Konoha Ninja Clan Council

The purpose behind the Hokage summoning the spokespeople of every ninja clan for a Ninja Clan Council was crystal clear to all the clan heads and elders.

Everyone also understood the situation Konoha was currently facing.

Yes, the village was in trouble, but what did that have to do with the ninja clans?

Every ninja clan had registered ninja serving the village. Those unregistered clan ninja were the reserves that ensured their clans' survival and inheritance.

Moreover, when the village had first been founded, the First Hokage had clearly laid down the rules: the ninja village belonged to the ninja village, and the clans belonged to the clans. The two were clearly separated and did not interfere with each other.

Now, Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen was plainly trying to dig up the roots of every clan. That was a grave taboo!

In other words: they needed to pay more!

And not just money and supplies. There also had to be corresponding ninja ranks and positions, or the clan ninja would rather not serve at all.

To put it bluntly, they would not act without seeing the payoff.

Furthermore, no one had a clear grasp of how the Ninja World's storm-laden future would unfold, how large the war would become, or anything else. But if the dispatched ninja were promoted to Jonin, only for the war to end after they had fought in just a couple of battles, that would be a windfall for the ninja clans.

Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen naturally understood the ninja clans' mindset perfectly. After all, the Sarutobi Clan he came from was also one of Konoha's great ninja clans, second only to several ancient millennia-old houses.

Furthermore, he had specifically brought Tsunade along to this Ninja Clan Council, hoping that her status as a direct descendant of the Senju Clan and the First Hokage's granddaughter would make those born into ninja clans long allied with the Senju Clan show some mercy.

Inside the large conference room of the Hokage's Office Building.

At the front of the room stood a long platform formed from several tables, where the Hokage and Advisors sat. Below it were rows of desks and chairs for the leaders of the ninja clans. The overall layout was fairly simple, much like a Ninja Academy classroom.

In the first row below, the Uchiha Clan and its close ninja clans occupied the left side, while the Hyuga Clan and its close ninja clans occupied the right. In the middle sat the Senju Branch represented by Tsunade, along with the other Lesser Clans. Just from the seating arrangement, one could see the strength and foundations of each ninja clan.

Though the Senju Clan had declined badly after the wars, quite a few retired Senju had married into various Lesser Clans, or established their own households under new clan names. Even though their former glory was gone, the Senju were still regarded as the parent clan in the eyes of the Lesser Clans.

As for the Uchiha and Hyuga, one was the city guard and police, doing all the dirty and exhausting work while still being cursed for it. The other was just a scout, miserably using their eyes like scanners. Though both were supposedly ancient millennia-old clans, neither held any real power. They could not exactly be called stifled in their daily lives, but they certainly were not imposing enough.

The Uchiha Clan's attendees at this meeting included Clan Head Uchiha Shifang and his direct son Uchiha Fugaku, Konoha Military Police Force representative Uchiha Yusuke, Radical Faction representative Uchiha Tokimitsu, and Conservative Faction representative Uchiha Michiyo. Looking across the venue, the Uchiha Clan had both the most attendees and the most fragmented delegation.

While the meeting had yet to begin, Uchiha Tokimitsu began openly sizing up the ninja clan leaders in attendance.

First was the Uchiha Clan's arch-rival, Senju Hashirama's granddaughter, Princess Tsunade. The current Tsunade looked like a girl of seventeen or eighteen, and she did not yet possess the overwhelming assets she would have in the future. Apart from a decent face, there was nothing particularly remarkable about her.

Perhaps Uchiha Tokimitsu's gaze had been too brazen and intrusive, because Tsunade shot him a vicious glare before gritting her teeth and turning away.

Uchiha Tokimitsu did not care. He looked toward the right side of the room, where three Hyuga—one adult and two children—sat in the front row. They should have been the current clan head and his two sons, Hyuga Hiashi and Hizashi Hyuga. However, both boys wore Konoha headbands on their foreheads, making it impossible to tell who was who.

Looking farther back, behind Tsunade sat Konoha ninja clans such as the Sarutobi, Shimura, Yamanaka, Nara, Akimichi, Aburame, Inuzuka Clan, and Hatake Clan.

Behind the Hyuga were also densely packed rows of people, presumably their affiliated ninja clans.

Behind the Uchiha, however, only a dozen or so people sat scattered in small groups.

The disparity in strength between the Uchiha Clan and the village's mainstream Senju and Hokage Faction was plain to see.

