended beyond the force, targeting ordinary ninja from those two clans who had not joined the Police Force.
Various acts of nitpicking and fault-finding over trivial matters emerged endlessly. A tense atmosphere was quietly spreading.
Tsunade's initial plan was to use Uchiha Enba as a lead to find the person behind him and solve the problem between the Uchiha clan and the village at its root.
But now, if she continued to let these radicals act recklessly, there would be no need to search for any mastermind. They themselves were rapidly becoming the most troublesome problem.
Since waiting could no longer draw out the target, there was no need to wait any longer. If they did not close the net now, once emotions within the Uchiha were stirred up again, the net would break.
In the Uchiha compound, within the clan leader's residence, Fugaku was contemplating alone how to properly handle the disputes caused by Moeka and the others who had returned.
Shisui, who should have been out executing a mission commissioned by the Daimyo, quietly appeared in the courtyard.
"Shisui? Why did you come back?" Fugaku was somewhat surprised.
"It's about Moeka and the others."
"This matter... I will personally reprimand them tomorrow." Fugaku said in a heavy voice. "But for this level of internal friction, the village actually called you back specially?"
Shisui had not yet answered when Itachi, dressed in ANBU attire but without his mask, also walked slowly out from the inner room.
Seeing his eldest son appear in this outfit at this moment, Fugaku's expression instantly became grave. "What exactly happened?"
Shisui said in a low voice, "The reason they were able to be recalled is because they used genjutsu on the Daimyo. This matter was personally confirmed by the Third Hokage, who happened to be in the Fire Capital."
"What?!" Fugaku's seated form stiffened violently. Even for the Uchiha, using genjutsu to control the will of a nation's Daimyo was a serious crime that crossed the line and broke the rules.
Itachi calmly added, "Father, the Fifth Hokage and both advisors also know the entire process of this matter."
"The Hokage is waiting for our clan's internal decision on how to handle this."
Uchiha Fugaku looked at Itachi. "Can they be kept under guard within the Police Force?"
Itachi shook his head slightly, giving a clear answer. "The bottom line the Hokage is willing to leave is to hand over all those involved to the ANBU squad I'm in for detention and custody."
Fugaku's gaze lingered between Shisui and Itachi, then he stood up.
"I understand... Let's handle it according to the Hokage's wishes."
For ordinary people and merchants who came to watch the matches, the individual competition stage was equally exciting and full of highlights.
But for Shuji, the focus of observation in the latter half of the competition was more on the spectators themselves and the various commercial activities that emerged around them.
Since he had the idea of making a proposal to Tsunade, he naturally needed to observe the spectators themselves and the new types of commercial behavior that emerged around them. The subsequent competition process was arranged quite properly by Kumogakure, which had experience from the team competition. At least, this was the case for Konoha. As for Yugakure and Shimogakure, at least at this time, they only existed as NPCs.
The only thing Shuji had to do was observe the examinees' on-site performance and their degree of improvement compared to the team competition. Compared to when he was grouped with Uzuki Yugao and Gekko Hayate, when he was like a fart in the wind, Iruka's performance in the individual competition was quite commendable. Being grouped with those two high-speed, high-agility units was truly a disservice to him.
After all, for an event like the Chunin Exam that focused more on assessing individual comprehensive abilities, having no room to perform at all while having to face enemies far stronger than himself was not good for the final evaluation results.
Only because Shuji was the team leader and had a high degree of influence in this Chunin Exam could he do such things that basically wasted people's talents.
The final winner was not unexpected. Konoha's ninja returned to their quarters early. Having stayed in Kumogakure for nearly two months, they might have felt some novelty at first, but after a long time, they inevitably felt somewhat bored.
After all, as participating personnel from an outside village, the areas where they could move freely were limited, far less than Shuji, the team leader, who could not only enter Kumogakure but often split a shadow clone to wander outside.
"I heard you're interested in body training?"
Before leaving, Shuji came to the Raikage's office again for the final official handover. After finishing the business and preparing to take his leave, the Fourth Raikage A suddenly spoke up.
"That store's protein powder is indeed of good quality, but in terms of actual effectiveness and physical adaptability, I personally recommend this one more."
As the Raikage spoke, he lifted a huge metal canister with a prominent "A" logo from beside his desk.
"Consider it repayment for your previous guidance to Darui. Take it and use it."
"No, actually I..." Shuji instinctively waved his hand. "I only bought it out of curiosity."
"No need to be polite!" The Raikage's voice was booming. "The forging of muscles cannot slacken even for a single day! With your seemingly frail body now able to burst out that level of power, if you don't polish it properly, it would be a waste of heaven's gifts!"
"If you're a man, you absolutely cannot relax for even a single day!"
"Don't let Darui catch up so easily, Shuji!"
Uchiha Enba was still waiting for contact from the masked man. His comrades' resistance was as he had seen. The tense atmosphere that had returned to the clan grounds seemed to put things back on track.
As long as "Madara" returned and integrated the clan with absolute power...
"Enba."
Uchiha Itachi's calm voice sounded outside the door, interrupting Enba's thoughts. He stood up and walked toward the door.
The moment the door opened, he was met with a pair of already activated three-tomoe Sharingan. Uchiha Enba almost instinctively activated his own Sharingan to resist.
"You have disappointed your senior's goodwill."
This was the last sentence he heard before losing consciousness.
The same three-tomoe Sharingan... Uchiha Itachi's ocular power is actually above mine?!
This was the last thought that rose in his heart, filled with disbelief, before his complete defeat.