The next day, dawn had barely broken. The morning fog had not yet lifted, but a new tension had settled over the Uchiha clan grounds.
Chiya stood before the Great Elder's residence. Behind him were more than twenty elite members of the Military Police Force.
Every one of them was an Uchiha clansman. Their expressions were solemn. They were ready.
"Knock."
Chiya said flatly.
A police force member stepped forward and knocked hard on the gate.
A moment later, the door was pulled open a crack. A servant poked his head out, still drowsy with sleep.
"Who is it, this early... hm? Is, is that the Clan Head?!"
Before the words were even finished, his gaze swept over the dense crowd outside the gate. He instantly flinched in fright and fell silent.
"Step aside."
Chiya's eyes were ice cold. His tone left no room for argument.
The servant did not dare block the way and quickly moved to the side.
Chiya strode in. The Military Police Force members followed close behind. Their footsteps fell in unison, striking the quiet courtyard like a war drum.
Great Elder Uchiha Yamauma was jolted awake by the noise. He threw on his outer robe and hurried out of his bedroom.
He had barely reached the corridor when he saw Chiya standing at the center of the courtyard with a crowd of clansmen, radiating a forceful presence.
His face darkened. He shouted in anger.
"Uchiha Chiya! What do you think you are doing? If you have a grievance against me, call a clan meeting and raise it there!"
Chiya looked at him with calm eyes. The cold air around him seemed to drop the temperature of the whole area by several degrees.
"Great Elder, still as bold as ever, I see."
The Great Elder felt a tremor in his chest under that gaze, but quickly forced his unease back down and shouted.
"Barging into my residence with a crowd at the crack of dawn. Have you no sense of order!"
Chiya let out a cold laugh.
"Order? I am the order."
He raised his hand. The police force members behind him stepped forward immediately, dragging several bound Uchiha clansmen into view.
These men were dirty and disheveled, their faces full of fear. They were the police force members Chiya had secretly investigated the night before and found to be connected to the Great Elder.
When the Great Elder saw these men, his pupils shrank sharply. He snapped.
"Chiya, you have only been Clan Head for a few days and you are already arresting my people as you please? What did they do wrong?"
Chiya walked slowly until he was standing directly in front of the Great Elder.
"Good that you admit they are your people. They have already confessed. You ordered them to deliberately neglect the patrol coverage of the Senju Clan's zone and let the Kumogakure spies slip through."
The Great Elder's expression shifted.
"Absurd! What evidence do you have? You think a few confessions are enough to slander me?"
Chiya reached into his robe and pulled out a scroll, then unrolled it slowly.
"This is the activity timeline for the Kumogakure spies provided by ANBU last night. Each of their previous movements lines up exactly with the patrol schedule of the men you assigned.
And furthermore..."
Chiya pulled out a ledger and threw it directly at the Great Elder's face, then said coldly.
"This is a record of your finances over the past several years. Your assets are many times greater than what any ordinary elder would have.
A large portion of that wealth has no clear source of origin. Great Elder, would you care to explain?"
Chiya watched the Great Elder's expression shift like a changing mask, then continued.
"Great Elder, you colluded with outside enemies and filled your own pockets. What do you have left to say?"
The Great Elder saw that everything had been exposed and the evidence was right in front of him. He stopped trying to argue.
He swept his gaze across the Uchiha clansmen present, then finally settled it on Chiya.
His expression turned grave. He spoke in a heavy voice.
"All of you short-sighted fools. Everything I did was for our Uchiha! The Senju Clan and our Uchiha Clan built Konoha together. What gives them the right to sit above us all? They held the position of Hokage two generations in a row. The Third generation still did not go to an Uchiha.
Our Uchiha are no weaker than the Senju. If anything, the position of Hokage should be turning to us by now! I refuse to accept this. I am fighting for the Uchiha! The Senju Clan, they are the ones always standing in our way!
As for the spies, I was simply teaching the Senju Clan a lesson. I built connections with people from other countries for the sole purpose of using outside force to drain the Senju Clan as much as possible!
Do you think it is a coincidence that the Senju Clan has declined so rapidly over these years? I had a hand in that as well! I leaked intelligence on the Senju Clan and passed it to enemy countries.
Those Senju who threw themselves into every war, were they not just walking to their deaths? The Kumogakure spies were going after the Senju Clan anyway. What threat could they possibly pose to our Uchiha?!"
Chiya cut him off coldly.
