Five Years Later

After returning home, Tianqi looked at the six thousand Points he had and decided to leave them untouched for now.

He'd save up his Points first.

And so, five years passed amid occasional training and missions. Tianqi had finally grown up, and his strength had reached the level of an Elite Jonin. But his Sharingan was still stuck at Three-Tomoe. Looking at the twenty thousand Points he had left, then at the Mangekyō Sharingan in the Shop, which cost a hundred thousand Points, Tianqi couldn't help sighing.

Five years had passed. How had he still managed to save so few Points? Whenever he earned some, he spent them on ninjutsu. Now he had no shortage of ninjutsu, but his Sharingan was completely useless. I'm an Uchiha. My main strength isn't ninjutsu, taijutsu, or genjutsu—it's ocular techniques!

An Uchiha without the Mangekyō couldn't be considered a true powerhouse.

While Tianqi was still lost in thought, a voice came from outside his door. "Tianqi, the Clan Head wants to see you. Hurry over."

"Got it." Tianqi wondered why Uchiha Qingyang wanted to see him. What did that old guy want with him? He'd only just finished a mission and gotten a few days to rest, and now he was being called in again.

When Tianqi entered the Military Police Force, he pushed open the meeting room door and saw a packed crowd. Several Elders had come too. Everyone present was a Jonin; there wasn't a single Chunin or Genin.

"Tianqi's here. Come in, come in," Uchiha Qingyang called, inviting him to take a seat as soon as he entered. Tianqi didn't bother with formalities and sat down.

The others saw Tianqi take his seat without hesitation, but none of them objected. They didn't dare. Tianqi wasn't the man he used to be, someone anyone could mock.

As soon as Tianqi sat down, the Elder smiled and nodded to him. Tianqi returned the nod. Once everyone was seated, Uchiha Qingyang spoke.

"You must all be wondering why I called you here."

Everyone nodded.

"The Second Raikage of Kumogakure has gone all in, sending over a thousand shinobi to wage war against Konoha."

As they listened to their Clan Head, some of the more hot-tempered clan members spoke up.

"What?! How dare the Second Raikage? The First Hokage gave them a Tailed Beast and signed a peace treaty with them!"

"Has the Second Raikage gone mad? How many people will die because he started a war so recklessly?"

"Without Hashirama Senju and Lord Madara to keep them in check, what good is a peace treaty? Lord Madara said long ago that peace could only be achieved by unifying the Shinobi World, but no one listened. And now look where that's gotten us!" The Elder spoke up as well. He was a staunch loyalist of Madara and took every opportunity to speak in his favor.

"Uchiha Madara is a thing of the past. He defected, and now you're still speaking up for him, Elder? Do you want to defect from Konoha too?" the Second Elder retorted. The other Elders nodded in agreement. They were all members of the Moderate Faction, so of course they supported the Second Elder.

"You fool! You ungrateful bastard! Do you think you'd be living in Konoha without Lord Madara?" The Elder slammed his hand on the table and berated him.

As they listened to the Elders arguing, members of both factions stood up and watched each other warily, looking ready to fight at the slightest word from their Elders.

Only Tianqi made no move. He simply sat still, watching.

Watching the two factions poised to clash, Clan Head Uchiha Qingyang spoke up.

"That's enough! I called you here to inform you of something, not to hold a discussion about the former Clan Head. Sit down and let me finish."

At his words, everyone sat back down.

Once they were all seated, Uchiha Qingyang continued.

"Because the Cloud Ninja have started a war, the Second, Senju Tobirama, has ordered every clan to send elite shinobi. We're to assemble a force of a thousand to fight them."

"When you go home today, pass the word along. Everyone except the Genin is to mobilize—Chunin and Jonin alike. I hear the Senju Clan is mobilizing as well. This time, I'll show them what the Uchiha can do. We'll outshine the Senju and gain a voice in the village."

