Uchiha's Sincerity

Uchiha Ishijima did not rush to speak. Watching Tsunade sway with a bottle in hand, he sighed at the Senju Clan's miserable state.

Princess Tsunade, the Senju Clan's only elite jonin, had left Konoha's upper ranks and wandered alone outside the village.

The battle at Uzushio had dealt the Senju Clan far too heavy a blow.

It was said that after the battle at Uzushio, Lady Mito Uzumaki had never summoned Hiruzen Sarutobi again.

The Senju Clan and the Uzumaki Clan harbored resentment over the village's almost indifferent response.

That resentment, coupled with the successive deaths of Tsunade's younger brother Nawaki and her lover Kato Dan, had made Tsunade doubt her Ninja Way. She no longer wished to acknowledge herself as a ninja.

At this point, Tsunade did not even wear a ninja forehead protector. She squandered her talent on alcohol and gambling.

"Princess Tsunade, do you think the conflict between the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan is greater now, or was it greater before the village was founded?"

"Of course it was greater before the village was founded." Tsunade said impatiently, "What conflict is there now? How could the current Senju Clan still be a match for the Uchiha Clan?"

Uchiha Ishijima shook his head.

"Princess Tsunade, the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan are not enemies now.

You and I both have our own troubles.

Your trouble is that the Senju Clan is visibly declining, yet for some reason I cannot understand, you have no intention of revitalizing your clan.

My trouble is the hostility toward the Uchiha Clan throughout the village ever since the Valley of the End Battle.

Wait! Please let me finish first!"

Uchiha Ishijima stopped Tsunade before she could argue and continued.

"Princess Tsunade, I have no intention of arguing with you over who was right or wrong in the past, over good and evil, gains and losses.

Let us talk about the future.

Minato Namikaze came to our door with the surviving orphan of the Uzumaki Clan and successfully persuaded us.

Though he is young, his insight is as shrewd as that of an adult ninja, perhaps even more profound than ours.

If there is anyone in the village who most hopes for the revival of the Senju Clan, it is none other than the Uchiha Clan.

I only came to understand this after listening to Minato Namikaze.

Once the Senju Clan loses its voice and influence within the village, the reconciliation between the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan—the very foundation upon which Konoha Village was built—will no longer be necessary.

If the Senju Clan can decline and suffer open or covert attacks, what good ending can the unpopular Uchiha Clan possibly have?

When the lips are gone, the teeth grow cold. In Konoha today, the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan depend on each other like lips and teeth.

Princess Tsunade, we should put aside our prejudices and reconcile once more, cooperate once more, just as our predecessors did.

For centuries, the two clans were enemies, and countless people died or were wounded. If our predecessors could resolve it through reconciliation, there is no reason we cannot do the same after the Uchiha Clan has kept its head down for so many years.

Princess Tsunade, since you have no desire to remain in the village, then give the Senju Clan within the village a signal. Let the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan stand together once again.

The Senju Clan has nothing but its name, while the Uchiha Clan has nothing but its strength and is suppressed by the village.

No..."

Uchiha Ishijima emphasized.

"In truth, we are not being suppressed by the village, but by the newly risen ninja clans.

The Sarutobi Clan, the Shimura Clan, and the three Ino-Shika-Cho clans have become the most influential ninja clans in the village.

Even the Hyuga Clan, which neither fights nor competes and keeps itself restrained, has not been doing very well.

The problem now is that the five newly risen ninja clans believe they are the village itself. They occupy the moral high ground of the village.

Before the five newly risen ninja clans, the Senju, Uchiha, and Hyuga will eventually be devoured completely."

Minato Namikaze could not help admiring Uchiha Ishijima's wisdom. This clan head had accurately predicted Konoha Village's future development.

The Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan would be exterminated one after another. Later, even the Hyuga Clan, known as Konoha's foremost ninja clan, would be forced to hand over the corpse of Hizashi Hyuga, the clan head's younger brother.

If Hinata had not married well, the Hyuga Clan would not have escaped being harvested either.

The struggle for Konoha Village's interests was exceptionally brutal.

A massive force was driving the decline of the three great ninja clans from behind the scenes.

Amid this conflict, Konoha Village also grew weaker and weaker.

When Orochimaru joined forces with the Sand Hidden Village to attack Konoha, Konoha had become so weak that it could not even deal with Orochimaru.

Tsunade was not the sort to dither. After learning Uchiha Ishijima's intentions, she thought for a few seconds before making her decision.

Jiraiya coughed. "Such an important matter, Tsunade, how about asking for my opinion? Senior Ishijima invited me out for a stroll, and I had been wondering what he wanted. So it turns out he wanted to talk with you about..."

"Shut up! Your opinion is as meaningless as the one side of a die you cannot see after it lands." Tsunade asked,

"I had long considered the Senju Clan's future. At most, we would decline with dignity and vanish from the ninja world from then on.

After my younger brother Nawaki died, that was already the Senju Clan's future.

Uchiha Ishijima, what specific plan do you have?

Let me make this clear first. Even if the Senju Clan perishes, we will never do anything that damages the honor of our clan's predecessors."

"Princess Tsunade, in this sale of the Senju Clan's properties, the Uchiha Clan will pay a high price to secure the leases first, leaving no opportunity for other ninja clans to buy them.

A lease is not a purchase. Those important clan properties will remain in your hands. When the contracts expire, we can discuss renewing them or ending them.

Before every ninja clan in Konoha Village, we will show goodwill toward the Senju Clan and demonstrate our determination to reconcile with them.

Senju Takeoto, the Senju Clan's only current jonin, will receive the Uchiha Clan's full support at the Jonin Meeting. We will advance and retreat together with Senju Takeoto.

At the same time, we hope the Senju Clan will support our continued control of the Konoha Military Police Force.

ANBU and Root have great objections to the Konoha Military Police Force and have always wanted to strip the Uchiha Clan of its control over the Military Police Force.

Recently, many rumors have spread through the village. Even the deliberately manufactured conflicts between the Military Police Force and the villagers bear the village's shadow.

For our two clans, cooperation is more important than conflict."

"Leasing? Securing the leases first? Not selling?" After thinking it over, Tsunade nodded and said,

"The Uchiha Clan's responsibility for the Konoha Military Police Force was Tobirama Second Grandfather's intention to begin with. There is no need to change it.

Clan Head Ishijima, your proposal is indeed good. I will write to Takeoto. In the future, discuss minor matters with Takeoto. I have no mood to deal with such trivialities."

Host chakra amount: 127 units.

With the Host's changes, the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan have confirmed their reconciliation. The extermination crises facing both sides have been alleviated.

Reward: 5 units of Host chakra. The Host's chakra amount is now 132 units.

Minato let out a breath of relief. He had finally brought about the reconciliation between both sides.

As descendants of the Sage of Six Paths, the reconciliation between the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan would have no small influence on the ninja world.

If the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan stabilized, they would continue serving as Konoha's pillars, preventing it from declining.

Seeing such a favorable outcome, Jiraiya immediately said,

"The old man is truly disappointing. He is always compromising. Those five newly risen ninja clans must have made demands of him, which is why he asked your Senju Clan for houses and courtyards, right?

When I return, I will persuade the old man too and make him..."

The next instant, Jiraiya abruptly raised his head and looked toward the roof.

Seeing Jiraiya's grave expression, Minato immediately understood that someone was above them!

Someone had been secretly monitoring the meeting between the two sides!