Three Days Later — The Hokage's Office
"Preposterous!"
Elder Koharu's palm cracked against the Hokage's desk. "We offer them a genuine chance to repair their standing in this village, and they respond by demanding political hostages! Your own son, Hiruzen! The heirs of the Council!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi stood by the window, his expression carved from stone. The Uchiha's counter-proposal had been a perfectly executed trap. He privately conceded that it was reasonable enough that refusing it would cost Konoha political face, but insulting enough that accepting it would cost them far more.
"We will go to meet the Uchiha and negotiate this directly," Hiruzen said, his voice cold and deliberate. "And we will not go alone."
The Uchiha Clan Compound
An hour later, the massive wooden gates of the Uchiha compound opened to a procession of diplomacy.
On the surface, Hiruzen had come to negotiate. But following closely behind the Hokage were Homura and Koharu, Jiraiya and Orochimaru, Minato and Kushina, and the imposing heads of the Hyūga, Inuzuka, and Aburame clans, alongside the joined leadership of the Ino-Shika-Chō.
It was a blatant display of force. It was abundantly clear to anyone watching that Hiruzen intended to show the Uchiha exactly how vast the power gap was between their isolated clan and the rest of the village.
They were met in the central courtyard by Clan Head Fugaku Uchiha and the senior elders. The air between the two groups carried the heavy, suffocating density of a room where everyone already knows how the conversation ends and is simply waiting to hear it said aloud.
"Fugaku," Hiruzen said. "We received your proposal."
Elder Kaede stepped forward first, leaning heavily on his wooden cane. "And here you are, delivering the reply in person. I confess, I didn't expect the Hokage to bring quite so much of the village's military strength simply to confirm receipt of a scroll."
Hiruzen adopted a benevolent, grandfatherly demeanor, his face softening with feigned regret. "Fugaku, we discussed the matter with the children and their clan leaders. Unfortunately, the children do not wish to join the Uchiha Police Force. Even if I wanted to accept your proposal, if the children do not agree, there is nothing we can do. If you don't trust me, you are welcome to ask the Clan Heads standing right behind me."
Fugaku didn't bother to ask. It was an obvious, thinly veiled political maneuver. Hiruzen just wanted to physically demonstrate that the Uchiha stood alone.
"Then there is no chance of Obito joining the ANBU," Fugaku stated, his voice giving absolutely nothing away. "And regarding Shisui and Itachi's apprenticeships — I don't think any of the Sannin possess Sharingan. I doubt they could truly teach them well."
"You might want to think that over again, Fugaku," Jiraiya spoke up from the side, raising his hands in a mild, placating gesture. It was a genuine attempt to defuse the tension rather than a threat. "No one wins by backing themselves into a corner."
One of the Hawk elders rounded on him instantly. "Do no tell us what is good for our clan, Jiraiya. We understand our own position better than you."
Hiruzen raised a hand, and the courtyard fell instantly quiet.
"This accomplishes nothing," the Hokage declared. "Our goodwill was never contingent on the reciprocity you asked for. It is contingent on Obito Uchiha wishing to serve this village directly, of his own free will. That isn't something the clan is entitled to decide on his behalf."
"Obito is an Uchiha," the Hawk elder snapped back. "He will do what the clan decides, and he will follow the clan's arrangements."
Homura stepped forward, a smug look in his eyes. "We want to hear it from Obito himself. And if you'd like, you can ask any of the children from the other clans if they wish to join your Police Force. If they agree, we will not interfere."
It was a blatant mockery of the Uchiha's isolated situation. But before anyone from the clan could react to the insult, Elder Kaede struck his cane against the stone.
"Then let the boy answer for himself."
A few minutes later, Obito walked into the courtyard. His expression was flat. Kushina stood at the edge of the crowd, her hands folded tightly together. She braced herself, already knowing exactly what he was going to say.
"Obito," Hiruzen said, deliberately working warmth back into his voice. "Tell your elders what you told your teacher, Kushina. Your decision regarding the ANBU."
Obito didn't look at the Hokage. His eyes moved once across the crowd, sweeping past the Sannin and the Clan Heads, before settling on Fugaku.
"I decline," Obito said. "Whether I join the ANBU isn't a decision that belongs to me alone. It is contingent on what the Clan Head and the elders decide is right for the clan. I belong to the Uchiha."
The courtyard went completely silent.
Kushina's breath caught in her throat. It was, word for word, the exact opposite of what he had told her at the ramen stand.
The Uchiha elders breathed a collective, barely concealed sigh of relief, while Hiruzen and his advisors were caught completely off guard. Their perfect checkmate had just evaporated.
What none of them knew was that shortly after leaving Kushina, Obito had received new instructions from Black Zetsu. He had been ordered to locate the remaining Tailed Beasts, a task that required freedom of movement. The ANBU's constant surveillance would have made it impossible.
Kushina stepped forward, her voice trembling slightly. "Obito... are you sure?"
Deeply relieved that Obito had declined the path of the ANBU, she reached out to rest a comforting hand on his shoulder.
Obito stepped back before her hand could land.
Kushina's fingers hung in the empty air for a long moment. A flash of profound confusion crossed her face, quickly melting into a quieter embarrassment as she slowly pulled her hand back.
Witnessing the brutal interaction, Hiruzen's mind raced. He misinterpreted the cold rejection entirely, assuming Obito had become a radicalized clan loyalist. In Hiruzen's eyes, Obito stepping away from Kushina was proof that to him, his sensei was nothing compared to the Uchiha.
