Mito Uzumaki Began to Hesitate

The next morning, Setsuna Uchiha found Uchiha Takeyasu. After breakfast, the two met with the affiliated ninja clan leaders who had been waiting in the reception hall since early morning.

There were six clan heads in all. They were all standard Konoha Jonin, and their strength was nothing remarkable.

Although he only cared about their Jonin votes, Uchiha Takeyasu didn't act as coldly as Setsuna Uchiha. He wore a gentle, refined smile.

That put the clan heads at ease. At least the future head of the Uchiha Clan treated them with friendliness.

"Thank you for taking the time to meet with us, Young Lord."

After a brief meeting, the six clan heads pledged on behalf of their families that their heirs would serve at Uchiha Takeyasu's side. Their sincerity was unmistakable.

As he watched them leave, Uchiha Takeyasu's gaze shifted away from the Nohara Clan Head.

"Is the Young Lord interested in the Nohara Family?"

Setsuna Uchiha, who had played the bad cop—and done so naturally—took a sip of tea. He was quite pleased with Uchiha Takeyasu's performance at the meeting.

Some parts had been immature, but that was only due to his lack of experience. After a few more meetings, he'd get used to it.

"I am a little interested, but not right now."

Uchiha Takeyasu still remembered a line from his previous life: "Obito Uchiha couldn't hide his tears; everywhere he looked, he saw Rin."

"Obito" referred to yet another Uchiha traitor, while "Rin" referred to Rin Nohara. Together, they'd written a heartrending tale of a lovesick man pursuing a woman, giving rise to one tragedy after another.

Using the Mangekyo to control the Nine-Tails had directly caused the death of Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, who had carried all the hopes of the Uchiha Clan. It left the Uchiha utterly isolated and helpless, and made Obito one of the culprits behind the clan's extermination.

Just as Uchiha Shikata had said, if the Uchiha Clan had stood united, none of those damned messes would have happened.

"It's good to keep the affiliated ninja clans in line, Young Lord."

Setsuna Uchiha said casually, then led Uchiha Takeyasu to the clan training grounds. As an elder of the Martial Faction, he was quite enthusiastic about combat.

Uchiha Takeyasu was naturally happy to get combat techniques and skills for free.

The Sharingan had three basic abilities: observation, copying, and hypnosis.

The observation and copying abilities worked together to let its user quickly learn an opponent's non-bloodline ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu.

In short, what's yours is mine, and what's mine is still mine.

Once someone awakened the Sharingan, a little combat experience was enough to quickly advance from Genin to Chunin and qualify to lead a ninja squad.

That was also the fundamental reason the Uchiha Clan had flourished for so long: it had more Chunin than Genin, and more Jonin than any other clan in the Ninja World.

At the Hokage Building, Uchiha Shikata and Kaku Uchiha came up empty-handed. A staff member told them that Mito Uzumaki had taken a group of people to visit injured Ninja Army members.

The move to win people over made the two frown, and they went straight to find her.

Konoha could roughly be divided into three areas. The innermost core district held the Hokage Building and other important structures, along with the vast estates of the Uchiha and Senju Clans.

The central district outside it was largely occupied by powerful ninja clans with Kage Level members. The remaining space was home to scattered, weaker clans and civilian Jonin.

The outermost district housed ordinary villagers and merchants.

At that moment, in the residential area for civilian Jonin in the central district, Uchiha Shikata and Kaku Uchiha watched Mito Uzumaki, surrounded by a crowd, with grim expressions.

"Thank you, Mito-sama! I'll definitely support you becoming the Third Hokage!"

Watching silently, the two didn't approach. They knew they weren't welcome, and if they went over, they'd likely make an even worse impression on everyone else.

"Ino-Shika-Cho, Hyuga, Sarutobi, Shimura..."

"No wonder they call them the Senju of the Forest."

As Kaku Uchiha named them one by one, his expression grew heavier.

The people accompanying Mito Uzumaki were powerful figures from clans close to the Senju, or outright clan heads. Compared to Senju Moriki, Mito Uzumaki was far more capable and influential.

As long as they had a legitimate reason, no clan would refuse to rally under the Senju of the Forest.

"Everyone but our Senju branch is here."

Uchiha Shikata sighed, then his expression turned serious. "Since we'll struggle to gain ground in an open election, we should consider making the Flying Thunder God Technique more important."

"Perhaps we can trade our support in the Hokage election for something in return."

"Take a step back to move forward. We have to risk everything!"

Uchiha Shikata's proposal was hard for Kaku Uchiha to accept.

As an elder of the Conservative Faction, Kaku Uchiha had undoubtedly considered more factors. That was why he preferred peaceful means of obtaining the status his clan deserved, and cherished the hard-won opportunity to claim the Hokage Position.

If the Senju of the Forest had been stronger than the Uchiha, Kaku Uchiha could have continued to endure.

But the Senju of the Forest had weakened, and relied on outsiders to create a false impression of overwhelming numbers. The Uchiha Clan was now being forced to give up. A wisp of murderous intent escaped the Conservative Faction elder's eyes before he could control it, and Mito Uzumaki immediately noticed.

The mature, beautiful woman, whose bearing was every bit as imposing as her looks, smiled at the two from afar. Her sweet, graceful smile made them turn and leave in anger.

Those two are already thinking of making a move.

Mito Uzumaki's gaze flickered as she recalled her conversation with Senju Moriki the previous night.

Negotiate with the Uchiha?

Even counting the Senju who had returned from the front lines, they had no more than thirty Jonin who could keep fighting. Add the Anbu, and their odds in a clash with the Uchiha, now strong and well-armed, were still poor. Mito Uzumaki could bring people in from the Land of Whirlpools, but that wasn't realistic.

Strictly speaking, Mito Uzumaki was also Mito Senju.

At most, the other clans would cheer from the sidelines. It wasn't in their interests to personally fight the Uchiha.

Most likely, they'd step in to mediate and profit from it, gradually distancing themselves from the Senju and becoming a new alliance of ninja clans—the third power in Konoha.

The only clan that might actually get involved is the Hyuga.

The Hyuga's feud with the Uchiha went back a long way. But to get Hyuga Ashidana, that shameless old fox, to join them, the Senju of the Forest would have to pay dearly.

That was why Mito Uzumaki wanted to avoid a fight as much as possible.

But when she realized that even Kaku Uchiha, an elder of the Conservative Faction, was brimming with murderous intent, she suddenly began to wonder whether she should give the Uchiha a chance to enter Konoha's High Command.

The Uchiha had Uchiha Takeyasu, but the Senju of the Forest had no one who could match him. Mito Uzumaki wondered what would happen when she grew old and could only lie in bed. How would the Uchiha act then?

Would she have to watch the Senju of the Forest slowly die, one step at a time?

"Mito-sama, it's about time."

A nearby attendant estimated the time and spoke respectfully to Mito Uzumaki.

"Mm, I know."

Mito Uzumaki gazed at the civilian Jonin behind her, who had lost both legs but was still waving to thank her. He was about to retire. She fell silent.

If the Senju of the Forest truly fought the Uchiha to the death, even if they won, they'd be left on the brink of extinction. How would they face Konoha's many ninja clans then?

Now that she was truly facing the combined strength of the Uchiha's Conservative, Compromise, and Martial Factions, Mito Uzumaki began to hesitate. The Hokage Position could not be surrendered—but should she give the Uchiha a seat among the High Command's decision-making elders?