Chapter 33

"I found a record in an old clan book—over a thousand years ago, the Uchiha, Senju, and Uzumaki Clan may very well have descended from the same ancestor."

"That person was the Sage of Six Paths."

The moment she said that, Uzumaki Mito and Tsunade both froze. "What? Are you sure?"

The Senju and Uchiha had fought for over a thousand years, and she was saying their ancestors were the same person?

And she was even bringing up the Sage of Six Paths?

Didn't that sound like some kind of myth?

"More or less." Uchiha Chisato nodded and turned her gaze toward Tsunade. "Have you studied the blood cells of the Uchiha and Senju?"

Tsunade immediately waved a hand. "I'm not interested in that stuff. You've got the wrong person."

"That's Orochimaru's field."

"But I think I understand what you mean—the bloodlines of the two clans have a lot of similarities and complement each other, right?"

"That really could prove whether they share the same ancestor."

"I'm starting to believe you."

"But if they came from the same bloodline, how did they become mortal enemies for a thousand years?"

It made no sense. What had happened in between?

"Who knows?" Uchiha Chisato had heard more than enough from Xunjing and understood perfectly well—it was nothing more than the grudges between the Sage of Six Paths' two sons, Asura and Indra.

Put plainly, it wasn't worth mentioning.

"Even now, blood brothers can turn against each other."

"A thousand years is plenty of time for anything to happen."

Uchiha Chisato brushed the matter aside vaguely.

"That's true." Tsunade nodded in agreement.

Uzumaki Mito pulled the topic back. "Then what does that have to do with the intermarriage between the three clans you mentioned?"

Uchiha Chisato continued, "The legend I read said that the Senju and Uzumaki Clan inherited the Sage of Six Paths' Sage Body, while the Uchiha inherited his Sage Eye."

"Although after a thousand years, their bloodlines have weakened and their abilities have degenerated."

"If the three clans intermarry, and their descendants inherit all our talents at once, just how powerful would they be?"

"Maybe we could really produce a monster."

"It would benefit all three clans. Why not?"

Uchiha Chisato made it sound wonderful, but she had another plan in mind.

Using Xunjing's Space-Time Gate contract as the link, she would first make the intermarriages happen. Sooner or later, everyone in the three clans would become Xunjing's contractors.

That would be far easier than becoming Hokage and slowly infiltrating them afterward.

Even if the three clans still kept their names, everything underneath would have changed.

"You say that combining the three clans could produce stronger children. Do you have any basis for that?"

Uzumaki Mito stared at her sharply.

She could sense that Uchiha Chisato was hiding deeper motives.

But she had no intention of digging to the bottom of it.

Even if she asked, the other woman would not tell her.

Still, as long as the reason Uchiha Chisato presented was sound, Uzumaki Mito was willing to give it a try.

After all, this truly was a win-win-win situation.

"Of course I do."

Uchiha Chisato nodded and pointed at herself.

"I figured it out from my own recovery this time, combined with that legend."

"I didn't believe it before, so I never took it seriously."

"But this time, Xunjing healed my body, raising both my Life Origin and vitality to another level."

"Under the nourishment of that enhanced vitality, my damaged left eye has begun to recover slowly."

"Even without the eye drops Xunjing prepared, it has been effective."

"More incredibly, even my blind right eye is showing signs of reviving."

"This proves just how beneficial a stronger constitution is to the Sharingan."

"If someone possessed both the Sharingan and a Sage Body."

"Opening their eyes would be easy, and even the Mangekyo Sharingan would not be difficult."

"Moreover, if their constitution was strong enough and their vitality abundant enough, even if they overused the Mangekyo Sharingan, they could recover on their own."

"So I want to try the path of intermarriage between the three clans. What do you think?"

Not everything Uchiha Chisato said was false.

But there was another thought she had not voiced.

She wanted to use intermarriage to test a possibility—whether it was possible to awaken the Eternal Eye without devouring the eyes of one's relatives.

If it worked, the Uchiha's future would no longer be a road paved in blood.

It would also prevent people from reaching for the eyes of their own kin for the sake of the Eternal Eye.

