Better to Prepare Before Making Trouble / The Tailed Beast Collection Proclamation

In addition, there was a small desire to show off—my son opened Mangekyo Sharingan.

It would be a beautiful story if father and son drove together, Uchiha Fugaku was actually very concerned about his image.

They say it's confidential, but that's only in the public eye. After all, it's election season, and it wouldn't be good to be too public about it.

But Leaf Village only has a few ninja clans, and they see each other every day. They're all in the same circle, so there's no need to hide it. They can just pretend.

"Itachi..." Uchiha Shingen thought about Uchiha Itachi's boundless energy today and didn't know where to begin complaining. "I told him to take the day off, but he refused and went back to work."

Uchiha Fugaku: "... He's so rude and has no sense of propriety whatsoever. I have to teach him a lesson!"

Damn it! How could he have given birth to a son so obsessed with killing people!

There's a party going on tonight, didn't you know?

All you do is chop, chop, chop! How are you going to get ahead in higher ranks?! You're the one wielding the knife, not the knife!

"Clan leader, you can actually look at it from a positive perspective." Seeing Uchiha Shingen's expression, Uchiha Fugaku roughly knew what he was thinking, but Uchiha Itachi was now his son, and he couldn't shirk his responsibility. "Itachi works so hard and his results are so remarkable, no one else can compete with him."

"That's true." Uchiha Fugaku was satisfied. "The ANBU is where results matter. Well, consider him lucky despite his foolishness."

At the dinner table, everyone watched as the two men kept making excuses for Uchiha Itachi, realizing that the ANBU would belong to Uchiha Itachi from now on.

Uchiha Clan has been stubborn for so many years, but now these two cunning schemes have emerged.

"Fugaku, please don't brag about your son to us," Nara Shikaku laughed. "If we had a son like that, we'd be so happy we couldn't sleep."

Then he silently recited a sentence in his mind.

Please, please don't let me have a son or grandson like that; I can't bear the shock.

This isn't meant to be derogatory; it's simply a reflection of reality.

Nara Clan is not the Uchiha Clan type.

Nara Shikaku has set an example, so naturally others will follow suit.

In any case, Uchiha Fugaku is still the Hokage's assistant. So during the Hokage election period, before Namikaze Minato officially stepped down and before a new Hokage took office, he became the Acting Hokage.

We can't refuse to give face to the Hokage.

Looking at these hypocritical guys, Uchiha Tekka began to reminisce about the good old days the four of them spent in the shopping district.

Amidst the mutual flattery among these guys, the waiters in the private room served them their drinks.

Uchiha Shingen was the initiator; he raised his wine glass.

"Gentlemen, I'm late tonight, so I'll start by punishing myself with a drink."

After saying that, without giving them a chance, he tilted his head back and drank it all in one gulp, and that was it.

Then he poured himself another glass, and raised it again with a smile.

"Shall we have a drink?"

Everyone quickly raised their glasses.

Here's an interesting tidbit: throughout the entire Fourth Hokage era, no one ever drank with Namikaze Minato.

He could only drink goji berry tea in his office.

It seems that things can return to normal in the fifth generation era.

After a few drinks, the people at the table gradually relaxed. They were all old acquaintances who had fought side by side on the battlefield. Although their positions were different now, sitting at the table together brought back those old feelings.

The group started talking about their younger days, beginning with school and then moving on to the Second and Third Shinobi World War.

Most of the people at this table formed personal relationships during the Third Shinobi World War.

Uchiha Shingen was no exception.

His friends in the Hyuga Clan were all forged on the battlefield of Hidden Mist Village.

Among the outsiders with whom this generation of ninjas had the closest relationship, it was a group of the Hyuga Clan.

As the wine intensified, people began to express their feelings, realizing that although they were drinking the same wine, each person's experience was different.

Gradually, the topic naturally shifted to the upcoming election for the fifth generation head.

Chapter 49 It's best to prepare in advance before causing trouble

"Shingen, we've made all the preparations. Tomorrow the villagers will vote, and at the very least, we estimate that 60% will vote for you."

The one who said this was Nara Shikaku.

He had reason to say that.

