Chapter 547: Jiraiya notices Nagato

“Uncle Fugaku, do you have any new ideas regarding the Police Force reform?”

Inside the study, Shisui brought up the matter of the Police Force reform again.

Uchiha Fugaku rubbed his brow. Although he had expected it, Shisui bringing up the topic again still made Uchiha Fugaku feel weary.

He found that sometimes maturity wasn’t a good thing. The more mature Shisui had his own considerations for the Uchiha’s development, while Obito was much more obedient, barely speaking even when attending clan meetings.

Although the ability to think was good, Shisui was a bit too extreme, even more radical than the radical faction, immediately wanting to reform the Police Force.

“Uncle Fugaku, I think you might have misunderstood me,” Shisui continued. “We can proceed with the reform gradually. Initially, we don’t even need to change anything about the existing Police Force; we just need to add a few new Ninja members who are not from the Uchiha Clan.”

Shisui knew that the Police Force reform would face significant internal resistance within the Uchiha Clan, so he wasn’t prepared to make drastic changes from the start.

After all, most Uchiha didn’t have malicious intentions; they simply lacked sufficient understanding.

“This is not something that can be decided easily; it requires reporting to Sandaime-sama and obtaining approval before proceeding,” Uchiha Fugaku said, shaking his head.

As a special department, the Police Force’s captain, Uchiha Fugaku, had the authority to appoint and dismiss all positions within the Police Force, but he did not have the right to create new positions.

The Police Force was a fixed system; to add positions, one could only apply to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Not to mention, Shisui’s suggestion also broke the rules set by Second Hokage, which meant it absolutely required the current Hokage’s approval.

“So, Uncle Fugaku, do you think this idea is feasible?” Shisui calmly asked Uchiha Fugaku.

Regardless, Shisui had to push for the Police Force reform. If he couldn’t even take this necessary step, how could he talk about changing the entire Uchiha?

Even adding one non-Uchiha Ninja to the Police Force, Shisui believed, held significant meaning.

Because it represented the Uchiha giving up their exclusive control of the Police Force.

“It’s not that simple; the elders will most likely disagree,” Uchiha Fugaku said, shaking his head.

Most Ninja of the Uchiha Clan were easy to persuade. As long as the reason given was that there would be no changes to existing positions, most active Uchiha Ninja would not object.

But those Uchiha elders were all shrewd individuals; the ‘boiling frog’ tactic might not work on them.

“Uncle Fugaku, if I remember correctly, there’s a clan meeting in a week?” Shisui asked after thinking for a moment.

Since Uchiha Fugaku felt this matter was difficult, Shisui decided to use the clan meeting to see what would happen.

As the currently famous genius of the Uchiha Clan, Shisui had a high tolerance for error and many opportunities to experiment.

“Yes, there is. Do you want to propose this at the clan meeting?” Uchiha Fugaku nodded in response.

“If it’s at the clan meeting, then I won’t be able to openly support you,” Uchiha Fugaku reminded him.

As the head of the Uchiha Clan, Uchiha Fugaku always acted as the final decision-maker at clan meetings.

He would consider the Uchiha Ninja’s support rate and whether the proposed plan was beneficial to the Uchiha to decide if the plan would pass.

“Uncle Fugaku, it’s alright. I’ll invite Obito to attend the clan meeting with me then,” Shisui said.

Because Obito didn’t particularly like attending clan meetings, Shisui, except for the first time, rarely asked Obito to attend with him.

Now, Shisui needed more support from within the clan. Even if Obito disliked the atmosphere of clan meetings, Shisui could only apologize to Obito and ask him to act together.

They were fellow disciples, clan Ninja, and friends. If Shisui didn’t utilize such relationships and faced everything alone, it would truly mean he hadn’t listened to a single word Muzuki said.

“Obito, huh? I hope everything goes smoothly for you both,” Uchiha Fugaku nodded.

Obito, who placed second in the Martial Arts Tournament, plus Shisui, who reached the Four Finals—two Uchiha super geniuses combining their strengths—was indeed worthy of attention.

In fact, Uchiha Fugaku’s thinking had already been somewhat changed by Shisui.

When Shisui first proposed reforming the Police Force to replace Uchiha Ninja with foreign Ninja, the first word that came to Uchiha Fugaku’s mind was ‘blasphemous’.

Now, Uchiha Fugaku’s thinking had changed to: if Shisui could truly gain support at the clan meeting, then he would support the Police Force reform.

This wasn’t because Shisui was eloquent; it was Shisui’s persistence that made Uchiha Fugaku realize something: Shisui was serious; he wasn’t just acting on a sudden impulse.

