Old man Uchiha Nobuhiro proudly showed off in front of Uchiha Yuichiro. "Ahahaha, as the kid Yuu would put it, this really counts as seeing something you'd never live long enough to see twice."
Elder Yuichiro pressed a hand to his forehead and finally relaxed. "That explains it. I was wondering why the genin I arranged suddenly cut off contact for no reason and heartlessly abandoned me, their elder…"
"Six pairs of Sharingan in one night. If it were me, I'd have defected on the spot too."
Old man Nobuhiro asked teasingly, "So you're not blaming me anymore for driving your people away?"
Uchiha Yuichiro waved both hands in quick denial and nodded in agreement. "You did the right thing. This matter is far too important. The information absolutely cannot be spread casually."
"As for those genin from the study group… haha, I was overthinking it. They're definitely loyal to Uchiha Yuu now. That brat is even more meticulous than I am. He doesn't need me worrying blindly for him."
"Hahaha… the future of the Uchiha clan…"
It took quite a while before Uchiha Yuichiro's emotions finally settled. Then he looked at Uchiha Nobuhiro and asked, "Uncle Nobuhiro, aside from informing me about something this huge, did you come because there's something you want me to do?"
Uchiha Nobuhiro nodded. "That brat Uchiha Yuu wants to become clan head. I'm here to persuade you to support him."
"Aren't you the one who always supported Kagami, and more recently pinned your hopes on Shisui? Changed targets?"
"Shisui is too young. Uchiha Yuu can do the job for ten years first, then hand the position over to Shisui later. That way, the Uchiha clan's succession as clan head stabilizes into the strongest person taking the seat, instead of father passing it to son."
"On that point, my view matches yours. And since Uchiha Yuu can bring such enormous benefits to the clan, once Fugaku gets old, it's only natural for him to become clan head. You probably wouldn't even need my support, right?"
"He wants to become clan head within three years."
"Three years? How is that possible? That's way too fast!"
"That's why I need your strong support."
"But what good does my support do? A new clan head has to be stronger than Fugaku, or at the very least on the same level. He—"
Uchiha Yuichiro's eyes suddenly widened. He thought of something, and his voice turned unsteady. "He's only eighteen. Has he already awakened it?"
"Not yet. He still doesn't have the Mangekyo Sharingan. That's why he needs three years."
"Hahahaha. Even if he doesn't have it now, that's still one hell of a statement. That brat is confident. Good. Very good."
"Just give me your position."
"Support him? Of course I support him. I've been sick of Fugaku for a long time already."
"But, Uncle, your support and mine still won't be enough. Even if every kid in the study group awakens the Sharingan, it's still a little lacking."
"The reason I came personally to pull you in was precisely so you could help think of the next step. Tell me—who do we bring in next?"
"Obviously Uchiha Ryunosuke."
"Him?" Uchiha Nobuhiro frowned. Though that man was also an elder from the moderate faction, he was so stubborn that even Nobuhiro found him troublesome. Could he really be persuaded?
Uchiha Yuichiro laughed and explained, "Kowa may be stubborn, but he dotes on his only grandson more than anything. That kid is already fourteen, yet still hasn't awakened the Sharingan…"
Uchiha Nobuhiro immediately understood.
His health had been poor these past few years, and he had stopped caring much about clan affairs. He genuinely hadn't known the boy still hadn't awakened the Sharingan.
With that as an opening, plus the shock of six pairs of Sharingan in a single night, persuading Uchiha Ryunosuke would not be difficult.
With the support of two elders, it would be enough to ensure the stable operation of the study group. Today's move could be called a perfect success.
According to Uchiha Yuu's plan, it was no longer suitable to do anything even more provocative next. Instead, they needed to wait for the genin in the study group to grow, then gradually absorb other young ninja into it and expand his influence.
The time set to overthrow Uchiha Fugaku was three years from now.
There was plenty of time.
No need to rush.
By nature, Uchiha Yuichiro was cautious and suspicious. He turned Nobuhiro's explanation of the strategy over and over in his mind. The more he thought about it, the more he felt the plan was perfectly measured.
Unable to hold back, he pressed for more details. Once he learned that the person who had devised the three-year strategy was Uchiha Yuu himself, he became even more satisfied with his choice and even more confident in the future.
