Homura's words plunged the room into a brief silence.
"Homura has a point. Hiruzen, do you have a specific candidate in mind for Fourth Hokage?" Koharu suddenly asked.
"Orochimaru has inherited everything I taught him. He's calm and sees the bigger picture. Of my three disciples, he's the one I'm most pleased with," the Third Hokage said.
"Orochimaru has been at Ryūchi Cave for a year now. The Three Great Sacred Lands are governed by the Three Great Sages. If Orochimaru can master Senjutsu, he'll have a chance of keeping Fugaku Uchiha in check.
"You've all heard how powerful the First Hokage's Sage Mode was. Calling it earth-shattering would be no exaggeration," Homura said.
"It won't be that easy. Even across the entire Shinobi World, few could match the First Hokage's talent. Jiraiya has spent years traveling while training in Senjutsu.
"And after all this time, he's still not quite there. That alone shows how difficult Senjutsu is to master. I'll send word to Orochimaru tomorrow and tell him what's happened in Konoha recently.
"I'll also ask how likely he is to master Sage Mode," the Third Hokage said.
The four talked until late into the night before going their separate ways.
Time passed. Aside from his shifts with the Security Force, Fugaku spent the next few days refining his plan to increase the clan's birth rate. Once put into practice, it could become a core strategy for the Uchiha.
After a full week of work, he had considered nearly every detail. Any problems that arose during implementation would have to be dealt with when they came.
That evening, Fugaku and Uchiha Tenjo were both at home.
"Father, I have a plan to strengthen the Uchiha. This is the outline. I'd like to call a Clan Leadership Meeting tomorrow morning."