Uchiha Jin spoke in a serious tone.
He did not deny that he liked Nohara Rin's type, nor could he fail to see Nohara Rin's affection for him, but the problem was that the burden in his heart was too heavy, and he did not feel he was capable of saving Nohara Rin.
As for this—
Nara Shikaichi's eyes lit up. "You also think, Jin, that the Third Shinobi World War will definitely break out?"
"That's for certain!" Uchiha Jin nodded. "It will definitely break out!"
"Although it hasn't been long since the end of the Second Shinobi World War, the problem is that there are simply too many internal issues within these shinobi villages."
"If they want to avoid internal chaos, they must shift the conflict outward!"
"Sunagakure's Third Kazekage went missing, and Pakura and Rasa fought for the position of Kazekage; to avoid internal conflict, they chose to wage war against Konoha."
"Kirigakure's Third Mizukage favored the commoner faction, and Kirigakure's ninja clans had long been harboring discontent; if they didn't want civil war, they had no choice but to redirect the conflict outward."
"Although Iwagakure did not split internally, they didn't follow the elite route; their elites weren't numerous while their number of ninjas was massive, and feeding such a large batch of ninjas wasn't easy."
"The financial allocation from the Land of Earth wasn't enough, and after the end of the Second Shinobi World War, a lot of their village's commissions were snatched away by Cloud Village, so for survival, they had no choice but to join the war."
"Even if the war ultimately failed, consuming a portion of their ninjas was still a good thing!"
"The Land of Lightning goes without saying!"
"Those barbarians have always been eyeing the Land of Fire covetously, and they will definitely take a bite given any chance."
Uchiha Jin explained everything clearly and methodically.
The two people in front of him were his own people, so naturally he didn't mind speaking some home truths, and he also hoped they could grow stronger as quickly as possible.
For a moment, the atmosphere turned heavy.
Shikaichi and Kakashi neither spoke, instead falling into deep thought.
A long while later.
Nara Shikaichi's gaze grew complex. "Jin, you're truly amazing!"
"Your judgment is basically the same as our clan head's; our clan head also said during the clan meeting that the Third Shinobi World War will definitely happen, and the only difference lies in sooner or later."
"Right now, the village and Sunagakure are dragging out the decisive battle precisely to stall for time as much as possible, giving the village more time to prepare supplies, personnel..."
"Yet our clan head estimates they can only stall for three to five years at most!"
Uchiha Jin narrowed his eyes slightly.
As expected of Nara Shikaku, the smartest person in the Nara Clan.
According to the original work, the full-scale outbreak of the Third Shinobi World War occurred around the 43rd to 45th year of Konoha, and ended around the 47th to 49th year of Konoha.
Right now it was only the 39th year of Konoha, with only Sunagakure and Konoha at war, and it was merely small-scale offensive and defensive skirmishes.
A truly large-scale decisive battle would take at least another four or five years.
Taking a deep breath, he slowly nodded.
"I agree with this deduction as well!"
"That's why we must make good use of these three to five years to train, and our goal is to survive the Third Shinobi World War as much as possible."
"This point is very difficult."
"Because we not only have to face enemies, but also confront the black hands from within the village."
"Let's spell it out: Shimura Danzō!"
"This person is vindictive and petty to a frightening degree, and he will never let us go."
"Of course, there's no need to worry too much."
"We have Kakashi's father's inheritance, and if we operate it well, protecting us won't be difficult. Furthermore, if we perform well during the war, we might even be able to use that to form a new faction centered around us."
Accompanied by these words from Uchiha Jin, Shikaichi and Kakashi also began to turn solemn.
Truly—an eventful autumn!
However, what Uchiha Jin said wasn't wrong; Hatake Sakumo's inheritance was indeed generous.
The reason they couldn't take charge of it now was simply because their strength was too poor, and those people were already being kind enough to offer a little help.
Yet, similarly.
If all three of them could grow up, then subduing those people wouldn't be difficult either.
The reason was very simple!
All of them bore the imprint of Hatake Sakumo, so the Sarutobi Hiruzen faction could impossible trust them; their best ending would be never rising to high positions for their entire lives, and being reassigned to leisurely posts to grow old and die.
And that was still the best ending!
If things were slightly worse, during the outbreak of the war, letting them march to their deaths wouldn't be out of the question.
Even if they managed to temporarily preserve their power, Sarutobi Hiruzen would definitely prop up his own people, and by then those individuals would either be dispatched to dangerous places or become stray ninjas...
Therefore.
If the three of them could truly grow strong, then it really was possible to completely subjugate them.
"Alright, understood!"
"I'll train hard and make myself stronger as fast as possible!"
Kakashi spoke with a solemn expression.
Nara Shikaichi also nodded, his ambition burning within his heart.
Yes!
He was merely an invisible nobody in the Nara Clan, and seizing power within the Nara Clan was extremely difficult, otherwise he wouldn't have even failed to squeeze into an Ino-Shika-Cho team.
Now, after opening his heart to Kakashi and Uchiha Jin, he saw another choice in life.
Don't look at the Nara Clan as lazy and afraid of trouble; in reality, those were all just outward appearances, otherwise the Nara Clan could never have managed to become the Hokage's confidants, nor would Nara Shikaku have become the current Jonin Commander.
In this world, there were no fools.
If the Nara Clan truly didn't ask about worldly affairs and failed to enter Konoha High Command, they wouldn't even be able to protect their own family assets—what kind of carefree life of leisure could a bunch of poor folks talk about?
The laziness of the Nara Clan only served to secure their own position, allowing them to think about enjoying a life of ease.
Right now, Nara Shikaichi had nothing to his name, so of course he first had to grasp a certain degree of power and secure his strength and status before thinking about coasting by and eating or waiting for death.
Right now, he only wanted to climb upward desperately!
"Right, Jin!"
"Considering we're friends, I'll give you some advice directly."
"If you like Nohara Rin, then I suggest confessing to her directly, and while establishing a romantic relationship, make Obito give up; dragging things out for too long does no good for any of you three."
"As a man, be decisive when it's time to cut things off!"
"As for the troubles and dangers you face, there's no need to worry excessively, because many things complement each other. With Nohara Rin as a tie holding you down, you'll also have more motivation to train."
"Even if you can convert potential into strength, you could actually discuss it with your clan head and have Nohara Rin directly withdraw from the ninja roster so she doesn't participate in the war; it wouldn't even be a big problem."
"She's merely a Genin; to a ninja clan or to Konoha, she counts for nothing."
"Even if Nohara Rin still wants to become a ninja, with you, a potential powerhouse, protecting her, coupled with Kakashi's father's inheritance, wanting to shield Nohara Rin on the battlefield won't be a big deal."
"Of course, it's just a suggestion."
"Whether you actually want to do this or not is ultimately a decision for you to make yourself!"
Before you continue