"Farewell, Hokage-sama."
As the Hokage and the others departed, the invisible tension that had stretched to its breaking point inside the Police Force headquarters since the afternoon finally snapped.
For a moment, the hall fell silent.
Then, somewhere in the corner, someone released a long breath.
It was like a signal.
All the emotions that had been suppressed for hours burst forth at once.
"Ha… haha!"
A young Uchiha was the first to laugh.
He wiped his face roughly, his eyes still filled with disbelief and excitement.
"We… we did it! The Hokage actually left just like that!"
"That's right!"
Another voice quickly joined in, trembling with exhilaration.
"The so-called 'Strongest Hokage'? Even he had to compromise in front of the Uchiha! He didn't even dare demand the prisoners by force!"
The suffocating tension that had filled the building earlier vanished completely.
In its place surged a wave of triumphant joy.
"Did you see that? This is the power of the Uchiha!"
"Let's see who dares speak against the Police Force from now on! We'll arrest them all!"
"We should've done this long ago!"
Amid the noisy celebration, Uchiha Tekka and Inabi lightly punched Yashiro on the shoulder, grinning broadly.
Even the usually steady Yashiro could not stop the smile spreading across his face.
Uchiha Fugaku watched the cheering clan members around him.
Only now did his tense mind finally relax.
As the joy of the clan filled the air, a strange feeling slowly rose within him.
So…
Even the Hokage can compromise.
Were we wrong all these years?
Fugaku stared blankly toward the entrance of the Police Force headquarters.
The confusion stirring in his heart made him want desperately to talk to someone.
He turned his head.
He saw Mikoto, whose gaze was completely fixed on Aran.
Then he noticed Shisui, his face flushed with excitement as he chatted energetically with members of the hawk faction.
Everything felt natural.
As though this was exactly how things were meant to be.
Suddenly—
The doubts in Fugaku's heart no longer seemed important.
Aran stood where he was.
Behind him, the clan members cheered in celebration.
But he faced the window instead.
Outside, the brightly lit Ginza Tower stood tall.
The Uchiha fan crest shone brilliantly above it, illuminating the departing figures of the Third Hokage and his group.
Mikoto walked up beside him.
Her voice was gentle.
"Everyone hasn't been this happy together in a long time."
Aran tilted his head slightly.
His gaze swept across the excited and proud faces behind him before returning to Mikoto's calm, smiling expression.
Before he could say anything—
Yashiro suddenly shouted from within the crowd.
"Brothers and sisters!"
"All of this happened because of Lord Aran's leadership!"
Hearing that, Mikoto winked at Aran.
Then she stepped forward.
Her long black hair swayed softly behind her.
Standing before the clan members, her clear eyes shone brightly.
She raised her fist.
Her voice rang loudly through the hall.
"Clan members!"
"It was Lord Aran who helped us reclaim the dignity we had lost!"
Her words ignited the final spark.
For a brief moment, silence fell—
Then a deafening roar erupted like a volcano.
"Long live Lord Aran!"
"Long live the Uchiha!"
The cheers grew louder and louder.
The younger clan members shouted until their faces turned red.
It was as if all the humiliation and frustration of the past decade were finally being released.
Even some of the older Uchiha had tears in their eyes.
They understood better than anyone how hard-won this moment of pride truly was.
The clan's internal divisions.
The neglect from other clans and villagers.
The oppression from Konoha's leadership.
Those burdens had weighed like three mountains upon the emotionally intense Uchiha.
Now—
Two of those mountains had finally disappeared.
How could they not celebrate?
At the center of the roaring crowd, Uchiha Aran remained as calm as ever.
He raised a hand.
The thunderous cheers quickly subsided.
All that remained were dozens of burning gazes filled with excitement and expectation.
They all looked toward their leader.
"Dignity."
Aran's clear voice echoed throughout the hall.
Each word struck directly into the hearts of the clan members.
"It is not something others give to us."
"It is something we reclaim with our own strength."
He looked slowly around the hall, his gaze sharp.
"Today…"
"We merely took back what was already ours."
"The future of the Uchiha—"
He paused briefly.
Then his right hand extended forward, palm facing downward.
His voice rose with powerful conviction.
"—will be created by our own hands!"
For a moment, the hall fell silent.
Then the cheers exploded once again—louder than ever before.
The entire Police Force headquarters trembled with excitement.
Mikoto watched the tall figure standing amid the clan's admiration.
In her eyes, she saw more than the man she loved.
She saw a man who could truly lead the Uchiha clan into the future.
Night deepened.
The clan heads from other families gradually dispersed after leaving the Police Force headquarters.
Hiruzen Sarutobi walked at the front.
The hem of his Hokage robe fluttered gently in the night wind.
Behind him, the building still blazed with light.
The cheers from within rolled outward like waves.
And each wave carried sharp thorns.
"Long live the Uchiha!"
"Long live Lord Aran!"
Each cheer sounded like a slap striking the face of Konoha's supreme leader.
Koharu Utatane's face had already darkened with anger.
She suddenly stopped walking.
Her chest rose and fell violently.
Finally, she could not suppress her fury any longer.
Her voice forced itself out through clenched teeth.
"Hiruzen!"
"Are you really going to let them behave like this?!"
"Listen to those voices!"
"They're provoking you!"
"They're openly celebrating the trampling of the Hokage's authority!"
"If we retreat like this, the Uchiha will only grow more arrogant!"
Hiruzen finally stopped.
Slowly, he turned around.
His gaze lifted toward the brightly lit Police Force headquarters.
The lights shining from its windows flickered within his aged eyes.
He did not answer immediately.
Instead, he silently took out his pipe.
He lit it.
Then he took a deep breath.
Smoke drifted slowly through the air.
The wrinkles on his face seemed deeper.
Beneath that gentle exterior lay a chilling coldness.
"Arrogant?"
"Koharu."
"Tell me."
"At this moment…"
"What exactly does Konoha have that could suppress that 'arrogance'?"
He turned his head and looked at his old friend coldly.
"The Sannin are gone."
"Minato and the main forces are on the front lines."
"The village is nearly empty."
"Three Uchiha elders in armor…"
"Dozens of jōnin…"
"Hundreds of chūnin ready for battle…"
"And two powerful fighters among the younger generation…"
He stared directly at her.
"Are you and I supposed to throw our lives—and our clans—into the fire to stop them?"
Hiruzen exhaled a ring of smoke.
It drifted slowly past Koharu's pale face.
"If we tear everything apart now…"
"The internal conflict alone would make the spies of other villages laugh."
"And then they would invade immediately."
"At that point…"
"You and I would become the eternal sinners of Konoha."
Koharu fell silent.
Even so, unwillingness remained in her eyes.
"So we just let them—"
"Let them?"
Hiruzen interrupted her.
"This is merely a strategic retreat."
"When heaven wishes to destroy someone…"
"It first allows them to grow arrogant."
"The Uchiha's aggressive behavior will inevitably make the other clans uneasy."
"Today we stepped back."
"In the eyes of the other clans, it shows we value the greater situation."
"But the Uchiha's aggressiveness will only isolate them further."
He paused.
His voice lowered.
It was almost a whisper meant only for Koharu.
"And besides…"
"Let them fight for the Konoha they helped build."
"Just like my teacher once did."
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