The Uchiha Clan's vile habit of killing one another should end here.

If bloodline fusion could allow one of their descendants to awaken the Rinnegan, that would be the true greatest gain.

But Uchiha Chisato also knew it would not be so simple.

Madara Uchiha had awakened the Rinnegan because he was Indra's reincarnation and had Hashirama Senju's cells. Neither factor could be missing.

An ordinary Eternal Eye paired with a Sage Body might not be able to replicate that process.

Even Xunjing could not say for certain whether awakening the Rinnegan required the Chakra of those two ancestors.

"If that's what you're saying..."

After thinking for a moment, Uzumaki Mito nodded. "It's not impossible."

"But there's something we need to make clear first—if a Senju or Uzumaki Clan woman marries into the Uchiha and gives birth to a child who awakens the Sharingan, what then?"

"We can't exactly send the child back to the Uchiha and have them take the Uchiha name, can we?"

"And it works the other way too. If someone in the Uchiha awakens a Sage Body or Adamantine Sealing Chains, we can't send them back to the Senju or Uzumaki Clan either."

"If we don't establish rules for this, there'll be endless trouble later."

Once bloodlines mixed, the Sharingan would no longer belong exclusively to the Uchiha. Abilities such as the Sage Body, Adamantine Sealing Chains, and Mind's Eye of the Kagura would also spread beyond the Senju and Uzumaki Clan.

When inheritance was involved, no one could afford to be careless.

"Whichever clan a child is born into, that is the clan they belong to."

Uchiha Chisato answered decisively. "I believe the relationship between the three clans will grow closer and closer because of this. The hatred and barriers of the past will eventually be worn away. What do you think?"

By then, these people would be nothing more than labor for her son.

"Fine. Then it's settled."

Uzumaki Mito knew Uchiha Chisato definitely had other schemes, but no matter what, neither the Senju nor the Uzumaki Clan would lose out.

Besides, saving the Uzumaki Clan truly required the Uchiha's strength.

In the end, she nodded.

"This intermarriage can't be forced."

Uzumaki Mito added, "The three clans can hold matchmaking events regularly and let the young people choose each other."

"As long as the numbers marrying out and marrying in are roughly equal, that will be enough. What do you think?"

"No problem."

Naturally, Uchiha Chisato had no objection.

Her only concern was that too many Uchiha women would marry out.

After all, everyone knew the Uchiha Clan produced handsome men and beautiful women.

"Set the time for the rescue and notify me in advance. When the time comes, I'll send people to act alongside you."

Uchiha Chisato gave her promise.

"Good."

Uzumaki Mito finally let out a sigh of relief.

With the matter settled, the heavy stone in her heart finally fell away.

With the Uchiha Clan's support, combined with the strength of the Senju and Uzumaki Clan themselves, even if the Four Great Shinobi Villages joined forces for a sneak attack, they could completely hold them off and safely escort the Uzumaki Clan to settle in Konoha.

After all, those four villages could not possibly send large forces into the Land of Whirlpools. At most, they could dispatch some elites for a small surprise attack.

After that, Uzumaki Mito and Uchiha Chisato continued chatting about trivial matters.

Tsunade, meanwhile, pulled Xunjing aside and resumed exchanging medical insights with him.

At noon, Uzumaki Mito kept them for a meal before they finally said their goodbyes.

As soon as Uchiha Chisato and the others left, the Third Generation immediately received word. Hiruzen Sarutobi hurried to Uzumaki Mito's home.

As for Danzo and the others?

They did not dare show their faces at all.

They were afraid of getting beaten up.

The moment he entered, Hiruzen Sarutobi noticed that Uzumaki Mito's aura, which had been steadily weakening, had actually grown more than twice as strong.

At this rate, she could live at least several more years.

Although he felt somewhat displeased and sensed that something was wrong, the Third Generation still put on a respectful and curious expression as he asked:

"Lady Mito, how did the discussion go? The Uchiha won't cause any trouble, will they?"

"Also, your vitality seems to have recovered considerably. Did Uchiha Chisato help you?"

"That's right."