Rebuilding Uchiha By Removing Fugaku

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The ninjas of Konoha returned victorious from the front lines against Kumogakure.

The villagers of Konoha erupted in cheers.

Tsunade, walking at the forefront, looked confused.

What in the world had happened?

She had only been away for a year, yet everything seemed completely different.

"Tsunade-sama! Long live Tsunade-sama!"

"So that's why we haven't seen Tsunade-sama. She went to the battlefield to fight!"

"Wait, Hokage can fight too?"

"Idiot, Hokage is supposed to be the strongest in the village, protecting everyone!"

"Oh, I see! I thought Hokage just stayed behind and commanded, like the Third Hokage did."

"Wait, isn't that someone from the Uzumaki clan?"

"That's Lady Chizuru Uzumaki! Didn't the papers say she single-handedly sealed Kumogakure's tailed beast?"

"A tailed beast? Won't it escape? Didn't the Nine-Tails rampage last time...?"

"You fool! That's just propaganda! The papers said it was the ANBU who leaked information about the childbirth of a jinchūriki. That's what allowed the enemy to exploit their weakness and unleash the Nine-Tails."

"ANBU? How could they have leaked such classified information?"

"Look at those ANBU officers now, like a gang of corrupt bureaucrats. They extort and bribe daily! If not for Lord Asuma, who knows how many people they would have ruined? I heard they won't even release someone without demanding hundreds of thousands of ryo!"

"W-what? That bad?"

Before Tsunade could fully process the whispers of the crowd, she was escorted to the Hokage Tower.

Waiting there were Uchiha Toki, Nara Shikaku, and Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Shikaku greeted her with a deep bow, as though welcoming back a returning ruler:

"Welcome home, Tsunade-sama."

Tsunade turned her head and glared at Toki, who smirked at her mockingly.

Her gaze then fell on Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Seeing the old man's defeated and dejected appearance, she felt a mix of satisfaction and disbelief. Memories of her youth and the stern guidance of Hiruzen when he was in his prime came flooding back.

Tsunade huffed and turned, entering the Hokage building with her head held high.

When everyone had gathered in the conference room, Toki gestured for Tsunade to take the Hokage's seat.

Behind Toki stood Chizuru Uzumaki, looking slightly uncomfortable.

She was still stunned by the sudden events that had unfolded in her life.

When Toki approached her with his proposal, she had thought he was joking. He had claimed that his training ground could awaken the latent potential of the Uzumaki clan's bloodline, and that only an Uchiha could activate it.

Skeptical but without many options, she reluctantly agreed.

To her shock, Toki had been telling the truth.

In the special training ground, she had awakened her dormant bloodline abilities. Within days, she had mastered the Adamantine Sealing Chains and other Uzumaki sealing techniques.

whose Uzumaki bloodline was diluted, Chizuru was a pure-blood Uzumaki. Her vitality was so immense that merely absorbing others' chakra could heal their injuries.

Previously, she had struggled to control this vitality, requiring self-inflicted bites to release it. However, thanks to the training ground, she had gained full control, even awakening the famed "healing without seals" ability—a hallmark of the Uzumaki's "Sage body."

Toki had even speculated about the Uzumaki clan's connection to the Senju clan and their shared ancestry from Asura Ōtsutsuki.

After everyone was seated, Toki stood and addressed the group:

"I won't waste words. Konoha has achieved an unprecedented victory in this war. We annihilated thousands of enemy ninjas and captured Kumogakure's strategic weapon—the Two-Tails."

"During the battle, Tsunade-sama personally treated countless wounded on the battlefield. This achievement must be publicized immediately after the meeting."

"Additionally, the logistics provided by the village have been exemplary. Thanks to this victory, Konoha's reputation now surpasses that of the other four great villages. Let us give them all a round of applause!"

Clap, clap, clap!

Warm applause erupted in the room.

Tsunade, still confused, glanced at Sarutobi Hiruzen.

He kept his head low, avoiding eye contact, looking like a defeated man.

He hadn't wanted to attend this meeting but feared Toki might take the opportunity to discredit him further. Reluctantly, he had shown up, but now he wished he hadn't.

Shikaku handed a report to Toki, outlining Konoha's internal affairs during the war.

Sarutobi's face twitched.

He couldn't help but feel like an outsider watching Shikaku and Toki openly collaborate.

Where was the separation of powers he had once advocated to prevent any one clan from monopolizing control?

Now, he realized his so-called plan had been a complete failure. By relinquishing power, he had inadvertently handed control of Konoha to a single faction.

If only he had been more resolute back then. If he had refused to back down, the other ninjas would never have dared to oppose him.