The proud Uchiha were already being suppressed, so it was indeed difficult for them to draw other ninja clans into becoming affiliated with them.

The road ahead was long and arduous.

Uchiha Tokimitsu sighed inwardly.

While Uchiha Tokimitsu was observing others, the other ninja clans were also observing him, the most conspicuous member of Konoha's younger generation.

The Hyuga Clan in particular possessed the Byakugan. Though they stared straight ahead without shifting their gaze, the Byakugan's Kekkei Genkai allowed them to observe a wide area even without activating it, though not from as great a distance.

"Father, the degree of refinement in his Chakra... seems to exceed that of quite a few Jonin..."

One of the Hyuga children quietly transmitted his words to the Hyuga Clan Head.

"Hiashi, he should already have awakened the Three-Tomoe..."

The Hyuga Clan Head spoke to his heir, his direct son.

Both were ancient millennia-old clans, yet the Uchiha Clan had always surpassed the Hyuga Clan in both strength and prestige. Even now, when the Uchiha Clan was at its weakest point in a thousand years, it still remained a step above the Hyuga. Even among the next generation, there seemed to be no comparison.

"An eight-year-old with Three-Tomoe..."

The Hyuga Clan Head sighed inwardly. When would the mighty Hyuga Clan finally suppress the Uchiha and become the Number one clan in the Ninja World?

While the ninja clan leaders were enthusiastically bragging and chatting, an Anbu shout came from outside the rear doors. "Lord Hokage has arrived~"

Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen entered with the three Advisors, Shimura Danzō, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu.

"Lord Hokage..."

"Third Hokage..."

The ninja clan leaders in the middle of the room rose one after another to greet him. Among the Hyuga camp on the right, some leaders of the affiliated ninja clans behind them also stood to offer greetings. But in the Uchiha camp on the left, whether Uchiha or affiliated ninja clans, everyone remained unmoved as though they had noticed nothing.

Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen exchanged pleasantries with the ninja clan leaders one by one before finally walking up to the main platform and taking his seat.

As always, he began with official platitudes. Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen lavishly praised the contributions and responsibility shown by the great ninja clans All Along, commended their noble character, and declared that Konoha's development and prosperity could not have happened without the full support of the ninja clans.

During this worn-out official speech, the Uchiha Clan and its affiliated camp grew drowsy, the Hyuga camp closed their eyes to rest, while applause periodically rang out from the Senju and Hokage Faction camp in the middle. They were deeply engaged and full of passion.

Oh, except for Tsunade, who was dozing with her chin propped on her hand.

After discussing past contributions, he moved on to the current situation. The Third Hokage concisely explained the present state of the Ninja World, providing a basic assessment and contingency plan for the possible Ninja World War.

Finally came the main event—

"...Based on the above circumstances, after discussion between the Hokage and Advisor Elders, we intend to recruit ninja from every ninja clan and open ninja evaluations and rank assessments. If an unregistered ninja meets the required standard, they may be directly judged as Jonin!"

The moment those words came out, the representatives of the Lesser Clans in the middle erupted into commotion. Direct Promotion to Jonin! For the Lesser Clans, who wished to continue expanding their voice within the village, this was tremendous news.

In peacetime, Jonin were part of the village's upper echelon, so their evaluation requirements covered not only strength and command ability. More frustratingly, there were annual quotas. Every ninja clan had more or less some unregistered members who had not been evaluated as Jonin. Back when direct evaluations only went as high as Chunin, no one particularly cared, and the clan ninja could endure their obscurity. But if they could be directly evaluated as Jonin and thereby enter the village's decision-making layer, the meaning would be entirely different.

Uchiha Tokimitsu watched the Sarutobi, Shimura, and other clan representatives excitedly huddling together and whispering, and he somewhat wanted to laugh.

It was understandable for the other ninja clans not to know, but if the two clans that produced Konoha's high-ranking officials had not known about this beforehand, that would have been a joke.

Looking again at the Hyuga Clan camp, the affiliated ninja clans seated behind the Hyuga father and sons merely exchanged looks. That was normal as well. When he turned to look behind the Uchiha Clan, he was relieved to see that no one had reacted. Seeing Uchiha Tokimitsu turn around, the leaders of the affiliated ninja clans even smiled and nodded at him.

At least the Uchiha camp is still steadfast.

The Third Hokage continued watching the noisy conference room with a kindly smile, while Danzō and the other three Advisors kept scanning the Uchiha and Hyuga camps.

