Coalition Building

Shisui succeeded to the position of clan head without any obstacles.

Although Xiu's display of force had played a part, given Shisui's popularity and prestige, he would have had a high chance of succeeding even without Xiu's involvement.

Xiu's appearance had merely made the matter a certainty.

Yet no one had expected that Shisui would make a huge move immediately after becoming clan head!

Inside the secret chamber, Shisui sat where Fugaku had previously sat, facing the gathered clansmen.

Xiu sat cross-legged to one side, reading a book titled Make-Out Paradise by the light of the torch beside the stone tablet.

He had confiscated this book from an employee slacking off at the shop that morning. If not for that, he would have forgotten about this must-read erotic classic for transmigrators.

Make-Out Paradise, by Jiraiya.

The copy Xiu was reading was the first volume of the Make-Out series. The plot was decent enough, but the writing left much to be desired.

That old pervert Jiraiya simply could not portray the ultimate tension between emotion and desire, the irresistible ambiguity, or the hysterical seduction.

There was far too much wish fulfillment in the content. Xiu's verdict was—nowhere near as good as A Bin.

"What? You want us to give up the Police Force? The Police Force is all we have left!"

Suddenly, an angry voice pulled Xiu's attention away from his book.

Xiu looked over and saw Inabi Uchiha glaring furiously at Shisui. The expressions of the surrounding clansmen were not much better.

"Heh... the most offensive job was handed to the most arrogant clan. If it weren't for this job, how would the Uchiha have ended up like this?"

Before Shisui could answer, Xiu sneered first. "What is the point of a job whose authority overlaps so heavily with the Anbu? You don't actually think the Second Hokage loved the Uchiha so much that he gave them such immense power, do you?"

"Obviously, it was to make fodder like you huddle together, keep you from infiltrating other departments, and make it easier to cut you loose if anything went wrong! And people actually treat this as an honor? Idiots~"

"Pfft..."

Someone below could not help laughing. Feeling humiliated, Inabi did not dare lash out at Xiu and instead turned toward the source of the laughter, only to find everyone struggling to hold back their smiles. His face flushed red with rage, and he was so angry that his Sharingan activated.

Fugaku's expression was not particularly pleasant either. Xiu's words were no different from pointing at his nose and calling him an idiot.

"But then how will everyone's livelihoods be guaranteed? With the clan's financial resources, we can hold out for a year or two without issue, but we can't keep going on like this forever."

Yashiro Uchiha asked this. He was even older than Fugaku. Though he too belonged to the hawkish faction, he considered matters far more comprehensively than the younger members did.

"Although the higher-ups do not want us expanding, they will not be willing to see us completely wash our hands of everything either. What they want is for us to be like obedient dogs at their disposal. Even if we take ordinary missions, they will probably use excuses such as a limited number of missions to keep us in check."

Upon hearing this, Itachi Uchiha, standing at the back of the crowd, frowned slightly.

The course of events tonight had completely exceeded his control. He had never imagined that Shisui, who valued the relationship between the clan and the village above all else, would actually propose simply walking away from everything!

"Senior Yashiro is right. To solve this problem, I made a special trip to the capital a few days ago."

Shisui nodded slightly. "I have already received a promise from the Daimyo of the Land of Fire. As long as I became clan head, I would immediately be appointed Senior Vice Minister of War of the Land of Fire!"

"Eh—?!"

The moment those words came out, everyone was stunned.

Forget the others—even Xiu looked dumbfounded. "You? Senior Vice Minister of War?"

"Mm, that was the Daimyo's promise to me."

Shisui nodded, looking somewhat embarrassed. "Coalition building—wasn't that what you said? I thought that I was at least somewhat well-known, so I went to request an audience with the Daimyo."

"I never expected the Daimyo to actually receive me. I told him about the Uchiha's current situation. I had thought that even if the negotiations failed, the clan's situation might improve greatly if someone of the Daimyo's status could put in a good word for us."

"I never expected him to extend an olive branch directly. He promised that as long as I succeeded as clan head, he would make me Senior Vice Minister of War of the Land of Fire. In addition, some clansmen could be selected to join the Imperial Guard Bureau system, with one position as General of the Left Imperial Guard guaranteed! As well as four Guardian Shinobi positions."

It could work like that too?

Uchiha Fugaku opened his mouth, his eyes filled with astonishment.

In the Shinobi World, the relationship between the Daimyo's Court and the shinobi villages was very subtle.

The two supported one another. The Daimyo's Court handled national politics and provided financial support to the shinobi villages, while the shinobi villages provided military protection for the Daimyo's Court.

Regardless of which side was stronger or weaker, at least nominally, the Daimyo held a higher status than the Hokage.

Over countless years, the Daimyo's system of rule had long become deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Thus, without the appointment of a nation's Daimyo, even if a shinobi village internally selected a new Kage, that person would not possess legitimacy.

At least in the eyes of the public, they would be rebels.

In the end, the influence of the title Hokage was limited to the village itself. As for its influence beyond the village, one only had to look at how the clients in the original story treated the Hokage.

After all, the Hokage governed only Konoha, while the Daimyo's Court governed the entire Land of Fire. Their influence among the common people was simply not on the same level.

Unless someone was absurdly powerful like the First Hokage, ordinary people did not care who the Hokage was, aside from those in industries related to shinobi.

If one really counted it up, the combined reputation of Konoha F4 among the common people was not even as great as that of the Uchiha.

It was worth mentioning that although Konoha bore responsibility for protecting the Land of Fire, Konoha was not the Land of Fire's only military force.

For example, the Daimyo also commanded armies made up of ordinary people. The City Defense Force responsible for defending each city, the regional yamens, and samurai retainers all basically fell under this category.

Then there were the Guardian Twelve Shinobi. The Hokage's precious second son, Asuma, had once served there.

There was also the Imperial Guard Bureau system Shisui had just mentioned. It was responsible for guarding the Daimyo's residence and could be considered the Daimyo's personal guard.

And the General of the Left Imperial Guard was the highest-ranking position within the Imperial Guard Bureau system.

Then there was Shisui's position as Senior Vice Minister of War.

This position could be understood as the second-in-command of the Daimyo's Ministry of War.

In the original story, when Tsunade was unconscious and several Konoha higher-ups went to the Daimyo's Court to discuss the successor to the Hokage position, the people seated across from them were the heads of the various ministries.

The head of the Ministry of War was the Minister of War, one of the ministers who would inevitably deal with Konoha.

In other words, if Shisui climbed just one step higher, he would be on equal footing with Hiruzen Sarutobi!

However, Shisui was not done dropping shocking news. He immediately threw out another bombshell. "Also, after some time, I will marry the Daimyo's youngest daughter!"

"???"

Upon hearing this, all the clansmen present looked utterly dumbfounded.

Xiu abruptly turned his head as well, then grabbed Shisui's shoulder. "That must have been hard on you. She has to be a two-hundred-kilogram ugly woman covered in pus-filled sores and reeking from head to toe, right?"

"Eh? No, we met once." Shisui scratched his head sheepishly, a trace of shyness flashing across his face. "She really is quite cute."

Xiu froze on the spot.

Come on, man. It was fine when you were just bragging, but if you actually went through with it, I'm kind of uncomfortable with that...

(PS: I specifically spent ages researching the political structure of the ancient Japanese imperial court for this chapter. For the sake of this hard-working kid, please give me some monthly votes, I'm begging you...)