Draft Plan for Uchiha Council Governance and Optimization

At first, he thought these were merely some ideas Izuna had for improving the way current clan affairs were handled, much like an extension of his earlier annotations.

But as Madara read on, the casual look gradually vanished from his face. He became focused, then shocked.

The draft did not begin by addressing specific affairs. Instead, it posed a question:

[What should the Uchiha Clan become in the future?

A family held together solely by blood and military strength, or an organization with shared goals, interests, and rules, capable of effective cooperation on that basis?]

It then presented a complete, progressively developed vision for a management structure, covering decision-making, oversight of power, resource allocation, talent development and promotion, foreign relations, and more.

Many of the concepts were entirely new to Madara, some even revolutionary.

In the section on decision-making, the draft proposed establishing a council composed of clan elders, those responsible for various fields, and representatives of ordinary clan members with no talent for being ninja, while allowing the clan head to retain final decision-making authority.

The council would collectively discuss and vote on major clan affairs, making decisions more transparent and representative and preventing the clan head's unilateral decisions or personal preferences from affecting the interests of the entire clan.

The section on oversight of power proposed separating functions and holding regular reviews of officials' performance to prevent any department or individual from gaining excessive power. It also recommended creating independent oversight positions.

In the sections on resource allocation and talent development, Izuna proposed establishing fair, open standards based on contribution and potential, breaking away from the old model of relying solely on blood ties and seniority and motivating the younger clan members.

Then there was cultural preservation and innovation, something Madara truly had never even considered.

Izuna recommended preserving the Uchiha's traditional honor and Ninjutsu legacy while encouraging clan members who were not skilled in those areas to explore other fields.

Those included, but were not limited to, commerce, medicine, barriers, research, and education.

Clan members could move out of the clan compound and gather just once a month. This would help the family adapt as fully as possible to the new environment following Konoha's establishment and open up more paths for its survival and development.

The entire draft did not mention a single specific Ninjutsu or battle, yet it outlined a completely different future, one that was more rational, orderly, and full of vitality.

Madara was stunned by the breadth of vision and meticulous thinking it revealed.

Especially the measure that took ordinary clan members into account as well.

At first, he wondered why Izuna would do that. After all, the Shinobi Clan operated on the principle that strength reigned supreme. But he soon understood.

Those ordinary people made up the vast majority of a Shinobi Clan.

They had always been overlooked, forced to depend on stronger people to live. The only thing they could do for the family was support those with talent and strength as best they could, hoping they would continue to lead the family to prosperity.

In the past, during that war-torn era, there had of course been nothing wrong with that model, because it had been necessary and unavoidable.

But now... peace had arrived.

They had formed a village!

The thought brought Madara sudden clarity.

His gaze lingered for a long time on the lines about representatives of ordinary clan members.

Suddenly, the sound of children laughing drifted past Madara's ears.

Madara could not help raising his head and listening.

The children's drawn-out, carefree calls darted through the deepening twilight like birds returning to their nests.

"I'm home!" "Let's play again tomorrow! Right by the Naka River!"

Soon afterward, scattered footsteps pattered past, accompanied by relaxed conversation.

"They finally finished laying the foundation at the construction site today..."

"...Yeah. Those bastards from the Senju Clan are annoying, but they're good with Earth Release. Can't fault their efficiency."

"I heard the Hokage Building's design was finalized. The Uzumaki Clan's female head helped reinforce the sealing formulas..."

"That new shop on East Street is supposed to be run by the Akimichi Clan. Want to try it together sometime?"

"Sure, sounds good."

A few barks rang out among the voices now and then. He could not tell whether they came from the Inuzuka Clan's Ninja Dogs or ordinary pets.

Farther away, the clanging of a forge seemed not yet to have ceased.

From somewhere came the faint, crisp clatter of pots and ladles, mingling with the indistinct sounds of laughter and conversation drifting from several newly lit windows.

The sounds intertwined: no warning horns, no urgent signals, no oppressive silence.

They were so trivial, so ordinary, even somewhat noisy, yet together they formed a kind of background noise that was both unfamiliar to Madara and something he found himself faintly longing for.

