While Yuhara was away from the village, everything in Konoha remained stable.
Education within the clan had been fully implemented, and thanks to it, many clan members began to understand why their relationship with the rest of the village was always so poor.
On one hand, it was due to their enemies—not the villagers of Konoha, but those who ruled over Konoha and treated it like their private property, abusing their power to suppress those they disliked or saw as enemies. Under such people's influence, the Uchiha's situation worsened—these were their real enemies.
On the other hand, it was their own fault—their pride was too excessive.
Through education, they learned that mutual respect is necessary. Why should anyone respect you if you don't respect them first? Fear is not respect. Fear only breeds resentment.
If the Uchiha were to remain in Konoha, they had to integrate—and to do so, they had to correct their flaws.
Their clan leader had once said something during a lesson that was forever etched into this generation's hearts:
"Your pride was given to you by the clan, not earned by yourself.
A true strong person doesn't parade around with pride given by others—they make their clan proud of them through their own efforts."
That line struck many Uchiha with deep shame, for they truly had been flaunting borrowed pride while doing nothing to honor their clan.
Just look at their clan leader, Yuhara—he brought the clan pride through his strength and effort.
So the clan members began to change, always keeping that quote in mind. Their behavior became more reserved and humble. Though awkward and uncomfortable at first, forcing themselves to keep it up revealed something—they noticed people around them changing too.
Those who once ignored them now started speaking with them. Those who once scowled now offered smiles.
This made them feel for the first time like they were truly part of Konoha, not some isolated group.
If even regular Uchiha felt this, then the Guard Division members felt it even more deeply.
Their lives in Konoha were clearly improving.
As their responsibilities expanded—even taking care of minor community disputes—their reputation rose again. They handled issues impartially and reasonably.
Though mentally exhausting, the smiles they saw as a result were their greatest reward.
But now they were running into a serious problem—they didn't have enough people.
"Now I finally get why the clan leader kept trying to recruit others to the Guard. He saw this coming long ago."
The Guard members now truly understood Yuhara's intentions—and felt some shame.
When Hyūga Gen first joined, many of them were quietly resentful. Why let a Hyūga into the Guard?
Though they never treated Gen poorly thanks to Yuhara, and Gen performed well, they were never particularly warm to him either. To them, he was still an outsider.
Now they realized—more people like Gen were exactly what the Guard needed. They simply didn't have the manpower.
"Looks like those guys finally understand my intentions."
In the Guard office, Yuhara smiled as he looked at the stack of petition letters, all asking him to recruit more Guard members.
This was still his shadow clone—one that hadn't been exposed. Before leaving, Yuhara had poured in a huge amount of chakra to make it last and stay undetected.
Even Uchiha Fugaku and the others hadn't realized that the real Yuhara had long since left the village.
"Good. Since they've stopped resisting, it's time to start recruiting.
I also need to send the plan to the Nara clan—see who they'll send and how many."
The Nara were famous in Konoha for administrative skill. Though Yuhara wouldn't give them high-ranking posts, they'd be invaluable in clerical roles within the Guard.
"And when is the real me coming back, anyway? It's been almost two months. Should've wrapped things up by now."
The clone wasn't worried about Yuhara's safety—his strength was more than enough at this stage.
Even if he couldn't win, with Flight Technique and Void Walk, he wasn't about to get caught.
The clone was just bored—and like the real Yuhara, hated paperwork.
Knock knock knock.
Just then, the door to the office was knocked on. Yuhara immediately perked up and sat upright.
"Come in."
The door opened, and to his surprise, in came Hyūga Gen.
"Good morning, Captain."
Gen was very polite. He closed the door behind him and bowed respectfully.
"Ah, Gen-kun. Good morning," Yuhara smiled, then asked, "So, what brings you here?"
"Captain, the clan head sent a letter this morning and asked me to deliver it to you."
As Gen spoke, he took out a letter from his robe and handed it to Yuhara.
"He said once you read it, you'd know how to handle it."
"I see." Yuhara glanced at Gen thoughtfully, then accepted the letter with a smile. "Thanks, Gen-kun."
"It's my duty, Captain," Gen replied respectfully, nodded, and excused himself.
Yuhara gave a slight nod, and Hyūga Gen immediately turned and left the room. Once the door was closed, Yuhara opened the letter and began reading it carefully.
There wasn't much content; it didn't take him long to finish. But once he did, a smile crept onto his face.
Clutching the letter, he ignited it with a flicker of chakra. Watching it burn, he muttered to himself:
"Looks like a good show is about to begin."
"Move faster—we should be back in Konoha before sunset."
On a small road within the Land of Fire, Yuhara, Shisui, Kakuzu, and a timid-looking little girl were walking slowly toward Konoha.
Shisui wasn't thrilled with their pace—he felt they were moving too slowly.
Kakuzu glanced at Yuhara when he heard Shisui, but seeing Yuhara unfazed, he stayed quiet and just followed his lead.
Having once again witnessed the overwhelming power from the Warring States era—even if this wasn't the full extent—Kakuzu understood he couldn't resist it. So he behaved.
Just like Yuhara had said, the only thing Kakuzu cared about was money. It was the one thing that proved he was still alive.
He didn't want to die before he made enough. So after losing two hearts in one slash from Yuhara, he agreed to follow him.
Now that he was with Yuhara, Kakuzu was genuinely curious—just what was Yuhara planning, and how much money did he need?
Yuhara's answer left him stunned: the more, the better. Because it wasn't just for Konoha—it was for the various clans and certain departments within Konoha.
Yuhara didn't say much, but Kakuzu didn't feel distrusted.
He was new—if he were trusted too easily, that'd be suspicious.
