Chapter 225: The Expansion of the Military Police Force
Ibiki Morino, who had been engaged in years of tactical combat with ninja from neighboring countries in the border regions of Konoha, was sent back to the village due to injuries.
Although the Third Great Shinobi War had ended many years ago, minor skirmishes between the different Hidden Villages were still frequent.
Every year, numerous Konoha ninja sacrificed their lives because of these conflicts.
However, since these ninja were not active inside Konoha Village, their sacrifices outside the village were largely unnoticed and unconcerned by most.
Ibiki Morino felt fortunate to have survived this time. Only six members of the Konoha squads he led made it back alive, and he was one of them.
"Hah—"
Ibiki Morino, his arm in a cast, emerged from the Hokage Office with a heavy heart.
The reason for his return was that he had brought back the ashes of many of his subordinates.
But something about the Hokage-sama puzzled him.
Upon learning that so many Konoha ninja had sacrificed themselves for the security of the Land of Fire's borders, the Hokage-sama offered very little expression, simply telling him to go home and rest.
Ibiki Morino could tell that it wasn't that the Hokage-sama was uncaring about the sacrifices, but that the Hokage-sama was simply too exhausted.
In the short two or three years since he'd last seen him, the Hokage-sama looked as if he had aged by at least a decade.
This change in the Hokage-sama...
Could it have something to do with Ikeizumi?
Even outside the village, he had occasionally heard rumors about events happening in Konoha. Though he hadn't heard much, he generally knew that the Hokage-sama had recently been tormented by Ikeizumi Uchiha's Absolute Justice.
Regarding this.
Ibiki Morino found it difficult to empathize with the Hokage-sama. He was quite familiar with Ikeizumi Uchiha—they were practically friends.
"It seems Ikeizumi has caused quite a stir in the village recently, exhausting the Hokage-sama so much."
Ibiki Morino decided to investigate the news within the village.
But upon doing so.
He was thoroughly shocked.
—The assassination of the Land of Fire's Daimyō, the bloodbath among the nobility, the imprisonment of the Hyūga Main Branch, the imprisonment of the Konoha Elders, the killing of the Sannin Orochimaru, the forcing out and then killing of Fugaku Uchiha... Any one of these major events would be enough to shake the entire Konoha, yet they had all occurred in the span of less than six months!
"That guy—"
Ibiki Morino took a deep breath, his scarred, fierce face filled with intense disbelief: "No wonder he didn't reveal what he was going to do when he met me before. At the time, he was actually going to assassinate the Land of Fire's Daimyō! If I had known in advance, I would definitely have tried to stop him."
"And afterwards, the Hokage-sama didn't pursue the matter, and the Land of Fire showed no reaction. Hiss, Ikeizumi, that guy...
He has suppressed all discontent with sheer, absolute military might. This is exactly what the First Hokage did when he unified the Ninja World."
The only difference between the two might be that Ikeizumi Uchiha's methods were even more unyielding, even more extreme than the First Hokage's.
It was almost like—
A fusion of the First and Second Hokage!
After some thought, Ibiki Morino decided to seek out Ikeizumi Uchiha.
He walked into the Uchiha Clan compound. "You returned to the village sooner than I expected." Ikeizumi Uchiha looked up at Ibiki Morino and gestured with his eyes: "Won't you sit?"
"The disparity in our statuses is too great," Ibiki Morino shook his head and said, "If I were to sit and speak with you, and one of your Military Police subordinates saw it, it would damage your authority."
Ibiki Morino sighed and said, "Who would have thought that in less than six months, you would completely take over the Konoha Military Police Force."
"Furthermore, when I walked into the Uchiha Clan compound, I noticed quite a few non-Uchiha clan members here. It seems your influence isn't limited to the Military Police Force; you're influencing the entire Uchiha Clan. The Uchiha were never this open before."
Ikeizumi Uchiha said mildly, "Most of these outsiders who come here are just looking to file a report."
Ibiki Morino smiled, though the smile, combined with his scars, wasn't exactly pleasant to look at.
"Ikeizumi, you're being too modest. For a secretive and exclusive ninja clan, this is a huge change."