Shisui and Obito’s current performance could be described as the future of the Uchiha without exaggeration.

Once they grew up, they would undoubtedly have significant influence within the Uchiha Clan. At that time, with Shisui’s persistence, he would certainly carry out the Police Force reform.

Rather than waiting for Shisui to take power and make drastic changes, Uchiha Fugaku preferred to let the current Shisui demonstrate his ability and reform the Police Force step by step.

“Thank you for your time,” Shisui said, rising to his feet.

“It’s nothing. If you have any problems, you can always talk to me more, and Itachi likes you very much too,” Uchiha Fugaku said with a smile, seeing him off.

As Shisui walked into the courtyard, Zorua was lying on the ground, having its belly rubbed by Uchiha Mikoto.

Noticing Shisui’s gaze, Zorua quickly flipped over and walked to Shisui’s side as if nothing had happened.

“Shisui-nii, are you leaving?” Uchiha Itachi asked, looking at Shisui.

Shisui hadn’t had a chance to talk to him alone since he arrived this time.

“Yes, I still have some training to complete.”

Shisui nodded, bidding farewell to Uchiha Itachi.

“See you then.”

Uchiha Itachi was a little reluctant but did not try to keep Shisui.

“Shisui, come play again when you have time!” Uchiha Mikoto smiled and waved goodbye.

“With such excellent talent and such diligence, perhaps he really can make the Uchiha different,” Uchiha Fugaku’s expression was complex as he watched Shisui’s retreating figure.

He was certain that Shisui could change the Uchiha, but he didn’t know if this change would be good or bad for the Uchiha.

After returning to his small courtyard at home, Shisui began his training in Fire Release Chakra Nature Transformation and Flame Breathing.

Muzuki had made it clear that the new Ninjutsu he would teach next was Fire Release, so Shisui wanted to review fire-related abilities more in these two days, hoping it might speed up his learning of the new Ninjutsu.

“Shisui is truly excellent! When I think that both Obito and you are Uchiha, I feel like Obito is getting a good deal!” The observing Zorua cheered like a cheerleader, praising Shisui.

Bang!

Shisui instantly appeared behind Zorua and gave Zorua a hand chop.

“Don’t praise one at the expense of another,” Shisui said, rubbing the raised patch of fiery red fur on Zorua’s head.

“It’s a fact, isn’t it? If you don’t believe me, Shisui, you can ask Charizard and Rockruff. Everyone thinks so,” Zorua said without changing its expression.

Shisui smiled helplessly. Given Charizard’s relationship with Obito, Charizard would definitely agree with any bad-mouthing of Obito.

Obito often argued with Kakashi, and Rockruff had an extremely good relationship with Kakashi, so Rockruff naturally disliked Obito and would most likely agree.

“Hurry up and train. You often play with Charizard; it has evolved twice, and you haven’t even evolved once,” Shisui carefully tugged at Zorua’s cheek.

Although Shisui wasn’t in a hurry for Zorua to evolve, he felt he needed to give Zorua more motivation to train.

“What’s so good about evolving? Becoming so big, I won’t be able to stand on Shisui’s shoulder then,” Zorua pouted.

Shisui smiled and didn’t pay much attention. “You, you need to be a bit more self-aware. You’re not light, and you still like to stand on my shoulder so much.”

Zorua currently weighed fifteen kilograms. It was only because Shisui was a Ninja and also trained with Breathing Technique; otherwise, if it were an ordinary nine-year-old child, Zorua standing on their shoulder would most likely make them fall.

“Eh, my head was just knocked dizzy. What did Shisui say? I didn’t hear it,” Zorua selectively ignored him.

Rubbing Zorua’s head, Shisui continued his training.

After training until nine in the evening, Shisui took Zorua to Obito’s house.

Any later, Shisui was worried he would disturb Grandma’s rest.

“Obito, there’s a clan meeting in a week. Will you have time then?” Shisui asked directly.

There was no need for them to beat around the bush.

“A clan meeting, huh? Do you need my help? I should have time, unless there’s an urgent mission,” Obito replied.

Urgent missions were an uncontrollable factor, so Obito didn’t make a firm promise.

“Then I’ll trouble you then,” Shisui nodded.

To successfully carry out his plan at the clan meeting, Obito was an indispensable member.

“Have you eaten?” Charizard also greeted Zorua with enthusiasm.

“No wonder you can’t get Milotic’s attention; you really don’t know how to talk,” Zorua cruelly poked at its weak spot.

Charizard’s eyes widened and its body hunched, looking at Zorua in disbelief, not expecting its trusted partner to be so aggressive today.

…

Land of Grass.