This relatively clever elder sighed with emotion. "Ever since old clan head Shimada died, our Uchiha clan has finally gotten a chance at having a clan head who can both fight and think. It really hasn't been easy."
Uchiha Nobuhiro could not help but think of the previous clan head, Uchiha Madara—whose combat power had been monstrous, but whose brain had truly lost to his overflowing emotions.
He sighed as well. "Yeah. It really hasn't been easy."
Then they thought of the current Uchiha clan head, Fugaku.
The two of them sighed together.
He really was not even as good as Uchiha Madara.
Madara's mind had been chaotic, and he often lost sight of what mattered most, acting on emotion. But he truly could fight, and he truly could shoulder things.
Back when Madara served as clan head, Senju Tobirama had already been extremely skilled at scheming. Even so, he had never managed to scheme against the Uchiha clan itself. Everything had been blocked by Uchiha Madara.
At that time, Uchiha and Senju had joined hands and swept across the ninja world without an equal. The clan territory became Konoha, and during the great development period, the value of its land skyrocketed.
The wasteland that had once been worthless either turned into houses and shops or was reclaimed into fertile farmland. Clan members became wealthy landlords and property owners. Those years had truly been comfortable.
The Uchiha clan had fought and struggled for a thousand years, yet had never experienced such prosperous and peaceful days. That was exactly why the clan had collectively abandoned Uchiha Madara. No one had wanted to follow him out of increasingly prosperous Konoha and start over from scratch in the middle of nowhere.
But who could have imagined it?
Without Uchiha Madara as clan head, that silver-tongued bastard Senju Tobirama set his eyes on the Uchiha clan. Under the Second Hokage's countless calculations, the Uchiha clan never again managed to elect a clan head capable of truly representing the Uchiha.
Such a massive clan, yet without a lead sheep.
It could no longer twist itself into a single rope.
Could no longer speak with one voice for its own interests.
And so it was toyed with in the palm of Senju Tobirama's hand.
The Second Hokage had been a real politician. His handling of benefit distribution and political suppression had been precise to an almost frightening degree. The Uchiha clan had clearly been dismantled piece by piece under his hand, yet every Uchiha ninja still both respected and feared him.
Back then, the Uchiha clan had truly submitted.
When Uchiha Kagami, the most outstanding genius in the clan, was accepted as the Second Hokage's disciple, the clan's reaction had been envy and excitement—not humiliation.
At the time, life for the Uchiha clan had still been good. Though the Second Hokage constantly kept them in check, their income and sense of security were both high. The clansmen held no resentment and had even grown used to the reality of having no clan head.
If only the Second Hokage had lived ten more years, the Uchiha clan would have transitioned smoothly—from Konoha's premier noble clan into an inseparable pillar of Konoha itself.
But fate never follows human wishes.
While on a diplomatic mission to the Land of Lightning, the Second Hokage encountered the Gold and Silver Brothers' rebellion. He returned gravely wounded and handed the Hokage position over to Sarutobi Hiruzen. The Third Hokage rose to power in haste.
Then Uchiha Kagami died unexpectedly.
Then the Third Hokage's faction began their clumsy, heavy-handed suppression of the Uchiha clan.
From that point on, the Uchiha's good days were gone forever.
Only then did the idea emerge that the clan needed a clan head again.
Unfortunately, after picking and choosing so many times, the one they selected still failed to stand tall.
Life only grew harder.
Though only a few years had passed, the thought of replacing the clan head had already begun brewing in people's hearts. Most simply had not realized it yet.
For someone at the upper levels like Uchiha Yuichiro, all it took was a few words from old man Nobuhiro to stir that thought right out of the depths of his heart. He felt no resistance at all toward the idea of replacing the clan head. His only concern was whether replacing him with someone even younger like Uchiha Yuu was really appropriate.
But after hearing Nobuhiro's account, he felt Uchiha Yuu's intelligence, depth, and astonishing patience.
At that point, he had no more doubts.
Still, before throwing himself into a new faction led by the younger generation, he had one final confirmation to make.
Yuichiro asked, "When do I get to meet Uchiha Yuu face to face?"
