A few days later, in the Office of the Head of the Konoha Military Police Force.
"So you just came to see me openly like this?"
Leaning back comfortably in the chair behind his desk, Uchiha Ren looked at Namikaze Minato, who was seated across from him.
Truth be told, the technological development of the Naruto world was incredibly strange.
In areas such as warfare, information transmission, and transportation, technology lagged far behind. Yet in certain fields like medicine and entertainment, it was surprisingly advanced.
In the era depicted in Shippuden, Orochimaru had even created things like Mechanical Naruto and Mechanical Hokage. Rockets and missiles existed as well. In medicine, research had already reached the genetic level, with cloning technology and regenerative techniques appearing.
And yet the entire world couldn't even produce something as simple as a handgun.
Information and entertainment were equally bizarre.
By the time of the Boruto era, televisions, computers, livestreams, and broadcast systems had all appeared. Even Seventh Hokage Uzumaki Naruto had a computer sitting on his office desk.
Yet when Naruto needed to send messages… he still relied on messenger hawks.
The technological tree of this world was crooked beyond belief.
Take Ren 's current office as an example. Electric lights, desk lamps, sofa chairs, safes, glassware—modern conveniences were all present.
Yet the way everyday work was handled remained extremely traditional.
It was both advanced and archaic at the same time.
Uchiha Ren was already eager to properly "correct" this bizarre world.
Minato pulled a chair over and sat down across from Ren with a smile.
"That just proves how successful your plan was. Shimura Danzō's situation has made the Third Hokage unable to sit still any longer."
"I'm here under the Third Hokage's orders. Even if someone sees me meeting you, they won't suspect anything."
A few days earlier, Minato had agreed to Hiruzen Sarutobi's proposal inside the Hokage's office. However, he did not immediately come to see Ren .
Instead, he waited.
Only after Danzō had spent several days actively appearing throughout the village—leaving himself with no way to retreat—did Minato finally come to the Konoha Military Police headquarters, urged repeatedly by Hiruzen.
During these past few days, Danzō had visited many of the village's clans and appeared in several public venues, ensuring that people throughout the village learned about him.
They heard of his achievements:
Direct disciple of the Second Hokage, Tobirama SenjuHokage Advisor of KonohagakureA Konoha hero who had repeatedly led shinobi to victory during the First and Second Shinobi World Wars
In short, Danzō had brought out every accomplishment from his life that could be presented in the light.
He successfully built momentum for himself and became one of the most popular candidates for the position of Fourth Hokage.
At the same time, the incident where Uchiha Ren openly confronted the "Konoha's Council of Elders" in the Hokage Tower conference room quickly spread throughout the village, causing quite a stir.
Under the deliberate guidance of certain people, the Uchiha clan's role as one of Konoha's founders—along with many historical stories—began circulating widely.
Topics such as:
The land where villagers now lived had originally been provided by the Uchiha clan free of chargeHow many Uchiha shinobi had sacrificed themselves for KonohaThe clan's heroic performance on the battlefield
Gradually, these discussions were guided toward the Konoha Military Police Force.
With one key statement, the narrative shifted:
"The Uchiha shinobi of the Military Police are not cold and heartless—they are simply enforcing the law impartially."
This effectively redirected the long-standing conflict between the Uchiha clan and Konoha's civilians toward the village's current legal system instead.
Soon afterward, the discussion returned to Ren 's confrontation with the Konoha leadership and his proposal to revise Konoha's laws.
Now, many civilians in the village had begun to change their views of the Uchiha clan.
While criticizing the existing legal framework, they also started calling for reforms to Konoha's laws.
Inside the Hokage Tower, Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others clearly understood that all of this was orchestrated by the Uchiha.
Yet they took no action.
There were two reasons.
First, legal reform had already become an unstoppable trend. In Hiruzen's view, the additional prestige the Uchiha gained from it was merely icing on the cake—hardly worth expending significant effort to counter.
Second, Hiruzen wanted Minato to gain the support of the Uchiha clan, so there was no reason to offend them at this moment.
Thus, Hiruzen chose not to interfere and instead focused all his energy on his political struggle with Danzō.
As for Danzō, the situation was even worse.
He was already the weaker party in his confrontation with Hiruzen. He simply didn't have the spare energy to deal with the Uchiha clan.
Therefore, while Konoha's leadership engaged in open and covert struggles over the position of Fourth Hokage, the Uchiha clan quietly underwent a magnificent transformation amid the turmoil.
Ren was not surprised when he heard this.
He simply asked:
"So what conditions did that old man Hiruzen offer?"
Minato didn't beat around the bush.
"One Captain position in the Konoha Interrogation Division, two ANBU slots, and positions in the Border Guard Forces: one Battalion Commander, two Company Commanders, and the establishment of three platoons."
Ren frowned slightly.
The offer was both expected—and somewhat surprising.
Each of the three conditions represented different kinds of interests.
The Interrogation Division captain carried real authority and was considered an influential position within the village.
Meanwhile, the ANBU were the Hokage's personal forces. Although they held little formal authority, their political significance was extraordinary.
These two offers did not surprise Ren .
The Interrogation Division position held power but little profit, and Hiruzen often used such roles to win over small and medium-sized clans.
As for the ANBU—while they were elite—once someone joined, their assignments were entirely controlled by the Hokage.
There was even the possibility that Hiruzen would brainwash them and turn them into spies planted within the Uchiha clan, much like Uchiha Itachi in the original timeline.
From Hiruzen's perspective, these conditions cost very little.
Yet for the Uchiha clan, they appeared extremely generous.
However, the final condition caught Ren 's attention.
A Battalion Commander, two Company Commanders, and three platoons within the Border Guard Forces.
That was unexpected.
Besides its regular departments, Konoha actually maintained a very special military unit:
The Border Guard Forces.
As the name suggested, these troops were stationed year-round at outposts along the borders of the Land of Fire, tasked with guarding against sudden enemy incursions.
The total number of border troops remained at around four thousand shinobi, scattered across major transportation routes along the national border.
They operated on a rotational system.
During wartime, the Border Guard designation was dissolved and its personnel were incorporated into nearby combat units.
But during peacetime, serving in the Border Guard was an extremely lucrative assignment.
Most of the time, their duties consisted of little more than patrolling and maintaining watch.
They didn't need to take missions, yet they still received a stable and generous monthly salary.
The benefits from these positions had long been divided among the major clans of Konoha.
Now, Hiruzen Sarutobi was actually willing to hand over a portion of those positions to the Uchiha clan as part of a deal.
It could only be described as a truly costly concession.
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