"For the Uchiha? No. I see this as nothing more than your own personal greed. You let spies go free and put the village in danger. You embezzled clan assets and damaged the clan's reputation. You deliberately targeted the Senju Clan and stirred up internal conflict.
Which part of any of that was for the Uchiha?"
"Or are you actually trying to tear Konoha apart and drag our Uchiha back to the age of the warring clans?!"
A new brightness entered the Great Elder's eyes.
"And what if I am? Our Uchiha clawed our way up through the great ninja clans to begin with. As long as the Senju Clan, that thorn in our side, is gone, this entire ninja world would belong to the Uchiha!"
Chiya looked at the Great Elder, who was worked up into a passionate state, and listened to every word.
He drew in a slow, deep breath, then let it out.
'What a joke.'
"You!"
The Great Elder glared at Chiya.
"Uchiha Yamauma, you are nothing but a leftover relic of a dead era!"
"Times changed long ago! What clans, what warring tribes, those days are over. This is the era of villages, nations, and alliances between major families! Look at the Uzumaki Clan. They built their own country.
Their sealing techniques were the finest in the ninja world. Their clan was powerful. They stood apart from the Five Great Villages. And what did that get them in the end? Their country was destroyed. Their clan was slaughtered. A handful of survivors scattered into the corners of the ninja world."
"Are you trying to make our Uchiha leave Konoha, make us a thorn in everyone's side, and end up following the same path as the Uzumaki Clan?!"
"What you are talking about is nothing but a road straight to our destruction. And you still have the nerve to claim it is all for the Uchiha!"
The Great Elder's face turned iron grey. The expressions of the police force members standing around him also grew complicated.
Was not the Uzumaki Clan the widely recognized example of what not to do?
The era of warring clans had long since passed. The eyes of the people present turned toward the Great Elder, and a clear disgust appeared in them.
"Great Elder, you are a man dragging history backwards. In the end you will have to answer for what you have done."
The Great Elder let out a cold snort.
"Uchiha Chiya, do not get too pleased with yourself! You think becoming Clan Head means you can do as you please? The other elders will not stand by and let this happen!"
Chiya remained unmoved. He raised his hand in a wave.
The younger police force members stepped forward immediately and seized the Great Elder.
The Great Elder struggled. His chakra seemed about to stir.
Chiya's brow creased slightly.
His pair of dark pupils began to shift slowly. The three-tomoe Sharingan appeared.
"You will all regret this! The Uchiha will eventually be ruined by your hands. All of you..."
Chiya met his gaze directly.
The Sharingan genjutsu was silently cast.
Before the Great Elder could finish his words, he went limp and collapsed.
"Take all of them. Send them to the high-security interrogation facility."
The high-security interrogation facility was Konoha's detention institution for serious offenders.
"Yes, sir!"
Several of the younger Uchiha moved quickly, hauling the Great Elder and the others involved out of the compound.
Chiya watched the man being dragged away, his gaze deep and steady.
At that moment, several other elders came rushing over after hearing the news. When they saw the scene before them, their faces broke into expressions of shock.
The Third Elder stepped forward and asked in a firm voice.
"Chiya, what is going on here?"
Chiya turned around and presented the evidence one by one to the assembled elders. His tone was calm but left no room for doubt.
"The Great Elder colluded with outside enemies to move against people in the village, and embezzled clan assets. I have taken him into custody. If any of the elders have questions, you are welcome to review this evidence."
The elders passed the scroll and the ledger between themselves. Their expressions gradually became grave.
In the end, the Third Elder let out a long sigh and shook his head.
"I never imagined Yamauma would do something like this."
Another elder, upon seeing the contents, broke out in a cold sweat.
He looked up at Chiya, and something close to awe and admiration appeared in his eyes.
"Clan Head, you handled this properly. The clan cannot tolerate a bad element like this."
Chiya gave a small nod.
"From today onward, I will carry out a full overhaul of the Military Police Force. Any conduct that harms the clan or the village will not be tolerated."
The other elders voiced their agreement one by one, raising no further objections to Chiya's decision.
Morning light spread across the courtyard. Chiya's shadow stretched long behind him.
"Elders, if there is nothing else, I will be on my way. I still have matters to attend to with the Military Police Force."
He walked out of the residence. Looking up at the sky as it slowly grew bright, Chiya understood clearly in his heart.
If he wanted to lead the Uchiha toward strength and prosperity, unifying the thinking within the Uchiha clan was only the very first step.