You Said It Yourself!

On the waterfall.

After Uchiha Fugaku nervously confirmed there was no one watching, he quietly breathed a sigh of relief, but looking at Uchiha Yoru, his expression turned helpless.

"Yoru, you need to be more careful with your words in the future."

Yet Uchiha Yoru wore a blank, confused look, though inwardly he had already guessed as much.

Right now, White Fang was the brightest star in Konoha, and in the ninja world, he enjoyed the reputation that encountering Konoha's White Fang meant you could abandon your mission.

Especially this Hero White Fang, who seemed to have already secured the qualifications for the next Hokage.

After all, Hiruzen Sarutobi was barely over forty, right in his prime—so why would a future Hokage suddenly emerge?

If there wasn't someone pulling strings behind this wind, not even a ghost would believe it.

Uchiha Yoru sneered inwardly, while Uchiha Fugaku looked at him, hesitated briefly, then lowered his voice and said gravely:

"In the First Great War, the Third Hokage was only a temporary appointment. That war was won by the Major Clans working together, but after it, the clans suffered massive losses, and the benefits they lost were..."

As Uchiha Fugaku's voice echoed, Uchiha Yoru finally showed a look of understanding.

Sure enough, as he had expected—Konoha's White Fang was strong, but this direct reservation of the next Hokage position clearly had backers behind it.

And those backers were the Major Clans, even able to silence the Third Hokage. Behind this, there was likely the Senju Clan as well.

From the First War to the Second, twenty years of peace—some clues could be gleaned from the original story.

That was the surge of civilian ninjas in Konoha, but training ninjas required massive resources, and Konoha was only so big.

The outcome spoke for itself!

When the village was first founded, the Ninja Academy hadn't yet allowed civilian ninjas to fully rise. In the First War, though Konoha won, the clans inside the village also suffered heavy losses.

The Third Hokage took this opportunity to vigorously cultivate his own power and the so-called civilian ninjas.

"I see. No wonder the clan has been getting so close to the Hatake Clan. Once White Fang becomes the Fourth Hokage, the Uchiha can finally earn the village's trust."

Uchiha Yoru put on a look of sudden realization, which made Uchiha Fugaku smile and nod.

"Exactly. Then the Fourth Hokage will even become a bridge for the clan, easing the strained relations with the other clans in the village."

Damn!

Watching Uchiha Fugaku's line of thinking, Uchiha Yoru felt a wave of speechlessness.

Follow the Uchiha, and you go hungry three days out of nine!

And in the original story, the Fourth Hokage Minato—this Fugaku got along well with him too. It seemed the Uchiha's talent for betting was truly unmatched.

Every time they placed a bet, it ended badly.

Yet, hearing these words, Uchiha Yoru showed an excited expression.

"The clan leader is truly wise. The Third was the Second Hokage's disciple—I've heard about that for a long time!"

As he said this, Uchiha Yoru suddenly seemed to think of something, and his face turned awkward.

Beside him, Uchiha Fugaku also seemed to recall something, his expression softening as he waved a hand. "That's all in the past."

And Uchiha Yoru, seeing that they were alone, put on the air of a close confidant and whispered:

"Captain Fugaku, I've heard about the policies of the Second Hokage's administration, but I can understand them. In that special era, it was only right to be wary of the Uchiha Clan."

That era—first the Madara Uchiha incident, then Elder Uchiha Setsuna.

Anyone would have been on guard.

Seeing Uchiha Yoru's cautious demeanor, Uchiha Fugaku comforted him:

"But it's fine. Though the Third inherited the Second's mindset and still keeps his guard up against the Uchiha, the new Hokage won't."

At that moment, Uchiha Fugaku didn't even realize he had unknowingly fallen into the trap Uchiha Yoru had set.

He had tacitly admitted that the Third Hokage had inherited the Second Hokage's policy of wariness toward the Uchiha.

Though after saying this, Uchiha Fugaku felt something was off, Uchiha Yoru nodded firmly with a look of conviction, his face breaking into a sunny smile.

"Brother Fugaku, I believe the Fourth Hokage White Fang is a true hero. The clan will definitely get the treatment it deserves."

Beneath Uchiha Yoru's smile, he gave Fugaku no chance to reflect.

One sentence—all the badmouthing of the Third Hokage came from you. I said nothing, and I even agreed with you.

After all, from another angle, during the Third Hokage's administration, did he truly trust the Uchiha Clan? And the Second's policy of wariness—how could his disciple not have inherited it?

Normally, saying these things would make Fugaku frown, inwardly disagreeing. But Uchiha Yoru had already brought up White Fang, the future Fourth Hokage, and suddenly everything before that became trivial.

Uchiha Fugaku even smiled, reassuring Uchiha Yoru:

"Don't worry, Yoru. I know White Fang—he has absolutely no prejudice against the Uchiha. After all, he's not from that era."

And he's not the Third Hokage's disciple! So naturally, he didn't inherit that narrow-minded thinking.

For some reason, this thought flashed through Uchiha Fugaku's mind, but when he tried to refute himself, he let out a self-deprecating laugh.

The clan had already bet everything on the future Fourth Hokage—why was he overthinking this?

Mentioning the Second Hokage's era, Madara Uchiha manipulating the Nine-Tails, followed by the First Hokage's death from illness—to say the Second wasn't wary would be a lie. Calling it a special era was no exaggeration.

After all, this was essentially the Uchiha Clan indirectly causing the First Hokage's death.

The Third Hokage had lived through that era—how could he not be affected by it?

And Uchiha Fugaku's worries had vanished; now, the only thing on his mind was that the Fourth Hokage, White Fang, held no prejudice against the clan, and a smile spread across his face.

Yes, regardless of what had come before, it was about to become history. They only needed to build good relations with the future Fourth Hokage.

Watching Uchiha Fugaku's smile, Uchiha Yoru laughed inwardly.

First, let him unknowingly acknowledge that the Third Hokage had inherited the Second's wariness of the Uchiha. Then, bring up the new hope of the Fourth Hokage.

By the time he discovers that White Fang, this Fourth Hokage, is dead...

Heh!

At that thought, the corners of his mouth slowly curled up, and Uchiha Yoru revealed a genuine smile.

Once the seed of doubt was planted, it wouldn't show anything for now, but he still needed to water it from time to time, letting that seed sprout early, even grow into a towering tree. And when that time came, hmph!

After all, this blindly loyal Uchiha Fugaku held an extraordinary position within the clan. He didn't want the Uchiha to repeat the same mistake.

He refused to believe that an Uchiha who saw reality early on could still be tricked into annihilation.

As the two spoke, a slender slug hid among the leaves in the shadows.

Inside the tent, Tsunade opened her eyes and let out a proud, cold snort.

"That brat from the Uchiha Clan sure has some nerve!"

But the smile curling at the corners of Tsunade's mouth couldn't be suppressed. At the very least, it proved one thing.

The current Uchiha were focused solely on how to earn the village's trust and ease tensions—that was a good sign.

At the very least, this brat Uchiha Yoru, along with the Uchiha Clan Head's son, were not the ambitious types.

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