Time quickly passed beyond the New Year and entered Konoha Year 51.
Makoto grew another year older.
In his previous life, when he was young, he had always wanted to grow up quickly. Once grown, he would no longer be controlled by adults. Then in the blink of an eye, he reached middle age. Time had slipped by so fast that even when he looked back on it, it felt as though his life had been edited by someone else.
Living a second life, he no longer had that childish urge to hurry up and grow older.
Even though his psychological age was already considerable, he still enjoyed the feeling of growing up. If conditions allowed, every quarter or half year, he would even bring his parents to a photo studio to record the passage of time for the family.
Humans cannot grasp time, but they can use photographs to freeze certain moments.
Not long after the New Year holiday ended, the children returned to school, and the shinobi also went back to their respective posts, striving to pull the village back onto its normal operational track.
Today, inside the conference room of the Hokage Tower, a meeting concerning Konohagakure's development for this year was being held to discuss certain policies after the New Year.
Those present included the newly appointed Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato; the Konoha Elders; the heads of various departments; and members of the jōnin class who were not currently assigned to missions.
After the Third Hokage stepped down, in order to prevent the young successor from lacking experience and making missteps, he took on the position of Hokage Advisor. On the one hand, he assisted from the sidelines; on the other hand, he also helped Minato withstand some of the pressure from his three old friends.
He naturally knew that those three classmates were by no means easy to deal with.
The secrecy system of the ninja village determined that such meetings could not possibly leave behind any public records. Only certain paper documents would be produced and classified as top secret. Ordinary people had no qualification to access them.
After a brief noon recess, the meeting resumed in the afternoon.
Inside the conference room, Uchiha Fugaku, as the person in charge of the Konoha Military Police Force, briefly introduced last year's internal security situation in the village and this year's plan.
After the normal workflow was completed, he tried to put forward a suggestion: "Due to the war, our Uchiha Clan has suffered considerable losses in combat strength. This year, could my previous application be approved, allowing the recruitment of non-clan members into the Military Police Force?"
Upon hearing this, the Konoha Elders frowned slightly, sensing that the matter was not simple.
Did the Uchiha Clan not know what kind of situation the Konoha Military Police Force was in? Of course they knew. Even though most of the clan's shinobi tended to be stubborn, proud, and straightforward in temperament, without too many twists and turns in their thinking, Fugaku was not that kind of person. He had his own considerations.
In previous years, the application had always been submitted in writing and directly vetoed by the Third Hokage and the others, never even reaching the stage of discussion. Yet today, contrary to past practice, he raised it publicly during the meeting. It was somewhat unusual.
Danzō could tell at a glance that something was off with that evil clan.
The Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, wore a faint smile and did not appear surprised.
The remaining members of the jōnin class and the clan heads all kept their eyes lowered and their minds restrained, as though the matter had nothing to do with them.
Only the newcomers to the jōnin class were still seriously thinking through the possibility—analyzing the pros and cons, and then deciding whether to cast a vote in favor. The other old hands had long since known the answer.
Danzō rejected it on the spot, severely: "Impossible, Fugaku. The Military Police Force is a policy established by the Second Hokage. It is a post tailored specifically for your Uchiha Clan. There is no need to recruit from outside."
"Of course I understand that," Fugaku replied, "but Danzō-sama, the current situation is that we are short-handed."
"Short-handed, or lacking in capability?" Danzō said. "According to my investigative materials, the current number of shinobi in the Uchiha Clan is sufficient to handle routine police duties."
"So, Fugaku—are you trying to admit that your clan's capabilities are the problem? If so, then it's simply that you Uchiha are incompetent. I suggest you look for the reason in yourself, and don't throw such a simple issue in front of everyone."
Fugaku was somewhat furious: "Danzō-sama, isn't that going a bit too far?"
No—he was just trying to loosen the restraints on his own clan. Why was Danzō turning it into a personal attack? Uchiha incompetent? What ninja clan would dare think that?
Not to mention the first two great wars—just recently they had been fighting desperately against Kirigakure, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure. Where had you been stirring up trouble back then? Did you think our shortage of manpower was caused by suicide?
But he only dared to think that, not actually say it out loud, because that would draw concentrated fire and offend the Third Hokage and the other two advisors at the same time.
At this moment, Minato, as the newly appointed Hokage, stepped in to smooth things over: "Everyone is doing this for Konoha. There's no need to argue so heatedly.
