The Daimyo and Shingen / The Association Bears the Uchiha Name

Sarutobi Hiruzen stopped coughing and stopped smoking.

He understood what Namikaze Minato meant.

Whether the individual is truly exceptional is another matter, but the family behind them is undoubtedly exceptional.

I will definitely join the Sarutobi Clan; the dead ANBU were originally ninjas of the Sarutobi Clan.

"Alright, if it's inconvenient for Tsunade..." The old man gritted his teeth, stamped his foot, and said, "I'll throw away my pride and go talk to her myself."

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Daimyo and Shingen

The Daimyo 'Land of Fire.

The current daimyo of the Land of Fire sat in the main seat with a worried expression. The atmosphere in the main hall, where the daimyo and his ministers held internal meetings, was very heavy.

Since the emperor hasn't spoken up, the ministers should be more discreet.

After all, the people sitting here are first and foremost retainers of the daimyo, and only secondarily ministers of the Land of Fire.

"The document from Leaf Village has arrived. Without a doubt, the Hokage is furious, and those people are likely doomed."

"Although the Daimyo are all deserving of their fate, allowing them to be executed by Leaf Village would violate the principle of 'one country, one village' and would be detrimental to the relationship between the nation and the ninja village."

"If we could get Lady Tsunade back to Leaf Village, maybe we could appease the Hokage's anger?"

"But that gentleman has made up his mind to travel abroad."

The ministers below were talking one after another, but to Fire Daimyo, it was all nonsense.

This old lady's face gives off an impression of being easy to talk to and having a very Zen-like attitude.

The Fire Daimyo was highly regarded in Hidden Leaf Village. He treated all ninjas from Hidden Leaf Village with great kindness, regardless of their rank, and was truly a Buddha.

All the Konoha Ninja who had met the Fire Daimyo believed that with such a daimyo, the relationship between Hidden Leaf Village and the Daimyo's Court's residence would remain as close as ever.

But in the eyes of others, Fire Daimyo's image is more diverse.

For example, in the eyes of his retainers, he was a monarch who kept his true abilities hidden.

And in the eyes of the daimyo in various places, the image of this daimyo was not different.

In the eyes of the great nobles, he was a powerful ruler.

In the eyes of the middle-class nobles, he was a benevolent monarch.

To the minor nobles, especially the samurai who came to Daimyo Daimyo's Court to make a living and seek official positions, he was a just and benevolent ruler.

As for the common people of the Land of Fire, their impression of the Fire Daimyo comes from his daikan (official), so they believe that the Fire Daimyo is a daimyo who cares about the suffering of the people, and that having such a daimyo is a blessing for them.

The Fire Daimyo is now really experiencing internal heat.

Fire Daimyo never distinguishes between good and bad people, nor does he particularly value any particular relative—since he has taken the position of Daming, his first consideration must be the entire extended family.

The same applies to their relationship with Leaf Village.

He doesn't particularly like any particular Hokage, nor does he have any opinions about any Hokage.

He represents the nobles of this country, Hokage represents the ninjas of this country.

The words that come out of their mouths are not their own words, so their ego is not important.

However, because of some not-so-bright people, he felt that there was a crisis between the Daimyo's Court and Hidden Leaf Village.

This crisis actually existed long ago; the Third Hokage no longer belonged to the Senju Clan.

His surname Sarutobi Clan.

However, if the Fourth Hokage were Tsunade, the Fire Daimyo would feel much more at ease.

As it turned out, the Fourth Hokage was Namikaze Minato.

Actually, the Fire Daimyo himself would prefer that the Hokage's surname be Uchiha Clan.

As a contemporary person who did not experience that era, the Fire Daimyo was quite familiar with the history of cooperation between his clan and Leaf Village.

The Senju Clan and Uchiha Clan were the targets of the family's initial investments.

This included funding Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara to establish Hidden Leaf Village, and later, the marriage alliance with the Senju Clan —all for the sake of "a lineage that will last for ten thousand generations."