"Clan heads, if any elite ninja of your clans are willing to accept the recruitment, you may begin registering now."

The moment the Third Hokage said this, the first to stand was the representative of the Sarutobi Clan.

"Lord Hokage, the Sarutobi Clan will provide six Jonin and eighty Chunin in response to the village's recruitment!"

"The Shimura Clan will provide five Jonin and sixty Chunin in response to the village's recruitment."

"The Nara Clan..."

"The Yamanaka Clan..."

The ninja clans of the Hokage Faction declared their positions one after another, driving the other ninja clans to begin contributing personnel as well.

The Uchiha and Hyuga Clans, along with the ninja clans affiliated with both, remained unmoved.

After a brief bout of clamor, the ninja clans in the middle of the room finished reporting their numbers, and the venue gradually quieted down.

Everyone's gaze began to shift toward the Uchiha and Hyuga, the two great clans seated on either side.

After pondering for a moment, the Hyuga Clan Head spoke.

"The Hyuga Clan will dispatch twenty clan Jonin and eighty Chunin in response to the village's recruitment."

The ninja clans behind him then declared their positions one after another.

The final pressure fell upon the Uchiha camp.

The Uchiha Clan Head swept his gaze over the clansmen beside him, signaling for any objections.

Uchiha Tokimitsu nodded to him, then raised his hand.

"Tokimitsu-kun, do you have a question?"

The Third Hokage asked amiably.

"Lord Hokage, how will the recruited ninja be arranged?"

"This is a village secret. It is not for you to ask about!" Danzō immediately roared impatiently.

"What kind of thing are you, to dare spout such nonsense!" Uchiha Tokimitsu's face darkened as he shouted back.

Seeing Danzō's temper flare, the Third Hokage waved a hand to silence him.

"Tokimitsu-kun, do you have any requests?" The Third Hokage did not beat around the bush and directly pointed to the core issue behind Uchiha Tokimitsu's question.

"Unless they personally wish otherwise, Uchiha Clan ninja will not accept being broken up, regrouped, and mixed into other units. Lord Hokage, would that be acceptable?"

The entire room burst into an uproar.

They knew the Uchiha were proud and overbearing, but they had not expected them to be so arrogant and forceful.

Danzō, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu looked even angrier.

"Though this does not conform to the rules, if it is the Uchiha, we can make a special exception..."

The Hokage's reply sounded especially gracious, but it also set the Uchiha against the other ninja clans.

"Lord Hokage, not just the Uchiha. What I mean is, can recruited clan ninja form their own units according to their respective wishes?"

"...In principle, yes. However, the specific circumstances may require flexible deployment when battle begins, and the unit formations must also be reported to the village." The Third Hokage had no intention of dwelling on it and answered directly.

"Good. We have no further questions!" With that, he looked toward the Uchiha Clan Head beside him.

As the head of the clan, Uchiha Shifang sighed inwardly once again.

"The Uchiha Main Line will dispatch twelve Jonin and seventy-two Chunin in response to the village's recruitment."

"The Uchiha Emperor Flame Faction will dispatch ten Jonin and fifty Chunin in response to the village's recruitment." This was Elder Uchiha Michiyo of the Conservative Faction. The so-called Emperor Flame Faction was the Conservative Faction's name for itself.

"The Military Police Force System will draw five Jonin and thirty Chunin from its reserves to answer the call." After speaking, the Military Police Force representative hesitated, glanced at Uchiha Tokimitsu, then added, "They will also accept the command of our clan's Young Lord Tokimitsu."

The moment those words came out, not only the Hokage F4 but even the Uchiha Clan Head's face darkened.

"The Nohara Family will dispatch one Jonin and eight Chunin in response to the call, and they will accept Young Lord Tokimitsu's command..."

"The Shiranui Family..."

The affiliated ninja clans behind them followed the Military Police Force representative's lead one after another.

At the end, once every affiliated ninja clan had stated its position, Uchiha Tokimitsu did a rough calculation. The affiliated ninja clans alone would provide another seventeen Jonin and one hundred ten Chunin under his command.

"The Uchiha Tiger Faction will dispatch twenty-two Jonin and forty-six Chunin in response to the call!" The Uchiha Radical Faction, publicly known as the Tiger Faction, had produced even more Jonin at once than the Hyuga Clan!

The conference room erupted into uproar once more.