Mission (2)

"I'm home." x4

Uchiha Shin, Madara, Izuna, and Hana chatted and laughed all the way, finally managing to return home just before the curfew.

"Welcome home!"

"Dinner is ready. Go wash your hands quickly; we can eat right away."

After Uchiha Aoi greeted Uchiha Shin, Madara, Izuna, and Hana, she turned back into the house, busy setting the dinner onto the low table.

Once they had washed their hands, Uchiha Shin, Madara, Izuna, and Hana hurried to their respective spots and sat around the low table.

"Wow, tonight's dinner is so lavish!"

"Is there something worth celebrating at home?"

Uchiha Shin looked down at the sumptuous meal on the table, then turned to Uchiha Aoi with a hint of confusion.

Uchiha Aoi looked tenderly at Uchiha Tajima, feeling that it was better for Uchiha Tajima, as the head of the household, to announce the good news.

Meeting the expectant gazes of everyone, Uchiha Tajima, who sat at the head of the table, beamed with joy.

He remained silent for a moment before finally speaking, detailing the ins and outs of the matter.

"At noon today, a representative of the Daimyo of the Land of Fire visited our Uchiha Clan."

"He proposed a mission commission, wanting our Uchiha Clan to escort a batch of standard military equipment to the Land of Iron."

"This representative of the Daimyo of the Land of Fire stated bluntly that there are many who have their eyes on this batch of equipment along the route..."

"Therefore, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire needs the most powerful ninja clan in the Land of Fire to escort this shipment."

"And this representative of the Daimyo of the Land of Fire also stated frankly that our Uchiha Clan is his first choice."

"If our Uchiha Clan cannot do it, he will go to the Senju Clan and the Hagoromo Clan."

"Because the reward for this mission is far too generous, if our Uchiha Clan misses this opportunity and the Senju Clan takes it instead..."

"For a long time to come, life for our Uchiha Clan will be very, very difficult."

"So, our Uchiha Clan has accepted the mission commission from the Daimyo of the Land of Fire."

Uchiha Tajima looked at Uchiha Shin, Madara, Izuna, and Hana, and spoke.

Madara, Izuna, and Hana did not think too much of it...

After all, for a ninja clan to accept a mission, complete it, and receive the reward was only logical.

"Father, then, how much combat power does our Uchiha Clan need to dispatch for this escort mission?"

However, Uchiha Shin felt that the timing of the Daimyo's representative's arrival was far too coincidental.

One must know that the reason Uchiha Shin was arranged to undergo the family trial half a year early was because the combat power lost by the family during the incident involving Uchiha Kawasuke and the others had left the Uchiha Clan hurting.

That was why a batch of genin had been fast-tracked to make up for the previous loss in family strength.

How much time had passed since then, and the Daimyo of the Land of Fire had already handed the Uchiha Clan such a massive order?

Wasn't it all a bit too coincidental?

Especially since this representative of the Daimyo of the Land of Fire had explicitly said that if the Uchiha Clan couldn't take this big order, he would go to the Senju Clan and the Hagoromo Clan next.

Whatever way one looked at it, the implication behind the representative's words was an attempt to coerce the Uchiha Clan into taking this order through both soft and hard tactics.

What exactly was the goal of the Daimyo of the Land of Fire?

Uchiha Shin was somewhat suspicious.

After all, in his previous life, there was the saying that "knights use martial arts to break the law, while scholars use literature to disrupt the order."

As the official representative of the Land of Fire, had the Daimyo of the Land of Fire never considered such things?

Could anyone who managed to sit on the throne of the Daimyo of the Land of Fire be a simple, kind-hearted soul?

One must realize that in this ninja world, any clan that had managed to exist from the mythical era to the present and remained powerful...

They were all entities that had walked through blood and fire, stepping over the piles of bones of other defeated ninja clans.

It could be said that they were all people who ate flesh, drank blood, and sucked the marrow from bones; could one really expect these people to have a sense of awe?

For thousands of years, they had watched these Daimyos rule these countries, hadn't they?

And yet, the Daimyos of the Five Great Nations still ruled these countries so securely, which showed that when it came to schemes and means, the Daimyos of the Five Great Nations were clearly a cut above.

Therefore, Uchiha Shin was very vigilant regarding the hidden purpose behind this mission commission.

Besides, Uchiha Shin did not believe that Uchiha Tajima, as the head of the Uchiha Clan, was some kind of naive fool.

