These logistical and service-oriented roles allowed the Uchiha to secure safety and prestige without relying on constant slaughter. More importantly, the pay was astronomical. Had Minato Namikaze not been so dedicated to mending the rift between the clan and the village, dozens of smaller clans would have fought tooth and nail for such lucrative "cushy jobs."
In fact, the inspiration for including "guiding lost travelers" as a merit-earning task came from the memory of his late student, Obito. It was Minato's quiet way of honoring the boy who was always late because of a random act of kindness.
Minato's decision to integrate the straightforward Ino-Shika-Cho trio and the disciplined, if rigid, Hyuga clan into the police system was a masterstroke of political chess. However, to the radical Uchiha, this was a blatant intrusion. They saw the diversification of the Military Police Force as a direct assault on their absolute authority. In their warped reality, the Uchiha had to be the undisputed protagonists of the Leaf—anything less than a Uchiha Hokage was "systemic oppression."
But the radicals didn't represent the whole. In truth, over ninety percent of the clan was thrilled. The new positions created by Minato's policies were "fat" roles; the monthly salaries were double or even triple what they used to earn by risking their lives on the front lines. In this new era of peace, they were getting rich while staying safe—who wouldn't be smiling?
Fugaku Uchiha, ever the pragmatist, followed Minato's lead closely. He understood the shifting tides and led the majority of his clan into deep, multifaceted cooperation with the Fourth.
Yet, a stubborn, brain-dead minority remained. Outside the village walls, a masked man—carrying the legendary Uchiha Reflection gunbai capable of rebounding any attack—had been secretly colluding with these disgruntled clansmen. Shadowy plots began to fester.
The secret meeting soon dispersed. Once the business was concluded, Uchiha Obito traveled alone to the grave of Rin Nohara. He stood there in silence, his emotions a tangled mess behind his mask. After a long while, he knelt and placed a single, pristine white flower on the soil.
Suddenly, the air screamed!
A deluge of shuriken tore through the silence like a tidal wave, converging on Obito from every direction. The sheer volume of steel created a black curtain that threatened to swallow him whole. Each blade spun with lethal velocity.
Just as the lead shuriken was an inch from his skin, Obito's form blurred, slipping into the intangible safety of his Kamui dimension. Behind the mask, his expression shifted between confusion and rage. How? When was I compromised?
A continuous rain of shuriken and kunai thudded into the ground where he stood, "thwip-thwip-thwip." The explosive tags attached to the hilts ignited instantly. A deafening roar followed as the shockwaves tore through the clearing, the sheer destructive power rivaling modern artillery. In seconds, the area was leveled.
As the dust settled, Obito stood unharmed in the center of a cratered wasteland.
"This ends now," a righteous voice rang out.
In a flash of golden light, the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, appeared. His iconic Hokage cloak billowed as he gripped a custom Flying Raijin kunai, the cold steel glinting in the moonlight.
Shu-shu-shu! Dozens of masked Anbu members materialized via Body Flicker, forming a perfect perimeter. These weren't just random operatives; they were Minato's hand-picked elite guard. Among them were the genius Kakashi Hatake, the rising star Shisui Uchiha, and the Hyuga branch-house prodigy Hizashi Hyuga. The powerhouse Choza Akimichi stood ready, rounding out a team of Minato's most loyal inner circle.
Upwind, hidden from sight, Hiruko began to release a colorless, odorless bio-toxin. The ambush team had prepared for this, having ingested the antidote thirty minutes prior.
Since Choza was here, it was a given that Shikaku Nara and Inoichi Yamanaka were close by. They were Minato's tactical brain and communication hub. The "Capture Madara" plan, meticulously crafted by Shikaku based on Hiruko's intel, was now in full swing.
Inoichi remained in the shadows with Shikaku, using Hiruko's advanced neural-link equipment to connect the minds of every team member. This provided real-time tactical updates and "voice-chat" battlefield coordination.
Other Uchiha members loyal to the village had been informed, but they weren't on this battlefield to avoid the sensitive optics of "Uchiha vs. Madara." Instead, Fugaku was currently leading the Police Force to arrest the internal traitors. He did this to clear the clan's name and to ensure the rebels were handled "within the family." If Danzo got his hands on them, they'd end up as lab rats; if Fugaku took them, they might at least have a dignified end.
In the Leaf, everyone knew what kind of man Danzo was. But today, Danzo didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was the man in the mask.
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