Chapter 112: The Opportunity Has Come

"Lord Hokage, summoning me late at night — has something happened?"

It was already late. Shisui had been enjoying dinner with Sima Yi and Itachi when he was suddenly summoned by the Hokage and had to rush over.

"No need to be nervous. It's just that some problems have arisen in the Anbu. You've already withdrawn from the Anbu, so this matter shouldn't have troubled you, but it does involve your clansmen after all."

The Third Generation said, handing Shisui an intelligence report. Shisui took it, and after reading through it, his eyes immediately lit up.

"Because of the Fugaku incident back then, I could only temporarily reassign your clansmen to the Land of Rain for missions. It's been over three months now. Everything had been normal, and all intelligence was being smoothly sent back to Konoha. I never expected them to suddenly expose their position because of a wild beast."

"Now the squads they led have all come under attack and suffered heavy losses. The survivors have just returned to Konoha to rest and regroup. I'm afraid they won't be able to continue Anbu missions for a while."

The Third Generation sighed. He was only grateful that the team leaders were Uchiha clan elites — powerful and capable. Had it been other Anbu members, the entire squad might have been lost in the Land of Rain.

Upon hearing this, Shisui immediately said, "I'll lead a squad to the Land of Rain right away to investigate the cause."

The Third Generation immediately waved his hand in refusal. Even if Shisui agreed, he couldn't possibly let the Uchiha clan head do such a thing. If word got out, the Uchiha would inevitably mutiny.

"You don't need to go for something like this. It's just that the Anbu has lost too many people. I recall you previously formed an Anbu selection squad in the clan grounds. I'd like to simply select some more people from your side to join the Anbu. What do you think?"

"The Uchiha belong to Konoha's Uchiha. If the Third Generation needs them, naturally there's no problem. It's just—"

"Just what?"

Shisui said with fervor, "It's just that the previous Anbu selection squad was rather small in scale. Because of some elders' interference, not many people joined. So, Lord Third Generation, could you give me a little more time? I'd like to expand the selection range within the clan and pick from the Clan Elite as much as possible. The Uchiha will fully support Lord Third Generation!"

Shisui's expression was sincere, his gaze pure. The Third Generation nodded repeatedly upon hearing this, a smile on his face.

"Then I'll leave it to you. As for Uchiha En and the others, I'll arrange compensation as soon as possible."

"Yes, thank you, Lord Third Generation!"

Shisui forcefully suppressed the joy in his heart and quickly returned to the clan grounds, where he had Hui, Inabi, and Tie Huo called over. He said bluntly, "The opportunity has come!"

The three were puzzled. Shisui briefly explained the Anbu matter, then instructed, "Senior Tie Huo, set out tomorrow and make sure the news reaches everyone. This time, you must require all idle jonin in the clan to enter the selection squad."

After Tie Huo was persuaded by Inabi, he went to see Fugaku. With Fugaku speaking up, Tie Huo immediately reignited his fighting spirit and chose to stay and help Shisui.

"Yes!"

Though he didn't understand Shisui's purpose, Tie Huo still agreed without hesitation.

"Senior Inabi, tomorrow take people to notify the clan's chunin and genin. Just tell them the family will arrange jonin leaders for them to conduct team training, lasting ten days."

"Yes!"

"Brother Hui, here is the information on those ninja under the elders' command. Follow the list and have them all participate in this selection squad in my name."

Hui frowned upon hearing this and asked, "If the elders object, should we use force?"

"They won't object to something this good. They'll only fight each other for the spots. Go ahead, don't worry."

"That's good then!"

After the others left, Shisui returned to his room and learned that Sima Yi and Itachi had already finished dinner and were currently in the study.

When Shisui hurried to the study, he happened to hear Sima Yi lecturing Itachi on the *Mencius*.

"When a ruler regards his ministers as his hands and feet, the ministers regard the ruler as their heart and soul; when a ruler regards his ministers as dogs and horses, the ministers regard the ruler as a fellow countryman; when a ruler regards his ministers as dirt and weeds, the ministers regard the ruler as an enemy."

