บท 67: Chapter 67: The Arrival of the Gym Owner, All Rise
"But..." Samui hesitated, but eventually returned to her room.
Closing the door, Samui's gaze flickered. Her concern was entirely feigned, pretending to worry about the Uchiha clan. What she didn't understand was the gym owner's current standing within the Uchiha clan. He held considerable prestige, with many clan members following and revering him. Yet, he always seemed indifferent towards his own people.
Now, with the Uchiha in trouble, he maintained an attitude of indifference. Samui couldn't fathom what was going through his mind.
At the Police Force headquarters, with dozens of Uchiha returning from the Naka Shrine, the prisoners finally scattered, and a game of cat and mouse ensued. This chaos lasted the entire night. In the process, due to the violent conflict, not only were many buildings in the Leaf Village damaged, but dozens of civilians were injured, and some even died.
By dawn, the riot had finally ended, leaving a mess in its wake.
The next day, the sleepless Uchiha were busy tallying the recaptured prisoners, pursuing the remaining escapees, investigating the cause of the riot, and repairing the Police Force building and prison. They were swamped with work.
In less than half a day, the details of the prison riot spread throughout the Leaf Village, causing panic among the villagers. When they learned that the Uchiha had caused the prison to be understaffed due to a clan meeting, which led to the riot, public resentment was ignited.
Under the deliberate instigation of some, by the afternoon, a large number of villagers had gathered in front of the Police Force building to protest loudly.
"The Uchiha spend their days either holding clan meetings or going to the gym in groups, they don't do any real work! Do such people still deserve to be in charge of the Police Force?"
"This is dereliction of duty, the Uchiha must apologize!"
Facing the surging public opinion, the proud Uchiha couldn't stand being scolded and retorted, escalating the tension.
It was on the verge of turning into a physical confrontation with the passionate villagers when Fugaku, the clan leader, stepped in. He stopped the impulsive clan members and solemnly assured the protesting villagers that the Uchiha were fully investigating the incident and would give a clear explanation to all Leaf villagers in due time.
However, the villagers were still dissatisfied.
"This is just a delaying tactic used by the Uchiha to fool us, don't believe them!"
Just as the situation was getting out of hand, two ANBU members emerged from the crowd and delivered the Third Hokage's decree to the Uchiha.
"The Police Force's dereliction of duty led to the prison riot, causing serious damage to the personal and property safety of the Leaf villagers."
"The Hokage has ordered a clan leader-level meeting at nine o'clock tomorrow morning to decide on the punishment for the Police Force and the Uchiha clan through a vote. Clan leader Fugaku, we'll need you to make a trip to the Hokage building then."
These two ANBU, wearing eagle and elephant masks respectively, read out the Third Hokage's orders in a cold tone, then left amid the cheers of the villagers.
"Did you hear that? The Uchiha are finally going to be severely punished this time, the Hokage is wise."
"Hmph, let's see if the Uchiha can still be arrogant in the future."
The villagers cheered, finally able to vent the resentment they had been holding in for a long time.
Fugaku's face was as calm as water, knowing that this time, the Uchiha were likely to take a hit. He immediately ordered everyone to gather for a meeting in the conference room.
"Itachi, go and invite your uncle," Fugaku specifically instructed Itachi.
Itachi was taken aback. He knew that at this time, his uncle Uchiha Dan's opinion would greatly influence the collective will of the Uchiha clan.
Half an hour later, Dan, accompanied by Itachi, entered the Police Force building. On the way, he heard from his nephew about the general situation and guessed that the prison riot was likely a ploy by the higher-ups of the Leaf Village. The next step would probably be to put extreme pressure on the Uchiha clan in order to regain control of the Police Force.
This kind of tactic was a favorite of a certain "big swollen barrel" in a country on the planet where Dan lived in his previous life.
For Dan, who enjoyed watching the drama unfold, he was curious to hear what kind of countermeasures the smart Uchihas could come up with. So, he decided to attend the meeting.
The uncle and nephew duo went up to the third floor, came to the end of the corridor, and pushed open the door to the conference room with a creak. The Uchiha clan members were basically all present.
A rough count showed more than seventy people, even more than the last clan meeting Dan attended. All the clan members were gathered around a huge rectangular conference table, filling every seat. Some people even had to stand on the side because there were no seats left.
Although the meeting hadn't started yet, a heated discussion about the incident had already begun in the conference room. It was as noisy as a marketplace.
Until Dan and Itachi walked into the conference room.
One by one, all eyes turned towards the door and landed on Dan. Most of the Uchiha here had been sent flying by Dan's "Indra's arrow", and had also joined the physical transformation department with their gym membership cards. Influenced by coach Samui over the past few days, many people in the Uchiha clan started to call Dan "Gym Owner".
Now, with the Gym Owner's arrival, the previously noisy conference room quieted down within a few seconds.
"Gym Owner." Inohi was the first to stand up to greet Dan, and the other clan members also didn't dare to neglect, standing up in a rustle. This was usually the treatment reserved for a clan leader.
Seeing this, Fugaku, who was sitting at the head of the conference table, didn't feel displeased. Instead, he also smiled and stood up, waving at Dan: "Dan, come over here, we're just missing you."
The first seat on Fugaku's right hand side had been left empty, reserved for Dan.
So, Dan walked past the clan members and sat down in his seat. Itachi, on the other hand, silently stood behind his uncle.
Across from Dan, on Fugaku's left hand side, sat Shisui, his eyes bandaged and silent. Despite his defeat at Dan's hands, Shisui was still recognized as the second strongest in the clan. Therefore, his position at the conference table was only second to the clan leader and Dan.
"Dan, I heard that Shisui's eyes are suffering from an eye disease due to overuse of his ocular powers, and the condition has worsened. I heard he can't even see a bit of sunlight now," whispered Uchiha Shana, who was sitting to Dan's right and held the fourth highest position in the clan.
Oh? Dan was somewhat surprised upon hearing this. Although Fugaku had issued a gag order, if Shisui was determined to reveal the truth about his eyes being taken and accuse Dan, no one could stop him. When that happened, Dan's prestige within the clan would undoubtedly be hit.
After all, taking the eyes of a fellow clansman was cruel and ruthless just by the sound of it. Especially for the Uchiha, the Sharingan was their life. Dan's actions were too extreme and would not be accepted by the clan members.
Unexpectedly, Shisui chose to endure and publicly claimed that he had contracted an eye disease.
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