Opening Up the Bigger Picture

At the edge of the Forest of Death.

Uchiha En walked slowly out of the forest with several Uchiha Jonin. The setting sun stained the horizon dark red and cast long shadows behind them.

As he led the way, a voice suddenly called from behind.

"Clan Head!"

An Uchiha Jonin hurried up to him. He gritted his teeth, glanced at the departing Third Hokage and his companions, then lowered his voice.

"Clan Head, now that you're this powerful..."

"Why don't we just leave Konoha?"

"We could find a weaker village and make you its Kage!"

"Why stay in Konoha and keep putting up with the Konoha High Command?"

The other Jonin's eyes lit up, and they turned to Uchiha En.

Uchiha En stopped.

He turned and looked at the Jonin as if he were an idiot.

The Jonin scratched his head, baffled by the look.

"C-Clan Head... Did I say something wrong?"

Uchiha En didn't answer right away. He looked away and cursed to himself.

No wonder the Uchiha Clan had been wiped out in the original story from his previous life.

What the hell kind of thinking is that?

"Let me ask you something."

Uchiha En's voice was calm.

The Jonin immediately listened closely.

"Who founded Konoha?"

The Jonin who had suggested leaving froze for a moment, then blurted out, "The First Hokage and Madara Uchiha..."

"And who was Madara Uchiha?"

"He was... an ancestor of our Uchiha Clan."

"And the Senju Clan?"

"They were... the First Hokage's clan."

Uchiha En nodded.

"The Senju Clan and our Uchiha Clan founded Konoha together."

"Now the Senju Clan's name is slowly fading away."

"That leaves only us, the Uchiha Clan."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the Jonin's face.

"You could even say our Uchiha Clan founded Konoha."

"And you want me to leave the village we built with our own hands?"

"How stupid can you be?"

"Hiruzen Sarutobi and his people are the ones who should leave, not us."

"Once we remove everyone in the Konoha High Command..."

"Konoha will be ours."

"Besides, not everyone in Konoha is our enemy. Only the Konoha High Command and their families are. Who are our enemies? Who are our friends? We need to be absolutely clear about that."

Understanding dawned on the Jonin.

"I see!"

"Clan Head, you're looking far ahead!"

"How did we never think of that?"

Another Jonin stepped closer, his eyes shining.

"But Clan Head, you should already be stronger than Hiruzen Sarutobi..."

"Why not stage a coup and drive the entire Konoha High Command out of power?"

Uchiha En once again looked at them as if they were idiots.

He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself.

"Who told you staging a coup would make me Hokage?"

"Do you think the other ninja clans are idiots who'll just sit back and watch?"

"Unless I reach the level of Hashirama Senju or Madara Uchiha and can steamroll the entire Shinobi World, I can't afford to ignore every rule."

"Do you think I'm that strong?"

They looked at one another, then shook their heads.

"Although you're very strong, Clan Head, Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha were even stronger."

Uchiha En spread his hands.

"Exactly."

"That's where we stand right now."

"I'm strong, but not overwhelmingly so."

"And..."

He pointed at his eyes.

"The Mangekyō Sharingan has a drawback."

"Every time I use it, my eyesight deteriorates."

"If I use it too much, I'll eventually go blind."

The Jonin's expressions changed.

"At the same time, our Uchiha Clan has a terrible reputation in Konoha."

"Even if I defeat Hiruzen Sarutobi—or kill him..."

"I still won't win everyone over."

"The other ninja clans would band together against us, and Konoha would fall into civil strife."

"Besides, simply killing them would let them off too easily. Danzo has always wanted power, so I'll strip him of it completely. Hiruzen Sarutobi treasures his reputation, so I'll ruin it throughout Konoha. That's called twisting the knife. It's much more interesting than killing them outright."

Uchiha En's gaze grew distant.

"A great man once said that we should win over as many people as possible and leave as few people opposed to us as possible. That's the principle we're following now."

"Our main objective is..."

"To gradually weaken the Konoha High Command's influence over Konoha and utterly ruin their reputation here."

"Then we'll build up the Uchiha Clan's reputation in Konoha."

"When I have both strength and public support..."

"Who else could be Hokage?"

He paused, a smile tugging at his lips.

"Why would I abandon a ready-made village I can inherit and go build a new one?"

"Anyone who wants to do something that stupid can go ahead. I won't."

The Jonin nodded repeatedly.

"You're right, Clan Head!"

"We were shortsighted!"

"You really do think further ahead!"

Uchiha En looked at their expressions—We get it... more or less—and couldn't be bothered to explain further.

He waved a hand.

"Come on. Back to camp."

"Right!"

They made their way back to the temporary camp.

As soon as they reached the entrance, Uchiha Yashiro came to meet them.

He looked Uchiha En up and down. Seeing no injuries, he let out a long breath.

"Thank goodness you weren't hurt, Clan Head..."

Uchiha En spoke calmly.

"Don't worry, Elder Yashiro."

"I told you: with my strength, no one in Konoha can do anything to me."

Uchiha Yashiro nodded repeatedly.

"Of course, of course..."

Uchiha En went on.

"Oh, right, Elder Yashiro."

"The Hokage allocated us one hundred million ryō so we can establish the new Konoha Military Police Force as soon as possible."

"Head to the Hokage Building later and collect it."

Uchiha Yashiro was delighted.

"One hundred million ryō?!"

His eyes lit up.

"I was worried we wouldn't have enough money to establish the Konoha Military Police Force!"

"That's exactly what we needed!"

Uchiha En smiled.

"Go on. Collect it as soon as you can, before anything changes."

"Yes! I'll go right now!"

Uchiha Yashiro turned to leave, brimming with excitement. After a few steps, he looked back.

"Get some rest, Clan Head!"

"I'll bring the money back tonight!"

With that, he vanished down the street in a flash.