As Tianqi listened to Uchiha Qingyang, his expression said it all. So that was why the Uchiha were so weak later on. They'd thrown themselves into both the First and Second Shinobi World Wars, and most of their strong fighters had died in battle. No wonder Danzo was able to manipulate them afterward.

Uchiha Qingyang turned to Tianqi. "As for you, Tianqi, you're one of the few powerhouses in the clan. I hope you'll make a name for yourself in this war. With Kagami and you on our side, the Uchiha will surely return to the center of political power."

Tianqi said nothing and only nodded. He couldn't bring himself to tell Uchiha Qingyang that the Second would never let the Uchiha into the center of power—and neither would the future leader of Root.

After the meeting, Tianqi stopped the Elder, who was about to leave, and gave him a look to show that he wanted to talk. The two of them then went to the Elder's home.

Inside the Elder's room.

"Young Clan Head, what is it that you had to wait until after the meeting to tell me?"

"Elder, I hope the Militant Faction can preserve its strength in this war. Fight when we have the advantage, but if we're outmatched, fall back. Let the other clans and the village's shinobi take the lead when things get dangerous."

"Young Clan Head, why? This is such a good chance to make a name for ourselves. Why should we let it pass us by?" The Elder didn't understand what Tianqi meant and asked outright.

"Elder, the Senju Clan are the Hokage's direct subordinates. They have no choice but to fight with everything they have. But what about us Uchiha? Why should we go all out too? Are we really going to do as Uchiha Qingyang, that fool, says?"

"He thinks that outshining the Senju and having Kagami and me on our side will give us a voice. Don't be naive. As long as Senju Tobirama is alive, the Uchiha will never have a chance to rise."

"Since we can't stop Uchiha Qingyang from throwing himself into this recklessly, we can at least keep our own people in check. Preserving our strength is what matters most right now. Do you understand, Elder?"

After listening to Tianqi, the Elder fell silent for a while. Once he'd thought it through, he nodded.

"I understand, Young Clan Head. I'll pass the word along."

Seeing that the Elder understood, Tianqi left. Just as he got home, a messenger from the Hokage arrived.

"Uchiha Tianqi, the Hokage wants to see you. Come with me," he said, then leaped onto the wall and took off. Tianqi followed.

When Tianqi reached the Hokage Building, he ran into Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"Well, Tianqi, you're here too. You've heard about what's been happening lately, right?"

"I just heard. You just married Biwako. Shouldn't you be at home enjoying the newlywed bliss? What brings you to the Hokage Building?" That's right, Sarutobi had gotten married—to a civilian, no less.

Sarutobi rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "The Second gave the order, so I had to come. Just don't start arguing with him again this time. This concerns the village's survival, so you know how serious it is, right?"

Tianqi nodded. "Don't worry. I might bicker with the old man now and then, but I know what to do when something this important comes up."

Over the past five years, he'd met with Senju Tobirama many times, but they'd never parted on good terms.

The two pushed open the meeting room door and saw a group of elite shinobi gathered around Senju Tobirama, discussing something over a map of the Shinobi World.

"I'm not late, am I?" The people in the meeting room all turned to look at Sarutobi and Tianqi.

"Monkey, you're just in time. Come over here," Senju Tobirama said. He seemed not to notice Tianqi at all, and simply led Sarutobi over to the map as he spoke.

Tianqi ignored Tobirama too and walked over to the map to take a look.

"Monkey, according to the reports from Anbu, after Kumogakure declared war on us, Iwagakure and Kirigakure declared war too. We don't know why. The Shinobi World is in chaos, and only Sunagakure, the weakest of the villages, hasn't joined the war."

"Isn't that even better? We only have to guard against Sunagakure, so we can focus all our strength on fighting the Cloud Ninja. What's the problem?" Sarutobi asked, looking puzzled.

"Sarutobi, the teacher is worried about Kirigakure and Iwagakure. They've declared war, but they haven't actually started fighting yet. Who knows if they'll launch a surprise attack while we're busy dealing with Kumogakure?" Danzo answered Sarutobi's question.