The Patriarch

Yatsuhashi, his sleep disturbed.

He simply headed toward the northeast corner of the village, walking toward the settlement of the Iburi Clan where Gota and the others were housed.

When he had first entered the village early this morning, he had already noticed that the wandering merchants in the village were, to varying degrees, all heading toward the Iburi Clan's habitat.

Originally, Yatsuhashi had intended to wait until he woke up to see what was happening, but now that his sleepiness was gone, he might as well go there and find out.

Before he had even walked inside, Yukimi's silver-bell-like voice drifted over from afar.

"Lord Yatsuhashi!"

Yukimi hopped and skipped as she waved her hands, and the surrounding members of the Iburi Clan looked at Yatsuhashi with immense respect in their eyes.

What surprised Yatsuhashi slightly was that Yamato, whom he and Yukimi had encountered in the middle of the night, was actually here as well.

Under the compromise of Hiruzen Sarutobi, although Danzo had been reinstated to his post, Yamato and the other Wood Release ninjas had been transferred to the village's regular Jonin ranks.

Yamato had even used his outstanding strength to become the squad leader of this Wood Release Jonin Squad in one fell swoop, so Yatsuhashi still had some impression of him.

Yukimi abandoned Yamato, who had been pestering her, and ran to Yatsuhashi's side like a cheerful little deer, excitedly preparing to take Yatsuhashi to see Gota right away.

Yamato's expression changed when he saw Yukimi leave him behind, and then, upon seeing Yatsuhashi, he turned his head away in embarrassment.

Yatsuhashi took the initiative to ask, "What is he doing here?"

Yukimi pouted and glared back at Yamato: "Who knows? He just wanders around me all day for no reason."

Yamato's face flushed red; he stammered for a long time without being able to say a complete sentence.

His early years of experience in Root had made it difficult for him to integrate into a normal life now.

"Lord Yatsuhashi, you were right that day; he doesn't look like a good person at all."

"Uh," Yatsuhashi was stunned. He looked at Yamato's awkward appearance, began to actively recall his memories regarding Yamato, and then comforted her: "He should be a good person!"

"Huh?"

Not only was Yukimi stunned, but even Yamato suddenly raised his head.

After all, having spent so many years in Root, Yamato had done nothing but kill and set fires; until now, Yatsuhashi was the first person to call him a good person.

Yukimi nodded thoughtfully, "Since Lord Yatsuhashi says he is a good person, then I believe he is a good person."

With just that one lighthearted sentence from Yatsuhashi, the impression Yukimi held of Yamato in her heart underwent a significant change.

Yamato, standing behind them, clearly sensed this, and even the look in his eyes as he watched Yatsuhashi's back carried a hint of gratitude.

Ignoring Yamato, Yukimi pulled Yatsuhashi and continued walking inside.

In just a few short days, the original few houses and the patch of open space here had been transformed into a row of neat and spacious connected cabins.

Yatsuhashi glanced at Yamato, who was following behind Yukimi.

This must be his Wood Release: Four-Pillar House Technique.

Seeing Uchiha Yatsuhashi look back at him, Yamato hurried forward to make his presence known.

"It was the Fourth Hokage who ordered me to lead the Wood Release Jonin Squad to assist in the reconstruction of the Iburi Clan..."

"Hmph," Yukimi tugged at Uchiha Yatsuhashi's sleeve, her pace quickening, "You don't need to tell him; Lord Yatsuhashi already knows."

Along the way, Uchiha Yatsuhashi also spotted Tenzō, who was lying on a rooftop, bored out of his mind.

When Tenzō saw Uchiha Yatsuhashi, Although he did not stand up, he still whispered a greeting of "Lord Yatsuhashi."

Seeing this, Yukimi glared fiercely at Tenzō and threatened, "You brat, you'd better show some respect!"

However, Uchiha Yatsuhashi did not mind.

After all, the current Tenzō was far more endearing than he had been back when he was in Root.