"Very well," Hiruzen said, his voice clipped and cold. "If Obito doesn't wish to join, we won't force him."
He turned back to Fugaku, his eyes narrowing. "As for Itachi and Shisui — Tsunade has already made her interest in Shisui quite clear. I ask you to consider the benefits to the clan carefully."
The Hawk elder, who had gone quiet since his exchange with Jiraiya, smiled with pure, dripping sarcasm.
"We will inform you," the elder mocked. "Or, if you'd like, we can call Shisui and Itachi out right now so you can ask them if they'd like to call the Sannin their teachers." His gaze moved past Hiruzen to the assembled Clan Heads, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya themselves. "Though, I wonder what face you would be left with after being rejected three times in a single day... by children."
Several members of the Uchiha clan let out low, dark chuckles.
"Now — if that's everything," the elder finished. "We have a great deal of work still to do."
There was nothing left to say. Outmaneuvered and humiliated, Hiruzen inclined his head sharply and turned to leave.
As the massive procession passed through the gates, Hiruzen slowed his pace just enough to let Orochimaru fall into step beside him. Orochimaru glanced sideways, easily reading the cold, controlled fury burning in his teacher's eyes.
"Increase the surveillance," Hiruzen murmured softly. "Monitor absolutely everything moving in or out of this compound. Borrow eyes from the Hyūga and Aburame if Root's own forces aren't sufficient."
Land of Rain — Inside an Abandoned Factory
Ren Uchiha sat at a desk, sketching, while a blue-haired girl stood behind him, watching the lines take shape.
The negotiations three days prior had been an absolute success. Hanzō would remain the figurehead leader to the outside world, while the Land of Rice Fields would temporarily provide free food and maximum financial aid to stabilize the starving populace. In exchange, the Rain Village joined the Alliance, offering their abandoned industrial sector for the mass production of processed food and commercial goods.
The profit split had been a bloodbath. After a verbal war between Kaori and Konan, they finally settled on a 75-25 split in the Uchiha's favor for three years, after which the terms would be renegotiated.
Kaori and Satoshi had already teleported back to the Rice Fields to prepare the massive food shipments, while Ren stayed behind to inspect the factories. That was exactly what he was doing now — using Omoikane to draft the modification plans himself, a task that would have taken an entire engineering team months to complete by hand, and would have been impossible for him at all without the eye.
As Ren finished another drawing, he looked up at Konan.
Konan sighed, her amber eyes reflecting a deep exhaustion. "How much more paper do you want? You've been drawing since yesterday. You've used more than a thousand sheets. Can't you bring your own paper?"
He merely looked her up and down. "You can literally turn your entire body into paper. You seem to have an unlimited supply of it. And I'm just asking for a few sheets. Stop being stingy."
Konan's eye twitched, and she conjured another sheet of paper. "I'm not denying you paper. I'm simply asking how long it will take you to finalize the modification details."
"Haste makes waste," Ren replied. "I'm working at my absolute fastest. My estimate is that within three days, we can begin the physical retrofitting." He started drawing again.
A short while later, Nagato arrived.
Ren didn't look up. "Are the logistical preparations made? The first food shipments will arrive at the border soon."
"It is handled," Nagato said simply. He walked over to the desk, his Rinnegan looking down at the sketches Ren was drawing. "How long until these factories can actually begin producing finished goods?"
Ren paused, then said, with some uncertainty, "Four to six months. Maximum."
Silence settled over the empty factory and continued for several minutes, while Nagato seemed to be deciding something.
Finally, Nagato said, "Ren. What do you think of peace? What does peace actually look like to you?"
"I'm going to stop you right there," Ren said flatly. "I don't think I can give you an answer that will satisfy you, because everyone defines peace differently. If you have any logical question, I can answer it. But ideology, that's not my forte."
Nagato remained silent for a moment. He refused to let it go.
"Suppose a man kills another man," Nagato proposed softly. "Then, the victim's brother kills the murderer in revenge. Then, the murderer's son kills the brother to avenge his father. It slowly escalates into a war between families. It creates an endless cycle of hatred that is passed down through generations."
Nagato stared deeply into Ren's eyes. "Do you have a solution for this?"
For a fraction of a second, confusion flashed across Ren's face. Then it disappeared, as soon as it had appeared.
"It's very easy," Ren said. "Don't let anyone take revenge."
Nagato frowned, deeply disappointed. "You mean let the perpetrator go free?"
"I didn't say that." Ren set his brush down properly for the first time since Nagato had walked in. "You build a system so nobody has to take it into their own hands. You can't make a society crime-free people are people, but you can build an organization the victims bring their grievance to instead. Something with the actual authority to punish the guilty, so the aggrieved never have to become killers themselves to get justice. You make going to that organization simply the better option faster, safer, more certain than picking up a blade."
Ren was simply describing a judicial system from his previous life.
"So if a man's killed," Ren went on, "his brother goes to the organization instead of hunting the murderer down himself. The organization delivers the punishment. The brother never has to become anything he wasn't already — which means the killer's son has no one left to swear revenge against." A small shrug. "That's where the cycle actually ends. Not forgiveness' nobody can force that. Just a proper way to get justice."
"It isn't perfect, though. Corruption may happen in the organization, people get it wrong sometimes. But it's the best solution I can think of and it is considerably better than letting every grieving teenager with a blade appoint himself executioner."
Nagato said nothing for what felt like a very long time.
"I—" Nagato started, and found he had nowhere to take the sentence. He looked at the floor for a moment. "Sorry for disturbing you."
He turned and left without waiting for a reply.