Had he not considered these things?

Uchiha Shin looked at Uchiha Tajima with great concern, hoping to get a reassuring answer.

After all, if the Uchiha Clan ceased to exist, when the nest is overturned, no egg remains intact; what kind of future would there be for him, Uchiha Shin?

Furthermore, Uchiha Shin had never believed in free lunches falling from the sky. What if this was a trap set by the Daimyo of the Land of Fire in collusion with other ninja clans?

"For this escort mission, our Uchiha Clan will likely have to mobilize half of our combat strength."

Watching Madara and Izuna wolfing down their food, then glancing at his eldest son who was looking at him with concern, Uchiha Tajima let out a faint, internal sigh before speaking.

The performance of the three—Madara, Izuna, and Uchiha Shin—showed a clear disparity in caliber.

Although Uchiha Shin knew that Uchiha Tajima must have his own reasons for accepting this commission, as long as Uchiha Tajima had not yet passed the position of clan head to him...

He had to demonstrate his value to the Uchiha Clan in front of Uchiha Tajima.

Facing the Uchiha Madara who would grow in the future, Uchiha Shin had to out-compete him; he had to grind Uchiha Tajima's reputation to "Exalted" in advance.

The position of Uchiha Clan head was something he was determined to obtain, even if his opponent were Uchiha Madara, and even if Uchiha Madara were the reincarnation of Indra.

He would absolutely not hand it over on a silver platter.

"What if the Senju Clan takes this opportunity to raid our Uchiha Clan's compound?"

"It is a bit too risky for our Uchiha Clan to take on this mission alone, Father."

Faced with Uchiha Tajima's statement, Uchiha Shin raised his own concerns.

Hearing Uchiha Shin's question, Uchiha Tajima felt very satisfied.

Being able to raise such a question meant that Uchiha Shin's perspective on matters had already risen to the level of the entire Uchiha Clan.

This was good, and it was very much in line with the vision and breadth of mind required of a future Uchiha Clan head.

However, to continue testing Uchiha Shin, Uchiha Tajima did not state his own thoughts directly.

Instead, he turned to Uchiha Shin and asked, "Then, Shin, what is your opinion?"

"There is no good end to being a lone wolf, Father, so we must pull in a few allied ninja clans."

"As long as we can ensure the Uchiha Clan's dominant position, it is acceptable to concede a portion of the benefits."

"Although it may look like our Uchiha Clan is taking a loss in terms of profit,"

"We would be distributing the risks of this mission entirely onto the other ninja clans."

Uchiha Shin first laid out his line of reasoning.

"In this way, we gain two advantages."

"First, the combat strength at our Uchiha Clan's compound will not be weakened too severely."

"Then the Senju Clan will definitely not have the guts to come and launch a direct assault on our compound."

"After all, that would be a pyrrhic victory, and I believe the Senju Clan head is not so unwise."

"After all, when the snipe and the clam grapple, the fisherman profits."

In his mind, Uchiha Shin rapidly refined his specific strategy.

"Second, it is not the thief who steals that one fears, but the thief who keeps watch. Since the Daimyo of the Land of Fire sought out our Uchiha Clan this time,"

"Then regardless of the reasons behind it, we must get to the bottom of it this time."

"After all, the enemy of an enemy is a friend; I believe the Daimyo of the Land of Fire must have his own enemies as well."

"We will act based on the specific situation when the time comes."

Speaking to this point, Uchiha Shin paused, as if he had thought of something, and then continued to add: "Even if the Daimyo of the Land of Fire joins forces with the Senju Clan to set a trap for us, we need not fear."

"With these allied ninja clans as cannon fodder, there should be no problem for our escort team to return safely to the Uchiha Clan's compound."

"In short, as long as our Uchiha Clan maintains its strength and remains unweakened, then anyone who wants to cause us trouble must be prepared to pay a heavy price."

Uchiha Shin sneered and continued: "You must know, there are many ninja clans in the Land of Fire."

"If the Senju Clan ever becomes the dog of the Daimyo of the Land of Fire and wants to deal with our Uchiha Clan,"

"Hmph!"

"The logic of 'when the lips are gone, the teeth are cold' and 'the rabbit dies, the fox grieves'..."

"I believe the other clan heads in the Land of Fire should still understand that."

"At that time, the moral high ground will be with our Uchiha Clan."

"Perhaps we could even take the opportunity to form a Land of Fire Ninja Alliance led by our Uchiha Clan."