Leaf Village is not an agricultural city; it is essentially a commercial city, with the vast majority of its residents being business people.

Although there is agriculture, the annual agricultural output is still far from self-sufficiency. The Daimyo's Court's annual fixed village construction expenses also include a preferential share of food procurement through the Daimyo's Court's channels. During wartime, the Daimyo's Court needs to ensure that Leaf Village can stably procure food at wartime-limited prices to meet the needs of the war.

Commerce is the main source of revenue for Hidden Leaf Village.

The largest group, of course, consisted of ninjas engaged in military mercenary work, namely the Leaf Ninja Corps.

Secondly, there are the various civilian organizations that serve the military entity of the ninja village.

The third category consists of commercial entities that are subordinate to the ninja clan.

These three groups account for nearly 80% of Leaf Village's commercial population.

The remaining 20% consists of self-employed individual households comprised of villagers.

However, as everyone knows, after so many years of running his business, Uchiha Shingen had an excellent reputation in Leaf Village's business circles. As a result, most of the villagers who were engaged in business believed that if Uchiha Shingen became Hokage, their businesses would only get better.

While it won't be that absolute, if the seven ninja clans work together and their employees join forces to support Uchiha Shingen, the ripple effect will be considerable.

We're all eating from the same pot, and we're all familiar faces.

Nearly 60%, according to Nara Shikaku's analysis.

This is not difficult at all. As the leader of the Jonin Council, mobilizing manpower to achieve war objectives is his specialty.

The Hokage election is also a war.

"Lord Nara Clan, let's just leave it to fate. I'm fine with anything." Uchiha Shingen swirled his wine glass. "Let's eat something, and stop talking about work."

"This isn't work," Nara Shikaku smiled. "It's a very practical matter."

"That's right," Hyuga Hiashi said. "All the restaurants, pharmacies, and other shops in Hyuga have a few thousand people in total. If we Hyuga Clan those who do business with these shops to join you, Shingen, and Shingen everyone else here is about the same, then sixty percent is not too many."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

This basic procedure was arranged long ago.

As a result, the Jonin group's situation was also settled.

With just these seven families, the Jonin's votes would be overwhelming.

The selection process for Hokage only involves a few key elements.

"Daimyo's Court, you'll still need to make a special trip to the Daimyo's residence yourself," Shingen Hyuga Hiashi said. "The Fire Daimyo already has a good impression of you; your trip will make him even happier."

"I'll definitely go." Uchiha Shingen nodded, then suddenly remembered something. "Speaking of which, Hiashi, what exactly is the relationship between the Fire Daimyo and the Hyuga Clan?"

The Hyuga Clan's crest is a flame.

The same applies to the Fire Daimyo family.

In a broad sense, the ninja clan is actually a type of noble family; otherwise, they wouldn't have designed a special family crest.

If two families located in the same region have very similar family crests, they must have an unusual relationship.

"The Hyuga Clan and the Daimyo's family are not related, I can assure you of that." Hyuga Hiashi shook his head. This speculation was common in Leaf Village. Anyone who had visited the Daimyo's Court and paid their respects to the Fire Daimyo would have this idea, but Hyuga Clan had never explained it.

After all, this makes it sound like they're trying to curry favor with a famous family.

But for today's occasion, it doesn't matter.

"The Hyuga Clan has always been active in the Land of Fire and had frequent interactions with the Daimyo's family in the past. They also contributed to the establishment of the Land of Fire country names, it's just a coincidence that both clans use flames as their family crests."

Everyone looked on with sudden realization.

Whether they truly believe it or not is unimportant; the point is, everyone claims to believe it now.

Meanwhile, Uchiha Shingen was already considering what gift to bring when he went to pay his respects to the Fire Daimyo.

Or how about we learn from what the eldest and second eldest did back then?

It seems that Fire Daimyo has a daughter but is still single.

If Uchiha Itachi gets married, I wonder if he'll shift his interest away from cremation even slightly.

Looking at the people at the banquet who were already slightly tipsy, Uchiha Shingen suddenly felt that this was a good opportunity to take precautions in advance.

