Early Preparations

Speaking of which.

At the time, Uchiha Tenshu didn't just sit around and wait for the crisis to hit.

Instead, he sprang into action immediately.

He didn't bother hiding his abilities. He planned to show that he was "precocious" and reveal just enough of his "talent" to stay within acceptable bounds.

Fortunately, Uchiha Tenshu really was precocious, and he had already gathered a group of like-minded young friends around him.

A few of them were even trustworthy.

That meant he could put some plans into motion.

Without those trusted friends to help, even if he showed off his talent, he might leave a loose end that would let someone trace the whole thing back to him.

But now.

He could solve that very problem.

Even Uchiha Tenshu had to admit, "You should prepare early and learn how to deal with people."

In his previous life, he had been stuck at the bottom with no way to gather people who could help him. He could only go with the flow and face one obstacle after another, all alone.

But now.

One small thing he had done almost without thinking could solve the crisis in front of him.

No wonder transmigrators were considered the greatest cheat.

There was a good reason for it.

Uchiha Tenshu thought this over and couldn't help feeling a little proud of all the things he'd done back then!

With helpers to put his plans into action, Uchiha Tenshu's clever mind quickly came up with a few ideas, and he began putting them into practice.

As a transmigrator, he had also struggled through life in society and suffered plenty. He was the sort of person who reflected on things, often examining himself and slowly thinking through the sources of society's many dangers and the schemes laid by his enemies.

Every now and then, he also read the so-called Heavenly Fang Divine Post.

It was a way to broaden his so-called horizons.

Uchiha Tenshu had summed up what his clan was doing this time.

He naturally understood that although the one pulling the strings behind the clan's actions was Tobirama Senju, that inhuman bastard, the Uchiha Clan's "elite" ninja program itself took advantage of people's darker nature and followed the course the clan's leaders were bound to take in the age of the ninja villages.

With the Warring States Period over, clans no longer had to unite around their own kin to fight other clans in a struggle for survival. The village had greatly weakened that way of life. In the past, a clan that failed to stand together was doomed, so private and communal interests had been intertwined.

Whether it was ninjutsu or resources, the capable rose to the top while the weak fell behind. With the whole clan's survival at stake, there was no such thing as family sentiment. Everyone had to give everything they had, and in return, everyone could receive all the support the clan had to offer.

Now, though, even a family separated from its clan was protected by the village. There were few dangers to make every clan member feel threatened, so the clan had begun to turn fully toward privatization and a free-for-all.

On top of that, it was time for the clan's businesses to be divided up for the first time, along with the profits.

And there were no longer any strict means of supervising individuals.

The old system had collapsed completely.

After all.

Whenever a clan tried to punish one of its members, Hashirama Senju, that "good-hearted fool," would demand an explanation. Tobirama Senju would seize the chance to interfere in the clans' internal affairs, too. They didn't have the absolute self-governance that the clans would enjoy under the Third Hokage in the future.

So, without fear or reverence—

If you wouldn't accept my authority,

if you wouldn't work with me to face our enemies,

then why should I spend so much to buy your loyalty?

With the world's strongest ninja, the God of Shinobi, watching over the village, each clan's punishments for its members had reached a historic low. But by the same token, the clans were naturally reluctant to pour their vast wealth into individual households.

They were even more afraid of drawing Tobirama Senju's attention.

He might think they were up to something.

Besides.

The Land of Fire had enjoyed five years of peace.

Most children born during that time had no concept of war. At most, they had heard of the occasional disturbance beyond the Land of Fire.

Even the adults had been affected by this.

With their sense of danger fading—

and spies lurking within their ranks—

they couldn't possibly devote all the clan's resources and attention to preparing for a war that might come, as they had in the Warring States Period.

It wasn't just a question of whether the clan could afford such a massive investment.

Even if it could—

the times had changed.

This was the age of the ninja villages.

An age when villages and ninja clans worked together.

The clans couldn't be expected to bear the burden alone.

Whether they wanted to show the village they were committed, or simply send someone else's children to war while they stayed back at headquarters and directed the fighting, the result was the same.

Even if things got desperate—

other clans would still have to pitch in, wouldn't they?

And if all else failed, they still had the God of Shinobi!

On top of that, the clan leaders all wanted their own children to enjoy an advantage over the children of other families.

They hoped the elder seats assigned to the Uchiha Clan when Konoha was founded would be passed down within their own families in the future.

They wanted to prevent any unnecessary changes.

To make sure their power would be inherited, they had to widen the gap between their own children and the other ordinary members of the Uchiha Clan.

After all, the Uchiha Clan believed in strength.

As long as their family was always stronger than everyone else, the elder seat would always belong to them.

So how could they widen the gap?

By investing in their children's training, of course.

This was the real world. A ninja couldn't simply pick up a chakra training scroll and train all the way to the highest level. That was the sort of thing that only happened in novels.

In the real world, there were all kinds of medicinal supplements that could speed up training and strengthen a ninja's foundation. There were also all kinds of applications and secret techniques far beyond a ninja's current rank, giving them ways to kill stronger enemies. These were all highly classified secrets known only to the Uchiha Clan's inner circle.

Once those resources were withheld—

the gap would become clear for all to see.

Under the so-called "elite" ninja policy, nearly all of the Uchiha Clan's leaders were united in their resolve.

One or two ordinary members couldn't change the policy.

And if he couldn't change the tide, he would join it.

Uchiha Tenshu knew that if he wanted to avoid being eliminated, he had to stay out of a direct confrontation. That would be like an insect trying to stop a chariot. Instead, he had to show his talent and use the Uchiha Clan's leaders to deal with one another.

After all, simply showing his talent wouldn't necessarily make him a match for the children the other clan leaders had spent a fortune raising. Uchiha Tenshu had only just started training!

He would need help from the clan leaders, too.

But why would the Uchiha Clan's leaders side with Uchiha Tenshu and help him?

What did he have to offer?

That he was a genius?

Wouldn't that make them even more likely to suppress him?

They'd want their own children to have the advantage.

They'd want their families to keep their hold on the clan's power.

Uchiha Tenshu didn't expect the clan leaders to take a liking to him just because he was a genius with plenty of talent. On the contrary, he suspected that his talent might be precisely what they disliked.

Who could say for sure?

In response.

Uchiha Tenshu cleverly went with the flow. First, he learned everything he could about the clan leaders. Then he made arrangements for his friends to quietly build him up. He also told them what might happen in the future, hinting that anyone denied elite ninja training would eventually be sent to the battlefield as cannon fodder. Once these precocious friends were thoroughly frightened, Tenshu seized the moment and proposed that the elite should train the next generation of elites. That would ensure his friends did everything they could to help him.

Their friendship, combined with a guarantee that they would benefit, would also stop them from getting a foolish idea and betraying him.

Next.

After coming up with several small inventions in quick succession, Uchiha Tenshu began visiting the clan's Seventh Elder, Uchiha Raimon.