"You're already preparing to move against the Senju Clan?!"
Mingye gave a slight nod, then shook his head, as if he were thinking about something. He offered no explanation and changed the subject instead.
"You only need to enjoy the fruits of victory. Tell the Hatake clan head that three months from now, the Uchiha Clan will publicly take your clan in. I hope you'll be ready!"
"Then I'll go create the illusion now!"
Hatake Yūya knew he wouldn't get anything out of Mingye by staying here. He finished speaking and turned to leave.
"I'll take my leave as well!"
Hatake Yūya showed no regard for social niceties; he said his piece and left. Mingye wasn't the least bit angry. A blade was meant to be sharp, and a blade without feelings was the strongest of all. The Hatake Clan had already proved through its actions what kind of clan it was, so Mingye would give them the respect they had earned.
After settling the matter with the Wind-Thunder Clan, Mingye hurried back to his clan. When he reached Madara's bedroom, he found Madara and Izuna apparently arguing about something. He pushed open the door, looked at the two of them, and asked, "Big brother, second brother, what are you arguing about?"
Madara looked at Izuna with an unhappy expression, then pointed at Mingye. "Hmph! The youngest is here too. Ask him what he thinks we should do! I won't throw my weight around as clan head, but the three of us have to stand together!"
Izuna argued his case just as forcefully, refusing to give an inch. Meeting Madara's gaze, he explained to Mingye what the two of them were arguing about.
"Mingye, according to what our big brother read on the stone tablet, every shinobi in our clan has a chance of awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan. But our big brother wants to experiment on the clan's shinobi. Do you think we should stop him?"
Mingye had long expected something like this to happen. The Mangekyō Sharingan was far too alluring; its power was enough to make people tremble. One person with it could rival a thousand shinobi. The phrase "a match for a thousand" fit someone who could wield the Mangekyō Sharingan perfectly. But Mingye also knew its weaknesses. He sat silently on a cushion for a long while before deciding to reject Madara's proposal. The Uchiha Clan did not yet belong entirely to Madara.
Mingye had never forgotten the scene in the manga: even a thousand-year-old hatred could lead someone to surrender to the Senju Clan out of disgust for war. He could never accept such a thing. Once again, he mocked himself inwardly for his own hypocrisy and heartlessness. Then he spoke slowly to the two of them.
"The Mangekyō Sharingan is enough in the hands of you and our second brother. I don't think the clan needs a third voice making unnecessary suggestions right now. Big brother, if our generation unifies the world and establishes order, why would we still need to rule it by force? We should rely more on laws and regulations. Without rules, nothing can be done. Force can certainly be effective, but it also has serious drawbacks. Big brother, if you lack confidence in your own strength, then go ahead and experiment!"
Madara was proud, and Mingye knew his confidence had become arrogance. Only he and Izuna could openly disagree with Madara. Mingye suspected that even their uncle Shimizu couldn't voice an opposing opinion under Madara's gaze. The only way to deal with Madara was to provoke him. Sure enough, Mingye's words drew an immediate retort.
"Bullshit! When did I ever say I lacked confidence in my strength? Since you don't agree either, then pretend I never said it. The matter ends here! Youngest, shouldn't you explain the situation with the Wind-Thunder Clan now?"
Mingye knew his little ploy had worked. He promptly explained the situation with the Wind-Thunder Clan in earnest.
"Big brother, haven't you always wanted to attack the Kurohabaki, Haguro, and Togakushi Clans? We need a pretext. If we attack those clans without a reason, people will resent us, and they might even band together against us. Don't forget, once we become a target, those great clans won't want to risk their own strength in a direct confrontation. They'll push the Senju Clan to the front!"
Izuna nodded gravely at Mingye's words and chimed in.
"That's exactly our situation now. Our clan is powerful, but there are still shinobi clans in the Land of Fire that can stand against us for a time—more than three, in fact. The Sarutobi Clan, the Hyuga with their Byakugan, and the Senju of the Forest. We wouldn't fear them in a one-on-one fight, but if they truly joined forces, even if they were at odds with one another, they could deal our clan a heavy blow!"
Mingye nodded and continued.
"So we need something we can use against them. The Wind-Thunder Clan had the Blood Pact Scroll of Ryūchi Cave, which is why I had them killed. The Blood Pact Scroll must be in the hands of the one who inherits it. Ryūchi Cave had already abandoned the Wind-Thunder Clan!"
