Guidance

"Was it him?"

Uchiha Raimon began to recall.

"But why would he do that? Could he be trying to become clan head? He never mentioned anything like that!"

Uchiha Raimon couldn't understand why he'd been betrayed.

"That's right. It was Uchiha Ming. He's already betrayed the Uchiha Clan once. Do you really think he still takes pride in being part of the Uchiha Clan? And with an ambitious schemer like Tobirama Senju around, perhaps Ming even believes that betraying you is for the good of the clan!"

"Perhaps, in his eyes, the reason is simple: only by getting rid of an elder whose policies differ from his can the Uchiha Clan take the right path. To prove himself right, he may have already become rationally insane! Think of all the unusual madmen our Uchiha Clan has produced throughout history."

Uchiha Tenshu deliberately reminded him.

At this,

Uchiha Raimon was at a loss for words.

After all, every few years, the Uchiha Clan did produce one or two people with unusual ways of thinking because of the Sharingan.

But if Uchiha Ming really thought that way—

Then he really had to be out of his mind.

Then,

Uchiha Tenshu brought Tobirama Senju into it, speaking slowly as he continued, "Think about it, Elder Raimon. After you die, will the other elders continue to maintain the same war-readiness as during the Warring States Period, clinging to the grain stores that lose money year after year and refusing to let them go?"

"I doubt it!"

Uchiha Raimon shook his head and replied firmly.

Aside from him, the other elders in the clan only supported him as allies. They didn't truly care about the grain grown on those fields.

After seven years of peace, with the God of Shinobi leading Konoha, even in Konoha, where prices were relatively high, grain was quite cheap. There was more than enough for every clan in Konoha to buy what they needed.

When grain could be bought so easily,

who would spend so much to run agricultural estates?

Even he had begun to hesitate.

On one hand, the deep yearning for grain he'd developed during the Warring States Period made him reluctant to give it up.

On the other hand,

the estates and grain production fell within his sphere of authority.

Giving them up would mean relinquishing his power and losing a great deal of influence.

If he were alone, he wouldn't care about that.

But many clan members depended on him for their livelihoods. And his youngest daughter, Yukino, needed a great deal of money for her illness. If he withdrew from the power struggle, where could he find people to obtain medicinal herbs? Where could he buy rare ingredients in bulk? And where could he find a renowned doctor to treat his daughter?

Thinking of this, Uchiha Raimon looked at Uchiha Tenshu with even greater gratitude.

"Exactly!

"After you die, the clan may sell off all its estates outside the village, keeping only a small plot nearby—just enough to support itself. If war comes, we'll have no choice but to rely on the village. But when that happens, will the clan still be able to say no to the village?"

"Absolutely not!"

Uchiha Raimon answered hurriedly, alarm showing in his eyes at the thought. In that situation, the Uchiha Clan would lose its right to say no for good.

"Precisely!"

Uchiha Tenshu clapped his hands.

"When that happens,

"even if the village gives us the most outrageous missions, a clan without grain will have no choice but to charge ahead!"

"Such a clan wouldn't deserve to be called the Uchiha Clan, a renowned clan of the Ninja World. It would be nothing more than Konoha's lapdog."

"Or even Tobirama Senju's lapdog. As long as the Hokage's faction issued a mission, the Uchiha Clan would have to follow orders. There would be no backing out."

"And by then, the Uchiha Clan

"would have lost all its dignity and freedom!"

Uchiha Tenshu laid out his theory.

The Ninja World was a strange place.

Ninja had great power, yet they still accepted missions and served the powerful. They held themselves to strict standards and honored their word. Even a rogue ninja like Zabuza had never considered killing the person who hired him.

So if the Uchiha Clan sold its estates outside the village, buying them back would be no simple matter. When Konoha was founded, the properties each clan already owned were allowed to remain.

Each clan also had its own sphere of influence.

But if a clan voluntarily gave up some of its holdings,

and another clan took them over,

the clan that had abandoned them couldn't reclaim them.

Besides, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire had placed various restrictions on Konoha. The clans were allowed to keep only the estates they'd owned before the village was founded. After Konoha was established, all clans were forbidden from buying or seizing any more land for estates outside the village, anywhere in the Land of Fire.

Any clan that violated this rule would be attacked by all the other clans in the Land of Fire.

The Uchiha Clan's land was therefore a nonrenewable resource, a source of immense profit that could only shrink, never grow. Even if it lost money year after year, they had to hold on to it.

Without control over their grain,

ninja who didn't want to become bandits and rob people would have no choice but to survive by taking missions. And once they did, they would be handing control over their lives to the village.

Uchiha Tenshu couldn't help thinking of the dogshit missions Konoha would hand out in the future. Under the Konoha F4's rule, all kinds of unreasonable assignments would make life miserable for Konoha's ninja. The front lines would be stretched thin while those in the rear lived high on the hog. Countless ninja would be given missions beyond their abilities, while those few Konoha High Command clans stuffed themselves until they could barely move.

"So, all this scheming was probably meant to get rid of you, Elder Raimon, and strip the Uchiha Clan of its independence, turning it into just another part of Konoha."

"And once the clan loses its independence, the Uchiha Clan will become Konoha's dog. The village will be able to do whatever it wants to us. Uchiha Ming can then use this contribution to rise through the ranks and join Konoha's leadership. He's trading his own clan's interests for Konoha's favor. He's a traitor through and through!"

Uchiha Tenshu gritted his teeth as he spoke.

"Maybe in the end, Uchiha Ming will even call it a necessary sacrifice, a temporary hardship."

"He'll only have to say a few nice words. But you, Elder Raimon, and little Yukino will have lost your lives."

As he spoke, Uchiha Tenshu branded Uchiha Ming a traitor, leaving him no chance to clear his name.

Uchiha Tenshu was petty. He still remembered the business with the elite ninja all too well!

He even fanned the flames.

Of course, Uchiha Tenshu wasn't lying.

With his insight into the story, Uchiha Tenshu knew how history had originally unfolded. Without his interference, Elder Uchiha Raimon's fate would have been nothing but death.

Without the alcohol production he'd introduced, the grain and estates would ultimately be sold off, leaving the Uchiha Clan with no choice but to cling to the Uchiha Military Police Force and survive on missions from Konoha.

And what's more,

the Tsuchigumo Clan, which had carried out the ambush this time, would eventually become Konoha's ally.

Was there any justice in this world?

Any fairness?

Any law at all?