After the formal pleasantries, Fugaku finally got to the main topic. His hands were folded carefully oable.

  "Hiashi, on behalf of the Uchiha , I sincerely ihe Hyūga to ahe Police Force. What do you think?"

  "This is a signifit matter, Fugaku." Hiashi didn't give a direct response, his expression remaining well-trolled.

  But Masashi khat Hiashi was deeply tempted.

  Overwhelmingly tempted.

  Bck Zetsu was a vilin, but oh principles. When it came to teag, he really put his heart into it, demonstrating great professiohics.

  Even though Masashi hadn't activated his Sharingan, he could clearly sehe intense chakra fluctuations in Hiashi.

  He pletely uood Hiashi. Being the head of the Hyūga was no easy task. Every decision carried the weight of turies of tradition and the immediate needs of hundreds of members.

  The division of the to main and branch families could easily be summarized as: "Thanks a lot, entire family."

  To appease the distent of the branch family, the main family had to ensure parity in material living standards and training resources, which required signifit expenditure—a lot of expenditure.

  The cost of maintaining appearances alone was huge, let alohe actual training expenses. And it wasn't just because the Hyūga had many people.

  When it came to training, not all teiques were costly.

  For example, elemental ninjutsu of various types generally didn't incur much expense, provided the ninjutsu didn't require the purchase of scrolls. Maintaining proper nutrition was suffit for normal training without requiring additional costs.

  Genjutsu followed a simir principle: good food and sleep trumped everything else.

  Even advanced bloodline limit teiques and a plethora of Yin-Yang Release teiques fitted this category.

  Leaving aside the middle ground, the truly costly practices were advaaijutsu and ninja body teiques, especially the tter.

  Ninja body teiques, categorized uaijutsu, had a low entry point but could bee incredibly high-end at advanced levels.

  These teiques involved using chakra tthen specific body parts or ons, allowing for attacks without hand signs.

  Strengthening ons was standard practice among jonin.

  But any teique that involved directly augmenting the body came with three unavoidable "highs": high risk, high cost, and high difficulty.

  Without the ability to ter these risks, it was best to steer clear for the sake of one's life and wallet.

  The Hyūga 's Gentle Fist, despite the "fist" in its name, wasn't simple taijutsu—it ure high-end ninja body teique.

  Masashi was well aware of just how terrifying the Gentle Fist could bee. He also knew how challenging it was to master it at that level. And how much it drained a 's resources to maintain that level of expertise.

  He had once seen a Hyūga expert "help" an oppo open the Eight Gates, causing their body to explode and die.

  He had also witnessed a Gentle Fist user, while perf the Palm Rotation, sweep through enemies like a storm, only to pop a pill for recovery and sweep back again. Each of those pills probably ore than a month's sary for a regur jonin.

  The Hyūga were incredibly powerful.

  While their high-end forces didn't reach the level of "using a Susanoo," they were by no means weak.

  However, i decades, the 's reputation had signifitly deed, rgely due to a severe cash flow problem. The Hyūga had plenty of fixed assets but limited liquidity.

  Their primary source of ine roperty rental.

  The Uchiha, oher hand, held a monopoly over the Police Force, a military department. This gave them access to numerous operational els, with their main sources of ine being explosive tags and lending.

  But they had no friends in Konoha.

  Aside from deeper systemic factors, monopolizing this authority was a key reason.

  In truth, the Uchiha 's cash flow wasn't always this strong. In the past, it was simir to the Hyūga's—heavy on fixed assets but g liquidity.

  However, after Masashi returned from the Kiri battlefield, his voice carried weight among the 's elders. He began advog for operational transformation, pushing for an asset-light strategy.

  Along the way, he criticized the 's longstanding asset structure and financial practices.

  The memories of those heated discussions still rang clear in his mind.

  "Loan sharking? 't pay it back, so you take their house? Are you the legendary yakuza?"

  "Why hoard so many fixed assets? Do maintenance costs e free?" The arguments had been fierce, but necessary.

  Over the past two to three years, Masashi had beelessly ref the .

  Like other ninja elders, the Uchiha elders were stubbornly traditional, believing that tradition was ily superior.

  However, they had one redeeming quality: a willio indulge the promising younger geion. They'd even go as far as saying, "To prove you're wrong, I'll go along with your pn for a while."

  As a result, the Uchiha had now bee a financial leader in the Land of Fire.

  They had diversified into finang leases, short-term loans, ultra-short-term loans, bonds, collective finang, regional preferred iments, and eveual bonds, all thriving.

  The traditional high-i loans? They'd stopped that ages ago. It wasn't worth their time, and they'd even filled past deficits.

  They still collected "prote fees" in ercial districts but only targeted specific establishments. The Uchiha kly what these establishments were up to, and without some payment, these "monsters and demons" would wreak havoc.