"Tonight. We're going to that brat Yuu's house for dinner together."
Uchiha Nobuhiro smiled, then shook his head with emotion. "Sigh… I'm getting more and more at ease. Even a clever brat like you got read completely by him."
Uchiha Yuichiro: "…"
Old man Nobuhiro sighed. "For our Uchiha clan to produce a Tobirama… I really don't know whether I should laugh or cry."
Yuichiro burst into laughter. His excitement overflowed from him as he said happily, "Uncle Nobuhiro, it isn't a bad thing for us to produce an Uchiha Tobirama. Serves Hiruzen and the others right if they get to experience what it feels like to be controlled so thoroughly your whole body feels uncomfortable, yet you can't even find the words for it."
"Just look at the garbage they've been pulling these past years. They don't have the slightest sense of proportion. If they keep this up, something huge is going to happen to the Uchiha clan."
"Uchiha Yuu… Uchiha Tobirama… good. Hehehe. I'm really looking forward to tonight's dinner."
…
With Shimura Danzo absent, the Ninjutsu and Tactics Study Group carried out its activities in the most remote corner possible. But Hiruzen Sarutobi was still not the decrepit old man he would become later, and his two classmates were not yet the useless idle elders of the future.
In only a few days, they had already caught the scent of something unusual.
So while the old men of the Uchiha clan were holding their gathering, Mitokado Homura was also reporting his investigation results to Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"Through a reliable intelligence channel, I have confirmed that the Uchiha clan has gathered 129 genin who have not awakened the Sharingan and is putting them through special training at their earliest ancestral training ground. They have given it a name—the 'Ninjutsu and Tactics Study Group.'"
Utane Koharu asked, "Are you sure no elite ninja are involved?"
Mitokado Homura replied, "I already confirmed it. They're all abandoned genin. Not a single one is in a mission squad, and not a single one belongs to the Police Force."
"In the first few days, Uchiha Yashiro and a few chunin took part. Now they no longer show up. Everything has been handed over to a chunin named Uchiha Yuu."
The Third Hokage asked, "What about this Uchiha Yuu?"
Mitokado Homura flipped through the file in his hands and began to read.
"Uchiha Yuu, born in Konoha Year 25. Studied at the Ninja Academy for four years and was the top student each year, but did not display any particularly outstanding traits."
"He graduated in Konoha Year 35. After graduation, he inherited his father's position and joined the squad led by Fuchigami Kunioki. Two years later, after Jonin Fuchigami retired, he also withdrew from the mission squad and joined the Police Force as a patrol ninja."
"In May of this year, Uchiha Yuu was expelled from the Police Force. In June, he passed the chunin assessment mission and became a chunin. It is suspected that he has already awakened the Sharingan, but there is currently no record of him ever using it."
Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned in puzzlement. "This information on Uchiha Yuu sounds rather ordinary. Why would the Uchiha clan hand their newly established… what was it…"
Mitokado Homura quickly reminded him, "The Ninjutsu and Tactics Study Group."
Hiruzen continued without changing expression. "Right. Why would they hand this study group over to an ordinary chunin to manage? That seems rather unreasonable."
Utane Koharu snorted dismissively. "Hiruzen, I think you're overthinking it. It's just a group of insignificant genin. They handed them to a chunin with some mission experience so they could learn a bit of ninjutsu and mission technique, hoping they'll survive longer once the war starts."
Mitokado Homura nodded, then shook his head.
Hiruzen asked, "Homura, you have a different opinion?"
"At first, my thinking matched Koharu's. But the Uchiha clan's study group has only existed for a few days, and it has already stirred up no small amount of movement. I think we need to raise its priority and conduct a deeper investigation."
"Mm. The fact that you can be this cautious is a very good thing. I'll leave this matter to you, then."
"Fine. But before now, I haven't specifically targeted the internal affairs of the Uchiha clan. Everything has to start over from the beginning. And the current situation is tense. We're short on manpower, so progress will be slower."
"If Danzo were here, it would be better. His surveillance of the Uchiha clan is extremely thorough. This would be much easier for him than for me."
"You're right. But Danzo's side still needs time to thoroughly investigate that mysterious person. Before, we only suspected he was using natural energy.
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