The Fifth village Hokage:Uchiha Douhuan

Chapter 22: Offering Loyalty to the Police Force

After Kakashi left, Uchiha Douhuan picked up the mission scroll related to the operation to capture Orochimaru. On the Police Department's side, the Third Hokage evidently intended to let Douhuan choose who would participate. As for the other party, the Anbu, aside from the squad leader Kakashi, they had dispatched a full three Jōnin.

Among these three Jōnin, one belonged to the Koharu clan, one to the Inuzuka clan, and the last was a civilian ninja with no clan background. In addition, there were four Tokubetsu Jōnin – which included Gekkō Hayate and Uzuki Yūgao, a pair well-known in the village for their Konoha-ryū kenjutsu. As for the other two Tokubetsu Jōnin, one came from the Homura family, and the other was a civilian with no special affiliation. Considering their reconnaissance needs, they also borrowed two capable Branch members from the Hyūga clan.

After pondering it for a while, Douhuan called out toward the door, "Keiko-nee, go inform Inaho and Saito that they'll be going on a mission with me the day after tomorrow."

Uchiha Inaho and Uchiha Saito had been among the earliest to openly side with Douhuan, so he certainly did not mind giving them a chance to rise. Though this mission was dangerous—after all, they were potentially up against a long-famed powerful ninja like Orochimaru—Douhuan had no intention of a deadly confrontation this time.

Douhuan wove a series of hand signs, and a puff of smoke heralded the appearance of a ninja hawk. The bird fluttered onto Douhuan's shoulder, rubbing its cheek against his, while a special red gleam shone in its eyes.

Once again forming hand seals, Douhuan engraved a unique formula inside the hawk's body before patting its head.

"Skree—!"

Letting out a resonant cry, the hawk spread its wings and soared high, disappearing into the horizon in the blink of an eye.

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The next day, after Uchiha Fugaku had worked late nights for two days, he finally organized the new civilian ninjas and assigned their tasks. From the following day onward, the newcomers would officially start working. To commemorate this, Fugaku held a modest induction ceremony, inviting Douhuan to attend with him.

In the large meeting room of the Police Department, the seats were fully occupied. The original 227 Uchiha ninjas of the Police Force, plus the 254 civilian ninjas who had just been recruited, all filled the space.

When Douhuan and Fugaku entered, they took a quick look at the arrangement of people. Despite these civilians taking the step to join the Police Force, it was obvious that they still carried some unease about the Uchiha clan; during this formal occasion, they had deliberately chosen seats apart from the Uchiha. As a result, a large row of seats in the middle remained empty, forming a kind of dividing line between the two groups.

Seeing this, Douhuan couldn't help but shake his head. It was evident that rehabilitating the clan's image would be a long struggle.

At the start of the ceremony, Fugaku—though still the Captain of the Police Force—knew how important this event was to Douhuan. Not wishing to overshadow him, he briefly addressed the newcomers, then excused himself by citing unfinished tasks, effectively letting Douhuan take the spotlight.

Douhuan walked up to the platform at the front, scanning the assembled group before speaking:

"First, on behalf of the 227 original members of the Police Force, I would like to welcome our new recruits. I believe that with your arrival, guided by the Will of Fire, we can usher in a new era for the Police Force."

At that, Uchiha Inaho led a round of applause, which grew into enthusiastic clapping from all corners of the room.

When the applause died down, Douhuan continued:

"I imagine each of you chose to join the Police Force because you have faith in us and in the Uchiha clan. From this day onward, we're all colleagues, so there's no need for us to remain strangers."

A warm smile played on his features as he cast a sidelong glance at Inaho and Saito in the audience. But the two men, failing to grasp his intention, simply gazed back with clear, earnest eyes. Douhuan could only sigh inwardly—the clan's typical social awareness at work again.

Fortunately, Shisui—who had been sitting quietly off to the side—took the initiative, rising from his seat and walking over to invite some of the new recruits to sit together with the Uchiha. Inaho and Saito immediately caught on, and they, along with several younger Uchiha, joined in.

After a brief commotion, the meeting room's stark boundary was erased, and the original Uchiha members mixed in with the newly arrived civilians.

Seeing that, Douhuan clapped gently, prompting another wave of applause.

"Well then, let's all work together to make our village a better place!" As Douhuan finished, a fresh burst of applause rippled around the room.

He waited until the noise died down, then smiled and added:

"Next, I'd like to go over the details of your compensation—something I'm sure many of you are curious about. After consulting with Captain Fugaku, taking into account the village's average ninja income and general living costs, we've decided to set a provisional monthly salary of eighty thousand ryō. As for our senior Police Force members, their pay will increase by twenty percent, relative to what the clan used to provide."

A stunned silence fell among the new civilian recruits, many showing their disbelief.

After all, most of them were Genin living off of the standard D-rank missions. On average, each D-rank mission offered just over ten thousand ryō, but after factoring in the village's share and the half cut taken by their squad leader, a Genin usually saw just over a thousand ryō per mission—and could typically only do about twenty-odd missions a month, netting two or three ten-thousands in total. Some of that money would be spent on living costs, with a small portion saved in hopes of purchasing better ninjutsu.

All they had heard initially was that the Police Force would pay wages "equivalent to D-rank mission standards." They assumed that meant basically the same money they were used to. The real attraction to joining was the opportunity to learn advanced ninjutsu. But as it turned out, the "D-rank mission pay" the Police Force had mentioned was calculated before the various cuts and splits.

Likewise, many of the original Uchiha members looked delighted, since their pay—which had already been around that level—would now be bumped up by twenty percent.

Sensing the excitement in the crowd, Douhuan added fuel to the flames with a friendly grin:

"Additionally, because the Police Force station is located rather far from the village center, we'll provide a monthly transport subsidy of six thousand ryō to help with travel expenses."

The new civilian ninjas were almost beside themselves at that news.

"And, taking a slight liberty with my position here"—he gave a small laugh—"I want to help everyone's skills improve as quickly as possible to better fulfill our future responsibilities. Initially, we'd planned to distribute the C-rank ninjutsu after you'd worked here for a month, but we've decided to hand them out right after this meeting."

At that, the already-eager crowd practically burst at the seams.

Seizing the moment, Uchiha Inaho leapt to his feet and shouted, "Salute Deputy Chief Douhuan! Loyalty! Devotion!"

"Loyalty! Devotion!" the crowd echoed, leaping from their seats, right hands raised.

"For Konoha—loyalty and devotion!" Douhuan declared, raising his right hand in turn.

…