"Also, I think Clan Head Fugaku's proposal is still something we can consider. After all, I also grew up in Konoha. When it comes to handling disputes among villagers, the temperament of Uchiha Clan shinobi really isn't very suitable."
"I think we can recruit ordinary shinobi to replace them in that work. As for the members of the Uchiha Clan, they are more suited to posts that have a need for combat, such as the Intelligence Division, the Torture and Interrogation Division, or front-line missions."
"That would also make it easier for them to better integrate into this big family that is the village. Third Hokage-sama, don't you think so?"
Hiruzen puffed on his old tobacco pipe a few times and did not answer.
He had already seen it clearly: this might be a policy drafted jointly by Minato and Fugaku. As a newly appointed Hokage, Minato's eagerness to produce achievements was understandable, and it should be supported.
However, Minato was still too young and did not understand how serious this clan's problems were.
It was something everyone knew: the Minato couple and the Fugaku couple had a good private relationship. Possibly the young Hokage had been influenced by personal ties.
Setting policy based on private relations was very bad, but as the previous Hokage, it was not good for him to oppose it directly—otherwise it would give people the impression that he was suppressing the new Hokage, clinging to power and refusing to let go.
Hiruzen quietly gave the other two comrades-in-arms a look.
Homura spoke up: "Fourth Hokage, you're still young. You don't know the Uchiha Clan's situation. The problem isn't as simple as you think."
Minato looked somewhat puzzled. "Advisor Homura, precisely because there is a problem, we should solve it. That's better than doing nothing.
"If you think that changes to the Military Police Force would cause instability, then we can implement it gradually. We can first allow the Police Force to recruit two teams of ordinary shinobi as a pilot program."
Koharu was more direct than her three old friends. "No means no. There is no possibility in this matter. This was a policy established by the Second Hokage. It absolutely cannot be changed."
Minato: "…"
Good grief—so you're not even going to argue the reasoning? You're just pulling out the 'the ancestral law must not be altered' line?
If everything must follow the old set of policies, then what am I, the Fourth Hokage, here for?
But even though he had only just taken office, he could see clearly that the four of them were of one mind regarding the Uchiha Military Police Force. Fugaku's proposal was certainly finished.
Although everyone present were high-ranking figures of Konoha, the truly powerful ones were only five. One against four—the advantage was not on his side.
Seeing the somewhat helpless look in Minato's eyes, Fugaku also sighed inwardly and, carrying a stomach full of grievance, sat back down.
The remainder of the meeting was somewhat bland and uninteresting. Everyone was still immersed in the earlier rhythm.
At the beginning of the new year, the Fourth Hokage, who had just reached the peak of his life, felt that his path as Hokage might not be very smooth.
After the meeting ended, he stood in front of the window of his office, looking at the scenery of Konoha outside. In his heart, he reflected on the shortcomings of his own approach, drawing lessons from the setback.
The position of Hokage was far more troublesome than developing a ninjutsu.
At least when developing a ninjutsu, any problem encountered could be solved one way or another—it merely required time. But managing the village, and he had run into a dead knot right at the outset—the kind that could not be untied.
As one of Konoha's powerful jōnin and the newly appointed Fourth Hokage, he had some understanding of the Uchiha situation.
But precisely because he understood, he had wanted to see whether it could be changed and guided in a better direction. No matter what, the Uchiha were also members of the village—comrades.
Yet now it seemed that the prejudice of the Third Hokage and the others toward the Uchiha was more stubborn than he had imagined.
At the same time, he also sensed that there had been something improper in his own conduct today.
As Hokage, he should not have stepped forward personally. Some words would have been better spoken by one of his staunch supporters, such as Mimura Hamaki. That way, it would have avoided a direct clash between himself and the previous generation.
Wasn't that how the Third Hokage had handled things? It was worth learning from.
It somewhat ran counter to his nature, but since he was seated in this position, he would have to learn to change.
Hiruzen came to the familiar office door and discovered that Minato, who was usually sharp and perceptive, had not even noticed his arrival. He knew that this young Hokage must have been struck in the heart.
He prepared to go in and have a talk with him—offer some guidance—and incidentally speak about the Uchiha issue.
After all, he was young. There were still many places where he required guidance.
If Minato could mature more quickly, then he himself could truly retire sooner and return home to live a leisurely life.
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