  With this strong financial bag, the Uchiha could afford to open up the Police Force.

  members, uanding the current state of the 's finances, were merely fused about the opening rather than ht opposed.

  This foundation provided Fugaku with cards to py during this iation.

  He uood Hiashi's hesitation well. The weight of responsibility was something both heads shared intimately.

  There was a time when being the Uchiha head wasn't much easier than leading the Hyūga.

  "Hiashi, as leaders, let me be ho with you," he said. "Relying solely on oodwill is insuffit. We are, after all, ninja s."

  The room seemed to grow quieter.

  Not long ago, he had held the same mi.

  "Our will open up the Police Force, but this openness has its limits. In truth, there are only so many positions avaible. A rger team would be unmanageable."

  "Oh? Please eborate." Hiashi's expression remained ral, but his eyes sharpened with i.

  "Indeed, a is no joke. This level of colboration would naturally extend across all dimensions. Our external els will also be shared with the Hyūga."

  "Truly?"

  The other Hyūga members pricked up their ears.

  "Correo tree stand alone, Hiashi," Fugaku said meaningfully.

  "We're not at that poi, Fugaku," Hiashi said, his expression ging.

  But the seed had been pnted.

  The Hyūga faced the same situation as the Uchiha—they weren't part of the core circle.

  It wasn't due to a ck of deakers but because they weren't included iwork. Superficially, the Hyūga seemed more powerful than the Nara.

  Iy, they weren't.

  The Ino-Shika-Chō alliance, tered around the Nara, had far more ninja, including jonin. Their close ties to the Hokage's administration gave them signifit influen the medical corps, allowing them to leverage these els for medical busihroughout the Land of Fire.

  The alliahrived through shared els.

  In trast, the Hyūga was in dee.

  Their goal of being the Hokage's trusted ninja was, at its core, a bid to reverse this trend.

  The development of a ninja required manpower, finances, and teiques—all equally indispensable.

  The Hyūga didn't ck manpower or teiques but were severely short on financial resources. The main-branch system further forced them to divide resources, leading to genuine "equality"—the equality of shared hardship.

  Meanwhile, the Uchiha cked nothing.

  Even under Hokage suppression, they tio produce talent, adapting and evolving like the fire that symbolized their .

  When Shisui made his mark, the Uchiha 's enviro was far harsher than it was today, with the Hokage fa almost ering them.

  Hiashi uood Fugaku's i. Everyone from the Hyūga present uood his i. Not only did they uand, but they also agreed with it.

  However, agreeing didn't necessarily mean the Hyūga was ready to bind themselves to the Uchiha.

  "As long as you uand," Fugaku said, not pressing him further. "No matter the circumstances, our two s have always stood on the foundation of dōjutsu. If we do not support each other, we would truly bee the ughingstock of outsiders."

  Hiashi nodded.

  After a moment's thought, he carefully chose his words. "Fugaku, may I ask—this time, will the Uchiha ly extend an invitation to the Hyūga?"

  "Of course not," Fugaku replied. "With just our two s, we may not be able to fend off all the tigers and wolves out there."

  "Tigers and wolves?" Hiashi's expression shifted slightly. "The Uchiha have three Kage-level batants. What sort of tigers and wolves would dare pounce?"

  "Our manpower is limited," Fugaku replied calmly. His eyes swept across the room. "There will always be pces we 't cover. To borrohrase from the younger geion: Evero is only as strong as its weakest link."

  "That's aatement," Hiashi shook his head. "You're being too pessimistic."

  "Hiashi-sama," Masashi suddenly interjected.

  Everyone's attention shifted to him.

  Fugaku didn't stop Masashi from speaking. In his opinion, Masashi would surely be more tactful when addressing the Hyūga. At least, he hoped he would be.

  "Masashi," Hiashi said respectfully, "please, go ahead."

  "I wouldn't dare presume," Masashi said. "I was just curious about ohing. Does the current Hyūga still have members capable of unsealing a person's tesu?"

  The gathered Hyūga ninjas stiffened. Several elders exged quices.

  In the current era, even within the Konoha ninja forces, it was generally believed that the Hyūga excelled in striking chakra points and blog their oppo's chakra, perhaps plemented by their Palm Rotation.

  But the Hyūga themselves khis was only one aspect of their Gentle Fist.

  The fact that they relied solely on the Gentle Fist style feions was due to more profound reasons.

  Masashi's question was direuch so that it cut to the core of the Hyūga. How he knew about other applications of Gentle Fist wasn't even the point; his question struck at a truth the Hyūga couldn't deny.

  The unfortable reality was that no one in the Hyūga today could achieve such precision ieiques.

  Hiashi, as the head, admitted it straightforwardly. "No, the current Hyūga cks anyone parable to talents like you or Shisui."

  "I'm not a genius, Hiashi-sama," Masashi replied. "I've simply never faced material obstacles in my training."

  Shisui was indeed a genius.

  But Masashi? He truly wasn't. He ook detours, and he never cked resources.

