The Clan Leader's Assistant
"Kazuki, what are you secretly writing here?" Fugaku casually picked up Kazuki's plan.
"Nothing, Clan Leader! I was just writing for fun," Kazuki quickly explained, trying to grab the plan back.
But it was too late; Fugaku had already started reading the plan.
"Uchiha Reform Plan? Oh, this is interesting."
As Fugaku read on, he became more shocked and serious.
After a long time, he finished reading and fell silent.
"Kazuki, did you write this all by yourself?"
"Clan Leader, I was just messing around; don't take it seriously," Kazuki quickly said.
He wasn't sure how Fugaku felt, but he thought Fugaku seemed to lean towards the Hokage's side.
"This is quite good," Fugaku said, folding the plan carefully and putting it away in his clothes.
"Clan Leader, you're not going to show this to the Hokage, are you?"
Fugaku glanced at Kazuki meaningfully but did not answer.
"I'll let you worry all night for making me speechless earlier," Fugaku thought mischievously.
"Kazuki, come to my office tomorrow morning." With that, Fugaku vanished from sight.
"Even if you are the clan leader, you shouldn't pry into others' privacy!" Kazuki shouted in his mind; this was his last bit of defiance.
The next morning.
"Clan Leader, I was wrong." Kazuki clearly had dark circles under his eyes, showing he hadn't slept well last night.
It was a joke; if Fugaku really showed the plan to the Hokage, given how cautious the Hokage was of the Uchiha, the clan would be finished.
"Come, sit down, and slowly tell me how you came up with this plan. Did anyone else help you?" Fugaku, with his insight, could see the key points Kazuki made in the plan.
Most of it hit the Uchiha's current issues right on target. The most important part was the proposed solutions.
If Fugaku hadn't seen Kazuki writing at the table, he might have thought this was all done by Shisui.
"Isn't it just common sense?"
Fugaku: …
Does this kid not know how to speak? Is he implying I don't have a brain?
"Did you really write this all by yourself? No help from Shisui?" Fugaku asked again, still unsure.
"Clan Leader, who do you look down on? Is this simple thing something I need help with?" Kazuki retorted.
"Ha ha ha ha!" Fugaku laughed heartily.
"Who would've thought, an Uchiha with brains! Truly, the Uchiha are not without hope."
Kazuki: …
Is the clan leader going crazy? Who speaks like that about their own clan?
After laughing, Fugaku became serious again and asked, "About the question you asked me yesterday, I want to know your answer. If sacrificing the Uchiha clan could save Konoha, what would you do?"
"Clan Leader, I asked you first," Kazuki argued.
"That's true, but I'm the clan leader, and you're not." This was using his authority to pressure Kazuki.
"Pfft, authority dog," Kazuki mumbled under his breath.
"What did you say?"
"Nothing, nothing! I was just saying the clan leader is handsome."
"Stop joking. If you were the clan leader, what choice would you make?"
"I am Uchiha. If the Uchiha are gone, what does it matter if Konoha is destroyed?"
"Yeah, you're right. If the Uchiha are gone, what does Konoha's fate matter to us?" Fugaku sighed heavily.
As the leader of the Uchiha clan, Fugaku's first priority was the clan's interests, not Konoha's. That was also the trust the Uchiha had in him.
"But if Konoha is destroyed, doesn't that mean the Uchiha will also lose their chance to survive?" Fugaku countered.
This was something he had pondered all night.
"There's a choice and balance to consider. We need to weigh the Uchiha's casualties against Konoha's losses.
If the casualties are within an acceptable range for the Uchiha, we can fully support Konoha.
But if the losses exceed what the Uchiha can handle, then we can't help; we can't let our clan members die for nothing," Kazuki said firmly.
After listening to Kazuki, Fugaku fell into deep thought before saying, "Can we really not integrate the Uchiha into Konoha?"
All the efforts and compromises he had made as clan leader were aimed at fully integrating the Uchiha into Konoha.
Unfortunately, he had failed. The Uchiha never fit in with Konoha.
"If in the future an Uchiha becomes Hokage, or if there is a Hokage with great character, then the Uchiha will have a chance to fully integrate into Konoha. But that's not possible now; the conditions don't allow it."
This time, Fugaku didn't respond immediately but pondered deeply.
Kazuki's words essentially negated all his years of effort.
Time passed slowly, but Kazuki was not in a hurry.
He was pleased that Fugaku didn't immediately reject his opinion but began to think.
For a leader, recognizing and admitting their mistakes is a rare and valuable trait.
"Kazuki, if I remember correctly, you are still a genin, right?"
Kazuki's face darkened instantly. As an Uchiha, being a genin at 20 was embarrassing.
"Clan Leader, come on! Don't insult me. What's wrong with being a genin at 20? Did I eat your family's rice or something?"
Fugaku ignored his complaint and calmly said, "So, how about it? Have you considered coming to work for me? Be my assistant? The pay will be that of a special jonin."
Fugaku thought that Kazuki had developed his ninja skills in a unique way.
Seeing that Kazuki didn't answer immediately, Fugaku asked curiously, "What's wrong? You don't want to?"
Kazuki quickly shook his head and said, "No, I was just thinking about what breakfast to prepare for you tomorrow morning. If I don't take on another part-time job as a life secretary, I feel a bit uneasy about the money."
Kazuki's strange words almost made Fugaku burst out laughing.
"Get lost, kid! Just seeing you makes me mad. Remember to report here tomorrow morning."
"Sure, Clan Leader. Tomorrow morning, I'll bring you some pancakes. Don't forget to skip breakfast."
Fugaku: …
"Why didn't I notice this kid's uniqueness before? Even though he's just a genin, his cunning is exactly what the Uchiha need right now." Fugaku thought to himself.
The Uchiha don't lack for jonin or elite jonin. What they lack is someone who knows how to strategize.
"I hope this kid can bring some light to the Uchiha's future."