The Dichotomy of Konoha Village

The proposal for the separation of powers was easier to pass than Toki had imagined. This was all thanks to the favorable timing, circumstances, and Toki's meticulous calculations. With the recent conclusion of the Third Great Ninja War, many ninja clans were weary of conflict. Even in the original story, despite the Cloud Village openly attacking and falsely accusing the Hyuga clan leader of killing an envoy, none of the ninja clans united to resist. It was even less likely for them to engage in civil war now.

The Uchiha clan attracted more hatred than any other clan, even more so than the Cloud Village. Originally, Hiruzen Sarutobi had planned to gradually consolidate power within the Leaf Village by manipulating the actions of Minato Namikaze. Then, when Asuma grew older and gained more experience, he would smoothly take over as Hokage. This was also why Hiruzen claimed that the younger generation wasn't mature enough yet. If not for the fact that Hiruzen's successor, Minato, died in unclear circumstances, Hiruzen wouldn't have needed to return to office.

Unfortunately, Minato's rage-induced sacrifice disrupted his plans completely.

If it had stopped there, Hiruzen Sarutobi, with the support of the ANBU and the still formidable Sarutobi clan, could have controlled the situation and gradually regained power, taking advantage of the fact that the various ninja clans were too disunited to oppose him. But now, for some reason, the Uchiha clan had chosen to publicly stand against the Sarutobi clan, eroding the effectiveness of the ANBU, the very tool used to threaten other ninja clans.

Now, the Uchiha clan even proposed the arduous and thankless task of implementing the separation of powers. This delighted the elder councils of the various ninja clans. Did this not mean that they could suddenly transform from mere cannon fodder into the true rulers behind the scenes of Konoha? After the senior ninjas of each clan returned to report, they eagerly applauded the proposal, allowing their respective senior ninjas to agree to Toki's proposal.

This resulted in the existing Leaf Village F4 and civilian senior ninjas having no power to oppose Toki's new policy. Those ninja clans that had been tricked by him during the Third Great Ninja War were practically green-eyed with anticipation, waiting for him to speak out so they could use the Uchiha clan to weaken him.

As a result, Hiruzen Sarutobi had no choice but to compromise. The original Leaf Elder Council was directly abolished. Hiruzen Sarutobi and Toki each represented their respective families as members of the village committee, each with ten votes and veto power. The other twenty-odd ninja clans each had one vote, but unanimity was required to veto any decision.

The ANBU was temporarily disbanded, and its members were left to find their own way out. After all, the Hokage had become nothing more than a mascot. The ANBU, responsible for protecting the Hokage, naturally lost its purpose.

However, almost all of the ANBU chose to continue following Hiruzen Sarutobi and became the private army of the Sarutobi clan. Only a portion, such as the Root faction led by Danzo, continued to follow Danzo. Some, like Kakashi Hatake, simply left the ANBU and became idle senior ninjas.

The following days were spent discussing legislation by the newly established village committee. Calling it legislation might be too grandiose for a small village like Konoha; at most, it was like village rules. However, before this, Konoha didn't even have such rules; conflicts were resolved based on customary practices. Now, having written laws could greatly mitigate the negative effects of law enforcement.

In the past, most criminal ninjas were punished by their respective ninja clans. When a ninja committed a serious crime, Root would secretly eliminate them, claiming it was for the sake of village peace. Itachi Uchiha's first mission upon joining Root was to kill a member of the Aburame clan.

It could be said that the original Leaf Village could not even be called a political entity; it was merely a gathering place for various ninja clans. Now, in order to prevent the Uchiha and Sarutobi clans from encroaching on their rights, the various ninja clans were racking their brains to transform various moral customs into village rules and submit them to the village committee for legislation.

Since the passage of each law required a two-thirds majority, each regulation had to be approved by either the Uchiha or Sarutobi clan. Therefore, the various ninja clans naturally wouldn't propose anything too outrageous. With the Uchiha and Sarutobi clans' power looming over them, they dared not be too extreme.

As a result, the Leaf Village found itself in a peculiar situation similar to Toki's past life's bipolarity.

Under Toki's suggestion, the Uchiha clan directly handed over the reform of the Leaf Village's defense forces, a major aspect of the reformation, to the Hokage's Department of Defense. Although it seemed that discrimination against the Leaf Village's defense forces would be greatly reduced after legislation, Toki still had them handed over. He needed to mitigate the conflict between the villagers and the Uchiha clan. Moreover, these stubborn Uchiha clan members didn't know how to compromise. Clearly, this was a highly lucrative position, yet they insisted on rigidly obeying orders. It was better to just get rid of this useless burden to avoid attracting resentment here. If he continued to hold onto it, the elderly members of the Leaf Village F4 would definitely become desperate. As Toki expected, as soon as he announced he was giving up control of the Leaf Village's defense forces, Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately seized control of the department without hesitation. Their original plan was for the ANBU to do the work while the defense forces bore the blame. Now that Toki had made it clear that he didn't want to take the blame anymore, Hiruzen naturally wouldn't let go of this crucial department that controlled internal affairs. Additionally, the other various ninja clans were still recovering, and there were no spare forces to establish the defense forces. This resulted in the Fire Clan's heavy yet silent agreement to divide the village's internal and external military power.

As the meeting dispersed, both Toki and Hiruzen Sarutobi smirked at each other before leaving without a word.

Upon returning to the Uchiha clan's territory, Uchiha Tetsuka looked at Toki with a worried expression and asked,

"Lord Clan Leader, is this really appropriate? It seems like the Uchiha clan is going to lose out. Fighting externally is much more dangerous than dealing with internal affairs in Konoha. And if that scoundrel Hiruzen Sarutobi teams up with the other ninja clans against us, the Uchiha clan might not fare well."

Toki sneered,

"You understand nothing. What comes next is a competition for military power with the Sarutobi clan and the recruitment of allies. And do you know what's the best source of wealth?"

Uchiha Tetsuka shook his head in confusion.

A cold gleam flashed in Toki's eyes as he sneered,

"That would be profiting from war!"