Chapter 47

"If we don't fight for it, this share will fall into someone else's hands."

Letting others use what should have been yours to grow stronger was something only fools did.

Only then did Tsunade realize it. She stuck out her tongue. "Fine, I'll go right away."

Uzumaki Mito sighed. "You should start learning about the family's affairs too. You can't keep being so careless."

Tsunade chuckled and hurriedly slipped away. "Isn't that what Grandma is here for? I'm off!"

This kind of troublesome matter was better left for Nawaki to learn.

Grandma could teach her little brother how to be the clan head.

All she had to do was keep an eye on that foolish little brother of hers. It would be good for him to grow a brain, so he would stop being so naively stupid all day.

The other ninja clans, such as the Hyuga Clan, Aburame Clan, and Inuzuka Clan, all had plans of their own as well.

Every one of them was drooling over this batch of medicine.

Quite a few had already begun making moves.

The atmosphere in the Hokage's office, however, was far less pleasant.

Utatane Koharu's face turned livid as she slammed a hand onto the desk. "Damn it! When I heard the Uchiha were opening a pharmacy, I didn't take it seriously at all!"

"Who would have thought they could make such a huge splash?"

"The Uchiha have hidden themselves deeply indeed!"

"When did they master such formidable pharmaceutical techniques and formulas?"

Watching her rivals rake in money made her feel worse than losing her own money.

More importantly, they held something valuable in their hands. She wished she could snatch it all away and turn it into cash in her own pocket.

Mitokado Homura, standing to the side, also furrowed his brow. "After Uchiha Chisato recovered from her illness, the Uchiha completely changed."

"Even now, we still haven't figured out where this change came from."

"We only know that it has something to do with Uchiha Chisato. We don't have a single other clue."

Even he found those words humiliating.

The Third Hokage smoked his pipe, his brows knit tightly.

They had once been fairly well-informed about the Uchiha. Now, it was as though they had gone blind; they could not uncover anything at all.

The spies they had previously bribed were beginning to waver as well, making it impossible to tell truth from falsehood in the intelligence they provided.

This was damn **frustrating.

"I know all that better than anyone."

The Third Hokage exhaled a ring of smoke, his voice heavy with worry. "But what can we do about the current situation? Force our way through it?"

No one was more irritated by this than him, the Hokage.

"Hiruzen, we can't delay any longer!"

Danzo spoke, his voice dark enough to drip water.

"How much does that pharmacy make in a day? At this rate, will the Uchiha ever lack money again?"

"If we keep dragging this out, what will we use to suppress them? They'll only grow more arrogant and more powerful!"

"Just shut down the store! In the village's name, force them to hand over the formulas!"

"These are strategic resources. How can they be held by a single clan?"

"As long as you give the word, I'll handle it immediately."

Danzo was far more envious than Utatane Koharu and the others, and his methods were harsher as well.

The moment those words came out, the old men were all startled.

"Danzo! Calm down!"

"We can't act recklessly! If we do this, Konoha will erupt!"

"That's right!"

The Third Hokage's face darkened as he stared at Danzo. "We have neither justification nor legitimacy! The Uchiha will not accept it, and the other ninja clans will not agree either!"

Today, you could find an excuse to force the Uchiha to hand over their formulas. Tomorrow, would you force other clans to hand over their secret techniques?

This precedent could never be set.

Otherwise, the clans behind the few of them would sooner or later be swallowed whole by Konoha's other ninja clans.

Did you think the Hokage was made of iron?

We support you, so you are the Hokage.

If we stop supporting you, you are nothing.

Even the Uchiha could not withstand the entire village coming after them. Did the Sarutobi Clan, Shimura Clan, Utatane Clan, and Mito's clan think they could?

"Then what are we supposed to do? Just watch them get fatter by the day?"

Danzo's anger surged.

He felt that Sarutobi was far too conservative and burdened by too many concerns.

With the strength of their four clans, plus the Anbu and Root, dealing with the Uchiha would be more than easy.

