Jin was genuinely curious about the extent of the chaos outside.
He rarely walked through Konoha's civilian sectors. Even before he formed the Radical Faction, the village's pervasive hatred toward the Uchiha made the streets deeply unpleasant. After his genin squad died on the battlefield, the administration had benched him, and Jin had willingly confined himself to the Uchiha District ever since.
Because he remained isolated, he relied entirely on his subordinates for external intelligence.
"I can answer that, Elder Jin," a shinobi stepped forward. It was Uchiha Takashi, a recent defector from the Moderate Faction.
"The chaos started with our mass migration," Takashi reported crisply. "Relocating hundreds of families into the fortified Radical zone required time to move furniture, valuables, and supplies. To facilitate this without alerting the Hokage, our clansmen simultaneously called in sick to the Military Police Force. The sudden absence of patrols created an immediate power vacuum."
Takashi outlined the consequences. "The criminal underground reacted instantly. Thugs, thieves, and extortionists realized there was no law enforcement to stop them. Worse, corrupt members from other ninja clans took advantage of the anarchy to illegally seize civilian assets and businesses. Without us to mediate disputes or arrest offenders, Konoha's streets have descended into absolute lawlessness."
Takashi paused, his expression turning solemn. He dropped to one knee, bowing his head.
"Elder Jin, I was a Moderate. But living under your command has opened my eyes. We no longer fear Root assassins slitting our throats in the night. Our families sleep safely behind your barrier. And now, you have reclaimed our ancestral land—something Fugaku never dared to attempt. You deliver results, not empty rhetoric. From this day forward, you have my absolute loyalty."
Following Takashi's lead, the rest of the commanders in the courtyard knelt, pledging their unwavering allegiance.
Jin smiled faintly. He felt a deep sense of validation.
'My strategy was correct,' Jin analyzed internally. 'Words alone could never unite the Uchiha. The clan was too deeply fractured by Konoha's political sabotage. It took Danzo's bloody assassinations to instill the fear of death, and Fugaku's pathetic inaction to shatter their hope in appeasement. Only then were they desperate enough to follow a strong leader.' "Stand up," Jin commanded smoothly. "I accept your loyalty. But do not let this victory blind you. Our situation remains highly precarious. We face external threats from the Hokage and Danzo, and internal sabotage from Fugaku and Shisui. We must move with extreme caution."
Despite his confident facade, Jin was acutely aware of the perilous tightrope he walked.
Konoha was a world governed by absolute martial power, and Jin's current strength had limits. He had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan—an evolved, highly destructive form of the Uchiha's ocular bloodline. However, it was not the 'Eternal' variant. Every time he channeled chakra—the physical and spiritual energy used by ninjas—into his eyes for high-level combat, it permanently damaged his vision and drained his stamina. He could not afford a prolonged, large-scale war of attrition.
Therefore, he had to manage his enemies meticulously.
'Threat One: Shisui Uchiha.' Shisui possessed a terrifying Mangekyo ability called 'Kotoamatsukami'—an ultimate genjutsu capable of imperceptibly rewriting a victim's mind and loyalty. If Jin pushed the village to the brink of destruction, Shisui might use it to enslave Jin's mind for the 'sake of peace'.
'Threat Two: Fugaku Uchiha.' The Clan Head secretly possessed a Mangekyo Sharingan of his own. He kept it hidden to prevent the village from viewing the Uchiha as an uncontrollable threat, but if Jin fractured the clan too violently, Fugaku would inevitably use it.
'Threat Three: Itachi Uchiha.' Currently, Itachi was a manageable variable. He had not yet awakened his Mangekyo Sharingan, a power usually triggered by severe emotional trauma—specifically, the death of someone close to him, like Shisui. As long as Shisui lived, Itachi's threat level was capped.
'Threat Four: Obito Uchiha.' The masked rogue Uchiha was lurking in the shadows, orchestrating chaos. He would only intervene if Konoha directly attacked the clan, or if an internal civil war erupted, allowing him to pick off the survivors.
Finally, there was the hostage situation. Danzo's black-ops division, Root, had captured Jin's parents. The thought burned like acid in Jin's chest, but his cold rationality prevailed. 'Danzo is a pragmatic sociopath. My parents are his highest-value leverage against me. He will not execute them until our final confrontation.'
Jin absently touched his chest, feeling the outline of a seven-tiered pagoda pendant hidden beneath his shirt. It was an artifact that had crossed dimensions with him from his previous life. He had tried everything—infusing it with chakra, soaking it in his blood—but the artifact remained dormant.
'If I had an active system or a functional artifact to boost my power without the Mangekyo's backlash, I would have slaughtered the village elders already,' Jin thought bitterly. 'But since I lack overwhelming force, I must rely on political extortion and psychological warfare.'
His thoughts were interrupted by one of his Jonin commanders.
"Elder Jin, there is a flaw in the Hokage's logic that I cannot decipher," the commander stated, his brow furrowed in confusion. "Why did Hiruzen surrender the ancestral land? Konoha possesses thousands of shinobi. Why didn't he simply deploy the Anbu black-ops, or temporarily draft ninjas from other clans to replace the Police Force and restore order?"