Butterfly Stirs

"Uzumaki Shibaki, come in. Everyone else, go to the forest outside and carry the ingredients over."

Uchiha Yuan 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 Bloodline Limit data was too little. Science was most wary of chance, so Uchiha Yuan needed another set of data. He chose Uzumaki Shibaki.

The other three ninja clans were nowhere near as renowned as the Uzumaki, and among them, the Uzumaki Bloodline Limit was the most unique.

The Uzumaki constitution was famous throughout the Shinobi World. The most obvious trait was their lifespan, which was generally twice that of other ninja 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 it. Upon hearing the order, they did not even glance at Uzumaki Shibaki before turning and leaving.

"I... I..."

"What do you mean, 'I'? What are you dawdling for? Get in here!"

It was impossible for Uzumaki Shibaki not to be nervous. He had just been talking about running away, and now he was immediately being called inside. Besides, he had heard that the Uchiha Bloodline Limit was the Sharingan. Looking at Uchiha Yuan's mad scientist expression, he figured he would not be walking out of this laboratory today.

Uchiha Yuan had no idea about the little schemes in Big Fool Shibaki's mind. His eyes were red only because they were full of blood vessels.

"Quick! Go lie down on the table."

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

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

Just as Uchiha Yuan was about to speak, he felt some discomfort in his throat as well, so he poured himself a cup of nutrient solution and made do with that.

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

Uzumaki Shibaki was filled with grief and indignation. Whether I'll even be able to open my eyes again after this sleep is another matter. He wanted to make one last desperate struggle with Chakra, 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 were simply blocked.

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

"The Uzumaki... I wonder whether this constitution is related to Big Hashirama's Sage Body."

At the thought of Big Hashirama's monstrous Chakra reserves, Uchiha Yuan had been envious for ages. That was a Chakra quantity 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 ninja clans of the Land of Fire had been interacting with the Senju more frequently. Though he merely went through the motions every time and did not know what was happening, the occasional smile on his younger brother Tobirama's face seemed particularly ill-intentioned.

Hashirama remembered clearly that he had only seen that smile once before—when the Uchiha had been raided.

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

Hashirama was not good at scheming. After thinking for a long time, he still had no clue.

The Uchiha's power had grown astonishingly vast. If the Senju confronted them head-on, they would be no match at all. Their numbers alone could steamroll the Senju.

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

As the person who shared his bed and an Uzumaki princess as well, Uzumaki Mito was no fool politically. Seeing that Hashirama clearly had something on his mind, she immediately asked him about it.

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

"...It's nothing."

"Keeping your worries bottled up for too long will make you sick. You'll feel better if you say them out loud, and I can give you some advice too."

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, after all..."

Hashirama scratched his head. He could not bring up his plan with Madara, so he let the sentence trail off.

"The Uchiha..."

Uzumaki Mito thought for a moment. She recalled how the first marriage alliance of the Uzumaki clan had been ruined by that clan, and how they had even lost a clansman—the nominal first wife of Hashirama.

"The Uchiha's current foundation is indeed beyond what the Senju can shake. Even if I persuaded the Uzumaki to provide support, it would be useless. Unless several nearby mid-sized ninja clans joined us as well. In that case, we could give them a try."

Several surrounding clans...?

The moment Hashirama heard that, it all clicked!

"But what would be the reason? Without a reason for war, I can't agree to Tobirama's plan. Yet judging by his expression, he clearly thinks victory is assured."

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

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

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

At first glance, it did not seem too bad. They would suddenly gain an official identity, completely different from those noble-employed ninja, and clearly rank above them. But Uchiha Madara shook his head and rejected it immediately.

What a joke?!

A mere ordinary person wanted to ride roughshod over Uchiha Madara's head! Madara had been so enraged that he nearly crushed the Daimyo to death on the spot. But reason prevailed. He merely gave him a cold look and mocked him for a while.

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

Madara went that day and returned the next. At the same time, the details of that meeting never spread. If the matter became public, it would benefit neither Uchiha Madara nor the Daimyo.

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

"Hm... This guy looks like he's missing a screw, but who knew he had an extra one?"

Uchiha Yuan looked at Uzumaki Shibaki, who was snoring on the table, his expression difficult to describe. Physical examinations were routine, after all. The impact of external factors on experimental data could not be underestimated. Yet during this examination, he discovered that this seemingly foolish, carefree fellow had a small magnetic field inside him.

In ninja terminology, that meant he had awakened Kagura's Mind's Eye, and judging by the circumstances, it seemed to have happened only recently.

"Could it be that the Uzumaki clan is born with protagonist fate?"

Among the Uzumaki who appeared in Naruto, aside from those nameless extras whose destruction along with their country went unrecorded, which of the ones who appeared later—Jinchūriki Mito, Kushina, Hokage, Nagato, Karin, and the rest—was not a pivotal figure?

Especially Uzumaki Karin. She had even lived into Boruto. Still, Uchiha Yuan 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 I'm not doing too badly myself."