Chapter 28: They Don't Thank the Uchiha
Hyuga Kiyonari placed the food box on the table. The instant he lifted the lid, rich, savory fragrance filled the entire space.
"Is that chicken soup?" Tsunade's eyes lit up, leaning closer with delight. "How did you know this is my favorite?"
"Perhaps... just a coincidence."
Tsunade took a deep breath of the enticing aroma, impatiently ladling out a full bowl. After blowing on it gently, she took a small sip. The warm broth slid down her throat, soothing the burning aftermath left by alcohol.
She sighed with satisfaction. "Delicious. This soup is really well-made. Where did you buy it?"
Hyuga Kiyonari's lips curved slightly with pride. "Guess?"
Tsunade studied him somewhat suspiciously, eyes narrowing into uneven slits as she probed tentatively. "Don't tell me... you made it yourself?"
"Of course," Kiyonari admitted readily. "After all, I live alone. I have to learn to take care of my own stomach."
Tsunade drank several more spoonfuls, the satisfied expression on her face growing deeper as she praised, "Excellent, excellent."
After one bowl of hot soup, Tsunade's somewhat listless post-hangover spirit visibly revived. Her pale cheeks flushed with healthy color.
"Much better."
She released a long breath, as if setting down a thousand-pound burden. When she rose to ladle a second bowl, her gaze inadvertently swept across Kiyonari's face, sudden understanding dawning in her heart.
If she hadn't received that drift bottle a week ago, she might be throwing chips at some casino right now. If Shizune hadn't gone to the yakiniku shop that afternoon, she might have missed the chance to learn about this child.
One coincidence after another, thread by thread weaving together, ultimately bringing him before her.
Whether receiving the drift bottle slightly earlier or later, any misalignment in these connections might have caused her to miss this bowl of chicken soup.
So this was what changing timelines meant, and how parallel worlds were born.
From the moment she received the drift bottle, every Tsunade had become unique.
Tsunade picked up a piece of chicken and placed it in her mouth, chewing carefully. "Kiyonari, what do you know about the Uchiha?"
Kiyonari thought seriously for a while before speaking. "The Uchiha clan... To be honest, my impression of them is rather complicated."
"Complicated? How so?"
"From what I understand, the vast majority of Uchiha clan members join the Military Police Force after graduating from the academy. The Police Force enforces village law, and that role itself is rather thankless. Combined with having no Uchiha in other positions, most villagers only ever interact with Uchiha who are Police Force members."
Tsunade nodded thoughtfully, signaling Kiyonari to continue.
"Moreover, Sensei, you should understand the Uchiha. Their personalities are generally rather proud—not easy to talk to. During law enforcement, this personality trait gets amplified."
"That's certainly true."
Tsunade recalled seeing Uchiha Fugaku yesterday, feeling somewhat surprised. In her subconscious, the Uchiha should have disdained participating in such a banquet—especially one held by a Senju clan member.
Kiyonari didn't stop, continuing. "They naturally prefer keeping stern faces. During law enforcement, this gives people a sense of cold, impersonal distance."
"What's wrong with that?" Tsunade asked. "Law enforcers should be exactly like that. Only by being impersonal can they ensure fairness."
"From a law enforcement perspective, there's indeed no problem." He paused, as if choosing his words carefully. "But I just said—the Uchiha that villagers interact with are mostly Police Force members. Over time... the villagers' impression of the Police Force expands to encompass the entire Uchiha clan."
"The Police Force being impersonal becomes 'the Uchiha are impersonal.' The Police Force being difficult becomes 'all Uchiha are difficult.' Add in the enforcer's work, and that's why villagers isolate and ostracize the Uchiha."
Tsunade fell into contemplation before continuing her questioning. "So, do the Uchiha engage in any corruption or abuse of power during enforcement?"
"Not at all." Kiyonari shook his head. "Honestly, the Uchiha are quite fair in law enforcement. No matter who the person is, if they violate regulations, the Uchiha dare to arrest them, dare to punish them."
"As enforcers, the Police Force is both strict and fair. That's because the Uchiha's proud nature makes them disdain accepting bribes and unwilling to bow to power. But... most ordinary villagers can hardly realize how hard-won this fairness is."
"Since the village's founding, the Uchiha have shouldered Police Force duties. Villagers have grown accustomed to Police Force enforcement. In their view, this fairness is simply natural—anyone could do it."
Tsunade understood. "They won't thank the Uchiha for being fair."
"Exactly." Kiyonari spread his hands somewhat helplessly. "Villagers only focus on how severely the Uchiha punished someone, how impersonally they enforced the law. They remember the places where the Uchiha made them uncomfortable, but don't remember the efforts the Uchiha made to maintain village order."
Tsunade frowned. "Put that way, the Uchiha clan is rather wronged."
"Not only that," Kiyonari continued. "The Uchiha clan's personality itself is a double-edged sword. While ensuring fair enforcement, it also exacerbates this conflict."
"They're too proud—disdaining explaining their actions to villagers, unwilling to lower themselves to communicate. In their view, if what they're doing is right, they don't need to explain to anyone."
"Moreover, the more villagers ostracize the Uchiha, the more they huddle together internally for warmth. This clustering further reduces communication, intensifying the division. It even makes villagers feel the Uchiha exist independently outside the village."
Tsunade's expression grew grave. "Independently outside the village?"
Though every clan in Konoha had their own compound and residential areas, no family was like the Uchiha—rarely interacting with other clans, rarely participating in village collective activities.
Combined with their enforcer work, this meant the Uchiha had virtually no friends in the village, no supporters. Once unfavorable public opinion arose, absolutely no one would step forward to speak for them.
Wasn't the Nine-Tails attack the best example?
Leadership suspected the Uchiha. Villagers ostracized the Uchiha.
This sustained cold violence, even applied to a single person, would be enough to drive them mad.
What about inflicting it on the entire Uchiha clan—a group with inherently unstable mental traits? And ironically, for them, the more easily emotions spiraled out of control, the more mentally unstable they became, the more powerful they grew.
Moreover, they worshipped intensely this power called the Sharingan.
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