Butterfly Stirs

"Uzumaki Shibaki, come in. Everyone else, go move the ingredients from the forest outside."

Uchiha Gen had not slept for a week. His eyes were bloodshot from exhaustion, yet he was exhilarated, his enthusiasm undiminished, because he had successfully broken down Yuki's genetic profile.

But one clan's Kekkei Genkai was too little data. Science was most wary of luck, so Uchiha Gen needed another set of data. Thus, he chose Uzumaki Shibaki.

The shinobi clans of the other three were nowhere near as famous as the Uzumaki, and among their Kekkei Genkai, the Uzumaki's was the most unique.

The Uzumaki constitution was famous throughout the Shinobi World. The most obvious trait was their lifespan, generally twice that of other shinobi clans. It was said that one of their elders, Uzumaki Shoyan, was nearly fifty and still brimming with energy every day.

The others maintained an attitude of staying out of trouble. Upon hearing the order, they did not even glance at Uzumaki Shibaki before turning and leaving.

"I... I..."

"What are you stammering for? Stop dragging your feet and get in here!"

It was impossible for Uzumaki Shibaki not to panic. He had just said he wanted to run away, and now he was immediately being called inside. He had heard that the Uchiha's Kekkei Genkai was the Sharingan. Looking at Uchiha Gen's crazed-scientist expression, he figured he would not be leaving the laboratory alive today.

Uchiha Gen had no idea what this Big Fool Shibaki was thinking. His eyes were only red because they were full of blood vessels.

"Quick! Go lie down on the table!"

Uchiha Gen licked his dry lips. His stomach was flat, and he calculated that after finishing with this Uzumaki bloodline, it would be time for him to eat as well.

He turned and watched Uzumaki Shibaki limp his way onto the table, feeling somewhat puzzled. How did someone so young already have bad knees from the cold?

Uchiha Gen was about to speak, but his throat felt uncomfortable too, so he poured himself a glass of nutrient solution and made do with that.

"Close your eyes. I'm going to anesthetize you. When you wake up, leave on your own."

Uzumaki Shibaki was filled with grief and indignation. Whether I can even open my eyes again after this sleep is another question. He wanted to use Chakra for one last desperate struggle, but it felt as though chains had wrapped around his body. He could not move at all. He knew this was not Sealing Arts; his meridians had simply been blocked.

As the anesthetic was injected, Uzumaki Shibaki's eyes grew heavy, and he slowly lost consciousness.

"Uzumaki... I wonder whether this constitution has anything to do with Big Hashirama's Sage Body."

At the thought of Big Hashirama's absurd amount of Chakra, Uchiha Gen had been jealous for ages. That was a Chakra reserve comparable to the Tailed Beasts!

Senju Clan Grounds.

Hashirama had no idea someone was coveting his body. Right now, he was troubled by something else.

Recently, he had clearly noticed that the shinobi clans of the Land of Fire had been visiting the Senju more often. Although he only went through the motions each time and did not know what was happening, he occasionally caught his younger brother Tobirama smiling in a way that seemed deeply ill-intentioned.

Hashirama remembered that smile clearly. Tobirama had only worn it the last time the Uchiha had their home raided.

"I wonder what the Uchiha did this time..."

Hashirama was not particularly good at plots and schemes. After thinking for a long time, he still had no clue.

The Uchiha's power had grown astonishingly vast. If the Senju faced them head-on, they would not be a match. Numbers alone would be enough for the Uchiha to crush them.

And Hashirama did not want to create even more hatred, so he was deeply conflicted. He was so troubled that he barely ate.

As the person closest to him in bed, as well as an Uzumaki princess, Uzumaki Mito's political instincts were not weak. Seeing that Hashirama was clearly preoccupied, she immediately asked him about it.

"What's wrong, Hashirama? You don't look well."

"...It's nothing."

"If you keep your worries bottled up, they'll turn into an illness. You'll feel better if you say them aloud, and I can offer you some advice."

Hashirama hesitated. Mito was his wife; keeping something like this from her really was not right.

"I feel like Tobirama is planning something big, and the target is very likely the Uchiha. But I don't want to go to war with the Uchiha right now, because..."

Hashirama scratched his head. He could not bring himself to mention his plan with Madara, so he trailed off at the right moment.

"The Uchiha..."

Uzumaki Mito considered it, recalling how the Uchiha had ruined the Uzumaki clan's first marriage alliance. They had even lost a clansman then—the nominal first wife of Hashirama.

"The Uchiha's current foundations are indeed not something the Senju can shake. Even if I persuade the Uzumaki to provide support, it would be useless. Unless several nearby mid-sized shinobi clans joined in as well. Then we might be able to contend with them."

Several nearby clans...?

The moment Hashirama heard that, it all clicked!

"But what would be the reason? Without a reason for war, I can't possibly agree to Tobirama's plan. Yet from the way he looks, he clearly has victory in the bag."

"Hmm... Hashirama, I seem to have heard that Uchiha Madara met with the Daimyo?"

Uchiha Madara had indeed met with the Daimyo, but the talks had fallen apart, and they parted on bad terms.

The current Daimyo of the Land of Fire had actually wanted the Uchiha to become the nation's shinobi. In practical terms, that meant taking on the identity of the Land of Fire, obeying the Daimyo directly, and leaving the circle of shinobi clans.

At first glance, that did not seem too bad. They would immediately gain official status, becoming entirely different from those noble-employed shinobi and clearly rising above them. But the moment Uchiha Madara heard it, he shook his head and rejected it.

What kind of joke is this?!

A mere ordinary person wants to ride over my head, Uchiha Madara's?! Madara was so furious that he nearly crushed the Daimyo to death on the spot. But reason prevailed. He merely gave him a cold look and mocked the Daimyo for a while.

What Madara did not know was that the aura he had inadvertently revealed—the murderous pressure forged on the battlefield—had already scared the Daimyo senseless.

Madara went that day and returned the next. The details of the meeting did not spread either. If the matter became public, it would not benefit Uchiha Madara or the Daimyo in the slightest.

However... Madara did not know just how closely every move the Uchiha made was being watched. This meeting alone became the fuse, and an invisible storm centered on the Uchiha was slowly brewing.

"Hmm... This guy looks like he's missing a few screws, but who knew he had an extra one instead?"

Uchiha Gen looked at Uzumaki Shibaki, who was lying on the table snoring, his expression hard to describe. A physical examination was standard procedure, after all. External factors could not be underestimated when it came to experimental data. Yet during the examination, he discovered that this seemingly foolish, carefree fellow had a small magnetic field inside his body.

In shinobi terms, he had awakened the Mind's Eye of the Kagura, and judging by the signs, it seemed he had only just awakened it.

"Could it be that the Uzumaki clan was born with protagonist destiny?"

Among the Uzumaki who appeared in Naruto, aside from those nameless extras from the destroyed nation with no records, every one who showed up later—Jinchūriki Mito, Kushina, Naruto, Nagato, Karin, and the rest—was an immensely important figure.

Especially Uzumaki Karin. She had actually lived all the way into Boruto. Still, Uchiha Gen did not watch Boruto; even old ladies arguing in the street were more exciting than Boruto.

"Being born into the right family really is a skill~ But well, I'm not too bad myself."