Ikeizumi Uchiha changed the subject: "Has the Third Hokage assigned you a new mission?"
Ibiki Morino shook his head: "Not yet. The Hokage-sama seems to be completely overwhelmed by you, his energy tied up by numerous trivial matters, leaving him no time to focus on a small figure like me."
Ikeizumi Uchiha said, "Then come and help me."
Ibiki Morino was taken aback.
Ikeizumi Uchiha offered the olive branch directly, his face expressionless: "The Military Police Force has lost quite a few people after several purges. Even protecting the justice of a small village like Konoha is proving to be quite a strain. Let alone expanding justice beyond Konoha, radiating it throughout the Land of Fire, and perhaps even the Ninja World."
"The Military Police Force needs talented individuals like you, individuals whom I can approve of."
Ikeizumi Uchiha was very frank. He didn't beat around the bush and was not stingy with praise for an excellent ninja like Ibiki Morino.
"Ha—"
Ibiki Morino was surprised: "A person with your personality, inviting others to execute justice alongside you? Ikeizumi, you seem to have changed a lot. This change is a positive one for you, and for the Absolute Justice you believe in."
"When did this change begin?"
Ikeizumi Uchiha paused, remaining silent for two seconds, and said, "It started when I acknowledged a certain clumsy little brat who is often reckless but occasionally shows flashes of brilliance. At least, she let me know that—many people in the Ninja World long for [Absolute Justice]."
Ibiki Morino pondered this.
"Have you made up your mind?" Ikeizumi Uchiha asked him.
"...I have."
Ibiki Morino said, "Just make sure that your Uchiha ninja don't discriminate against or isolate an outsider like me. I don't care for office politics; I find it tiresome."
He had agreed.
He had defected.
"Achoo!!!"
Izumi Uchiha, who had just escorted a cynical Konoha villager who had been spreading rumors into the interrogation room, suddenly felt a tickle in her nose.
After an uncontrolled sneeze, she rubbed her stinging nose.
"Caught a cold?"
Izumi muttered to herself, "Anko said I'm now at the level of a Tokubetsu Jōnin, and I specialize in taijutsu. I shouldn't be catching a cold so easily, right?"
SLAM!!!
"Old Man, why won't you approve a medical squad for the Konoha Military Police Force? This is a proposal I spent all night thinking up. In this relatively peaceful era, Military Police Force ninja are constantly in dangerous situations; injuries are a common occurrence."
"If the Military Police Force had their own dedicated medical squad, then Military Police Force ninja wouldn't need to be transported all the way to the Konoha Hospital after being injured. The medical squad within the Military Police Force could treat their own internal ninja."
"That way, the injured could receive faster treatment. Isn't that a perfectly good proposal?"
Tsunade slammed her hand down on the Hokage's desk, leaving a clear palm imprint.
She directed a barrage of questions at Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyelid twitched slightly.
This desk was quite expensive. He had specifically spent a large sum of money to hire a craftsman to build it from precious wood.
But considering the person in front of him was Tsunade... Hiruzen Sarutobi could only suppress the pain in his heart.
He took a deep breath, looked up at the aggressive Tsunade, and asked a soul-searching question: "Tsunade, if I recall correctly, you once told me that you would no longer interfere in Konoha's affairs. Yet your actions these past few days show you interfering repeatedly in Konoha's matters. Why is that?"
Tsunade said expressionlessly: "If people could always hold onto one fixed view, things like 'decisive and unwavering in youth, indecisive and weak in old age' wouldn't happen."
After taking a pointed, passive-aggressive jab.
Tsunade continued, "You can consider me to have resumed my interference in ninja matters. So, the request in my proposal isn't too much, is it?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi rubbed his temples: "The matter isn't as simple as you think. The Military Police Force is already controlled by the Uchiha Clan. This is a very powerful force, and it is the maximum latitude the village can afford to give the Uchiha Clan."
"If such a Military Police Force also possesses a medical squad, Tsunade, who in the village could restrain them in the future? I know you act in the name of justice, but—"
"Managing a village and upholding justice are not the same thing. One needs to learn balance; one needs to learn—"
Tsunade interrupted without hesitation: "Old Man, if you were truly capable of balancing the various factions in the village, do you think the village would be the way it is now? Since you don't have the ability to balance it, why not let the capable people in the village operate freely and give the power of choice to the current generation of young people?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi was taken aback.