Gota, who had been in the middle of discussing business with a wandering merchant, Immediately set down his ledger the moment he saw Uchiha Yatsuhashi being led by Yukimi.

He stepped forward quickly, "Oh my, Lord Yatsuhashi, you've arrived!"

Tenmei, the wandering merchant who had been negotiating with Gota, Also kept sizing up the youth before him.

The person whom Gota, the leader of the Iburi Clan, held in such high regard, Turned out to be nothing more than an unremarkable youth.

This naturally piqued his curiosity.

Gota led Uchiha Yatsuhashi to the main seat in the tea room, While he himself sat to the side, His posture extremely humble.

As it turned out, the mineral vein beneath the Forest of Death had been excavated by the Iburi Clan.

Although the conditions for smelting the ore were not yet mature, The raw ore could still be traded with wandering merchants.

This was the reason why a large influx of wandering merchants had flooded into Konoha.

However, what slightly surprised Uchiha Yatsuhashi was, That the head of the Nara Clan, Shikaku Nara, had actually come here as well.

Gota respectfully explained to Shikaku Nara, "This Yatsuhashi is the leader of our Iburi Clan."

"What?!"

As soon as these words were spoken, not only Uchiha Yatsuhashi, But even Shikaku Nara and Tenmei were so shocked their jaws nearly hit the floor.

It turned out that after the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, learned that the Iburi Clan had discovered a mineral vein, He had dispatched Shikaku Nara to negotiate with them.

The primary focus was on tax matters between Konoha and the Iburi Clan, as well as cooperation regarding future mining operations.

Although the Forest of Death belonged to Konoha, The village currently lacked the professional personnel required for mining operations.

Rather than seizing control for the village, it was better to leave the management to the Iburi Clan.

The village only needed the Iburi Clan to hand over a certain percentage of the profits.

This way, Konoha could gain a significant and substantial new source of income without spending a single bit of manpower on mining.

However, Shikaku Nara had been here for quite some time, Only to be solemnly informed by Gota, That the matter was too significant and required him to discuss it with the leader of the Iburi Clan first.

This left Shikaku Nara deeply confused.

After all, he had conducted prior investigations, And Gota himself was supposed to be the leader of the Iburi Clan.

"Gota," Shikaku Nara said in a serious tone, His voice carrying a hint of obvious displeasure, "I am representing the Hokage; this is not a matter to be joked about."

As for Uchiha Yatsuhashi, Shikaku Nara had heard Inoichi Yamanaka mention him before.

He is a once-in-a-century genius in the practice of sealing techniques.

Furthermore, he is a member of the Uchiha Clan.

How on earth did he become the clan leader of your Iburi Clan?

Isn't this just pure nonsense?

Uchiha Yatsuhashi's expression also shifted.

He looked at Gota with equal confusion.

Who would have thought that Gota would continue, speaking loudly and righteously, "Uchiha Yatsuhashi is the clan leader of our Iburi Clan, and he has full authority to represent us!"

This statement once again left Tenmei, who was standing to the side, speechless with shock.

His mouth hung wide open.

But as a traveling merchant, he quickly regained his composure.

Tenmei laughed dryly and said flatteringly, "Indeed, this young man has an extraordinary air about him; one can tell at a glance that he is a prominent figure."

At the same time, he turned to look at Shikaku Nara, "Konoha truly produces heroes from among the youth; the future is bright, the future is bright indeed!"

Having said that, Shikaku Nara opened his mouth as well, taking a long moment before responding, "Since that is the case, Yatsuhashi, you shall represent the Iburi Clan and begin negotiations with us in Konoha regarding the mining of the Forest of Death."

Yatsuhashi felt that this sentence sounded strange.

After all, he was a member of Konoha himself.

But a moment later, Yatsuhashi also composed himself.

Because Shikaku Nara had provided a brief introduction, it made Yatsuhashi understand that, the mineral veins beneath the Forest of Death, after the daily extraction by the Iburi Clan, still required negotiations with Konoha regarding their sale.

However, the issue of profit sharing after the sale needed to be discussed thoroughly.

