Uchiha Tōka hurriedly found Uchiha Kane.
"Clan Head, Uchiha Mahiru has commandeered a training ground. He says it will be exclusively for him and his subordinates from now on."
Hearing this, Uchiha Kane, worried that Mahiru was being too overt, rushed to the training ground.
Uchiha Mahiru had taken over one of the three training grounds within the Uchiha compound.
Inside this training ground were Uchiha Mahiru, his brother, and eleven other Uchiha shinobi.
Uchiha Kane looked them over; they were all members of the family's Militant Faction whom he had previously suppressed.
This faction had now found a leader.
The militants looked anxiously at Mahiru, their eyes on the Clan Head at the training ground entrance.
Previously, the Clan Head had reprimanded them on various occasions, preventing them from showing their hatred and hostility towards the village.
Now, their gathering had drawn his attention.
"Continue training!" Uchiha Mahiru said.
They continued their drills, watching from the corners of their eyes as Mahiru walked towards the Clan Head.
After a brief argument, the Clan Head actually conceded.
The Clan Head left in anger, seemingly unable to do anything about Uchiha Mahiru.
Uchiha Mahiru was strong enough to oppose the Clan Head. The militants realized they could finally voice their opinions openly within the clan!
Within the Uchiha clan, the atmosphere grew restless and agitated with Uchiha Mahiru's rising influence.
On a street in Konoha Village, the brothers Uchiha Mahiru and Uchiha Kirika were on patrol.
"Brother, the village won't promote you to Jōnin, but can't the Security Police reinstate your position?"
Uchiha Mahiru had previously been the head of the Security Police's Interrogation Division. Later, for causing the death of an orphan during interrogation, he was dismissed and demoted to a regular patrol member.
"It doesn't matter," Uchiha Mahiru said. "The Clan Head underestimates my strength and still treats me based on old patterns of thinking. I just need one opportunity to reveal my Mangekyō. Then the Clan Head will naturally understand that our clan no longer needs to be subservient!"
The Clan Head was too conservative, but Mahiru didn't blame him. It had been thirty years since Uchiha Madara; the Uchiha clan had not produced a single Mangekyō Sharingan.
Uchiha Mahiru turned his gaze towards the Konoha perimeter wall.
On the wall, a watchtower was placed every 500 meters.
Each watchtower housed a reconnaissance team.
What bothered Uchiha Mahiru were the Hyūga shinobi within those reconnaissance teams. He always felt a sense of being watched.
After his power increased, he had become very sensitive to chakra.
This Konoha Village felt like a giant prison.
On the surface, over a dozen reconnaissance teams in the watchtowers constantly monitored the inside and outside of the village.
In the shadows, Anbu ninja collected intelligence for the Hokage.
While shinobi dared not complain about the watchtowers or the Anbu, the patrols of the Uchiha Security Police were met with scornful glares.
What ordinary shinobi didn't know was that compared to the village's pervasive surveillance, the Security Police's overt patrols were nothing.
Uchiha Shun quickly ran towards Uchiha Mahiru.
"Brother Mahiru! The Interrogation Division has obtained intelligence from a spy!"
Uchiha Shun, Mahiru's former subordinate and also a member of the Militant Faction, had succeeded Mahiru as head of the Security Police's Interrogation Division. Having obtained crucial information, he came to find Mahiru immediately.
"Which village's spy? Is the information important?" Uchiha Mahiru asked.
"Very!" Uchiha Shun said. "It's a spy from Iwagakure. They stole intelligence about Konoha's Guardian Ninja in the Land of Grass. According to the spy, the Konoha Anbu suffered heavy losses in the Land of Grass. Coupled with the successive killings of the Guardian Ninja Captains, the Daimyō of the Land of Grass is wavering and no longer trusts Konoha so completely. Ōnoki of Iwagakure has sent people to the Land of Grass to make contact with its Daimyō. Iwagakure wants a share of the Land of Grass's missions and has sent many spies into Konoha to start stealing intelligence on our Guardian Ninja!"
Uchiha Mahiru thought to himself that this was indeed important information.
"Shun," Mahiru said, "this hasn't been reported to the village, has it?"
After the Uchiha Security Police arrested thieves and criminals, they often stumbled upon important intelligence by chance. The Security Police were obligated to report it to the village.
"No, Brother Mahiru," Uchiha Shun said. "As you instructed, I did not report it to the village."
If the Uchiha wanted to gain greater authority, the best way was to extend their reach based on the foundation of the Security Police.
Intelligence rights, patrol rights, investigation rights, interrogation rights, judicial rights, enforcement rights—expanding all these powers would make them equivalent to another Anbu.
Uchiha Shun said, "I interrogated the spy and found out his accomplice is in the northwest corner of the village."
"Let's go!" Uchiha Mahiru said. "We'll go arrest his accomplice. No need to inform the village. From now on, the Uchiha must have a voice in matters of espionage!"
Uchiha Shun felt excited; the era of the Interrogation Division having its hands tied was over.
The three of them swiftly headed for the northwest corner of the village.
"Hurry! Don't let the spy escape the village!"
The Security Police operated within Konoha's borders and did not have permission to leave the village. If the spy escaped, they would be useless.
"Sooner or later," Uchiha Mahiru declared, "the authority of the Security Police will be as great as the Hokage Building! The Security Police will also be able to issue exit permits. When that time comes, we Uchiha will be able to go wherever we want!"
