"So, in that case, Shisui, you belong to the other faction?"
"Yes." Uchiha Shisui nodded. "We believe we should actively communicate with the Village, let the Village understand us, and solve problems through peaceful means."
"Then for now, let's call your faction the Dove faction and Elder Setsuna's faction the Hawk faction."
"Dove faction and Hawk faction?" Uchiha Shisui's eyes lit up.
The peaceful Dove faction and the combative Hawk faction; this description was quite apt.
Aokawa really is a person with many ideas.
Aokawa then asked, "So Shisui, have you ever thought about what would happen if, after communicating, the Village still doesn't understand you?"
"Impossible!" Uchiha Shisui's expression froze, and he subconsciously shouted out loud.
He immediately realized his loss of composure, apologized, and continued, "At least Hokage-sama will understand us."
As soon as he said this, Aokawa knew that the old man, the Third Hokage, had already brainwashed Uchiha Shisui.
In that case, talking about things like seeking peace through struggle wouldn't be appropriate—at least not with his current strength.
Although he got along well with Shisui, it had only been a short time. If the Third hadn't contacted Shisui yet, he could have mentioned it subtly.
But now... "Do you also think, Aokawa, that the Uchiha's method of seizing power through force is viable?"
Seeing that Aokawa remained silent, Uchiha Shisui asked anxiously.
"No, I don't think much of that path." Aokawa shook his head. "Setting aside the fact that a coup would cause war, purely from the perspective of combat power, the Uchiha have no hope."
"Aokawa, you..." Although he disagreed with Elder Setsuna's views, hearing that the Uchiha's combat power was insufficient made Shisui instinctively want to retort.
No matter how gentle his personality was, the pride of the Uchiha was hidden in his bones.
"Shisui, don't argue yet. Does the Uchiha Clan still have a Ninja with strength like Madara-sama?" Aokawa asked.
Uchiha Shisui shook his head.
"Since there isn't, how many Jonin and Chunin does the Uchiha have now? How many does the Village have? How can you dare to think of pitting a single clan against the strength of the entire Village?"
"I..." Uchiha Shisui opened his mouth but didn't know what to say.
He opposed a forceful takeover only because he felt it would start a war where both the Uchiha and the Village would lose.
But with Aokawa's reminder, it seemed the Uchiha didn't even have the qualifications for a mutual defeat.
In terms of the number of Chunin and Jonin, even if an Uchiha with the Sharingan could take on two opponents, there was still no hope; they might even be completely wiped out in the conflict.
He was silent for a long time, but the look in his eyes grew firmer: "In that case, a peaceful resolution is the only way. I must commit myself even more to our faction's philosophy."
"How do you plan to achieve this 'peaceful resolution'?"
"Persuade Elder Setsuna to give up the armed coup, unify the voices within the clan, and show the Hokage that the Uchiha have absolutely no intention of rebelling!" Uchiha Shisui said solemnly. "For this, I am willing to serve as a bridge of communication between the Village and the clan."
Aokawa's eyes widened upon hearing this.
"That's it?"
"Are the Uchiha all this naive?"
Two factions: one so extreme they think they have the strength to seize Konoha's power by force, and the other completely compromising, pouring the entire clan's effort into merely pleasing Hokage-sama.
He seriously suspected that Kaguya's naive sweetness had been passed down as well.
After all, in the entire Uchiha Clan, the only one who could be considered to have a political mind might be Uchiha Izuna.
Even someone like Itachi—his intelligence was mostly reflected in combat and other areas, while politically he remained very naive, allowing Danzo to trick him into exterminating his own clan.
Uchiha Shisui, seeing Aokawa fall silent again, hurriedly asked, "Is there a problem with this view too?"
"Shisui, why do you think the Uchiha and the Village have reached this point?" Aokawa countered.
"Because Elder Setsuna and the others are unwilling to let go and want to reclaim the Uchiha's former glory, causing the rift between the Uchiha and the Village to grow wider and wider, leading to more and more rejection from the people." Uchiha Shisui answered without hesitation.
Aokawa shook his head.
"Wrong again?" Uchiha Shisui asked urgently.
"You have to think: is it because the Uchiha want a coup that the Village rejects you..."
"...or is it because the Village has long rejected the Uchiha..."
"...that voices calling for a coup arose within the clan?"
These words were like a heavy hammer striking Uchiha Shisui's head, leaving his mind momentarily blank.
He had always felt that as long as Elder Setsuna was dealt with and they pledged loyalty to Hokage-sama, the Village would gradually accept the Uchiha Clan.
He had never considered the sequence of the two.
But today, Aokawa told him that the cause and effect were reversed.
This... the impact of this was simply too great.
It was completely different from what he had heard from Hokage-sama and several Assistant Elders.
Aokawa pressed his advantage: "Have you ever thought that what the Hawk faction essentially want to reclaim isn't just power, but more so the status and respect their clan once had in the Village?"
"If the Uchiha didn't recognize Konoha, why would they have joined in the first place? Why was it that back then, Madara-sama couldn't take a single person with him? Since they did recognize it, why do they want a coup today?"
"Yeah, why?" Uchiha Shisui's mind was in a whirl.
He suddenly thought of something.
When he chatted with some Elders in the clan who didn't participate in affairs, they only mentioned being alienated by villagers, being deliberately picked on in mission reports, and the circulating views about the "Uchiha's dangerous nature," but they never mentioned a coup.
Could it be that in their era, there weren't many people who wanted a coup?
Maybe no one even thought of a coup!
He suppressed these thoughts and decided that after returning to the clan this time, he would properly check the clan records and learn more from those Elders.
He looked up at Aokawa and asked his question: "Since it wasn't a coup that led to the rejection, then what was it? The Uchiha couldn't possibly be rejected by everyone for no reason."
"There are many reasons for this, including human instigation, but the main factor is the Konoha Military Police Force."
"The Konoha Military Police Force? Is it wrong for the Uchiha to guard the Village and eliminate evil for the good of the people?" Uchiha Shisui frowned in confusion.
"Naturally, it's not wrong. But the problem is that the Konoha Military Police Headquarters has too broad a jurisdiction. From Village defense and catching spies to patrolling for security and resolving street disputes—everything falls within its scope of responsibility."
Aokawa then told Shisui about what he had seen at the school gate earlier: a vendor who merely talked back a bit was directly hauled back to the Konoha Military Police Force by an Uchiha.
"When it comes to fighting bravely and keeping enemies out of the country, the Uchiha are second to none."
"But when it comes to flexible law enforcement and finding a balance between the law and human sentiment, can the Uchiha, with their intense loves and hates, truly manage it?"
..."}],
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