I Have a Bunch of Relatives Who Want to Be Hokage Chapter 9

It was a fact that the Hokage Building had been suppressing the Uchiha Clan.

But it was also true that the Uchiha often stood only on the side of their clan's interests. Even when they contributed to the village, they were never subtle about demanding that their efforts be rewarded.

By law, the Hokage was the Police Force's direct superior, yet he had been publicly embarrassed by them more than once.

What leader would like a subordinate department like that?

"Equal footing..." Namikaze Minato felt that he could accept this answer.

It probably would not work with the older generation, though.

It was not that the Third Hokage would disagree with that reasoning. Rather, there was not even the most basic trust among those elders.

They did not dare to trust, nor would they trust.

Just thinking about such a deep divide existing between companions in the same village gave Namikaze Minato a headache.

"Absolute fairness certainly does not exist. The village is large, and many people need to be considered, especially when most people are contributing." Namikaze Minato tried to express his thoughts—or rather, the Hokage Building's thoughts—in a more tactful manner. "This is no longer a question of who is right or wrong. It is a matter of choices and compromises."

"That is only natural." Uchiha Shingen nodded. "In truth, it is a matter of trust."

After carefully organizing his thoughts, he said sincerely to Namikaze Minato, "Lord Hokage, clan-first thinking went out of fashion long ago. We all live in the same village; we see one another every day. Perhaps the older generation thinks differently from us, but as long as everyone is willing to put aside their prejudices, there is nothing that cannot be discussed."

In fact, judging from the Hokage Building's measures over the years, they had not greatly affected the Uchiha Clan's strength or development.

The healthy development of a ninja clan depended on population, ninjutsu, and financial resources. The Hokage Building had only restricted the Uchiha's authority, but the authority of the Police Force alone was enough to support the Uchiha Clan's normal development.

Therefore, in Uchiha Shingen's view, it was not very realistic to say that the Hokage Building regarded the Uchiha as enemies.

They still merely viewed the Uchiha as a subordinate department with overly heavy self-interest, an unstable factor within the village. Fundamentally, the Uchiha were not all that different from the other ninja clans in the eyes of the Hokage Building.

In truth, none of Leaf Village's ninja clans had entered its decision-making circle. Only the Nara Clan, because they were generally sharp-minded, stood a little closer to it.

Even though Sarutobi Hiruzen had been in office for decades, the benefits the Sarutobi Clan could obtain were limited to economic matters.

But every ninja clan in Leaf Village that had survived to the present had its own ways of making money. None of them lacked funds.

"Trust... I think I understand what you mean now." Namikaze Minato believed Uchiha Shingen was telling the truth. To be honest, he could not sense the pride that the Uchiha Clan generally possessed from Uchiha Shingen.

Or rather, Uchiha Shingen's pride had already transcended the limits of the Uchiha Clan.

I am impressive because I am impressive, not because my clan is impressive.

Though Uchiha Shingen had not said so, Namikaze Minato believed that was exactly what he thought.

"But in that case, you will not have it easy either." Thinking of what might happen next, Namikaze Minato could not help laughing.

Uchiha Shingen looked completely baffled.

"Shingen, I am very much looking forward to what you do from now on." Namikaze Minato picked up his teacup again and took a drink. "All right, I will not keep you from going home. Give my regards to your parents."

"Yes, Lord Hokage."

Although he had no idea what the Hokage before him was hiding and refusing to say, Uchiha Shingen had wanted to leave for a while.

He promptly got to his feet and left.

The first thing he did after leaving was rush to the mission hall to collect his mission payment.

There was a small incident: the young woman responsible for verifying and issuing mission payments was utterly stunned by Uchiha Shingen's money-counting technique, which was a hundred times better than hers.

After all, Uchiha Shingen was a highly capable jonin. His hands were exceptionally deft, and he also had the Sharingan. His efficiency at counting money was first-rate.

By the time he walked out of the Hokage Building, Uchiha Shingen had already planned exactly how to spend this income of more than seven hundred thousand ryo.

A ninja clan being wealthy did not mean every individual within it was financially comfortable. The higher a ninja's rank, the greater the cost of training. Though Uchiha Shingen trained diligently, he was not some ascetic. He spent money like water.