"Tsunade, you have become somewhat unfamiliar to me."
Hiruzen Sarutobi said.
Tsunade was silent for a moment, then said, "As I said before, people cannot remain unchanged. I simply want to see a Ninja World that is different from the current one, that is all."
Hiruzen Sarutobi generally understood Tsunade's thoughts.
After Nawaki and Dan died consecutively on the battlefields of the Ninja Wars.
Tsunade had developed a deep aversion to the conflicts of the Ninja World.
She was dissatisfied with the current state of the Ninja World.
But she had never held onto the idea of changing the Ninja World, choosing instead to run from herself. Staying in the short-term districts of the Land of Fire, she had been immersed in gambling, borrowing money, paying debts, and running from debts. Perhaps she was running because she couldn't see the future of the Ninja World.
And now.
Tsunade seemed to have caught a glimpse of the future of the Ninja World in Ikeizumi Uchiha's Absolute Justice, and that future seemed to be exactly what she hoped for in her heart.
Thus, she chose to stop running.
There might have been many convoluted events in Tsunade's heart that he, the Hokage, was unaware of, but this result must be correct.
Even though he believed he understood Tsunade, Hiruzen Sarutobi still firmly shook his head: "No. Konoha allowing the Uchiha Clan to control the Military Police Force is already the maximum limit of tolerance we can afford. If we give the Uchiha Clan more power, the village will descend into chaos."
Tsunade gazed into Hiruzen Sarutobi's cloudy eyes.
"Old Man, even if the Military Police Force ninja are highly likely to have their lives jeopardized because their injuries aren't treated promptly, will you still insist on maintaining a balance that you cannot even maintain?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi reiterated: "Managing a Hidden Village is not as simple as you think. You are still too young."
When Tsunade walked out of the Hokage Office, Shizune, holding Tonton, quickly trotted over.
"Lady Tsunade?"
Upon seeing Tsunade's expression, which looked like someone owed her hundreds of millions of ryō, Shizune felt somewhat uneasy.
She sensed that Lady Tsunade and the Hokage-sama must have had an argument.
"The Old Man refused," Tsunade said expressionlessly. "In his eyes, equipping the Military Police Force with a medical squad poses a great threat to Konoha."
Shizune asked hesitantly, "Then what will you do now, Lady Tsunade?"
Tsunade "hmph'd" and said indifferently: "That Old Man can't control what I want to do in the slightest! Since he, the Hokage, refuses to do it, I'll do it myself. In the end, it's simply because he doesn't trust Ikeizumi Uchiha."
"He believes that if the Military Police Force, controlled by Ikeizumi, gets an independent medical squad, Konoha will completely lose control of the Military Police Force. As if he has any control over them now."
"If he won't make a move, I'll make one myself!"
Looking at Tsunade, whose face had suddenly cleared up and who was showing a renewed fighting spirit, Shizune asked hesitantly: "Lady Tsunade, why are you going to such lengths for that Ikeizumi Uchiha? Your actions are like actively helping him with his agenda."
Tsunade paused.
She said bluntly, "I simply want to see a Ninja World that is different from the current one, a Ninja World where loved ones won't continuously die on the battlefield. And that brat seems capable of achieving that."
"Besides,"
"The Sages have already acknowledged him. Even by their relationship, I am on the same ship as him."
Simultaneously.
The Land of Rain.
"What's going on?!" Kabuto Yakushi frowned, adjusting the glasses on his nose, and muttered, "Why can't I reach Lord Orochimaru? Is Lord Orochimaru currently in seclusion researching some kind of human experiment?"
Kabuto Yakushi intended to transmit the information from the Land of Rain to Orochimaru, but none of his messages received a reply, falling into a void.
A vague, ominous premonition swelled in Kabuto's heart.
"Perhaps I can summon a snake from Ryūchi Cave to ask about the situation; they should know something."
But when Kabuto bit his thumb and prepared to summon his summon, he found that nothing happened at all!
He was bewildered.
"Where is my summoning creature?!"
.............
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