Ever since the plan to jointly eliminate Iwagakure Ninja with the Grass Ninja was inexplicably exposed last time, the battle situation in the Land of Grass had inexplicably eased, and no major battles had erupted.

However, overall, Konoha Ninja still had the advantage. The activity space of the Iwagakure Ninja Force was gradually compressed by the Konoha Ninja Force, and the Konoha Ninja Force’s situation was excellent.

In such a favorable environment, Jiraiya, as the unit commander, was no longer busy and had some free time.

Therefore, Jiraiya noticed the information about the Martial Arts Tournament that had spread.

The Land of Grass bordered the Land of Rain, and various news from the Martial Arts Tournament actually spread quickly to the Land of Grass. It was just that Jiraiya was a commander and often didn’t have the mental capacity to pay attention to such things.

“The Youth Martial Arts Tournament’s first place, the Ninja World’s strongest genius, Nagato?” Jiraiya was surprised when he saw the Martial Arts Tournament information.

He hadn’t paid much attention to the Youth Martial Arts Tournament, only knowing it was a Ninja competition organized by the neighboring Land of Rain.

But he was too familiar with Nagato; wasn’t that his disciple, whom he regarded as the Child of Prophecy?

“Same name? Impossible. With such strength, and in the Land of Rain, it must be him.”

Recalling the three years he spent looking after Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan in the Land of Rain, a nostalgic look appeared on Jiraiya’s face.

“The strongest genius in the Ninja World. If he can control the Rinnegan now, this title is indeed not a problem.”

Nagato was the person in Jiraiya’s heart who best fit the description of the Child of Prophecy.

No other reason: the Six Paths Sage’s eyes were proof enough.

“Nagato has become so excellent. I wonder how Yahiko and Konan are doing.”

In fact, Jiraiya had always wanted to visit Nagato, Yahiko, and the others, but various matters always kept him busy.

Since the war began and he returned to Konoha, Jiraiya had not been idle, not only on the battlefield but also in Konoha.

On one hand, there were tasks brought by his position, and on the other hand, Hiruzen Sarutobi always wanted to give him more responsibilities to pave the way for him to become Hokage.

Jiraiya was also fed up. He had been scolded endlessly as a child, and now he was being forced to become Hokage.

Whoever wanted to be Hokage could be Hokage; Jiraiya didn’t want it. He had a more important mission.

Because of Nagato, Jiraiya had people collect more comprehensive information on the Youth Martial Arts Tournament.

Jiraiya then discovered that not only Nagato participated in the Martial Arts Tournament, but Yahiko and Konan also participated, though their results were mediocre. Yahiko was eliminated in the first round, and Konan was eliminated in the second round.

“That kid Obito actually got second place? Could his strength have greatly increased?”

Jiraiya was a little surprised to see Obito’s ranking higher than Kakashi and Might Guy.

Jiraiya didn’t think too much and continued to read the intelligence, as it was certainly a good thing for Konoha’s Ninja to be excellent.

After carefully reading the intelligence, Jiraiya had the idea of going to the Land of Rain.

With no ongoing battles in the Land of Grass and with his excellent disciple Minato Namikaze in the unit, Jiraiya was able to leave.

Because with Minato Namikaze’s current prestige and strength, he was fully capable of replacing Jiraiya as commander.

Jiraiya first called Minato Namikaze into the tent to ask for Minato Namikaze’s opinion.

“If it’s not for too long, it should be fine,” Minato Namikaze replied after some thought.

Because Iwagakure had two Jinchuriki who could perform full Tailed Beast Transformation and were currently at their peak strength, Minato Namikaze didn’t feel he could fully replace Jiraiya.

Most of his techniques were ineffective against fully transformed Jinchuriki. In battles with Iwagakure’s two Jinchuriki, Minato Namikaze primarily assisted Jiraiya.

“Haha, I won’t make you cover for me for too long, Minato,” Jiraiya said with a laugh, patting Minato Namikaze’s shoulder.

He knew the gravity of the situation and wouldn’t go to the Land of Rain with the same carefree attitude as before the war. After learning about Nagato’s recent situation, he would return to the Ninja Force.

Finally, Jiraiya submitted an application to the Konoha main camp.

As a commander, it would be too irresponsible to just run off without reporting.

Although doing such a thing might genuinely allow Jiraiya to avoid becoming Hokage, this method was very impolite.

PS: The extra story is finally almost done. No accidents this time, it will definitely be released tomorrow.

The content mainly covers Naruto’s experience after returning to the Ryūmyaku, including the event of Nagato carrying rice.

If interested, you can subscribe; skipping it will not affect the main story.