  True geniuses were incredibly rare. Even major natural disasters happened more often—you might see a devastating flood this year and a terrible drought the .

  But a true genius? You could go geions without seeing one.

  A s kept waiting for the genius to save them. Any that built its future on such wishful thinking was setting itself up for failure.

  Sooner or ter, they'd need a genius, and none would appear.

  "Masashi-kun, you're too modest," Hiashi said skeptically.

  Even Fugaku didn't believe Masashi's humility. To him, it sounded like the infamous false modesty of the elite.

  Cough.

  Fugaku cleared his throat, signaling Masashi to to down.

  "Hiashi-sama, I tend to indulge in vanity," he said with a sigh. "Humility doesn't suit me. Perhaps you're unaware, but my initial training path wasn't even aowledged by my . Yet the ever withheld resources from me and always supported me to the fullest extent possible."

  "I see…" Hiashi houghtfully. "Then, Fugaku, if this time's ele…"

  "Hiashi, you misuand," Fugaku interrupted. "This matter is strictly between our two s and has nothing to do with the eley participation in the ele is simply to take advantage of the occasion to discuss this matter."

  Hiashi was taken aback.

  He could tell that Fugaku was being ho.

  As someone who had served as head for years, he could easily distinguish truth from lies.

  For a moment, he felt admiration.

  "Perhaps I was beiy," Hiashi admitted sincerely. "Your vision is far broader than mine."

  "Not at all," Fugaku said. "I've merely been more fortuhan you."

  Hiashi nodded in aowledgment, then turo the elders behind him. In their eyes, he could see the calcutions already beginning.

  "What are your thoughts on Fugaku's proposal?"

  The Hyūga elders wore solemn expressions.

  "The Uchiha's financial strength ot be ignored," one elder murmured softly to another.

  "But we trust their long-term iions?" came the equally quiet response.

  " we afford not to?" a third said.

  But none of them uttered the cliché, "Let us sider this for a few days and give you an aer."

  All of them were seasoned veterans of the shinobi world and wouldn't insult others' intelligence by saying such meaningless words.

  They knew Fugaku wasn't here to deceive or vass votes. He had thhly thought this through and simply used this opportunity to have an ear discussion.

  The Uchiha had dispyed this level of siy. The Hyūga could not afford to appear relut.

  "Fugaku-sama, may we deliberate briefly?"

  "Of course, as you should," Fugaku replied courteously.

  At the same time, he silently thanked himself for nisuna along. If that old man were here, he'd probably blurt out, "Deliberate what? Let's get this done already!"

  Sometimes, he couldn't help but wonder if Setsuna had been influenced by Masashi. His bluntness seemed to be growing worse over the years.

  Masashi's infamous i of demanding funds from Setsuna was still a well-known story within the Uchiha.

  Subsequently, a group of younglings tried to imitate him. Unfortunately, they cked Masashi's rhetorical skill. Not only did they fail to get any funds, but they also got thhly scolded.

  Tetsuka had even been reduced to tears back then. Sihat day, he'd taken to raising koi in his backyard pond, g the peaceful fish helped calm his nerves.

  At least something good came from his failed attempt at imitating Masashi's boldness.

  As the Hyūga elders deliberated, Fugaku and Hiashi took the ce to chat casually.

  "This isn't just aion for you—it's an alliance," Hiashi remarked. "The Police Force, after all, is a department of Konoha. Your approach risks creating unnecessary troversies."

  "We'll follow the proper procedures," Fugaku assured with a smile. "The Police Force belongs to Konoha, and we're fully aware of that."

  "Perhaps," Hiashi chuckled. "But a few years ago, you wouldn't have phrased it that way."

  He g Masashi. If we had someone like him...

  The ges in the Uchiha were evident to all. Who wouldn't pay attention to Masashi, the catalyst for this transformation?

  His reputation preceded him, not just for his ice teiques or his feats in the Kiri battlefield, but for how he had redefihe Uchiha 's approach.

  The Hyūga had purchased substantial assets from the Uchiha over the past years.

  A year ago, the Uchiha had spearheaded the creation of a financial association among the Land of Fire's major lending houses. Today, the association's market rates were setting national lending standards.

  If the Hyūga had someone like Masashi... No, even if they did, they cked the els to enter sudustries.

  In Konoha, only the Uchiha had such es.

  To put it bluntly, any ninja running businesses outside the vilge likely oortion of their operations to loans brokered through this association.

  The Uchiha had effectively bee the rgest creditor among Konoha's s.

  Everyone khis. But no one could replicate it—the system was tailored to the Uchiha's unique position.

  Whether or not Fugaku succeeded in being Hokage Advisor, everyone was vinced of ohing: Masashi would be the head.

  Even if he refused, the Uchiha would push him into the role.

  Why?

  Because he was a money-making genius. Thank goodness he wasn't the one running for Hokage Advisor.