The current proposal from the village was a three-to-seven split.

That is to say, beyond the taxes that needed to be paid daily, seven-tenths of the proceeds from the mineral veins had to be turned over to the village.

Hearing this, Yatsuhashi already had a rough idea in his mind.

If the Iburi Clan worked hard to extract one million ryo worth of ore from the Forest of Death, aside from the thirty percent tax paid to the state, they would still have to give seven-tenths of the remaining seven hundred thousand ryo to the village.

This left Yatsuhashi feeling incredibly stunned.

He had not expected the village to be even more capitalistic than the capitalists themselves.

This was nothing short of blatant exploitation and oppression.

If this could be tolerated, what could not?

Even if Yatsuhashi were not a member of the Iburi Clan, he would absolutely refuse to agree to such outrageous terms.

However, what Yatsuhashi did not know was that, this was already the result of Minato Namikaze standing his ground against the village high-ups and mediating with all his might.

Previously, the Konoha high-ups had insisted on a two-to-eight split, with the Iburi Clan only receiving twenty percent.

Yatsuhashi carefully examined the draft agreement prepared by Shikaku Nara.

Suddenly, he discovered a blind spot.

The agreement only stipulated the profit sharing for ore sold to traveling merchants.

However, Yatsuhashi remembered that the Iburi Clan was not only capable of mining, but also skilled in smelting ore and forging ninja tools.

It was just that current conditions did not allow for smelting.

Therefore, Yatsuhashi had a change of thought and tentatively proposed, "I have no objections to the three-to-seven split for the sale of raw ore, but for ore that has been smelted, I hope the split can be two-to-eight, with the Iburi Clan receiving eighty percent."

Upon hearing this, the corners of Shikaku Nara's mouth curled into a smile.

He thought to himself that Yatsuhashi was still too young; mineral smelting was not as simple as he imagined.

The village had considered this in the past as well.

Smelting the ore before selling it to wandering merchants.

However, after careful calculation, it was discovered that not only were professional smelting craftsmen lacking, but the initial capital investment required was shockingly high.

As such, it was far more cost-effective to simply sell the ore directly.

But to appear fair, Shikaku Nara still waved his pen with a flourish, adding the conditions proposed by Yatsuhashi to the end of the agreement.

In any case, in his view, this clause would never see the day it took effect.

After Yatsuhashi signed the agreement on behalf of the Iburi Clan, Shikaku Nara also rose to take his leave;

after all, he had already spent too much time here, and now he needed to report the situation to the Hokage in a timely manner.

Meanwhile, the reverence in Gota's eyes for Yatsuhashi was practically overflowing.

He even bowed slightly to show his respect.

One had to know that once minerals were smelted and forged into ninja tools, the price would skyrocket!

With just a single, lighthearted sentence from Yatsuhashi, he had brought immeasurable wealth to the future of the Iburi Clan.

How could this not make Gota respect Yatsuhashi from the bottom of his heart?

It was not just him;

after the rest of the Iburi clansmen learned of the benefits Yatsuhashi had secured for them, whenever they saw Yatsuhashi, they would all bow and salute, their eyes filled with sincere reverence.

They had already truly come to regard him as the patriarch of the Iburi Clan.

The wandering merchant Tenmei was also overjoyed, for the sooner the agreement was signed, the sooner they could complete the transaction and transport the minerals out.

Tenmei even enthusiastically draped an arm over Yatsuhashi's shoulder: "Noble one! You really are my great benefactor!

I'm treating everyone to dinner tonight, please, you must do me the honor of attending!"

With Tenmei calling him "noble one" at every turn, Yatsuhashi found it hard to refuse and had no choice but to accompany Gota and the others to the banquet.

At the dinner, Yatsuhashi discovered that the wandering merchant Tenmei's wife was already pregnant.

Tenmei was beaming with joy and in high spirits, and he even hoped that Yatsuhashi, his benefactor, would name their child.

Yatsuhashi looked at the smiling people around the table.