Only half a year had passed, yet the silence of wartime nights had already become this.

Peace... the word that idiot Hashirama was always going on about suddenly had a tangible weight to it.

In the past, a Shinobi Clan's value had depended almost entirely on how many powerful ninja it possessed, how difficult the missions it could undertake were, and how many enemies it could kill on the battlefield.

The scope of its protection had been limited to the walls around its own compound, to clan members bound by blood.

Strength had been the only passport. Ordinary clan members had been adjuncts and background to that system of strength, their opinions of no consequence, because the struggle for survival had been fought on a higher, crueler level.

But now, this village that Hashirama Senju and he had founded together had fundamentally changed the scope and definition of protection.

It was no longer as simple as protecting his younger brother.

Konoha's walls enclosed these noisy, ordinary people, tens of thousands of them, with different surnames and different abilities.

Those ninja had to protect were no longer just their own flesh and blood, but an entire, complex community—including merchants, farmers, craftspeople, and scholars who could neither form Hand Seals nor refine Chakra.

The explosive expansion of the scope of protection would inevitably lead to a reassessment of the "value" of those being protected.

Madara's knuckles tapped unconsciously against the draft.

Yes, strength was still absolute, and the status of ninja would remain unshakable for the foreseeable future.

But when ordinary people made up an overwhelming majority of those who needed protection and support, their needs, their stability, and their development naturally became some of the village's priorities.

Through their numbers, their presence in daily life, and their roles in every aspect of keeping the village running, their voices would gradually join into a clamor that could not be ignored.

Izuna... he had seen that clearly.

The ideas in the draft concerning ordinary people, allowing them to move out of the clan compound, seemed at first glance incompatible with the Uchiha's traditional honor, but this was the stance a Shinobi Clan ought to take in a village.

With a single sentence, he had brought together the vast majority of the family who could not shine on the path of a ninja.

While the Uchiha's Sharingan perceived opportunities on the battlefield, Uchiha merchants could seize business opportunities in the marketplace.

While the Uchiha's fire jutsu burned their enemies, Uchiha healers could save lives and tend the wounded in hospitals.

While the Uchiha's Genjutsu controlled minds, Uchiha teachers could enlighten young minds in schools.

Beyond military force, the Uchiha's bloodline, wisdom, and influence would sink like roots deep into every crevice of Konoha's new soil.

Ninja protected the village, and the village nourished everyone.

If the Uchiha existed only as protectors, they would forever be nothing more than tools, a bold but isolated stroke of color in the beautiful picture Hashirama envisioned.

But if the Uchiha also became part of the village's flesh and bones, then the family's fate would become completely entwined with the village's, and the two could no longer be easily separated or ignored.

This was an open strategy.

It did not seek the title of Hokage or challenge the existing order of military power. Instead, it embraced the new rules brought by peace as a builder and a participant.

And under those rules, it sought the greatest and most secure space for the family to survive and the greatest potential for it to develop.

But the scope of this draft's application was too broad.

Far too broad.

Madara slowly closed the draft and shut his eyes, marveling inwardly.

How was this merely a plan to optimize management within a family?

It was clearly the prototype of a complete system of governance... one that could be applied anywhere!

With a few minor changes, these words could be applied directly to Konoha... no, they could even work for governing a country!

Madara was a worldly man. He had encountered the Land of Fire daimyo's bureaucracy and learned about the ways other countries were governed.

But all of them were founded on rigid hierarchies, hereditary power, and the threat of force.

The core of Izuna's draft, however, was rules, cooperation, fairness, and development.

It diminished individual authority and monopolies based on blood ties, emphasizing collective wisdom and the power of institutions.

If this scroll had appeared on the Land of Fire daimyo's desk instead of in his, Madara Uchiha's, study... it would probably have been immediately regarded as heresy intended to overthrow the existing order, and might even have triggered a purge.

Madara's grip on the scroll tightened slightly, his knuckles turning a little white.

A storm raged in his heart.

As a ninja who had grown up in the bloody Warring States era, accustomed to seeing the strong prey on the weak and families rise and fall, Madara understood the tragedy of ninja better than anyone.

