Inaho pondered for a moment. "Sasuke, he... isn't feeling well."
"Oh, I see."
Naruto was a bit troubled. Although Sasuke usually acted all high and mighty, like he was the best, it had been a few days since he last saw him, and he genuinely felt a little unaccustomed to it.
"Uncle, wait for me."
Naruto quickly ran to a nearby shop and bought a few bonito rice balls.
"Please give these to Sasuke for me. Tell him I, the genius, bought them. Tell him to get well soon, I'll be waiting for him at school. Next time we compete, I'll definitely win."
"Alright..."
"I'm off, bye-bye."
Inaho returned to the Uchiha clan compound and knocked on Fugaku's door. Outwardly, he was still the Uchiha clan head, so he still had to show some respect.
Mikoto opened the door, her face looking very pale. Seeing Inaho, she managed to force a polite smile.
Inaho briefly explained Naruto's request and handed over the warm bonito rice balls.
"Naruto... Uzumaki Naruto..." Mikoto took the rice balls and thanked him in a low voice.
Inaho said nothing more and turned to leave.
Mikoto closed the heavy door and went to Sasuke's room with the rice balls. After a moment of hesitation, she gently pushed the door open.
The curtains in the room were tightly drawn, and the light was dim. A small figure was curled up in the darkest corner of the room.
Ever since the terrible news arrived, he had completely shut himself off in this darkness.
Mikoto sighed and placed the rice balls on the small table. "Your classmate... that boy named Naruto, bought you the bonito rice balls you love."
Sasuke still didn't react.
Mikoto quietly left the room, gently closing the door behind her.
After a long time, Sasuke very slowly raised his head, his gaze falling on the few lonely rice balls on the small table.
"Hmph, that idiot. You don't understand anything... You can't possibly comprehend my pain."
In the early morning, Sasuke's door was suddenly pushed open.
Mikoto and Fugaku looked at Sasuke and both froze for a moment.
Sasuke's eyes were bloodshot, and there were still crumbs of seaweed on the corner of his mouth.
"Sasuke..."
"I'm going to practice Ninjutsu."
Before he even finished speaking, he rushed out of the house without looking back.
At the Uchiha clan training ground, the sound of wind and suppressed roars rose and fell.
Even as his Chakra was about to run out and his body swayed, Sasuke was still overdrawing his last bit of strength.
Every hand sign was like fighting for his life against an invisible enemy.
The surrounding clan members watched in silence, tacitly clearing a large area for him, with no one stepping forward to disturb him.
As long as this child didn't turn his blade on the clan like his rogue brother, or commit a heinous act like assassinating clan head Satoshi, he could do whatever he wanted.
After all, the most important task for the entire Uchiha clan now was to eliminate those villains disguised as comrades.
In the early morning, at the Konoha Military Police Force, Satoshi was diligently working for Konoha.
Suddenly, an electronic sound echoed in his mind.
[Mission progress updated.]
[Under Tobirama's efforts, the Uchiha clan's rebellion issue was resolved with minimal cost. He even became the Uchiha clan head.]
[Mission Reward: No side effects when using Mangekyo Sharingan.]
Satoshi gasped.
Didn't this mean he could use Amaterasu on any dog on the street?
Oh, no, he wouldn't.
Then, he took a test tube from a drawer, in which a pair of Itachi's Mangekyo were soaking. He wondered if there would be any use in equipping his summoned beast, Kuro, with them.
Another electronic sound interrupted Satoshi's thoughts.
[Under the efforts of Monkey and others, Konoha is getting worse day by day.]
[At such a critical moment, Tobirama stepped forward. It just goes to show that Konoha still needs you.]
[To restore Konoha's glory, it is our bounden duty!]
[New Mission: Thoroughly investigate Konoha's internal problems and eliminate the enemies eyeing us from outside.]
You all saw it. It's not that I wanted to deal with you, it's the system.
"Konoha Military Police Force, mobilize!"
The Police Force's arrests never stopped. In fact, with yesterday's experience, their efficiency had improved considerably.
Just as the clan members thought they could finish quickly today, Satoshi handed over a new list. It was a list of obscure minor characters.
Vegetable sellers, shoemakers, clothes vendors... These unnoticed small figures actually played such an important role.
Was the inherently evil Danzo trying to destroy Konoha?
But this created a problem of insufficient manpower for the Konoha Military Police Force. They had to maintain daily patrols and public order, and also apprehend important targets on the list.
Now with these ordinary citizens added, they would be exhausted to death before they could finish.
After learning this news, Satoshi pondered for a while. It was just about expanding recruitment, he had a way.
Konoha had plenty of ninjas.
He wrote a letter that clearly stated the immense pressure the Konoha Military Police Force faced due to the Root incident.
The number of revealed village traitors far exceeded expectations.
All members of the Police Force were mobilized, working day and night, but still found themselves overwhelmed.
To quickly restore order and peace to the village, the Police Force urgently needed elite ninjas from various ninja clans for support.
Everyone was working for the Hokage, and he hoped everyone would not be unappreciative.
Scratch that, don't refuse.
Of course, the letter also included a detailed explanation of the Konoha Military Police Force's generous salaries and benefits, ensuring that this was not a free ride.
After writing the letter, Satoshi asked a clan member to deliver it.
He wasn't worried about no one joining. They would help whoever was winning.
Soon, Satoshi's letter reached the hands of various ninja clans.
At the Aburame clan compound.
The current head of the Aburame clan, Shibi, took the letter and let out a sound of surprise.
Their clan had always been low-key, and their presence in the village wasn't particularly high.
Why would the Uchiha clan write to them?
After dismissing everyone, he opened the letter.
He quickly scanned the text, and when he saw "do not refuse" and the detailed list of benefits, he was silent for a few seconds, unconsciously pushing up his sunglasses.
Finally, he called in a few steady and capable clan members.
"Report to the Konoha Military Police Force tomorrow."
The few looked at each other, unsure what their clan head was planning.
"Clan head, Konoha Military Police Force's reputation isn't very good. The villagers have a lot of complaints about them."
"That's right, didn't you say before that we should try not to get too close to them?"
Shibi sighed. "The wind is rising, things are about to change."
"Huh?"
"Huh what? I told you to go, so go. Be sharp after joining the Police Force, and report any developments to me promptly."
"Understood, clan head."
The same situation also occurred in other ninja clans.
The small ninja clans, who had no backing, agreed without much hesitation. They raised both hands and were very happy.
Men die for wealth, birds die for food. It doesn't matter who they work for. Moreover, they would be working as righteous individuals for Konoha.
Just watch me work, that's all.
As for the other ninja clans, after communicating with each other, they also each sent a few ninjas.
If everyone else went, and they didn't, would they seem aloof or something?
The next day, Konoha Military Police Force's human resources office was packed with applicants.
Yashiro, who was in charge of handling the onboarding procedures, was sweating profusely.
"Please wait, everyone. There are many people joining today, so we need to go through the process one by one."
"Hey, someone, go ask Satoshi if we can expand the Police Force's space. It looks like we'll be working in the open air soon."
"Hey? Whose group of puppies are these?"
"Oh, sent by the Inuzuka clan? From today on, they'll be police dogs."