He was the very definition of living paycheck to paycheck.

Though he was taking missions now, his various sources of income from the Police Force had been cut off since he had temporarily left it.

When he did the math, while his overall income had increased, his expenses were still tight, because his Yang Release had reached a rather crucial stage.

There was no helping it. He could only endure for now. Until his Yang Release broke through, he would stop drinking tea.

Most importantly, he had to find a way to get an S-rank mission. The upper limit for A-rank missions was one million ryo, while S-rank missions started at over one million, with no upper limit.

Setting aside being hired by a nation to participate in war, S-rank missions mainly involved assassinating important figures from other countries and escorting classified documents. Under normal circumstances, due to the less-than-harmonious relationship between the Hokage Building and the Uchiha Clan, it was genuinely rather difficult for Uchiha ninja to receive S-rank missions.

But Namikaze Minato had demonstrated the magnanimity expected of a Hokage, so Uchiha Shingen felt he could look forward to it.

Just as he had told Shisui, he truly believed in Lord Hokage.

If he failed to get one, he might suffer emotional trauma from it and lose his trust in people from then on. Lord Hokage was the village's guardian deity; surely he would not let a companion suffer such serious psychological trauma.

After returning to the clan compound, before he even had time to go home and put away his money, Uchiha Shingen was stopped by Uchiha Tekka, who had come running over after hearing the news.

"Brother Shingen, you're finally back!" the guy shouted. "The clan head wants to see you. He said to go immediately."

Uchiha Shingen had no chance to slip away. With Tekka shouting so loudly, everyone knew he had returned from the Hokage Building.

"I know, I know."

With no other choice, Uchiha Shingen could only follow the overly excited fellow toward Uchiha Fugaku's home first.

Uchiha Fugaku's home was unquestionably the most luxurious mansion in the Uchiha clan compound.

Though it was not Uchiha Shingen's first time entering the residence, he still felt the crushing weight of its extravagance.

No one could envy that—not because Uchiha Fugaku had become clan head, but because his branch of the family excelled at business. Even before he became clan head, they had been known as one of the clan's wealthiest households.

Since he was never short on money, after becoming clan head, Uchiha Fugaku used all the dividends the clan gave him to provide subsidies for clan members struggling to afford cultivation resources.

Uchiha Shingen received that subsidy every month.

So despite Uchiha Fugaku being a massive stoic, Uchiha Shingen had always thought this clan head was insanely cool.

When he met Uchiha Fugaku, the clan head was practicing calligraphy.

Upon seeing Uchiha Shingen, he asked a question first.

"Shingen, if you were to spar with Shisui, what do you think your chances of winning would be?"

Public Match

"Shisui?" Uchiha Shingen did not quite understand the absurdly cool clan head's question. "Why would I fight one of our own?"

"Shingen, you have always been very cautious." Uchiha Fugaku raised the intensity of his stoic expression by another level, making it clear that he was dissatisfied with that answer. "Even after coming home, are you still unwilling to tell the truth?"

Hm? Home? Was he going to give him a house?

Could he cash it out instead?

But judging by Uchiha Fugaku's expression, this did not seem like a good time for jokes.

"Clan Head, when two Uchiha fight, there's no such thing as winning or losing, right?"

Mangekyo Sharingan ocular techniques were a little too unfair. He had no idea whether he could withstand them. What if Shisui could not accept losing and hit him with Kotoamatsukami, making him think he had reached his third playthrough and entered some hentai world...

Then there would be no point in being human anymore. He might as well start the third playthrough directly.

But if Mangekyo Sharingan techniques were not used...

Wouldn't that just be a waste of time?

The entire shinobi world was fighting over contracts, and they wanted him to waste time?

"Winning and losing are not the objective. Everyone simply wants to see the difference between the two of you." Uchiha Fugaku set down his brush and wiped his hands clean.

Uchiha Shingen glanced at the calligraphy and felt that... it still needed work.

"Come sit down." Uchiha Fugaku opened a side door, revealing a tea room inside.

The tea had already been prepared. A woman was tidying up beside the tea table, and when the door opened, she rose to her feet as well.

"Thanks for your help, Mikoto." The massive stoic became slightly less stoic.

