There was another reason the villagers contributed more than the ninja clans to this collection: Senju Hashirama had previously dispersed members of the Senju Clan among Konoha's ordinary villagers.
Although Senju Hashirama had done so to prevent petty opportunists from coveting his Wood Release and targeting members of the Senju Clan, those Senju naturally supported the collection wholeheartedly.
After all, Senju Tobirama was also a member of the Senju Clan. He was sitting in the Hokage's seat—if they didn't support him, who would they support?
Likewise, why could Tsunade overpower Jiraiya and Orochimaru (well, Uncle Snake doesn't count) and become the Fifth Hokage in the manga? Because many members of the Senju Clan were scattered among Konoha's villagers.
The villagers weren't very educated and were easily swayed and swept along. When everyone around you said it would be great if Senju Tsunade became the Fifth Hokage, you'd naturally think so too, without considering the deeper reasons.
That was normal. In fact, whether they were ordinary villagers with little education or the people of the technologically advanced, well-educated era Yuya had lived in before, ordinary people were always the ones most easily swept along.
And that was exactly what Yuya was exploiting this time.
But the ninja clans were different from ordinary villagers.
They acknowledged Konoha because of Senju Hashirama. Now that Senju Hashirama was dead, whether Senju Tobirama could withstand attacks from other countries was still an open question.
Yuya knew what they were thinking: if they won, they'd remain one of Konoha's ninja clans. If they lost, then, well, what was Konoha? What Konoha? They'd always been the XX Clan. Don't make things up; they didn't know any Konoha.
It was very realistic, but that was how ninja clans usually behaved.
Just over a decade ago, they had fought their way through countless wars to survive.
Only a decade had passed, and the people in power were still the same bunch.
Aside from the Uchiha Clan, who had been beaten into submission by Senju Hashirama and, weary of endless war, had become fiercely loyal to him early on, every other clan viewed Konoha with an attitude of, "We'll see if it can withstand the pressure after rising to power and hosting grand banquets."
To be honest, some clans even had people saying that Konoha had taken away their power, and that things had been better during the warring era.
These people were typical power puppets. They didn't care how much suffering war brought; all that mattered was keeping power in their own hands. The Hokage? What was that?!
Senju Hashirama understood this situation, and so did Senju Tobirama.
They even had the same solution.
They set their sights on the next generation of each clan.
Why had Senju Tobirama taught Sarutobi Hiruzen, Utatane Koharu, and the others at the academy?
Did they really think he'd picked his students at random?
Look at where those people were now on the battlefield, and you'd understand: Senju Tobirama was playing a grand game of chess.
In theory, if Senju Tobirama hadn't died, Konoha would have smoothly transitioned to Sarutobi Hiruzen becoming the head of the Sarutobi Clan, Shimura Danzō becoming the head of the Shimura Clan, Torifu Akimichi becoming the head of the Akimichi Clan, Kagami Uchiha becoming the head of the Uchiha Clan, and Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura becoming the bridge between Konoha and the Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire...
The Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire and Konoha's major clans would all have stood with Senju Tobirama, and the Senju scattered throughout the village would have supported him too.
You could say that ten years later, Senju Tobirama would have been Konoha's undisputed supreme leader.
And ten years later, Senju Tobirama would only have been in his fifties. In the original course of history, once he had completely cleared away Konoha's internal troubles, he could have started training the next Hokage.
No one would have objected to whoever he chose, as long as Senju Tobirama had made the decision.
He could even have put Kagami Uchiha in power to win the Uchiha Clan's loyalty once and for all, and Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō wouldn't have objected.
The fact that Senju Tobirama had made the decision would have been reason enough.
But who could have expected that, in a war they'd already won, the Second would insist on taking his personal guard to negotiate on enemy territory? He died, his team fell apart, the Uchiha Clan—who'd already had a solution within reach—raced straight down the road to ruin, and Shimura Danzō decided that Sarutobi Hiruzen was a bastard who didn't deserve to be Hokage. He refused to accept it and started causing trouble.
Well, with Yuya around, it was basically impossible for this life to end with Tobirama taking his team and handpicked successor off to their deaths.
Back to Konoha's collection: Senju Tobirama remained calm. He simply nodded lightly at Yuya. "I understand. You can go."
After Yuya left, a clear flash of anger appeared on Tobirama's face.
Those bastards! This war was practically a battle for Konoha's very existence. If they won, they could prove that Konoha was still the strongest power in the Shinobi World, even without the protection of the God of Shinobi, Senju Hashirama.
If they lost, the other countries would surely gang up on Konoha.
And at a time like this, they were still playing these mind games with me?!
The anger on Senju Tobirama's face gradually gave way to calm.
What was there to be angry about?
Hadn't he known all along what kind of people these clans were?
Fine. If they refused to lend a hand now, then once they won, they could forget about getting any benefits from him.
Everything depended on how this war ended.
When Yuya stepped out of the tent, a man was approaching him. He wore a Konoha Headband, and his eyes held three blood-red Tomoe.
"Huh, it's you?" Kagami Uchiha's first reaction was to look Yuya up and down.
Yuya knew he was using his Sharingan to check whether he was some kind of Transformation Technique impostor.
Yuya rolled his eyes. "Uncle Kagami, is that really necessary? If the enemy had made it this far, we'd have already lost the war."
Kagami Uchiha looked a little embarrassed, then said to Yuya, "Could you stop calling me uncle? I'm only in my twenties... How about calling me big brother?"
Yuya picked his nose. "Oh, is that so? You want me to call a man who's already married and about to become a father 'big brother'?"
Kagami Uchiha scratched his head with an awkward grin. "But you really are making me sound old."
Then Kagami Uchiha sighed. "Forget it. Uncle it is. I'm going to see Lord Hokage about something. You go take care of your own business."
As he spoke, Kagami Uchiha walked into Senju Tobirama's tent.
Yuya stared at him, baffled. Was something wrong with his ears? Hadn't he heard what Yuya had just said?
Then the tent suddenly opened, and Kagami Uchiha stuck his head out to look at Yuya. "What did you just say?! I—I'm about to what?!"
Yuya gave him a dead-fish stare and took a letter from inside his coat, holding it out to him. "Here. Aunt Masako wrote you a letter."
Kagami Uchiha eagerly snatched the letter from Yuya's hand.
Yuya chuckled. He didn't mind the other man's rudeness and turned to leave.
He still had plenty of letters to deliver.
Sorry, Uncle. I'll gladly take this chance to win people's hearts.
To Senju Tobirama, the supplies Yuya had gathered were obviously what mattered most.
But Yuya knew that he had also sought out the families of the ninjas on the battlefield, offering to carry letters from Konoha to the front lines.
During wartime, those letters meant a thousand times more to the people on the front lines than the supplies did.
That was the power of human connection.
Before you continue