Uchiha Yuan's Idle Move

"What is your plan?"

Hearing Madara say this, Hashirama Senju was overjoyed, and then he laid out the idea his second brother Tobirama had given him.

"Here is what we can do: we can step by step conquer those small ninja clans first, display our strength, and build massive prestige. Finally, our two clans will fight once more. No matter who wins or loses, the victor will then raise their arms in a rallying cry, gather all the ninja clans together, and establish a new faction. That way, everyone becomes one big family, and peace will naturally arrive."

"...Our two clans will cooperate?"

"No, this is a covert plan. If our two clans work together openly, those small families will inevitably unite to resist. Therefore, this sort of thing can only be done by a single clan."

Madara understood. The so-called single clan meant that his Uchiha would do it, because the reputation of the Senju was far too gentle, making them truly unsuited for aggressive conquest. Still... he somehow felt that something was off.

The two men discussed some further details, and then each went their separate ways.

The moon in the Naruto World was exceptionally bright, because the big boss was sealed inside that moon.

Uchiha Yuan watched in a daze, for a moment feeling a pang of nostalgia for his days back on Earth—even though there was endless work every day, even though he was constantly plagued by various troubles, even though he was always tossing and turning sleeplessly, and even though his salary was only enough to keep him fed and clothed...

"Haru, where is your family?"

"Sir, I am the only one left at home now."

In the open space outside the hospital ward, Uchiha Yuan felt a bit melancholic upon hearing this, because he was in the exact same boat.

"How are those matters I asked you to prepare coming along?"

"Ten clansmen with inferior talent have already been prepared and can be brought over at any time."

"Good, bring them over tomorrow."

Although he currently lacked the strength to lift anything with his shoulders or hands, he did not want to remain idle forever.

Taking advantage of the period while he was recuperating, Uchiha Yuan learned a great deal from the clanswoman who took care of him, Haru.

The proportion of ninjas in the population of the Naruto World was actually very small, and in his past life, he had also looked at the distribution map of Naruto.

Although the area established for Konoha Village was large, the territory it occupied in the Land of Fire was only a tiny fraction.

Ninety percent of the people in the world were ordinary folks. During things like the great ninja village wars from his past-life Naruto, the number of ninjas dispatched rarely exceeded ten thousand, at most amounting to just tens of thousands.

Yet, despite their small numbers, their destructive power was immense. A ninja force of just over a thousand people could destroy a medium-sized country, and those Kage-level powerhouses alone could even annihilate a nation.

"Ninja village skirmishes, heh."

The scene from the anime where Hiruzen Sarutobi asked the Daimyo of the Land of Fire for funding popped into his head, and he couldn't help but laugh.

An ordinary person could control a massive country, while a ninja with Kage-level strength served as a mere village chief.

Uchiha Yuan summoned ten clansmen of inferior talent for no other reason than to have them do things in the Land of Fire under different identities.

Make money!

Make big money!

As everyone knew, the technology tree in Naruto was crooked. During the Warring States period, everyone lived in wooden houses and wore wooden clogs.

Within a dozen years after the founding of Konoha, iron pots appeared, military ration pills were mass-produced, and clothing was replaced with leather.

In the decades after that, utility poles even appeared, televisions and computers actually showed up in ninjas' homes, and the protagonist Naruto could even watch movies when he was in his teens.

Yet apart from all that, another sort of thing seemed to have completely vanished—things like video games, gunpowder firearms, cars, and airplanes were never seen at all.

The only ranged thermal weapon among them was actually used by the Six Paths Avatars of Nagato with the Rinnegan.

Before he knew it, his thoughts had drifted a bit too far. Uchiha Yuan snapped back to reality and had Haru push him back into his room.

At present, his daily routine was a complete mess. The time he stayed awake each day added up to less than six hours, and he fell asleep on and off.

The next day.

Ten spiky-haired men arrived outside the hospital ward and waited. Uchiha Yuan received them after consuming some Chakra.

"I called you here because I want you to work for me."

"Please give us your instructions, Lord Yuan!" *10

"..."

Uchiha Yuan was startled by this uniform aura and couldn't help asking:

"Don't you feel aggrieved? I am basically a cripple right now."

"No! We will never forget everything Lord Yuan has done for the clan!"

"That's right! Without Lord Yuan, there would be no future for us!"

"Lord Yuan has given his all for the Uchiha. Even if this subordinate has to climb a mountain of swords..."

Listening to these clansmen rattle off speeches like fanatical believers, Uchiha Yuan felt a headache coming on. Was he really that great?

"There's no need to swear all sorts of nonsense oaths. I'm not asking you to go die. It's like this..."

Following that, Uchiha Yuan explained the commercial empire he was plotting and painted a picture of their future aspirations—in simple terms, he fed them empty promises.

"What do you think? I'll give you some time to think it over."

"No need to think, Lord Yuan! I can set out right now!"

"Me too!"

"Me too!!"

"Same here!"

"..."

Uchiha Yuan was utterly speechless. No wonder the Uchiha Clan was called a bunch of lunatics; it turned out the signs were already beginning to show back then.

"Every day, I will have Haru notify you to come over. Once you've all finished learning, you can set out."

"Yes!"

What specifically they were going to do by following Uchiha Yuan, these clansmen were unclear on.

Yet as long as it was something Uchiha Yuan said, they would take it to heart and treat it as their mission.

Uchiha Yuan did not know that while this was merely a casual choice he had made in his own eyes, in the eyes of the Uchiha clansmen, his image was elevated infinitely higher.

Madara was indeed correct in saying that Uchiha Yuan's current prestige was no lower than his own; a powerhouse willing to lay down his life for his clansmen was great and deeply yearned for and worshipped.

In the months that followed, Uchiha Yuan first taught them digital bookkeeping and pluralistic lending methods, breaking down the business model and feeding it to them step by step.

In his past life, Uchiha Yuan had never run any major businesses, nor did he have experience as a boss, but the management models and corporate structures of those bosses were no secret.

Though he knew how, he hadn't been able to make a fortune or earn money back on Earth, purely because his opportunities had been stripped away and he was born in the wrong era. But in the current Warring States period, it was entirely different—there were boundless opportunities.

Uchiha Yuan did not hide anything from Haru while lecturing. This clanswoman older than him by seven or eight years had at least taken care of him for so long, and she was certainly worth cultivating.

"Haru, how many factions do we have within our clan?"

"What factions?"

"Um... cliques. For instance, just like how my eldest brother Madara makes a decision and my second brother will definitely support it, are there any groups like that?"

"Well... I suppose so, Lord Yuan. I'm not too sure. After all, my strength isn't enough to get me into the clan's high-level meetings."

"Alright."

Uchiha Yuan did not make things difficult for her. Time reveals a person's heart; if Haru was truly loyal to him, it wouldn't be too late to take her under his wing then.

Time trickled away, and a year passed peacefully just like that. Uchiha Yuan completely adapted to life in the Warring States period. As his body gradually recovered, the muscles beneath his skin began to grow back, and he stopped having nightmares.

At the same time, those ten clansmen he had taken under his wing had already scattered outward. Just how much success and reward they could achieve, and how many of them would ultimately survive, depended entirely on their individual luck.