The Longzhong Strategy

Xuanye nodded, acknowledging Fugaku's words, then changed the subject and continued asking:

"Everyone knows that the First Hokage established the ninja village system and distributed the Tailed Beasts with the ultimate goal of achieving peace."

"Then why can't we cede some land and resources to other ninja villages when they invade us, in exchange for a longer-lasting peace?"

A flicker of anger passed through Fugaku's eyes. He seemed deeply dissatisfied with Xuanye's words.

"What happens after the other ninja villages digest the resources they obtain? They'll grow even stronger and invade the Land of Fire with even greater intensity!"

"Greed can never be satisfied. By then, our casualties will only be more severe. Peace built entirely on compromise is simply unreliable!"

"Are we supposed to hope that wolves won't eat meat again once they've had their fill?"

Fugaku truly seemed to think Xuanye was far too naive. Why would he entertain such absurd ideas?

Xuanye gave a cold laugh, and his voice turned icy as well.

"So the clan head understands that principle?"

"Today, they take five cities; tomorrow, they take ten. Only then do we gain a single night of peaceful sleep. Yet when we rise and look around, the enemy troops have arrived again!"

"Since you understand that, why have you repeatedly yielded to Konoha's higher-ups as they test the Uchiha?"

Xuanye pointed at his own eyes and said pointedly, "We Uchiha possess the most fertile 'land' in the entire Ninja World."

"And outside are tigers, leopards, and packs of wolves!"

"Yet you, as clan head, have done nothing at all. You don't even have a bottom line. All you do is keep compromising."

Being accused of doing nothing but compromising gave even a coward like Fugaku a bit of temper.

"Then what do you suggest? Lead the Uchiha Clan into open conflict with all of Konoha?"

"Do you know how much danger that would bring to the entire Uchiha? The name Uchiha might even be completely erased from the Ninja World!"

Faced with Fugaku's anger, Xuanye remained utterly unmoved.

"Is that why you keep backing down, allowing Konoha's higher-ups to keep slicing away at the Uchiha bit by bit?"

Fugaku was speechless for a moment.

Xuanye continued, "The Root and Anbu ninja are already close to openly monitoring us around the Uchiha Clan Compound. I don't need to tell you which two people those men represent, do I?"

"How laughable that you still naively believe Sarutobi Hiruzen is willing to trust the Uchiha."

"If there were only Root operatives outside the Uchiha Clan Compound, I could at least understand that Sarutobi Hiruzen had merely deceived you!"

This time, Fugaku truly had nothing to say.

There was still a difference between Root and Anbu operatives. Experienced Konoha jonin could even tell them apart at a glance.

No matter what, Fugaku could not deceive himself into believing that those masked people outside were only from Root.

In a sense, Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō were cut from the same cloth. Sarutobi Hiruzen merely had enough shame to keep up some appearances.

Shimura Danzō, however, did not even bother pretending. He openly used Root ninja to keep watch outside.

Xuanye was not wrong to say Fugaku had no bottom line.

As for what kind of resistance he should show when pushed to a certain point, how fiercely he should bare his fangs, or when he should rebel, Fugaku had no clear concept of any of it.

He could even tolerate something like a Kekkei Genkai being leaked. Xuanye practically suspected that Fugaku had long since been controlled by Kotoamatsukami.

If something like Kakashi's Sharingan had happened to the Hyuga Main Family, it would not matter whether it had been entrusted to a close friend by someone on their deathbed. They would have reclaimed it no matter what!

They would even have broken with Konoha's higher-ups over it!

Do not be fooled by how those cowards of the Hyuga Main Family remained neutral on many matters. They clearly understood where their bottom line lay, and they made that bottom line crystal clear to everyone.

Coveting the Byakugan's Kekkei Genkai was absolutely unacceptable!

Even Sarutobi Hiruzen would not have been able to make it work, because once something like that happened once, it could happen again.

Today, Kakashi could possess one Sharingan. Tomorrow, someone else could "inherit" a comrade's Sharingan as well.

Taking a deep breath, Fugaku continued, "You still haven't told me what you intend to do."

"I will never stand by and watch you drag the Uchiha and Konoha into the whirlpool of civil war."

Xuanye shook his head and said something Fugaku found difficult to understand.

"Whether the Uchiha truly intend to rebel is not important. What matters is making Konoha's higher-ups believe that, once driven to a certain point, the Uchiha truly will rebel."

"And we have to make them believe how great a loss our rebellion would inflict on Konoha."

Fugaku frowned, pondering the true meaning behind Xuanye's words, only to find that he did not understand what Xuanye meant.

Seeing Fugaku's blockheaded expression, Xuanye could only explain further.

"Whether Konoha targets us has little to do with whether we possess the Mangekyō Sharingan or how strong our combat power is."

"Ever since the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, Konoha's higher-ups have repeatedly guarded against us. It is not because there are so many hawks in our clan, nor because we have made radical statements. It is because they fear another Uchiha Madara emerging from our clan!"

"So long as the Sharingan remains and there are still ninja in our clan, this endless probing and exclusion will never stop. The root of it lies in our surname—in these pairs of Sharingan!"

"Do you understand or not? No matter what you do, it is meaningless in the eyes of those frightened out of their wits by Uchiha Madara. Because of that single possibility alone, they can monitor us, exclude us, and even destroy the entire Uchiha Clan in the future!"

Fugaku was not completely foolish. Once Xuanye laid this bare, he slowly closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they were a pair of scarlet Mangekyō Sharingan.

This was the first time he had revealed his Mangekyō Sharingan before anyone else. Before this, even his wife, Uchiha Mikoto, had not known.

"Do you have a solution? Surely you do not truly intend for the entire Uchiha Clan to fight Konoha?"

Without realizing it, Fugaku had begun speaking to Xuanye, this young man, in a questioning tone.

He had to admit that Xuanye saw farther and more clearly than he did.

In this regard, Fugaku was actually inferior to this young man.

Once he realized that nothing he did could ever earn the recognition of Konoha's higher-ups, Fugaku finally felt a long-forgotten desire to change the status quo.

It was not only the Uchiha who needed to change. Konoha did too.

Xuanye was right. So long as Konoha remained under the control of the Senju faction, the Uchiha Clan would never have a chance to rise.

Konoha did not necessarily have to bear the Senju name.