With the formulas as bait, were they afraid they could not win over the other ninja clans?

Instead of spending a fortune every month buying medicine from the Uchiha, they might as well seize the formulas outright.

Unfortunately, the Third Hokage did not entertain his suggestion at all.

"Enough! This path will not work!"

Seeing that Danzo still refused to give up, the Third Hokage made the decision with a stern face. "We'll think of another way!"

Danzo trembled with rage. He glared at the Third Hokage, unable to force out a single word for a long while.

In the end, he simply turned around and sulked with his back to him.

At this point, he had not yet become the dark force of the Ninja World he would later become.

Otherwise, he would have already thrown out a line like, "Sarutobi, you'll regret this someday," before slamming the door and leaving.

Utatane Koharu finally could not hold it in any longer and tried to persuade the Third Hokage. "Hiruzen, Danzo's words are not entirely without merit."

"If the Uchiha's momentum cannot be contained, Konoha will sooner or later fall into chaos."

"We have to think of something. We can't let them keep expanding like this."

"Otherwise, how could we face our teacher's final instructions?"

Those words sounded lofty, but in the end, it all came down to profit.

There was only so much pie to go around in the village.

If the Uchiha took all the money from the medicine market, were people like them supposed to live on air?

Were they really expected to send their own clansmen out to risk life and limb on dangerous missions with almost no chance of survival?

In the past, such dirty and exhausting work had been borne by major clans like the Uchiha and Senju, or by cannon-fodder ninja with no backing.

As Konoha's upper echelon, who among them did not have some clan power behind them? Who would do such thankless work?

The Third Hokage fell silent for a moment before slowly speaking. "Don't worry. An opportunity will come soon."

"Over the past two years, the major ninja villages have all been recovering their strength."

"Hidden Cloud Village, Hidden Rock Village, and Hidden Sand are all growing restless. The voices of their pro-war factions are getting louder and louder."

"No one wants to cling to their current territory and live in hardship."

"A new war is not far away."

"If we want people to bleed without dirtying our own hands, then we can only rely on war."

"Only during war will the authority in our hands be at its greatest."

"Once war begins, we will have a justified reason to send ninja from any clan on any mission."

"Even if a mission goes wrong and people die, what does it matter?"

"We can simply tell the public that they died gloriously for the village."

"These are things we cannot accomplish in peacetime. What do you think?"

To be honest, he hated war from the bottom of his heart.

He had always hoped the Ninja World could remain peaceful, that any problems could be settled by sitting down and talking things through instead of fighting and killing every day.

His teacher's death last time had left too deep a shadow over him.

He truly had been afraid.

He hated war.

He feared that he or his family would lose their lives on the battlefield.

But now, he had figured it out.

He did not need to go to the battlefield himself. He could simply send others.

Weren't the Uchiha strong?

Didn't they want to stand out, earn merit, and seize the position of Hokage?

Fine, he would give them the opportunity.

Go fight for it on the battlefield.

Once you return alive... heh.

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura were stunned by what they heard. Their brows were tightly furrowed, and neither spoke.

Mitokado Homura frowned deeply, his tone filled with unease. "Hiruzen, is there going to be another war?"

The Third Hokage nodded, his voice growing grave. "Judging by the current situation, it's almost certain."

"At the soonest, one or two years. At the latest, three to five. This war cannot be avoided."

"You saw what happened in the Land of Whirlpools. That was actually a sign before the war."

"The radical factions in those villages have set their sights on the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Arts. They also want to capture their people as Jinchuriki, so they can control Tailed Beasts as weapons of war."

"There are many similar incidents. You've handled quite a few yourselves, so you should know full well."

"Don't hold on to any illusions."

When all was said and done, this war was also an opportunity.

At some point, Danzo had turned back around, a cold smile on his face. "Hiruzen, you've finally come to your senses."

"To deal with the Uchiha, we need to be ruthless."

"That's right. War is the best blade."