Chapter 90- Playing Neutral

As Daichi returned to his office in the evening, he found Fugaku diligently working on some paperwork at his desk. Fugaku looked up as his father entered, 

"How did the meeting go, Father?" Fugaku inquired, 

Daichi's face immediately darkened as he recalled the events that occurred in the Hokage's office. 

"I wanted to send the squad in charge of this to find the culprits," Daichi remarked.

"And do you have sufficient information on this group to make such a demand?" Hiruzen asked.

Although the Uchiha clan had the lowest quota for taking missions in Konoha, the chief of the police, who was also the clan head, had the power to send squads on specific missions out of the villages.

The missions had to be related to matters of the police force such as this incident where they wanted to raid a base suspected of belonging to a cult group. 

Once the mission was planned, the chief of police had to seek the Hokage's approval on it, otherwise, the shinobi taking up the mission may be labelled rogue shinobi.

Daichi nodded solemnly. "Yes, Lord Third. Through the intelligence corps, we have received information that the group responsible for these heinous crimes has a base near the border we share with the Land of Grass. While we are not sure that, the seals used have been used in one of their operations."

Koharu Utatane up, "And what makes you think that sending a squad against them will be any more effective than our previous efforts?"

Daichi met Koharu's gaze and said, "One of the members of the squad has experience with Uzumaki Fuinjutsu. They were also the squad that solved the case, so I would like to give them the opportunity to finish things through."

When the three council members heard that someone knew Uzumaki Fuinjutsu, they were surprised. It had been barely a decade since they lost Uzushiogakure to enemy forces leading the access to seals since no one to replicate their kind of work.

Since they had been depending on them for a while, fewer people had managed to learn their fuinjutsu because of its complexity. 

"Who is this person who has learnt Uzumaki Fuinjutsu?" Homura couldn't help but ask.

"It is Uzumaki Renjiro," Daichi replied.

Danzo's eyes widened. 'Last time I checked, Kushina was teaching him Fuinjutsu. It has been less than two years and he has already learnt his clan's fuinjutsu. I was right, he might be a great asset to the Root.'

Daichi loved the surprised look on the Elders' faces. While he was aware that Renjiro had not mastered that type of Fuinjutsu, he wanted to further his case, so he decided to play that card.

Hiruzen was also amused because he was aware of Renjiro's progress from his talks with Kushina as well as his occasional spying of the village.

While Danzo was still thinking of ways to force Hiruzen to let him use Renjiro, his brows furrowed as he asked, "Are you suggesting that the success of this investigation hinges solely on the abilities of a mere chunin?"

Daichi nearly scoffed but stood his ground, "Not solely, but I believe his experience would be of great help."

"We also believed that the police force would keep our civilians safe, but that was not the case," Danzo began, "The Root and Anbu also have experienced shinobi who are familiar with the Uzumaki Fuinjutsu, so I think that sending the Root will be the best option here,"

Hiruzen's eyes twitched when he heard Danzo's suggestion. 'As usual, he is trying to use this situation to gain more benefits. I need to be neutral in this situation.'

After carefully weighing the pros and cons of each option which were the Konoha Police Force, the Root or the Anbu, Hiruzen finally made a decision.

"While I have heard all of your opinions, I think that sending the Anbu would be the ideal Decision." Hiruzen mused, "Since the base is close to our borders, we need to be careful in how we handle this so that in case matters spill over to the land of Grass, we can room to deny our involvement."

Danzo inwardly sneered. While Homura, Koharu and he were council members, Hiruzen only needed to listen to their opinions since he had the final say in the matters.

The others nodded in agreement, while Daichi kept his word to himself. While he was bothered with the fact that the Anbu and the root had been slowly chipping away their jurisdiction he consoled himself that Danzo did not get what he wanted in this situation.

Fugaku's expression darkened as he processed the result of the meeting. "That's unacceptable," he declared, "They called us incompetent, but they won't allow us to remedy the situation?"

"Calm down Fugaku," Daichi said, "This was just politics at its best. All three forces wanted to gain information this group held and the Hokage was aware of this. We just lost this time."

"But Father, why do you always allow them to get in the way of our work?" Fugaku asked.

"Fugaku, I am first the clan head then the chief of police," Daichi began, "I always need to know when to compromise and when to stand my ground. The fate of the clans rests on my shoulders, so every action I take good or bad, even as the chief of police, will reflect back to the clan."

"Alright Father, I will keep trusting your decisions," Fugaku reluctantly nodded.

"Now, go get me Fujioka. There are some matters I need to talk to him," Daichi instructed.

Daichi watched Fugaku leave to do what he instructed, and he couldn't help but think, 'He is still young and hot-headed, but it is clear the village is trying to ostracize us. I just hope that when he takes my position as the clan head, the Uchiha clan won't act against the village.' 

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"... so the Hokage declared that the Anbu will finish up the case," Daichi declared.

"Understood, clan head," Fujioka said.

Daichi had informed him of Hiruzen's decision on the whole matter so that they would be able to continue with their training and preparations for other tasks.

Seeing that there was nothing else to discuss, Fujioka prepared to leave when Daichi said, "Fujioka before you leave, there is something I wanted to ask,"

Fujioka stood and gestured for Daichi to continue.

"So far, what do you think of Renjiro?"

Fujioka took some time to think before saying, "While it is clear the boy has his reservations, considering that none of us knew he was into Fuinjutsu, he has a clear head on him."

"He is a more capable shinobi when you take into account his age. While I have not determined the extent of his capabilities, his composure during training and our recent case just solidifies this."

Daichi nodded, "So you are fine with his staying in your squad?"

"Yes, with more refining, I am sure he will be a strong shinobi."

"That is good to hear, Fujioka. You can now leave." Daichi instructed. Fuijioka left with Daichi deciding to act on an idea that crossed his mind. 

While the conversation was going on, the subject of their talk was in one of the clan meditation rooms meditating, or at least he tried to.

Since it was deep into the night, Renjiro had already done some ninjutsu training and was finishing his day with some meditation. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't clear his mind.

'I don't know why, but my gut feelings keep telling me that there was more to the murders than we thought.'

'Anyway, I will talk to Fujioka about this tomorrow. Besides, I already memorized the seals used. So I can begin studying them now. If I am lost, I can always ask Kushina.'

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