Mito Uzumaki Begins to Hesitate

The next morning, Setsuna Uchiha found Uchiha Takeyasu. After they had breakfast, they met with the vassal ninja clans who were already waiting in the reception hall.

There were six clan heads in total, all standard Konoha Jonin, whose strength was unremarkable.

Even though he only valued their Jonin voting rights, Uchiha Takeyasu did not put on the same cold attitude as Setsuna Uchiha, wearing a gentle and elegant smile.

This reassured the clan heads quite a bit. At least the future head of the Uchiha clan was friendly towards them.

"Thank you, Young Lord, for making time to see us."

After a brief meeting, the six clan heads immediately made a guarantee, using their families as collateral, that their heirs would serve as attendants to Uchiha Takeyasu, showing their sincerity.

Watching their departing backs, Uchiha Takeyasu's gaze also left Clan Head Nohara.

"Young Lord is interested in the Nohara Family?"

Playing the bad cop, which was also his true nature, Setsuna Uchiha took a sip of clear tea, very satisfied with Uchiha Takeyasu's performance in the meeting.

Although some aspects were immature, that was due to a lack of experience. After holding more meetings, he would get used to it.

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

Uchiha Takeyasu remembered a saying from his previous life: Kamui cannot hide tears, and all he sees is Rin.

[Kamui] referred to another traitor of the Uchiha clan, and [Rin] referred to Rin Nohara. Together, they wrote a moving story of a man chasing a woman, a dog-licking story, which led to one tragedy after another.

Controlling the Nine-Tails with the Mangekyo directly led to the death of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, who carried all the hopes of the Uchiha clan. This left the Uchiha completely isolated and helpless, making it one of the culprits behind the clan massacre.

As Uchiha Shikata said, if the Uchiha clan had worked together, none of that ridiculous nonsense would have happened.

"It's good to discipline the vassal clans' Young Lords a bit."

Setsuna Uchiha said casually, then pulled Uchiha Takeyasu to the family training grounds. As an elder of the martial faction, he was quite passionate about combat.

Uchiha Takeyasu was naturally happy to be able to learn combat techniques and skills for free.

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

The combination of observation and copying abilities allowed one to quickly learn the opponent's non-kekkei genkai ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu.

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

As long as the Sharingan was activated and after some combat, one could quickly be promoted from Genin to Chunin, qualifying to be a captain leading a ninja squad.

This was also the fundamental reason why the Uchiha clan had prospered for so long, with more Chunin than Genin and the highest number of Jonin in the Ninja World.

At the Hokage Building, Uchiha Shikata and Kaku Uchiha missed their target. They then learned from the administrative staff in the building that Mito Uzumaki had taken a group of people to visit the injured and disabled ninja army.

This move to win people's hearts made the two frown, and they went directly to find her.

Konoha could be roughly divided into three major areas. The innermost core area housed the Hokage Building and other important structures. Besides that, there were the vast residences of the Uchiha and Senju.

The central area further out was basically occupied by ninja clans with Kage-level experts and strong power. There were also some empty spaces where scattered weak ninja clans and civilian Jonin lived.

The outermost area was the residence of ordinary villagers and merchants.

At this moment, in the residential area of civilian Jonin in the central district, Uchiha Shikata and Kaku Uchiha, with grim expressions, were surrounded by Mito Uzumaki.

"Thank you, Mito-sama. I will definitely support you to become the Third Hokage!"

Silently observing this scene, the two did not approach. They knew they were unwelcome. If they went over, it would likely have a more negative impact on others.

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

"As expected of the Senju of the Forest, with many trees forming a forest."

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

Those accompanying Mito Uzumaki were all influential figures close to the Senju, or simply clan heads. Compared to Moriki Senju, Mito Uzumaki was far superior in both methods and prestige.

As long as a legitimate reason was given, no ninja clan would refuse to unite under the Senju of the Forest.

"Only our Uchiha faction is missing."

Uchiha Shikata sighed, then his expression turned serious. "Since it's difficult for us to stand out in public elections, we should consider increasing the importance of the Flying Thunder God Technique."

"Perhaps we can use the election of the Hokage as a bargaining chip."

"Retreat to advance, and go all out!"

Uchiha Shikata's suggestion was difficult for Kaku Uchiha to accept.

As an elder of the conservative faction, Kaku Uchiha considered more factors. Therefore, he hoped even more to obtain the clan's due status through peaceful means, cherishing the hard-won opportunity to ascend to the position of Hokage.

If the Senju's strength overwhelmed the Uchiha, Kaku Uchiha could continue to endure.

But the weakened Senju, relying on external clans to create a false majority, forced the Uchiha clan to give up. In the eyes of this conservative elder, wisps of killing intent could not be controlled, and were instantly detected by Mito Uzumaki.

The mature noblewoman, possessing both dignity and beauty, smiled at the two from afar. The sweet and elegant smile angered them so much that they turned and left.

(These two are already planning to make a move.)

Mito Uzumaki's eyes flickered, recalling the conversation she had with Moriki Senju last night.

(Negotiate peace with the Uchiha?)

Including the Senju clan returning from the front lines, the total number of Jonin who could continue fighting was no more than thirty. Adding the Anbu, the chance of winning against the currently strong and well-equipped Uchiha was very low. Unless Mito Uzumaki pulled people from the Land of Whirlpools, but that was unrealistic.

Strictly speaking, Mito Uzumaki was also Mito Senju.

The other Ninja Clans' stances were at most to cheer from the sidelines; having them personally fight the Uchiha would not align with their interests.

The most likely outcome would be them intervening to mediate, thereby profiting from the situation and gradually shedding their Senju Clan identity to become a new faction within a Konoha third-party alliance.

(The only one likely to get involved might be the Hyuga.)

The Hyuga and the Uchiha Clan had a long-standing feud. However, if they wanted to enlist the help of Hyuga Ashidana, that shameless old fox, the Senju of the Forest would have to pay a heavy price.

Therefore, Mito Uzumaki tried her best not to fight.

But upon noticing the murderous intent surging even from the conservative Kaku Uchiha, she suddenly realized and began to consider whether to give the Uchiha a chance to enter Konoha's higher echelons.

The Uchiha Clan had Uchiha Takeyasu, but the Senju of the Forest had no one to match him. Mito Uzumaki realized that when she grew old and could only lie in bed, how would the Uchiha be dealt with then?

Would the Senju of the Forest slowly die step by step before her very eyes?

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

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

"Mm, I know."

Gazing at the retired Jonin behind her, who had lost both legs and was still waving goodbye to her, Mito Uzumaki fell silent.

If they were to truly fight the Uchiha to the death, even if the Senju of the Forest won, they would be teetering on the brink of annihilation. How would they face the various Ninja Clans of Konoha then?

Facing the combined forces of the Uchiha's conservative, compromise, and militant factions, Mito Uzumaki began to waver—the Hokage position could not be yielded, but should the decision-making elders be given to the Uchiha?