The main parties involved in this collaboration are three families.

The Senju Clan and Uchiha Clan taking turns in power is what the Land of Fire hopes to see.

But...

Forget it, I won't say anymore. After all, plans often go awry.

During the Third Hokage's era, the Uchiha Clan's situation was something the Fire Daimyo family could never have imagined.

The mighty Uchiha Clan was actually suppressed by a group of newcomers? This must be a fake Uchiha Clan.

However, compared to the Sarutobi Clan, the Fire Daimyo clan still felt more at ease with the Uchiha Clan. But that was the reality, so they let go of that feeling and had to accept the fact that the Hokage of Hidden Leaf Village was beginning to show "fluidity".

The Fire Daimyo clan still held onto hope for the Uchiha Clan, but seeing the Senju Clan's name completely disappear from Hidden Leaf Village, and the Uchiha Clan only knowing how to act recklessly, the Fire Daimyo clan could only watch helplessly.

Fortunately, just before the Fire Daimyo clan was about to abandon the original cooperation plan and decide to cooperate with the Hidden Leaf Village, which was full of uncertainties, at a greater cost, a capable person emerged from the Uchiha Clan.

When Uchiha Shingen arrived at the Daimyo's Court, he received the support of the Fire Daimyo.

For the Fire Daimyo, wealth was important, but not that important. He felt that it would be strange if an Uchiha Clan who could come up with such a whole bunch of ideas didn't become Hokage in the future.

As a daimyo, he was flexible, but also stubborn.

The Fire Daimyo clan's collaborators were the Senju Clan and Uchiha Clan, Hidden Leaf Village was a result of their cooperation.

Now that the Senju Clan has stopped being ninjas, the only remaining partner for the clan is the Uchiha Clan.

Hidden Leaf Village is too large. If the entire Hidden Leaf Village is considered as the subject of cooperation, stability becomes a negative factor, and the Fire Daimyo would need to incur high costs to maintain the stability of the cooperative relationship.

Seeing that his retainers were spouting nonsense and not saying anything of substance, Fire Daimyo decided to give them a reminder.

"Has the Uchiha Clan responded?" the Fire Daimyo asked.

He realized he couldn't rely on his older cousin anymore; this was his realization after spending a day with her in casual clothes.

The granddaughter of the First Hokage is finished.

Upon hearing the daimyo's question, the ministers stopped arguing and sat down again.

"We contacted the Hokage's advisor, but the response wasn't very positive. We hope the Daimyo's Court understands Leaf Village's difficulties."

But the Fire Daimyo didn't care about Uchiha Fugaku's attitude.

Although the other party was the head of the Uchiha Clan, he felt that Uchiha Fugaku and Sarutobi Hiruzen were the same kind of people, always mentioning Leaf Village.

In The Will of Fire, there is no place for the Fire Daimyo.

Back then, when Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama dealt with the previous Fire Daimyo, they also constantly talked about the Will of Fire, but their situations were different.

The marriage alliance between the two families is proof of this.

"What did Uchiha Shingen say?"

The ministers did not answer the question.

Fire Daimyo knew this meant there was no contact.

His retainers were all top-notch intelligent men, and now that this group of intelligent men were going to play dumb, as a daimyo, he wouldn't be so disappointed as to expose them.

"Write a letter to Shingen and ask for his opinion," the daimyo said directly.

Uchiha Shingen wasn't a nobleman, but that's what the Fire Daimyo liked to call him.

The ministers were well aware of the reasons behind this.

It's all because Uchiha Shingen was a staunch "daimyo" within the Uchiha Clan.

He's simply not like Konoha Ninja of this era.

Correspondingly, Uchiha Shingen was exceptionally assertive when dealing with other nobles.

The reason everyone didn't contact him was that they didn't want to be berated by him in the most polite tone, making them question their existence.

"Daimyo, what if Hidden Leaf Village sends Uchiha Shingen as an envoy to the Daimyo's Court?"