"It's nothing. I happened to be free anyway. You two talk; I'm heading out." Uchiha Mikoto looked quite happy, probably off to meet up with her close friends.

"Mm." Uchiha Fugaku nodded, then asked, "Where's Itachi? He should be training at this hour."

"Shisui took him out to play."

"Oh."

What kind of father was this? His kid skipped his homework to go out and play, yet he was not going to break his legs?

Uchiha Shingen thought maliciously.

It was not that he had any opinion of Uchiha Itachi. He simply felt that the reason this guy would do that eight years later was purely because he had not been beaten enough as a child.

Once Uchiha got arrogant, they started thinking everyone else was drunk while they alone were sober. That was an illness. It needed treatment.

"Sit." Uchiha Fugaku gestured for him to join him, then plopped down first and took a sip of tea.

Uchiha Shingen sat down and took a taste first.

That was it—the exact same flavor. This was the tea Namikaze Minato had just brewed.

"How is your Yang Release training going?" Uchiha Fugaku suddenly asked.

"Pretty well."

"Ice Release cannot compare to the Sharingan. If you had followed the clan's traditions, perhaps you would have eyes like Shisui's by now."

"That would be pretty awkward too." Uchiha Shingen refilled his cup, feeling as though he would not need lunch anymore. "Use them too much and you go blind."

"Then replace them with new eyes." Uchiha Fugaku did not think much of it. "The Sharingan is the foundation of our clan. There is a reason why Sharingan are left behind after clan members die."

"I only like my own eyes." Uchiha Shingen felt they had gone off-topic.

Hadn't they just been talking about Yang Release?

"It does not matter. Whether your choice was correct should have an outcome by now. You have had four more years than Shisui, and everyone believes that is fair."

"Fine, then. I'll follow the arrangements."

"Mm. But if you lose, the clan will no longer be able to support your Yang Release training. Your monthly subsidy will be brought in line with everyone else's. I should tell you that beforehand."

"Oh."

Uchiha Shingen had no objections to that. After all, the clan had so many people. If he received an extra share, someone else might receive less. That had been fine before, but now that he was already a jonin, it was reasonable to cancel his additional share.

In that regard, the Uchiha had done quite well. They had not turned it into a system where the strong received more subsidies and the weak received less.

Overall, the clan's leadership was not lacking in character. They were still fairly public-minded.

They only showed their inhuman side to the Hokage Building.

After chatting casually for a few more minutes, Uchiha Shingen saw that Uchiha Fugaku truly had nothing else to discuss with him, so he said goodbye and went home.

After returning home, he saw his parents, went back to his room to put away the mission payment he had collected, and then spent most of the day helping with household chores.

A few more days passed, and Uchiha Shingen still did not receive a new mission. The clan was probably arranging the timing for his spar with Shisui, since they had informed him that the match would be held publicly.

Using this method to determine whether they should continue supporting his Yang Release training was fairly impartial.

It was just that losing would be a little embarrassing, considering he was older than Shisui.

Anyone who said the Uchiha did not care about age and only cared about strength was talking nonsense. That was merely a way of shaping their image, making outsiders think the Uchiha had a wolf-pack culture and were highly capable professionals.

After all, they were an old shinobi clan. Those who knew, knew.

After waiting roughly seven or eight days, Uchiha Shingen felt no pressure at all. He ate when he should eat, trained when he should train, and then spotted Uchiha Shisui on his way back.

He looked travel-worn, clearly having just returned.

"Brother Shingen." Uchiha Shisui's eyes gleamed brightly. "The moment I got back, they told me about it."

"Yeah, they told me the moment I got back too." Uchiha Shingen sighed emotionally. "They dragged me over and lectured me before I'd even had the chance to put away the money."

"Brother Shingen, you always talk about money."

"You have to be practical."

"Then, Brother Shingen, please give me plenty of guidance tomorrow. I've wanted to witness your skills for a long time!"

"I can tell..."

Seeing how fired up the kid was, Uchiha Shingen patted him on the shoulder. "We're clan brothers. No need to be polite."

"Okay! I definitely won't be polite to you!"

"That sounds like an insult... Forget it. As long as you're happy."

After sending off the enthusiastic Mangekyo Sharingan youth, Uchiha Shingen continued on his way home.