Guidance

"Is it him?"

Uchiha Raimon began to recall.

"But why would he do it? Could it be that he wants to become the clan head? But he has never mentioned such a thing!"

Uchiha Raimon could not fathom the reason for his betrayal.

"Indeed, it is Uchiha Ming. As someone who has already defected once, do you truly believe he still possesses the pride of the Uchiha clan? Not to mention, with an ambitious schemer like Tobirama Senju involved, he might even believe that by betraying you, he is doing the clan a favor!"

"Perhaps, in his eyes, the only way for the Uchiha clan to walk the correct path is to remove an elder like you, whose policies differ from his own. To justify his actions, this man's mind has likely descended into a state of rational madness! Just think back to the history of our Uchiha clan and those eccentric, mentally unstable individuals who have appeared among us."

Uchiha Tenshu deliberately reminded him.

To this.

Uchiha Raimon was speechless.

Because every few years, due to the Sharingan, the Uchiha clan did indeed produce one or two individuals with unconventional ways of thinking.

But if Uchiha Ming truly held such thoughts!

Wouldn't that mean he had truly lost his mind?

Subsequently.

Uchiha Tenshu added Tobirama Senju into the mix, continuing in a slow, measured tone: "Think about it, Elder Raimon. If you were to pass away, would the other elders still maintain the wartime readiness of the Warring States period like you do, holding onto grain supplies that lose money year after year, refusing to let go?"

"Likely not!"

Uchiha Raimon shook his head and said firmly.

Aside from himself, the other elders in the clan, even if they supported him, did so merely as allies rather than out of any genuine concern for these so-called farmlands and grain.

Under the leadership of that God of Shinobi in Konoha, the seven years of peace had kept grain prices quite low, even in a place with a high cost of living like Konoha. Every family in the village could afford enough grain, with plenty to spare.

Faced with grain that could be bought so easily.

Who would go to great lengths to manage farmland?

Even he was starting to waver.

On one hand, the long-standing hunger for grain during the Warring States period made him unwilling to abandon these supplies.

On the other hand.

These farmlands and grain production fell within the scope of his own authority.

To lose them was to lose his own power; without them, he would suffer a massive loss of influence.

If it were just himself, he might not care.

But there were a large number of clan members relying on him for their livelihood, not to mention his young daughter Yukino, whose illness required vast sums of money. Once he stepped down from this position of power, where would he get the news of where to obtain spiritual medicine? Where would he find the money to buy rare medicinal herbs? And where would he find a famous doctor to treat his daughter?

Thinking of this, Uchiha Raimon could not help but look at Uchiha Tenshu with eyes full of gratitude.

"Exactly!"

"After you pass away, the farmlands the clan manages outside the village might all be sold off, leaving only a small portion near the village, barely enough for self-sufficiency. Once war arrives, we will have to rely entirely on the village. But when that time comes, will the clan still be able to say 'no' to the village?"

"Certainly not!"

Uchiha Raimon said hurriedly, his eyes revealing a sense of panic and unease at such a scenario. In that outcome, the Uchiha clan would almost completely lose the right to say "no."

"Correct!"

Uchiha Tenshu clapped his hands.

"When that time comes!"

"Even if faced with the most outrageous missions from the village, a clan without grain will have no choice but to bite the bullet and charge forward!"

"Such a clan could hardly be called the prestigious Uchiha clan of the Ninja World; they would be nothing more than loyal dogs for Konoha."

"Even loyal dogs for Tobirama Senju. As long as the Hokage line issues a mission, the Uchiha clan will have to follow it, unable to take a single step back."

"And the Uchiha clan at that time!"

"Will have completely lost its self-respect and freedom!"

Uchiha Tenshu spoke of his conjectures.

The Ninja World was a strange place.

Ninjas possessed immense power, yet they still accepted missions to serve the powerful, adhering to strict requirements and maintaining their reputation. Even a rogue ninja like Zabuza had no intention of killing the person who issued his mission.

Therefore, if the Uchiha clan were to sell off the farmlands under their name, buying them back would likely not be a simple matter. When Konoha was built, the property each family owned was tacitly allowed to be retained.

Every clan had its own sphere of interest.

But if one voluntarily abandoned certain interests.

And other clans took them over.

Then the clan that discarded them could never take them back.

Furthermore, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire had imposed various restrictions on Konoha, allowing them to retain only the farmlands each clan owned before the village was established. After the founding of Konoha, all clans were prohibited from purchasing or seizing any farmland in the Land of Fire outside of Konoha village.

Violators would be attacked by all the clans of the Land of Fire combined.

Therefore, the land owned by the Uchiha Clan was a non-renewable resource; it was a massive asset that could only decrease, never grow. Even if it operated at a loss year after year, it had to be preserved.

Otherwise, they would lose control over their food supply.

Ninjas who did not want to descend into banditry and robbery had no choice but to survive by taking on missions. Once they accepted a mission, it was equivalent to handing their entire fate over to the village.

Uchiha Tenshu could not help but think of the garbage missions issued by Konoha in later generations. Under the control of the Konoha F4, all sorts of unreasonable assignments made the ninjas of Konoha suffer immensely. While the front lines were strained, those in the rear lived in luxury. A vast number of ninjas were forced to perform tasks far exceeding their difficulty limits, while the high-ranking families of Konoha in the rear grew fat and bloated.

"So, all these current conspiracies are likely because Elder Uchiha Ming wants to eliminate you, causing the Uchiha Clan to lose its status of independence and become just another cog in Konoha."

"Once we completely lose our independence, the Uchiha will become nothing more than a dog for Konoha. The village will be able to do whatever it wants to our clan, and Uchiha Ming will be able to use these 'merits' to become a high-ranking official in Konoha. He is selling out the clan to trade for loyalty to the village; he is a traitor through and through!"

Uchiha Tenshu said, gritting his teeth.

"Perhaps in the end, Uchiha Ming will even claim that this was a necessary sacrifice, a period of growing pains."

"He only has to spout empty rhetoric, but for you, Elder Raimon, and little Yukino, what you would lose is your lives."

As Uchiha Tenshu spoke, he firmly branded Uchiha Ming's actions as those of a traitor, leaving him no chance to clear his name.

Uchiha Tenshu was a petty man, and he still kept the matter of the elite ninjas from before fresh in his mind!

In the end, he even began to fan the flames.

Of course, Uchiha Tenshu was not lying.

With his knowledge of the plot, Uchiha Tenshu knew the original historical trajectory. Without his intervention, the final outcome for Elder Uchiha Raimon would have been nothing but death.

Without the alcohol production he introduced, along with the protection of these food supplies and estates, the end result would have been the total sale of their grain and land, forcing the Uchiha Clan to rely solely on the Military Police Force and Konoha missions to survive.

Not to mention.

The Tsuchigumo Clan, who carried out this ambush, actually ended up becoming allies with Konoha in the end.

Was there any justice left in this world?

Was there any law?

Was there any order?