The group passed through several towns without stopping. Some of the clan members had begun to find it strange, but none dared ask Uchiha Gen directly, so they could only discuss it in private.
Gradually, all sorts of rumors began spreading through the group. The most outrageous claimed they were leaving the country. The moment Uchiha Gen heard about it, he put a stop to them.
"Stop thinking such nonsense. Our destination is Kyoto. To tell you the truth, the Daimyo is about to pass his position on to me."
What? Uchiha Gen was going to become the Daimyo?
Rather than being delighted by the news, the Uchiha were struck by terrified shock.
"You can't, Elder Gen! You absolutely can't!"
"Lord Yuan!"
"Learn from the past, my lord!"
The reason they were so frightened was that becoming the Daimyo was practically a dead end.
Throughout the Shinobi World's history, it was not as though ninja clans had never tried becoming Daimyo, nor had they never attempted to found their own nations. Yet without exception, every one of them had vanished into the river of history.
First, as inheritors of ninjutsu and as ninja themselves, they needed enormous amounts of time to train. Once they began governing a country, that time would naturally be divided up.
Furthermore, once ninja gained power, their desires would also be magnified. Little by little, they would lose themselves in luxury and indulgence. As their strength declined, they would eventually be conquered by other countries.
Second, once a ninja clan became the head of a nation, it would naturally funnel resources toward itself. In that case, the people at the bottom of society would be doomed to live in misery. Without the people's support, decline would only be a matter of time.
The critical dilemma