Take the Uchiha Clan, for example. Its rules set the minimum marriage age at fourteen, while sixteen was generally considered the appropriate age.
By contrast, although the Land of Fire had no explicit law governing marriage age, it recommended that people marry only after turning twenty.
That recommendation took into account the fact that ordinary people lacked the chakra abilities of ninja.
Their bodies often did not fully mature until after twenty.
From the standpoint of protecting people's health, the country naturally encouraged them to wait until then to marry.
That was the difference between what people called the "old system"—the ninja clans' traditional rules—and the "new system"—the country's recommendation.
As head of the Uchiha Clan, Zhengye held absolute authority. Changing the clan's rules would take nothing more than a word from him.
When and how they changed was entirely up to him.
Fugaku said gravely, "We need to do this. We don't know how many Uchiha will die in this disaster."
"Without enough people, the clan could face extinction."
Fugaku's belief that wars came down to numbers had been passed down through the Uchiha Clan for centuries.
The thinking was outdated, but it had some merit.
"All right. Draft the document, and I'll sign it."
As the one steering the clan, Zhengye had to approve any change to its marriage policy.
That was part of his duty as clan head.
Fugaku quickly took out an official clan-head document and began drafting it.
But he kept talking as he wrote. "Zhengye, what are you going to do about the Hashirama Cells Orochimaru mentioned?"
Zhengye lowered his gaze. He could make a fair guess: Danzo had probably taken them to do something underhanded.
But Zhengye wasn't all-knowing. He had no idea what Danzo had actually done with them.
And in a