After listening to Kawasaki's words, Itachi nodded thoughtfully.
"I heard the Hyūga are doing well—very few complaints. What do you think, senpai?"
Hearing Itachi switch to calling him senpai, Kawasaki finally felt more at ease. The title of "Vice Clan Head" that Fugaku had given him always felt awkward.
Kawasaki followed Itachi's gaze.
Not far away, two Hyūga clan members from the police force were mediating a quarrel.
A moment later—
"Few complaints, huh?" Kawasaki smirked. "The work of the police force isn't so easy."
Sure enough, the dispute escalated.
One of the men shouted:
"Who the hell are you to meddle in my business? My wife is from the Yamanaka clan!"
The other retorted:
"So what? My name is Shimura. You know what that means? I'm from the family of Elder Shimura Danzō…"
The two Hyūga found themselves caught in the middle, unable to grab either side without causing trouble.
"This gentleman, you were clearly in the wrong first. He was only defending himself," Hyūga Hechuan explained patiently.
After all, Hizashi had instructed: unless the situation is serious, avoid using force to make arrests.
But the drunk man sneered, spitting venom with every word:
"You're just a branch house dog. And you dare to interfere with me?"
That insult pierced the Hyūga's greatest wound.
Hechuan's face darkened. With a flick of his fingers, he struck the drunkard's pressure points.
Thud! The man collapsed instantly, face smashing into the ground, blood pouring from his nose. He wailed:
"You're abusing force! I'll file a complaint!"
Seeing villagers whispering and pointing at him, Hechuan's expression turned ugly. He quickly pulled the drunkard away with his teammate.
Watching the scene, Itachi felt a sense of déjà vu.
He had often seen Shisui face such incidents. But Shisui would always choose to apologize and smooth things over—something many in the clan disapproved of.
Most shopkeepers in Konoha had ties with powerful clans. In any dispute, they'd use their family background to threaten. The Uchiha often found themselves in the same bind.
But unlike the Hyūga, Uchiha were proud and quick-tempered. They would never tolerate such humiliation—if words didn't work, fists soon followed.
Now, with these matters dumped on the Hyūga, it was clear: they weren't handling it much better than the Uchiha.
Itachi's admiration for Kawasaki deepened.
Kawasaki, noticing Itachi's expression, smiled faintly.
Indeed, the Uchiha had faced countless such cases. But unlike others, the Uchiha never indulged them. Their pride refused hypocrisy; they enforced justice directly. Arrests were made, cells filled—background or not.
This was exactly the system engineered by the Second Hokage, Tobirama. True justice meant offending powerful clans. And once you offended them, how could they ever vote for an Uchiha Hokage?
Otherwise, with Fugaku's achievements in the Third Great Ninja War, if not Hokage, surely he should at least have been appointed as an elder.
Even though the Hyūga now patrolled the districts, their handling was clumsier compared to the Uchiha.
The Uchiha would arrest anyone—no matter their backing. But the branch family Hyūga were constrained by the main family, bound by rules, and quickly overwhelmed.
Meanwhile…
Kawasaki had quietly gathered some civilians with business sense from the clan and slipped out of the village.
Leaving Konoha was easy—entering back was hard. Civilians weren't usually inspected.
Many Uchiha without ninja talent lived as ordinary people, unable to awaken the Sharingan their whole lives. Apart from the surname, they were no different from commoners.
In his past life, Kawasaki had worked in the restaurant industry. Lately, he had been busy writing menus and planning recipes. These delicacies would surely be unheard of in this world.
Outside Konoha's barrier
Ao, leading seven elite Mist-nin, advanced swiftly toward Konoha.
"Byakugan!"
The veins around Ao's right eye bulged. His scan revealed: the police force was now Hyūga, not Uchiha.
A surge of joy rose in him.
"So it's true—the Uchiha and Konoha are at odds. Our chance has come! Move out!"
The Hyūga were also a dōjutsu clan, but far less threatening than the Uchiha.
Ao's transplanted Byakugan, refined through endless training, gave him vision far beyond most. He had learned that focusing his vision forward extended its range much farther, while 360° scans shortened it.
Though he had only one Byakugan, his distance perception surpassed others.
"As long as these Hyūga don't bother to check behind them with the Byakugan, we'll get through."
"Stay close. There are Hyūga patrols ahead."
"Yes, Ao-sama!"
With silent hand signals, the Mist squad slipped around the trees.
Hyūga Shinsuke was patrolling with his comrades, activating his Byakugan periodically. From the front, everything appeared calm.
He didn't notice a squad creeping up from his blind spot.
Just as he turned, the Mist-nin shifted with him.
Ao smirked. As expected, Shinsuke's focus remained forward.
Closing in, the Mist squad lunged from behind.
"Careful!" Shinsuke cried.
A blade gleamed in the fog, slashing toward one of his comrades—Kobayashi Yūsuke.
"—ghhh!"
Shinsuke reacted a moment too late. Yūsuke clutched his throat and fell lifeless.
"Damn it!"
From the mist stepped a bandaged swordsman with a massive blade.
"It's Zabuza!"
"The Silent Killing Technique!"
Shinsuke immediately widened his Byakugan, scanning in every direction. Chakra signatures surged around him—fierce, merciless.
Before his remaining teammates could fire signal flares, they were cut down, blood soaking the forest floor.
One by one, shadows emerged, clad in the attire of the Hidden Mist's assassination corps.
At their lead—Ao, with his covered right eye.
"It's you! How dare you trespass in Konoha!" Shinsuke snarled, taking his Gentle Fist stance.
But his heart sank heavily.
Ao—the man who had stolen a Byakugan during the Third Shinobi War. His name was engraved on Konoha's most wanted list.
An enemy of this caliber was no easy foe.
Ao sneered from a branch above.
"Too bad you're only branch family. If you were main family, I'd gain another Byakugan today."
Shinsuke clenched his teeth. Of course no Hyūga main family member would waste their time patrolling the outskirts.
Surrounded by eight Mist-nin, each radiating the chakra of jōnin, Shinsuke knew—the weakest among them was Zabuza himself.
Today… escape was nearly impossible.