"Loyalty is not unchanging. My attitude toward my lord depends on my lord's attitude toward me. If Konoha treats the Uchiha as a fearsome beast, then the Uchiha can make the appropriate response to Konoha."

Shisui listened from outside the door, nodding continuously. Though during this period Sima Yi wouldn't discuss with him how to consolidate power within the clan, whether it was accepting his invitation to teach Itachi, or researching the clan's Barrier and devising repair plans, or teaching him sealing arts and writing tutorials — he never shirked these trivial matters, and moreover did them to perfection.

After listening for a while, Shisui turned and left without going in to disturb them. It wasn't until the next day, when he had just returned from the Police Department, that he received word from several clan elders. They wanted to see the clan head to discuss the Anbu selection together.

Shisui readily agreed, and that afternoon met with the elders at his home.

Since the first meeting ended in discord, there had been several more meetings in between, mostly the elders criticizing Shisui's overstepping behavior.

At first Shisui would still argue back, but gradually he began to ignore them, until now he had learned how to pit their relationships against each other and make them argue among themselves.

"We already know about selecting people for the Anbu. In my opinion, we should follow the old rules and pick elites from each branch. What does the clan head think?"

Shisui's expression was calm as he said casually, "I don't think that works. The Fourth Elder's branch has more elite ninja, so we can select more from there."

The Fourth Elder's eyes lit up, and he quickly said, "The clan head is wise!"

"Nonsense, how are they more numerous? My branch is far stronger than his. If we're selecting, it should be from mine!"

"You're stronger, my—"

Shisui quietly watched them argue for several hours without stopping. It wasn't until evening, when the Great Elder's back ached from sitting so long, that Shisui finally spoke: "I see none of you can convince the others. Let's just go with the Great Elder's suggestion."

Great Elder: "?"

The Great Elder immediately glared at Shisui — he hadn't said a single word all afternoon.

"Let's still go with the clan head's suggestion."

The others immediately fell quiet. They were about to resume arguing when they heard Shisui add, "Since the Great Elder isn't willing, then for the sake of fairness, I'll arrange your people into the selection squad, and then hold a competition. Whoever wins more gets more spots."

"Furthermore, if the Anbu still lacks manpower in the future, we can prioritize selecting from among them. What do you all think?"

Everyone was stunned, looking at each other in bewilderment. The Fourth Elder hesitated somewhat, but the Third Elder said directly, "Let's do it this way. If the Fourth isn't confident, he might as well withdraw directly, to avoid being even more embarrassed when the results come out."

"You're saying I'm not up to it? I'll show you the strength of my branch!"

"Heh~"

The group argued, and the meeting once again ended in discord. As soon as Shisui followed them out, he noticed that the elders' guards were all looking at him, intentionally or not.

These people had all been forcibly pulled aside by Shisui at one point to discuss the clan's future, and had been instilled with his vision for restoring the family. The one-way tracks in their minds had long since led to Shisui — those paths already bore his likeness.

Seeing this, Shisui smiled gently, knowing the overall situation was settled.

Two days later, the news spread throughout the entire clan. Shisui took the opportunity to announce the special format of this selection.

Within the clan, all jonin except Police Department members would enter the selection squad, after which the family would randomly assign chunin and genin as their team members.

One squad, including the leading jonin, consisted of four people total. The lucky ones might get three chunin; the unlucky ones might end up with three genin.

Naturally, some clansmen were dissatisfied with these unfair rules. Shisui used Uchiha En's accidental exposure of his tracks leading to mission failure and heavy squad losses as an example, explaining, "Luck is also part of strength!"

He then added, "Those who aren't confident can withdraw. The Uchiha only select confident strong ones."

As for the opposing elders, Shisui shot back directly, "Come if you want, and if you don't, give your spots to someone else!"

(End of this chapter)