But it was too late for regrets.

The Sarutobi clan, once a pillar of Konoha, had been reduced to a shadow of its former self.

The most surprising thing was the skyrocketing strength of the Uchiha clan over the past few months.

Particularly Uchiha Toki, who was labeled as an ordinary Chūnin in the intelligence reports, but even Sarutobi Hiruzen's own son couldn't stand against him.

Hiruzen hated this in his heart, but he maintained a kind and amiable facade.

Tsunade, on the other hand, felt perplexed. Could the conspiracy theories Toki had told her before be completely false? Otherwise, why would the old man hand over power to Toki so easily?

She knew Toki wasn't like Minato Namikaze. Minato had willingly sacrificed himself to protect the Nine-Tails and maintain the balance of tailed beasts.

If it were Toki in Minato's place, he would have chosen his child without hesitation, even if it meant giving up the Nine-Tails.

At this time, Toki, after reviewing the internal affairs report, spoke again:

"Aside from keeping essential vigilantes, the rest of the defense forces will return to daily tasks and help manage the surge in mission requests.

Additionally, we'll increase the cost of escort missions by 30%. Meanwhile, the cost of assassination missions handled by the Uchiha clan will be reduced by 10%."

The room lit up at these words.

The recent war had established Konoha's reputation across the ninja world, and the Uchiha clan's strength was now universally recognized. By lowering assassination mission prices while raising escort fees, Toki was sending a clear message to wealthy clients and dignitaries—if they didn't want to be targeted by the Uchiha clan, they'd better hire Konoha ninjas for their protection.

Though this might earn disdain from other villages, Konoha's current power, especially its ability to control tailed beasts, was a sufficient deterrent.

Toki then moved to another topic:

"Now, let's discuss Konoha's internal defense."

He unfurled a map, the same one Sarutobi Hiruzen and Danzo had used months ago, and pointed to a corner with his pointer.

"In light of the recent poor performance of the Urban Management Brigade under the ANBU, it will no longer oversee the barrier team and the village guards. Instead, it will relocate here," Toki said, pointing to the outskirts of Konoha—a remote forest chosen by Minato and Kushina to mitigate potential damage from the Nine-Tails.

The temporary ANBU captain slammed the table and stood up:

"Lord Toki, the Urban Management Brigade is responsible for maintaining order in the village! This location is too far from the center of Konoha!"

Shiyu smiled calmly.

"In emergencies, the Defense Ministry will step in," he replied.

Uchiha Setsuna, seated nearby and still bandaged from the battlefield, smirked.

"Isn't this forest the perfect place for a training ground? The Uchiha clan was sent there first, after all."

The captain's face twitched, realizing this was revenge for the forced relocation of the Uchiha clan years ago.

Toki turned to Sarutobi Hiruzen, patted his shoulder, and added,

"Oh, and the Sarutobi clan can move there too. You've been borrowing the Senju clan's land for too long. Bring the ancestral graves while you're at it."

Hiruzen's temple veins pulsed, but he gritted his teeth and forced out,

"Understood."

The other clan heads smirked at Hiruzen's expense, recalling how he once dictated clan relocations at will. Now the tables had turned.

Toki continued,

"To address another matter, the position of academy instructors will now be temporarily held by the Uchiha clan. Their Sharingan will help better identify the children's weaknesses."

The clan heads exchanged looks and quickly shook their heads. They had no interest in letting the Uchiha clan gain control of their children's education.

Toki pressed on,

"Additionally, from now on, all children of appropriate age must attend the academy for compulsory education. This will require cooperation from all clans."

Despite the academy's long existence, enrollment was still sparse, often limited to orphans and civilians. Ninja clans, which already had their own training systems, rarely saw value in sending their children to learn basic knowledge. Many children from ninja clans already had Genin-level strength by the time they were six years old.

The Moonlight Clan head raised a concern,

"Lord Toki, our clan's children already meet graduation requirements at the age of six. Isn't it a waste of time to send them to the academy for six years?"

Toki raised his hand to quiet the room.

"In that case, let's conduct an entrance exam. Civilian children will have one month to attend the academy and learn. Afterward, we'll hold a competition.

If the ninja clan children win, this matter will be dropped. But if the civilian children win, all school-age children from ninja clans will attend the academy. Does that sound fair?"

The room fell silent, and the clan heads whispered among themselves. This seemed like a reasonable compromise.

The other Clan head asked cautiously,

"And the Uchiha children? Will they participate?"

Toki's smirk widened.

"Of course not. Only civilian children. And you can choose whichever school-age children you think are most qualified."

The clan heads, now confident they could crush the competition, quickly agreed.

"Deal!"