These Words Were All Your Own!

At the waterfall.

After Uchiha Fugaku nervously checked in secret and confirmed no one was around, he finally breathed a quiet sigh of relief. However, he looked at Uchiha Yoru with helplessness in his eyes.

"Yoru, you must be more careful with words like that in the future."

Uchiha Yoru looked blank and confused, but he had already made his own guesses.

Right now, White Fang was undoubtedly Konoha's brightest star. Throughout the ninja world, there was even a saying that if one encountered Konoha White Fang, one could abandon the mission.

Especially since Hero White Fang seemed to have long since been chosen as the next Hokage.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was only in his early forties, at the peak of his strength. How could a future Hokage suddenly emerge?

No one would believe there were no people pulling strings behind this.

Uchiha Yoru sneered inwardly. Seeing him hesitate slightly, Uchiha Fugaku finally lowered his voice and said solemnly:

"During the First Great War, the Third Hokage had only taken office temporarily. The war was won through the united efforts of the Major Clans. But after the war, the Major Clans suffered enormous losses, and the portion of their interests that was lost..."

As Uchiha Fugaku's words echoed, Uchiha Yoru finally showed a look of realization.

Sure enough, just as he had expected, although Konoha White Fang was powerful, being directly selected as the next Hokage clearly meant someone was supporting him from behind the scenes.

And those supporters were the Major Clans. If even the Third Hokage had been forced into silence, then the Senju Clan was probably involved as well.

From Konoha's First Great War to the Second Great War, there had been twenty years of peace. Yet some details from the original work allowed certain conclusions to be drawn.

That was, the number of Konoha's civilian shinobi had exploded, but training shinobi required vast resources, and Konoha was only so large.

The outcome spoke for itself!

The ninja village had only just been established. Before the Ninja Academy could allow civilian shinobi to rise completely, the First Great War broke out. Although Konoha won, the Major Clans within the village suffered devastating losses.

The Third Hokage took advantage of that opportunity to vigorously cultivate his own forces, as well as the so-called civilian shinobi.

"So that's how it is. No wonder the clan has become so close to the Hatake Clan. Once White Fang becomes the Fourth Hokage, the Uchiha will gain the village's trust."

Uchiha Yoru revealed an enlightened expression, making Uchiha Fugaku smile faintly and nod.

"That's right. When the time comes, the Fourth Hokage may even become a bridge for the clan, easing its strained relationship with the village's other clans."

Damn it!

Looking at Uchiha Fugaku's way of thinking, Uchiha Yoru was speechless.

Follow the Uchiha, and you'd starve nine meals out of every three days!

And in the original work, Fugaku also got along well with the Fourth Hokage Minato. It seemed the Uchiha truly had an unparalleled talent for placing bets.

Whenever they bet on someone, it never ended well.

Yet after hearing this, Uchiha Yoru showed an excited expression.

"The clan leader is indeed wise. The Third Hokage was the Second Hokage's disciple. I had heard of that long ago!"

As he said this, Uchiha Yoru seemed to suddenly think of something, and an awkward expression appeared on his face.

Uchiha Fugaku beside him also seemed to recall something. His expression softened slightly as he waved a hand. "It's all in the past."

Seeing that they were alone, Uchiha Yoru adopted the manner of a trusted companion and whispered:

"Captain Fugaku, I have heard of the policies implemented during the Second Hokage's rule, but I can understand them. During that special period, it was only natural to guard against the Uchiha Clan."

During that period, there had first been the Madara Uchiha incident, followed by Elder Uchiha Setsuna.

Anyone would have been wary.

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

"But thankfully, although the Third Hokage inherited the Second Hokage's thinking and still guards against the Uchiha, the new Hokage will not."

At that moment, Uchiha Fugaku had not even realized that he had unwittingly fallen into the trap Uchiha Yoru had set.

He had actually tacitly acknowledged that the Third Hokage had inherited the Second Hokage's mindset of guarding against the Uchiha.

Although Uchiha Fugaku felt something was off after saying it, Uchiha Yoru nodded firmly as though convinced, a sunshine-like smile appearing on his face.

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

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

These words were all your own. I never said anything bad about the Third Hokage, and I even agreed with you.

After all, from another perspective, did the Third Hokage truly trust the Uchiha Clan during his rule? And as the Second Hokage's disciple, how could he possibly not have inherited his policies of guarding against the Uchiha?

Normally, these words would have made Fugaku frown, and he would have disagreed with them somewhat. But Uchiha Yoru had previously brought up White Fang, the future Fourth Hokage, and in an instant, everything before that no longer seemed important.

Uchiha Fugaku even smiled and reassured Uchiha Yoru:

"Don't worry, Yoru. I know White Fang. He absolutely holds no prejudice against the Uchiha, since he isn't from that period."

Nor was he the Third Hokage's disciple! Naturally, he had not inherited that narrow-minded way of thinking.

For some reason, that sentence suddenly flashed through Uchiha Fugaku's mind. But when he wanted to refute himself, he suddenly laughed self-deprecatingly.

The clan had already placed its bet on the future Fourth Hokage. Why was he thinking so much?

Speaking of the Second Hokage's era, Madara Uchiha had manipulated the Nine-Tails, and then the First Hokage had died of illness. It would be a lie to say the Second Hokage had not been wary, so calling it a special period was not an exaggeration at all.

After all, it was practically equivalent to the Uchiha Clan indirectly causing the First Hokage's death.

The Third Hokage had lived through that era. How could he not have been affected?

The worries in Uchiha Fugaku's heart disappeared as well. Now, all he could think of was that the Fourth Hokage, White Fang, held no prejudice against the clan, and a smile immediately appeared on his face.

That was right. Regardless of whether the past had been right or wrong, it was all about to become history. They only needed to befriend the future Fourth Hokage.

Seeing Uchiha Fugaku's smile, Uchiha Yoru smiled inwardly.

First, make him unknowingly admit that the Third Hokage had inherited the Second Hokage's impression of guarding against the Uchiha. Then bring up the new hope represented by the Fourth Hokage.

By the time you discover that White Fang, the Fourth Hokage, is dead!

Heh heh!

At that thought, the corners of his lips slowly curled upward, and Uchiha Yoru revealed an especially sincere smile.

Once the seed of suspicion was planted, nothing could be seen for now. But he only needed to water it from time to time, allowing it to sprout sooner and even grow into a towering tree. By then, heh heh!

After all, this foolishly loyal Uchiha Fugaku held an extraordinary position within the clan. He did not want the Uchiha to repeat the same mistake.

He refused to believe that an Uchiha Clan that saw reality sooner could still be tricked into extermination.

As the two spoke, a tiny slug was hidden among the leaves nearby.

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

"That little brat from the Uchiha Clan sure dares to dream!"

Yet the smile at the corners of Tsunade's lips could not be suppressed. At the very least, it proved one thing.

The current Uchiha were wholeheartedly thinking about how to gain the village's trust and ease their relationship with it. That was a good sign.

At the very least, Uchiha Yoru and the son of the Uchiha Clan Leader were not the kind of people consumed by ambition.

The new book is out. Please support it with recommendation votes.