Chapter 3

The young man by the window kept his gaze fixed on the distant void, his thumb unconsciously rubbing against his index finger. The evening glow gilded his long, ink-black hair with a hazy halo as it draped loosely over his dark robes. Intricate, swirling patterns in a matching shade adorned the fabric, faintly revealing clusters of cloud motifs.

Uchiha Shizuka peered cautiously through the door crack. Seeing that figure, her breath hitched, and her heart couldn't help but pound.

Uchiha Yan took the stack of documents from her hand. "I will deliver these to the Clan Head. Is there anything else, Miss Shizuka?"

"Ah, that... the letter from the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning is in the first folder. Please ask the Clan Head to review it promptly. I... I will wait at the door for a reply," Uchiha Shizuka whispered, her eyes darting toward the room again.

The ornate window, the sunset, the simple robes, the long hair... Ahhh, the Clan Head is truly breathtaking! Uchiha Shizuka's heart surged with pure, non-romantic admiration: This is our Clan Head, Uchiha Madara, the king leading the Uchiha toward glory!

"Please wait here, Miss Shizuka. Do not wander off." Uchiha Yan turned and stepped inside.

Madara pulled a sheet of letter paper from the first document. His gaze swept over it, a faint smile touching his lips. With a light flick of his index finger, the paper shot through the door crack like a blade. Uchiha Shizuka's pupils constricted; a ninja's instinct made her dodge, but the sharp, wind-whistling paper stopped right at the tip of her nose before drifting slowly to the ground.

She hurriedly caught it with both hands. The ink-brushed characters came into view: "...On the hour of the Tiger on the Summer Solstice, we were blessed with a son. As he is the firstborn of the legitimate line, he is granted the title of Crown Prince. The nation celebrates. We earnestly request the Uchiha Clan Head to bestow a name, to honor our generations of marital alliance... Seal of Fujiwara Nobuaki."

Uchiha Madara's voice drifted leisurely from the study: "The Crown Prince of the Land of Lightning shall be named Uye, Fujiwara Uye."

Uchiha Yoshiko had married the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning and given birth to a son; Uchiha Madara named him Fujiwara Uye.

Uye—in the script of the ninja world, this name was quite elegant, very much to the taste of the nobility.

The Uchiha clan was no longer merely a ninja clan; in the eyes of the commoners, they had ascended to the ranks of the high nobility. Later generations viewed this event as the hallmark of the Uchiha gaining total control over the Land of Lightning, while others considered it the first significant elevation of a ninja's status.

Uchiha Yoshiko herself possessed mediocre talent and had not even awakened a single tomoe by the age of sixteen. Before she was married off, Uchiha Madara had personally stripped away all power from her eyes. Although this Crown Prince carried Uchiha blood, he would never be able to awaken the eyes—nor would his descendants.

Uchiha does not raise tigers only to suffer the consequences later.

Intermarriage was indeed a highly effective shortcut. The Uchiha had leaped from a ninja clan to a noble house, their overt influence no longer what it once was. In fact, while intermarriage between ninja clans and nobility was rare, it was not unheard of. However, in the past, it was always the Daimyo dumping an unwanted princess onto a ninja clan as a form of waste disposal; never had a noble taken a lady from a ninja clan as his primary wife—excluding those romantic fools who broke status barriers to elope. It seemed the ninja clans hadn't even considered it?

Right, they valued strength above all else; intra-clan marriage or marrying into powerful bloodlines was the best choice.

"Then, why... has there never been an intermarriage between the Uchiha and the Senju?" Madara suddenly asked during a routine meeting.

A bolt from the blue! The faces of everyone present went stiff, then darkened as they each realized something, and finally, their mouths twitched in disgust.

"There has never been a precedent..."

"How is that possible!"

"It's simply not appropriate!"

Thinking of a friendly scene between an Uchiha and a Senju, the Fourth Elder, Uchiha Zhi, felt goosebumps crawl all over his skin: Damn it, even my childhood bedtime stories weren't this terrifying!

"Why is it not appropriate?" Madara raised a hand. "Look, family background, bloodline, strength, status in the ninja world—besides the Senju, who else can compare to our Uchiha? If this situation were among the nobility, it would be the top choice for a generational alliance."

The group looked at each other in silence.

Why did the Clan Head suddenly think of this? He wouldn't be planning to... The Uchiha's expressions darkened further, their desperate gazes turning toward the composed Uchiha Tai.

Madara also looked at Uchiha Tai.

Uchiha Tai coughed lightly. "Well, the two clans reside in the south and north respectively; the distance is too great."

The distance is too great... Second Elder, you are sharp!

"That is not the point."

"The Uchiha have always practiced intra-clan marriage to ensure the awakening rate of the Sharingan."

"We have already married off one Uchiha Yoshiko; that is not the point either. What else?" Madara tapped his index finger on the table, pursuing the old fox with great interest.

"Then... the Senju clan would not agree."

Madara smiled lightly: "Second Elder, do not dodge my question."