He couldn't help but say, "May every year have today, and every age have this moment."

Who would have thought that Tenmei's eyes would light up, and he would slap his thigh: "Good, good, good! That couldn't have been said any better!"

"Lord Yatsuhashi, you truly are a man of exceptional talent! What a wonderful 'May every year have today, and every age have this moment'!"

After a brief pause, Tenmei looked at his pregnant wife beside him and said with irrepressible joy, "Then let it be as the noble one suggests; let's call our unborn child Tenten!"

"Tenten?"

Yatsuhashi was stunned for a moment, then he smiled, "That name sounds quite endearing."

It wasn't until nightfall that everyone reluctantly dispersed one after another.

Yatsuhashi walked alone on the road back to his rented room, letting out a huge yawn.

He could finally get a good night's sleep as he had wished.

However, suddenly, a powerful sensory wave swept rapidly past Yatsuhashi.

Then, this sensation abruptly doubled back, focusing entirely on him.

"Hmm?!"

Yatsuhashi whipped his head around to look toward the dark, deep mountains outside the village.

This power was actually faintly stirring the Mangekyo Sharingan within him!

At the same time, Madara Uchiha, standing outside the village, curled his lips into a grin.

He had not expected that, before he had even located the gathering place of the Uchiha Clan, he would discover his target so quickly.

Yatsuhashi could clearly feel that

someone outside the village was calling him out.

This was the resonance of the Uchiha Clan's unique Sharingan.

"Uchiha Fugaku?"

"No, that's not it."

Yatsuhashi quickly dismissed this thought from his mind.

After all, that night, Uchiha Fugaku's Mangekyo Sharingan had not triggered such an intense resonance within him.

"Then who could it be?"

Yatsuhashi thought to himself as he walked toward his rented apartment.

Meanwhile, Madara Uchiha, outside the village, could clearly feel the target moving further and further away from him.

This left Madara Uchiha feeling deeply puzzled;

could it be that the other party did not feel his summons?

Immediately, he increased the intensity of his perception once more.

This made Yatsuhashi curse, "Damn it."

With the strengthening of this power, the degree of resonance deepened significantly as well.

It even forced Yatsuhashi to activate his Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

If he hadn't been suppressing the restless ocular power within his body, his Mangekyo Sharingan would have been drawn out by the other party directly.

However, even so, Yatsuhashi still had no intention of turning back to leave the village.

"Trying to lure me out?"

Yatsuhashi snorted coldly.

Not only did he not stop, but he actually quickened his pace toward home.

"Tch, if you've got the guts, come in yourself!"

He would not risk his life so easily.

Humming an off-key tune, Yatsuhashi continued walking toward his room.

At the same time, on the other side of the village, Uchiha Shisui, who was drinking tea with Uchiha Fugaku, also felt this powerful resonance, even though the other party's target was not him.

"Clan Leader?!"

Just as Shisui started to rise to investigate, a sharp shout from Uchiha Fugaku pinned him to his seat.

"Do you still respect me as your Clan Leader? I told you to come here for tea, so just sit there and drink your tea!"

Hearing this, Shisui looked at Uchiha Fugaku, whose eyes were still wrapped in white bandages.

He had no choice but to sit back down in his seat, helpless.

Then, Shisui lowered his voice and asked, "Could this have something to do with Yatsuhashi?"

However, Uchiha Fugaku did not respond.

He pondered for a long moment before asking, "Shisui, how many times can you still use Kotoamatsukami?"

But before Shisui could answer, Uchiha Fugaku's eyes, which had only just regained a bit of vision, began to bleed profusely once again.

In an instant, the white cloth wrapped around his eyes was stained crimson.

It was enough to make him nearly tumble from his seat.

"Clan Leader!"

Shisui rushed forward to steady him.

Only to be shoved away with a look of disdain by Uchiha Fugaku, "Enough, that is enough."

He seemed to peer through time and space, catching a glimpse of that invincible shadow.

"Shisui, you are still too weak; continue drinking your tea for now!"