Uchiha Kirika and Uchiha Shun exchanged a look, their eyes filled with anticipation.
The Uchiha shinobi were pitiful; they rarely left the village. Only during the most intense periods of war would the village dispatch the Uchiha clan to the battlefield.
When Uchiha shinobi applied for regular missions at the Hokage Building, their requests were generally not approved.
The village's stance was that the Uchiha clan made their living through Security Police duties; the village's missions were for others.
But those patrol missions and thief-catching tasks were only C-rank and D-rank, with meager earnings.
Despite the Security Police patrolling with their heads held high, swaggering proudly, their actual income was very low, and their lives were difficult.
Uchiha Mahiru swore to change the Uchiha clan's predicament.
In the canopy of a large tree, Uchiha Mizukiku watched the trio's retreating figures and secretly followed.
Above the Hokage Rock, Golden Eagle body-flickered to the side of Deputy Chief Fox.
"Lord Fox, Uchiha Mahiru is on the move!" Golden Eagle reported. "It seems they've tracked down a spy and are going to pursue him! They're overstepping. Pursuing spies should be the Anbu's task."
Yōkō had already seen the three Uchiha using the Body Flicker Technique to travel.
"Let's go, follow them. We'll let Uchiha Mahiru go missing for a couple of days first, have him cooperate fully with our investigation into the Anbu shinobi's brutal murder within the Anbu."
Even though there was no evidence proving Uchiha Mahiru killed the Anbu shinobi, the Anbu didn't need evidence to investigate anyone.
Yōkō body-flickered towards the northwest.
Within the Root base, Danzō emerged from the darkness.
Four Root members knelt on one knee before him.
"Sir, Otsu has relayed information. The target intercepted a message that should have been reported to the village. We can use this to deal with the target!"
Danzō nodded. "Let's go."
Just as they were about to leave Root, another report came.
"Sir! The Anbu's Fox, Golden Eagle, and White Ram are directing Anbu personnel to surround Uchiha Mahiru and the others!"
Danzō frowned. Damn that Fox! Why was he so fast? Not only did he steal his Wood Release, but now he was acting so recklessly within the village? Commanding the Anbu to surround the Uchiha used to be his exclusive privilege.
Under a large tree in the northwest corner of the village, Tobi and a White Zetsu emerged from the trunk.
"Wow! So exciting!" Tobi exclaimed. "Just as Lord Madara said, if the Uchiha clan loses its fighting spirit, the Sharingan will become a delicacy for everyone to fight over! The Mangekyō Sharingan is the rarest delicacy of all! This is a grand feast! Root, Anbu, traitors within the Uchiha clan... everyone, just like us, has their eyes on the Mangekyō!"
The White Zetsu said, "Copper Fox, who has mastered Wood Release, hasn't discovered us yet. We must be careful and capture the target for Lord Madara."
In a deserted house in the northwest corner of Konoha.
Two Iwa-nin spies hid in the bathroom, panting heavily.
Through the crack in the bathroom door, they could see the living room.
On the wall of the living room hung a photograph of a family of five.
All five members of this family had died in the Second Shinobi World War, and the house now belonged to the village.
The area was remote, and the Internal Affairs Department had never managed to sell it.
One spy said, "We must get the intelligence about the Land of Grass Daimyō's Guardian Ninja back to the village. I'll draw their attention, you go! Sneak out through the Konoha wall!"
The other spy took a deep look at his companion who was going to cover their retreat. This would be the last time he saw him in this life.
"I will stake my life to deliver this information."
The first spy nodded, used the Clone Technique, and then had the clone transform into his companion's appearance.
Two figures jumped out of the narrow window.
The moment they showed their heads, they saw three Uchiha Security Police ninja charging towards them.
A cold smile played on Uchiha Mahiru's lips. Did they think such an ugly Clone and Transformation Technique could fool his Sharingan?
"There's a bathroom behind that small window, and someone's still hiding inside! Shun, you go capture that person!"
Uchiha Shun immediately charged towards the bathroom window.
Uchiha Kirika felt that such weak spies didn't require his brother to intervene, so he rushed forward quickly.
However, a figure suddenly appeared before him.
Such fast Body Flicker! This strength surpassed that of an ordinary Jōnin!
An Anbu wearing a Golden Eagle mask!
"Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms!"
Golden Eagle struck with fury, each palm landing heavily on Uchiha Kirika's chakra points, quickly subduing him.
Uchiha Mahiru stared in shock at Golden Eagle.
The Clan Head had always emphasized that the village had many experts, and that they must not be careless even after a great increase in power.
Golden Eagle was undoubtedly one of the experts the Clan Head spoke of; his Eight Trigrams Palms were so fast they were but a blur.
Uchiha Kirika, with his Three Tomoe Sharingan, hadn't even been able to react before he was hit.
Uchiha Mahiru rushed forward, wanting to help his brother.
But another figure body-flickered into place, even faster than Golden Eagle, blocking his path.
The newcomer used only a single hand seal, and Uchiha Mahiru found himself unable to move.
Yōkō lowered his hand from the seal, first glanced at Uchiha Mahiru's Three Tomoe Sharingan, and said, "Uchiha Mahiru, the Anbu suspects you and your brother are connected to the brutal murder of an Anbu shinobi outside the Uchiha compound. You two brothers are to come with me to the Anbu for investigation."
***
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(End of Chapter)