Uchiha Tai narrowed his eyes: "My Lord, as long as you wish to do something, the reason is never a necessity."

"This Clan Head must at least know your thoughts first."

"The Uchiha, from top to bottom, take your command as—"

"Second Elder." Madara interrupted him.

Uchiha Tai sighed and finally said: "The grievances of the previous generations, piled up layer by layer, generation after generation—by now, it has become a dead knot."

Several Uchiha present looked displeased; Uchiha Tai's words implicated their own clan as well.

Madara's lips curled: "Knowing it is futile, yet unwilling to let go or compete?"

The others remained silent. Uchiha Tai smiled without a word.

The word "unwilling" hit the nail on the head. Madara and Uchiha Tai both understood. The Uchiha were naturally cold and handsome, but their chakra attributes were Fire and Lightning, which influenced their personalities to be mostly arrogant and quick-tempered—a standard case of cold on the outside, hot on the inside. The initial reason for the discord with the Senju stemmed from a legend. Both the Uchiha and Senju clans were descendants of the Sage of Six Paths. However, when choosing a successor, the Sage of Six Paths chose the younger brother who possessed the Sage's body rather than the elder brother who possessed the Sage's eyes. The elder brother refused to accept this, and the descendants of the brothers had been fighting ever since.

Whether the legend was true or false could no longer be verified, but the fact that the two clans could not stand each other was set in stone.

"Now is not a good time for an alliance," Uchiha Etsu said tactfully. He was not a man to act on impulse. Even without considering the internal sentiments of the Uchiha clan, news from the merchant alliances of various countries showed that the Senju's wariness and hostility toward the Uchiha were so heavy that an alliance was absolutely impossible for at least a hundred years.

"I know." Madara's expression returned to its usual calm, and the group relaxed, the atmosphere easing instantly. Uchiha Zhi scratched his head and laughed: "Exactly, the situation outside is chaotic enough; thinking about this is too early~"

Madara said: "You are the ones thinking too much. I have no intention of lowering my status to actively seek friendship with the Senju."

The group glanced at their Clan Head with resentment: You were clearly doing it on purpose to make us overthink!

"I was just curious." Madara tapped the table again to draw their attention back. "The Uchiha and Senju respectively inherited the Sage's eyes and the Sage's body from the Sage of Six Paths, hmm, that is correct, right?"

"Tell me, if the two clans were to intermarry, and the child inherited both bloodlines, would they become another powerhouse like the Sage of Six Paths?"

Uchiha Etsu: ...?

Uchiha Tai: ...!

Uchiha Clan Members: !!!!!!!!!

All the Uchiha present were stunned.

Roar, roar, roar, what kind of monstrous idea is this, Patriarch, how did you even come up with it?!

Even more monstrous is, how has no one ever thought of it before?! (AB God's Dynamic Light and the World)*

"Never mind, judging by your attitudes, these are all minor matters." -- No! They are not minor matters, Patriarch!

At this moment, Madara's serene smile was no different from a sinister grin in everyone's eyes. "We must take things one step at a time. We need to pacify the Land of Fire first."

Two years passed in the blink of an eye. During this time, the Land of Earth annexed the neighboring small country, the Land of Storm, gaining a territory comparable to the Land of Lightning, and reached an agreement for intermittent armistice with the Land of Wind. To some extent, the two countries achieved a preliminary alliance.

The Land of Mountain, which shared a lip-and-teeth relationship with the Land of Storm, did not want to suffer the same fate, so it completely defected to the Land of Water. To counter the Land of Earth-Wind alliance, the Land of Water extended an olive branch to the Land of Lightning. Under the control of Uchiha Madara, the Land of Lightning's national strength suppressed other countries, immediately making the ambitious Land of Earth hesitant to act rashly.

Land of Wind and Earth versus Land of Lightning and Water, the situation became deadlocked.

Strangely, the Land of Fire, which had always been relatively friendly with the Land of Wind, resolutely maintained a neutral stance. The Daimyo of the Land of Fire did not even consider the factor of his friend Senju Hashirama, refusing to provide any political leaning or support to the Land of Wind. The relationship between the two countries gradually cooled.

Regardless, the situation of the five great nations in later generations slowly began to form.

During this period, the Uchiha's peripheral forces absorbed many ninjas who were displaced across various countries due to the war. Based on the principle that even a mosquito's leg is still meat, Uchiha Etsu, who was responsible for intelligence gathering while developing the clan's economy, placed them in external industries. These ninjas who came to pledge allegiance had often experienced the hardships and displacement of the human world, and most of them yearned for a peaceful life, thus they worked very diligently.

Meanwhile, Senju Hashirama, also a young clan head, finally completely subdued his clansmen and secured his foundation. He began to consider an alliance with the Uzumaki Clan of the Land of Whirlpools this autumn.

...Ninjas... Five Great Nations... Tailed Beasts... The various threads finally began to connect, and the tapestry of destiny started to become clear.

The world was in motion.