In the afternoon, inside the Uchiha clan reception room.
The heads of the five major clans arrived by appointment. They were the Hyūga Clan Head, Hyūga Hiashi, the heads of the Ino-Shika-Chō trio, and the Inuzuka Clan Head.
Upon seeing that there were others in the conference room, the heads of the Ino-Shika-Chō clans relaxed slightly.
It seemed the Uchiha clan wouldn't be making a move against them. While it might be possible for the Uchiha to target their specific families, they surely wouldn't move against the Hyūga Head.
The Uchiha weren't so ruthless that they had gone mad; after all, the Hyūga clan had fought alongside them against the Cloud Village. They had even spoken up for the Uchiha during the previous clan heads' meeting.
At the same time, they were quite puzzled. Why had they been invited?
Looking at the steaming tea on the table before them... were they just invited here to drink tea? That was even more unlikely. They weren't friends or relatives. Gathering just to drink tea and chat was impossible.
Uchiha Fugaku sat in the main seat, while Uchiha Ryōsuke sat beside him.
Looking at the assembled clan heads, Fugaku spoke, "Thank you all for accepting the invitation. There is a major matter I wish to discuss with you."
The Nara Head, Nara Shikaku, saw his expression change. A major matter? If it wasn't a plot to harm them, could it be an attempt to recruit them?
At this moment, Hyūga Hiashi asked, "Clan Head Fugaku, I wonder what this major matter is?"
He had a vague guess: did they want to unite with them to overthrow the Third Hokage?
Fugaku smiled and said, "Actually, the Uchiha clan is preparing to reform the Police Force. We would like to invite you all to join. What do you think?"
The clan heads present were startled, and internally, quite unhappy.
Trying to pull them into the Police Force? Wasn't that just trying to tie them to the Uchiha's war chariot? To make them subordinates, even? Naturally, they were unwilling.
It was a completely thankless task.
Even Hyūga Hiashi was displeased. "The Uchiha clan is fully capable of managing the Police Force; you don't need us to join at all."
Even if the two clans had fought together, he wouldn't choose to be their lackey. The Hyūga clan had their own pride. Even if he agreed, his clansmen wouldn't.
The other clan heads also spoke up to refuse.
Shikaku spoke on behalf of the Ino-Shika-Chō trio. "Our three families feel the same. We are very at ease with the Uchiha clan managing the Police Force."
The other two, Akimichi Chōza and Yamanaka Inoichi, did not refute his opinion. They understood the Uchiha's intentions and were also very unhappy.
Even facing the Third Hokage, they hadn't chosen to submit. Now the Uchiha wanted them to be subordinates? Impossible.
They were free enough now; why put on shackles and make themselves unhappy?
Fugaku showed no signs of displeasure. Instead, he spoke slowly, "It seems I haven't made myself clear, causing you all to be unwilling to join. As I said, the Uchiha clan is preparing to reform the Police Force."
"First, we will establish five Vice-Captain positions. These will come with real power. The Uchiha clan plans to divide the village into six major zones. Aside from one, the other five zones will be entirely your responsibility."
"Of course, while you manage these zones, the administration must follow the Police Force regulations set by the Uchiha clan."
"Naturally, if you feel there are issues with the regulations we set, they can be discussed."
"Now, I wonder what the Clan Heads think?"
This definitely represents the Uchiha clan's sincerity, and the other party should be able to accept it.
Hearing this, everyone's expressions changed.
Giving away Vice-Captain positions? Wouldn't that place them just below Captain Fugaku?
They were even assigning zones with real power for them to manage. This was equivalent to giving them a portion of the Uchiha clan's absolute authority over the Police Force.
Although it was only a portion of the zones, it was definitely real power.
Of course, there was the restriction of following Police Force regulations, but that wasn't a major issue. Uchiha Fugaku had already said it was open for discussion, so that could be changed.
This seemed credible.
They couldn't believe it. The Uchiha were being so generous. Previously, Danzō and the Third Hokage had tried desperately to suppress them to get them to hand over the Police Force's power, but unexpectedly, the Uchiha were now handing it over directly and even gifting it to them.
What on earth was this clan trying to do? Could they really be trying to win them over?
The price paid for this was simply too high.