He had already told Uchiha Fugaku about the Ōtsutsuki Clan, Hyuga Clan the Kaguya Otsutsuki, they should already know a little about it.

Regardless of whether he becomes Hokage or not, there should be a consensus on this matter among the various ninja clans.

"Gentlemen, I have something very important to tell you all first."

His expression was so serious that it sobered everyone up a bit.

"Hiashi should already know about this from Kaguya," Uchiha Shingen probed first.

Hyuga Hiashi's expression immediately changed.

His expression was more serious than Uchiha Shingen's.

Judging from this reaction, Kaguya must have badmouthed their ancestor to her descendants quite a bit.

"Shingen, you mean the Ōtsutsuki Clan, right?" Hyuga Hiashi asked.

Uchiha Shingen nodded.

Uchiha Fugaku also put down his wine glass.

When Uchiha Shingen mentioned this to him, he was inwardly skeptical.

It wouldn't be accurate to call it arrogance, but rather that Uchiha Fugaku didn't believe any force could shake the current state of Leaf Village.

The current Uchiha Clan could easily wipe out a second-tier ninja village without suffering any fundamental damage.

Most importantly, what Uchiha Shingen said was just speculation. After all, who were the people he cited as examples? They were all ancient figures! Are you kidding me!?

Now that Uchiha Shingen has brought up this topic again in this setting, he is both puzzled and wary.

"The Ōtsutsuki Clan?" Yamanaka Inoichi is in charge of intelligence gathering among the Ino-Shika-Cho. As the head of the Yamanaka Clan, his main office job is to extract brains from people in the Interrogation Department.

But he had never heard of the Ōtsutsuki Clan.

If they dare to call themselves a "clan," they must be operating in an organized manner on the continent. They cannot be completely unknown, at least not in the intelligence database of an organization of Leaf Village's caliber.

"Yes, this clan isn't as famous now, but many of their blood relatives are quite well-known." Uchiha Shingen began to explain to those present, "Take Leaf Village for example, the Senju of the Forest, our Uchiha Clan, the Hyuga Clan, and the Uzumaki Clan are all related. The Taketori Clan in Hidden Mist Village is also one. Of course, the Ōtsutsuki Clan also has a famous figure, whom we now call the Sage of Six Paths."

Of everyone present, except for Uchiha Fugaku, who had already heard it once before, and Hyuga Hiashi, who had been influenced by Kaguya Otsutsuki, none of them reacted.

Mainly...

The Sage of Six Paths and such is just too different in style!

Chapter Fifty: Declaration of Collecting Tailed Beasts

"The Sage of Six Paths?" Nara Shikaku thought that if he wasn't drunk, then Uchiha Shingen was joking with him.

"Yes, Lord Nara Clan, I wasn't joking with you guys." Uchiha Shingen looked at the group of people in front of him, whose expressions all said, "Dude, are you kidding us?"

These people were just unlucky; they happened to run into this major upheaval.

To reiterate, he hadn't watched Boruto, but Boruto wasn't exactly an obscure work, so he at least knew that the Ninja World exhibited two characteristics in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations.

One is that the overall quality of the ninjas has declined. After Sasuke and Naruto brought peace to the Ninja World, Chakra technology exploded once again. The emergence of a large number of Ninjutsu equipment made the ninja profession a competition of equipment. The personal qualities of most practitioners were extremely poor, and even Sasuke and Naruto, who were so powerful during the Fourth Shinobi World War, were now lagging behind.

Another one is that Ōtsutsuki Clan are sold wholesale.

Those Ōtsutsuki Clan for years suddenly reappeared, throwing away the ninjas' millennia-old tactics with the flair of One-Punch Man.

"I'm saying this so everyone can be mentally prepared; the days ahead won't be peaceful," Uchiha Shingen said. "Whether I become Hokage or not, I will find these Ōtsutsuki Clan and kill them one by one. If they don't die, we will all die."

The crowd realized that Uchiha Shingen was telling them his "governing principles".

Killing the Ōtsutsuki Clan will be the top priority during the Fifth Hokage's era.

Although they didn't know exactly what kind of sect the Ōtsutsuki Clan was, since Uchiha Shingen had already made his point clear, they had no reason not to support him.