"The friendship between the Land of Fire and Hidden Leaf Village has lasted for decades; there's no reason for it to be ruined by greedy individuals," said the Fire Daimyo. "If Shingen comes to the Daimyo's Court on business, you must respect him as you would me."

Chapter Thirty: The Association is run by the Uchiha Clan.

With the Daimyo's Daimyo's Court so close at hand, Uchiha Shingen felt as if it were yesterday that he had come here to start the association.

After a lot of arguing, it all came down to him in the end.

Fire Daimyo's a really nice guy, isn't he?

"Let's go into the city," Uchiha Shingen said.

Behind him were about a hundred elite soldiers drawn from the Konoha Military Police Force.

Their investigative skills are truly impressive, especially in the ANBU.

But when it comes to blocking people, the Konoha Military Police Force is still better at it.

Daimyo's Court is a sensitive place, so we can't be too ostentatious.

You can't kill them quietly; that won't be effective.

We can't make a big fuss about it, or we'll go overboard, since we're all in this together.

A large group of Konoha Ninja marched over, startling the guards at the gate.

The ninja villages' rampage of killing people has already caused quite a stir. Although each ninja village is only killing within its own territory, and the victims are not ordinary people, it is still a rather unsettling thing for ordinary people and lower-ranking nobles.

Uchiha Shingen felt that this matter had been handled rather sloppily.

It's the style of the ANBU; even when they commit murder quietly, they do it like terrorists.

Upon entering the city, Uchiha Shingen led his subordinates to the Daimyo's Palace.

More than a hundred members of the military contractors—no, rather, polite and respectful—stopped at the entrance of the Daming Hall with warm, unassuming faces, standing in a line without looking to the side.

Uchiha Shingen walked into the Daimyo's palace alone.

Dressed like a Konoha Ninja, he wouldn't be stopped at the door and prevented from entering.

Unless more than a hundred people go in together.

The impulsive actions of the mentally ill did indeed have some negative impact on the relationship between the nobles and the ninjas.

Fortunately, Fire Daimyo is a good person.

When Uchiha Shingen saw this kind person again, the other person had a smile on his face.

"Greetings, Daimyo." Uchiha Shingen Fire Daimyo. "You look very well today. I hope the medicine from last time helped your sleep."

"Shingen is still so polite. I never expected that the Hyuga Clan's secret medicine would be so useful to an ordinary person like me." The Fire Daimyo chuckled. "Are you here on official business?"

"Yes, the village has discovered that there are foreign spies lurking within the Daimyo's Court, attempting to disrupt the peace of the Land of Fire. I have come here to request special permission to arrest them. Considering the possibility of resistance, I also need you to grant me the authority to execute them."

Daimyo's Court is special.

This city was first and foremost the seat of a daimyo's own fiefdom, and only secondarily the capital of a nation.

When they are in the right, the ninja village can disregard the local nobles, enter the city directly, arrest and kill as they please, without worrying about any repercussions.

In Daimyo's Court, one cannot be so careless.

Although they are all nobles, daimyo are completely different from other nobles; daimyo are allies of the ninja village.

"No problem. If it's Lord Shingen, then I trust him." Fire Daimyo summoned a servant. "Give the things to Lord Shingen."

The servant bowed and withdrew, and after a short while, brought over a plate with a white cloth strip on it.

Uchiha Shingen picked up the strip of cloth and tied it around his shoulders, leaving the part bearing the daimyo's seal exposed on the outside.

"Thank you for your support, Your Excellency. I will pay attention to my work methods."

"Shingen, you're welcome to come anytime, even if there's no official business," Fire Daimyo said, his tone seemingly regretful. "After all, I always learn a lot from talking with you."

"Daimyo, you are too modest," Uchiha Shingen said with a smile. "Please forgive me, this mission is rather urgent. Although we have them under surveillance, we still need to prevent them from resorting to desperate measures and disrupting the order of the Daimyo's Court's residence."

"In that case, Shingen, please make yourselves at home."

"Thank you again for your magnanimity. I must take my leave now."