Uchiha Gen's Idle Move

"What did you have in mind?"

Hearing Madara say that, Hashirama Senju was overjoyed and immediately laid out the plan his second brother, Tobirama, had suggested.

"Like this: first, we'll gradually beat the smaller ninja clans into submission, demonstrate our strength, and build immense prestige. Then our two clans will fight. No matter who wins or loses, the victor can raise their arms and rally all the ninja clans together to establish a new force. Once everyone becomes one of our own, peace will naturally arrive."

"...Our two clans working together?"

"No, this is a plan carried out in secret. If our two clans openly work together, those smaller families will certainly unite against us. So this can only be done by one clan."

Madara understood. The so-called one clan meant the Uchiha Clan would do it, because the Senju Clan's reputation was far too gentle. They truly were not suited to taking the initiative in conquest. But... something about it still felt strange.

The two discussed a few more details before going their separate ways.

The moon in the Naruto World was especially bright, because a big boss was sealed inside it.

Uchiha Gen stared at it absently, suddenly missing his days back on Earth. Though he had endless work every day, though all sorts of troubles constantly clung to him, though he often lay awake at night, though his salary barely covered food and shelter...

"Haru, what about your family?"

"My lord, I'm the only one left in my family now."

In the open space outside the hospital room, Uchiha Gen felt a little sad upon hearing that, because he was the same.

"How is the matter I told you to prepare earlier?"

"Ten clan members with poor talent have been selected. They can be brought over at any time."

"Mm. Bring them tomorrow."

Though he could not lift with his shoulders or carry with his hands, he did not want to remain idle forever.

During this period of recuperation, Uchiha Gen learned many things from Haru, the clan member who cared for him at his side.

The proportion of ninjas in the Naruto World was actually very small. In his previous life, he had also seen the geographical layout of Naruto.

Although Konoha was built over a large area, it occupied only a tiny fraction of the Land of Fire's territory.

Ninety percent of the world's population consisted of ordinary people. Even in wars between ninja villages like those in the Naruto of his previous life, the number of deployed ninjas rarely exceeded ten thousand, with a few tens of thousands at most.

But while their numbers were small, their destructive power was immense. A ninja force of over a thousand people could destroy a medium-sized country, and those Kage Level experts could even annihilate a nation alone.

"Ninja village brawls, huh."

Thinking of the scene in the anime where Hiruzen Sarutobi asked the Land of Fire's Daimyo for funding, he could not help but laugh.

An ordinary person could control a vast nation, while a ninja with Kage Level strength was merely a village chief.

Uchiha Gen had gathered ten clan members with inferior talent for no other reason than to have them do certain things in the Land of Fire under other identities.

Make money!

Make a fortune!

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

Within a little over a decade after Konoha was established, iron pots appeared, soldier pills were mass-produced, and even clothes had changed to leather.

A few decades later, there were even utility poles. Televisions and computers appeared in ninja homes, and Naruto could still watch movies when he was in his teens.

Yet aside from those things, other inventions seemed to have vanished without a trace. Video games, gunpowder firearms, cars, and airplanes were nowhere to be seen.

The only thermal weapon he had seen was used by Nagato's Six Paths Avatars through the Rinnegan.

Without realizing it, his thoughts had wandered too far. Uchiha Gen came back to himself and had Haru push him back into the room.

His routine was currently a mess. He was awake for less than six hours a day and became sleepy every so often.

The next day.

Ten hedgehog-haired youths arrived outside the hospital room and waited. After Uchiha Gen finished consuming Chakra, he received them.

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

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

"..."

Uchiha Gen was startled by their perfectly synchronized response and could not help asking:

"Don't you feel stifled? I'm a cripple now."

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

"That's right! Without Lord Yuan, we would have no future!"

"Lord Yuan has devoted himself heart and soul to the Uchiha Clan. Even if I had to climb a mountain of blades..."

Listening to these clan members speak one after another like fanatics, Uchiha Gen had a headache. Was he really that great?

"No need to swear all kinds of ridiculous oaths. I'm not asking you to die. Here's the thing..."

Uchiha Gen then explained the commercial empire he had planned, describing his hopes for the future. Put simply, he was selling them a dream.

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

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

"Me too!"

"Me too!!"

"Same here!"

"..."

Uchiha Gen was speechless. No wonder the Uchiha Clan was called insane. The signs had already begun to show.

"Every day, I'll have Haru notify you to come here. Once you've all learned everything, you can set out."

"Yes!"

The clan members did not know exactly what they would be doing with Uchiha Gen.

But as long as Uchiha Gen said it, they would take it to heart and treat it as their mission.

Uchiha Gen did not know that, while he saw it as nothing more than a casual choice, his image in the eyes of the Uchiha Clan had been elevated without limit.

Madara had been right to say Uchiha Gen's prestige was no less than his own. A strong man willing to give up his life for his clansmen was great, someone people longed for and worshipped.

Over the next few months, Uchiha Gen first taught them numerical bookkeeping and diversified lending methods. He broke down the business model and fed it to them step by step.

In his previous life, Uchiha Gen had never run a major business or been a boss, but the management methods and corporate structures used by bosses were no secret.

Though he knew them, he could not get rich or make money on Earth. It was simply that every opportunity had been stripped away from him. He had been born in the wrong era. But this Warring States era was different; there were opportunities everywhere.

Uchiha Gen did not hide what he taught from Haru. This clan sister, seven or eight years older than him, had cared for him for so long. Besides, she might be worth cultivating.

"Haru, how many forces are there within our clan?"

"What forces?"

"Mm... factions. For example, if my eldest brother Madara makes a decision, my second brother will definitely support it. Are there groups like that?"

"Um... I think so, Lord Yuan, but I'm not sure. My strength isn't enough for me to enter the clan's high-level meetings."

"Alright."

Uchiha Gen did not make things difficult for her. Time revealed a person's heart. If Haru proved truly loyal to him, it would not be too late to bring her under his command.

Time passed in a blur. A year went by peacefully. Uchiha Gen fully adapted to life in the Warring States period. As his body slowly recovered, muscles began growing beneath his skin, and the nightmares no longer came.

At the same time, the ten clan members he had taken in had already spread out. How much they would accomplish, what they would gain, and how many of them would survive in the end would depend on their individual luck.