Madara was surprised. He hadn't expected Ryūchi Cave to coldly wipe out the Wind-Thunder Clan, despite their more than fifty years of loyalty, simply because Madara's brother had become the successor. Annoyed by Ryūchi Cave's way of doing things, he said to Mingye, "Mingye, if Ryūchi Cave is so heartless..."
"Survival of the fittest!"
Mingye cut him off before he could finish. For the past three years, he had tried to understand those four words, but still hadn't fully grasped them. He didn't know how many more people those words would lead him to kill, but he could only keep going. There was no path back behind him, and he wouldn't allow himself one. One step forward opened a vast sky; one step back meant a sheer cliff. Mingye kept telling himself that all of this was for a better tomorrow. He dropped the subject of Ryūchi Cave and continued with his plan.
"The Wind-Thunder Clan has already been wiped out by the Hatake Clan. The Hatake shinobi will hunt down any surviving members, wherever they are, and kill them. I've already had the Hatake shinobi make it look as if the three clans attacked the Wind-Thunder Clan's stronghold. After a while, we'll deliberately spread the story. Then we'll have a pretext to attack the three clans!"
Izuna sounded concerned after hearing that. "Isn't that too far-fetched? The Kurohabaki, Haguro, and Togakushi Clans had no direct conflict with the Wind-Thunder Clan. The four clans barely even had any dealings with one another!"
Mingye shook his head, finding Izuna's reasoning amusing. That was how the so-called United States had acted in his previous life: they decided what was right and wrong, simply because they were strong enough. The Uchiha Clan could certainly imitate their approach to governing. Of course, Mingye wasn't very good at that sort of thing, so all he could do was copy the outline, like a child imitating a tiger.
"Second brother, you have to understand: as long as we insist on it and wipe out the three clans with the force of a raging storm, won't we be the ones deciding what happened?"
Madara was pleased by Mingye's words. He made up his mind at once and asked Mingye what they should do next.
"Good! Whatever's right, we say it's right. Even if it's wrong, we'll say someone else is to blame. Mingye, I support you on this. So tell me, what do we do next?"
"Big brother, come with me to Okayama. Since you've awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, you must have mastered a certain degree of genjutsu, right?"
"What are you planning?"
"To give our General Sato a dream that feels both real and unreal!"
"For a thousand years, this age of chaos has made us so-called shinobi the nominal main characters on a grand stage, yet the people still look down on us. Samurai and shinobi—the former may have fallen into decline, but that doesn't mean their glory has vanished with it. In this world, the samurai stand above the shinobi. Even with powerful ninjutsu to back us, those at the highest levels still treat us like hunting dogs! As the books say, a samurai's life is about finding a lord to serve, following him and helping him achieve a lifetime of glory and renown. But shinobi are just hunting dogs unleashed by the rulers with a flick of the whip. We can only be cannon fodder, decoys, spies, and blades for assassination. Big brother, do you think I'm right?"
Sitting in a carriage, Mingye spoke at length to Madara. Madara fell silent for a moment, then nodded and let out a long sigh. His silence seemed so ironic. Clearly, they both knew this was the reality: shinobi were always raised like dogs. A dog with a master was called a hunting dog; one without a master was called a stray. Madara had once thought that, once he became powerful, he could erase those rulers. But even Madara, arrogant as he was now, knew he couldn't do it.
Looking at Madara, who had fallen silent, Mingye knew he also wanted to bring about change. But he couldn't control people's hearts. Madara hadn't yet gone mad enough to use the God Tree to cultivate everyone as a source of nourishment, in the twisted way of a devil. No matter how strong he became, he still couldn't change people's hearts.
"We'll always be shinobi. No matter how powerful we become, even if we can destroy mountains with a wave of our hands, we're still just a shinobi clan. In the eyes of those so-called rulers, we're nothing more than slightly stronger hunting dogs! Big brother, have you never thought about changing all this?"
As he grew older, Madara had encountered more of the darker side of life than he had in childhood. His growing strength had also changed the way he saw things. Knowing Mingye was right was one thing; admitting it was another. He scoffed in reply.
"Maybe you're right, but aren't we already trying to change things? I'll turn heaven and earth upside down and blot out the sun and sky! I refuse to believe that when I'm strong enough to do all that, the Daimyo will still dare to stand before me with that arrogant look on his face!"
Mingye shook his head and explained once more.
"I think so too. If big brother truly becomes strong enough to overcome anything through sheer force, then we won't need to keep discussing these seemingly serious, but actually boring, topics."
Madara fell silent again. After thinking it over to no avail, he asked Mingye in turn.
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