But now he had something to look forward to. If even the clans were starting side businesses to make money, Kakuzu figured his cut wouldn't be small.
Especially when he found out this current mission was a war-related one—and just a small part of their operations. That's when he realized this gig might be seriously profitable.
In the Akatsuki, making money meant war commissions or black market bounties.
But with a powerful coalition of Konoha clans working together, the resources and ambition they had far surpassed any organization.
That thought gave Kakuzu peace of mind. And once he learned Yuhara's name, he was even more reassured.
This was once a genius Uchiha of Konoha, and now that name represented the whole Uchiha clan.
Sure, Uchiha Itachi was vicious—took down Orochimaru in an instant—but this guy gouged out one of Itachi's eyes. That's who was standing in front of him.
He's now the Uchiha clan head—his will is the clan's will.
"No need to rush—we're already back in the Land of Fire. What's there to worry about?"
Yuhara had no idea Kakuzu was running an entire inner monologue. He just smiled and replied to Shisui casually.
This mission had gone far better than expected. Aside from milking resources from Hoshigakure, just recruiting a money-making machine like Kakuzu made it all worth it.
Though he hadn't told Kakuzu much, Yuhara believed he'd get the message. The guy had lived long enough to figure it out—even if he lacked people skills, he had the brains.
And not telling him now didn't mean never—everything depended on Kakuzu's future performance.
Yuhara could be petty, but he'd never shortchange those loyal to him.
Besides, Kakuzu wasn't the only gain—there was also the silent girl trailing with them: the Uzumaki survivor from the Land of Grass, Karin.
Of course Yuhara hadn't forgotten her. On their way back, when passing through the Grass Country, he specifically asked Kakuzu to guide them into Kusagakure.
They nabbed a Grass ninja, interrogated him, and quietly took Karin away.
Shisui didn't understand it at first—not why Yuhara took Karin (he understood that once he saw the Uzumaki surname), but how Yuhara even knew about her.
Yuhara had a cover story ready: he'd heard during a mission about a red-haired, uninjured girl in Kusagakure with the surname Uzumaki. That immediately caught his attention.
Since they were passing through, he didn't want to miss the chance.
That explanation satisfied Shisui, but left Karin speechless.
She had no idea what the Uzumaki name really meant, but she knew her life in Kusagakure had been miserable.
She and her mother had been used as test subjects for years. Her mother had already died from the experiments, and Karin held no fondness for Kusagakure.
Being able to leave that place was definitely a good thing for Karin—even if she didn't know what fate awaited her, and the people she was with didn't exactly seem like the "good guy" type.
"You've been gone for two months, and you're not even a little worried?"
Shisui looked at Yuhara, completely exasperated, maybe even a little frustrated.
"You're the clan head! With all that family business, you really trust a shadow clone to handle it?"
"First off, a shadow clone shares my thoughts, memories, and judgment. Letting him handle things isn't a problem at all."
Yuhara raised a finger and wagged it at Shisui, then his tone turned serious.
"Let me teach you something—as a leader, you can't try to control everything. You need to learn to delegate."
"No one's perfect. Everyone has weaknesses, and people specialize in different things. As a decision-maker, your job isn't to be the best at everything—it's to understand what each person excels at, and assign the right jobs accordingly."
"That way, your plans get done better and faster. And your team will trust you more because you recognize their value."
"It's like managing the clan—I'm best at finding a development path. I set the direction, and let elders like Fugaku handle the execution."
"They've got the experience, they understand the clan better. Having them do it is way more effective than us doing it ourselves."
It wasn't a complicated example, but the management lesson struck a chord with Shisui.
This was the first time he'd heard something like "everyone has their specialty," but it made sense now.
Give the job to the one best suited for it—and it becomes easier.
Just like in a mission team—everyone has a role. The squad leader assigns based on their strengths. That's basic management right there.
"I think I get it now."
Shisui adjusted the huge pack on his back and nodded seriously.
"Thinking back, you really have handed off a lot of tasks to us. And when we each focused on our parts, we really were more efficient."
"I've learned something today, Yuhara. I guess I was being too naive."
"You've got plenty of naive ideas. You better work harder, Vice Clan Head."
Yuhara chuckled, then teased, "Besides, going slow has one perk—your zombie pal back there won't act up. If he does, you've got time to react."
Shisui glanced back at the big pack he was carrying—yeah, that wasn't luggage.
It was Hidan—cut into pieces and duct-taped together.
Hidan made for prime experimental material—especially for jutsu that needed living sacrifices.
Yuhara wasn't about to do what Shikamaru did—blow him up and bury him. No, he had zero sympathy for a psycho who worshipped a murder god. If he couldn't kill him, might as well experiment on him.
Yuhara knew this treatment might make Kakuzu uncomfortable, but he wasn't about to change his mind.
Some people, some actions, need to pay the price.
Though they weren't rushing, and kept chatting on the way, the group still made it back to Konoha by nightfall.
But Yuhara didn't take Kakuzu to the Uchiha compound. Instead, he left a shadow clone to lead Kakuzu into the forest on the village's edge.
Kakuzu didn't argue—he knew the score, so he quietly followed the clone.
As for Karin, Yuhara had no worries about her. And Karin herself didn't dare say a word—she quietly followed Yuhara into the Uchiha clan.
But the moment Yuhara returned, he dispelled his first clone—and immediately froze.
After reading the intel passed from the clone, a smile slowly crept onto his lips.
"Looks like they finally made up their minds. Otherwise, they wouldn't have called a clan leader summit..."
_______________
P/S: If you are interested, you can read up to 30+ at patreon.com/Emik01.