What were ninja? Tools, weapons, swords in the hands of daimyo and nobles, used to fight and consolidate power.

Swords did not need thoughts. They only needed to be sharp and obedient.

That was why the management of ninja was also mostly crude and heavy-handed, relying on the clan head's authority and the power of blood ties.

The strong were revered, and the fittest survived. Those were laws etched into their bones.

Even if family honor dressed it up, it was still bloody and brutal.

Madara himself had once thought of changing things. He had wanted to use the Infinite Tsukuyomi to create an "ideal world" without war or loss.

But that was escapism at its core: forcibly unifying everyone's will, depriving them of choice, and creating a false peace.

That was still the thinking of a "sword"—using greater power to forcibly shape the world.

But what Izuna offered was the thinking of a "person."

It was a system that relied not on peerless military might, but on reasonable rules, effective cooperation, respect for individual value, and the pursuit of collective interests to keep a clan, or even a larger community, functioning in a healthy way.

It pointed toward a future where ninja would no longer exist merely as swords, but could truly take control of their own destinies.

It was astonishing.

It was revolutionary!

Madara's heart began pounding in his chest as a rush of sudden clarity swept through him.

He abruptly raised his head and looked at Izuna, who was sleeping soundly beside him.

Moonlight streamed through the window lattice, falling softly on his younger brother's peaceful sleeping face.

Izuna... his younger brother, his scarred younger brother whom he had lost and regained. How could the knowledge he possessed be so frightening?

No, not frightening.

It was... dazzling.

So dazzling that even he, the older brother known as the Uchiha Clan's strongest, felt an impact that was almost dizzying.

The draft contained no secret ninja techniques, nor any earth-shaking display of power.

Yet it possessed the power to shake the foundations of the world.

It sought to establish an order entirely different from any that had existed in the past hundreds and thousands of years.

An order in which millions could live in peace, each displaying their talents as they moved forward together.

It restored ninja from mere tools, mere "swords," to "people" who participated in building and maintaining that order.

It was unheard of in the history of ninja.

Hashirama Senju went around all day shouting, "Everyone is a brother," and "Use love to overcome hatred."

Though Madara was moved by that sincerity, he often felt the ideal was too naive and lacked a path to realization.

Izuna's draft, however, was like a detailed blueprint, showing word by word how to build a framework in which that "brotherhood" and "love" could endure.

Its plans contained no empty talk of love and peace, but he had managed to reconcile interests, balance power, make voices heard, and ensure that effort was rewarded.

These were the real, tangible bonds that kept a vast community from falling apart.

But could an early alliance between the Senju and the Uchiha really have given rise to a description of such a complex political system?

The question flashed through Madara's mind.

No.

The Shinobi Clans of the Warring States era, even great clans like the Senju and the Uchiha, had always kept their internal governance at the most primitive level.

Everyone's focus had always been on combat, missions, and the struggle for resources.

Hashirama might have had a vague idea of a village, but there was no way he could have worked out details like council functions, oversight of power, or cultural innovation.

Then where had Izuna gained these insights?

Madara's gaze shifted to his sleeping younger brother.

Izuna breathed evenly, his brow relaxed, as though he had merely finished some insignificant task and, exhausted, fallen asleep.

But Madara knew the mental effort spent on this draft was no less than that required to develop an S-rank forbidden jutsu.

Just what kind of world had his younger brother seen?

What vision of the future had been reflected in those black eyes, allowing him to write these words so naturally?

Doubt, shock, pride, worry...

Complex emotions surged through Madara's heart. But in the end, a stronger impulse overwhelmed them all.

He had to show this to Hashirama immediately!

Right away!

Madara carefully rolled up the draft and held it in his hand, as though he were holding some priceless treasure.

Before that, Madara looked at Izuna, a glistening strand of drool appearing at the corner of his mouth, and could not help chuckling.

His expression softened. He would settle Izuna in first.

Madara first went to Izuna's room and laid out the bedding, then returned to the study, picked up Izuna, who was already drooling in his sleep, and carried him to his bedroom.

After tucking his brother in, Madara turned and silently left the residence, his figure like a falcon blending into the night as he raced toward the Hokage Building.