Island

"I understand."

Impossible to achieve? Then how would you feel if I told you I successfully trapped everyone in the world in the Infinite Tsukuyomi? Compared to throwing everyone into an illusion, uniting the nations and governing them hardly seems all that difficult.

Though he told Fugaku he understood that peace was hard to achieve, Madara Uchiha had already begun making new plans.

Some sacrifices were necessary for lasting peace, weren't they?

Despite living a second life, the fundamental way Madara Uchiha approached problems had not actually changed much.

After dealing with some Iwagakure ninja, Uchiha Fugaku continued toward the front lines with his son.

Although the fiercest period of the war had passed, the fighting between the nations' ninja still grew more intense the closer they came to the front. Along the way, Madara Uchiha even encountered a four-way melee involving ninja from the Land of Lightning, the Land of Fire, the Land of Wind, and the Land of Fire. Fortunately, the fighting in the small creek was not on a large scale. Once the elite unit led by Uchiha Fugaku entered the fray, they brought the situation firmly under control and drove their opponents back.

"Clan Head Fugaku? Thank you for your assistance."

Those Uchiha Fugaku rescued were a mixed unit from Konoha, with members of the Aburame Clan, the Hyuga Clan, and many other clans among them. Hinata Ichiro, the Jōnin leading the unit, thanked Fugaku for the Uchiha Clan's assistance. Before Fugaku could reply, Uchiha Aren began showing off.

"No need to thank us. Be more careful out there. Not everyone has the strength of our Uchiha Clan!"

"Aren!"

Faced with his subordinate's thoughtless remarks, Fugaku sternly cut off any further boasting.

"No thanks are necessary. We're all comrades from Konoha. Helping you is only right. Rest here for now. We'll continue ahead."

After acknowledging Hinata Ichiro's thanks, Fugaku led Madara Uchiha and the others onward. Before leaving, Aren pulled an exaggerated face at Ichiro.

What an idiot.

Watching Uchiha Aren's smug display, Madara Uchiha could not help forming a poor opinion of the Uchiha Clan's young people.

Over these past few days on the battlefield, Madara Uchiha had noticed a problem. Apart from a handful in the ANBU or those still at the Genin level who needed to team up with others, most adult members of the Uchiha Clan formed teams exclusively with their own clan. By contrast, members of the other clans generally teamed up with one another regardless of rank, using their strengths to compensate for each other's weaknesses.

Naturally, they had the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju's "brilliant strategy" to thank for this. Young members of the Uchiha Clan might build connections and bonds with people from Konoha's other clans through their teams, but once they reached adulthood, most naturally joined Konoha's Police Force.

After joining the Police Force, members of the Uchiha Clan interacted only with other Uchiha. Their duties also made it inevitable that they would offend people from other clans. Over time, even if they had previously established friendly relationships, the growing estrangement and antagonism naturally turned the Uchiha Clan into an isolated island within the village.

Worse still, the Uchiha Clan was so gifted that quite a few of its young members had excessive confidence in their bloodline. They believed the Uchiha Clan was superior to the other clans and deserved to stand above them. Aren was one of them, and their views even dominated the younger generation of the Uchiha Clan. Because of this Bloodline Faction, the already isolated Uchiha Clan naturally became even more disliked and feared in Konoha.

From what Madara Uchiha had sensed over these four years alone, the Uchiha Clan was a priority target for ANBU surveillance. He was sure Fugaku, as clan head, knew this perfectly well.

It was not hard to see that Uchiha Fugaku was a dovish clan head who longed for peace and hoped to maintain friendly relations with the village. He had done his best to build connections with people from other clans, but with so many fools from the Bloodline Faction around, no sooner had Fugaku left a good impression than they ruined it. If this continued and resentment on both sides deepened, the Uchiha Clan's position in Konoha would likely become increasingly difficult.

Although Black Zetsu had deceived him, that was because Black Zetsu had an overwhelming advantage over Madara Uchiha in terms of time. Madara Uchiha's intelligence was, in fact, virtually unrivaled. The situation that the Uchiha could not grasp was crystal clear to him. Now he was already considering whether it would be easier to use the young members of the Bloodline Faction to purge Konoha and establish a dictatorship, or to support Fugaku and find an opportunity to kill the clan's bloodline-obsessed fools, thereby earning the village's trust.

"Clan Head, the Hyuga Clan has always called itself Konoha's strongest clan, but as far as I'm concerned, they're no match for our Uchiha Clan. This was the perfect chance to make them realize how useless they are. Why did you still speak up for them?"

As they traveled onward, Aren could not help complaining about Fugaku defending outsiders. Fugaku sighed deeply to himself.

"The reconnaissance capabilities of the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan have provided precious intelligence to many of Konoha's clans in countless battles. Without the Hyuga Clan, Konoha's losses in the war would multiply many times over. In terms of contributions, they deserve the title of Konoha's foremost clan. We have no reason to be hostile toward them over that. The Uchiha Clan has no need to compete with others. We only need to do what we should."

"Those other clans are incompetent and have to rely on the Hyuga Clan. We don't need their Byakugan. The Sharingan is far stronger! Just you wait. Sooner or later, I'll make the Hyuga Clan admit that our Uchiha Clan is Konoha's foremost clan. Itachi, you think so too, don't you?"

Hearing Uchiha Fugaku's voice turn cold, Aren did not dare press the matter further. Instead, he directed the question at Madara Uchiha. Fugaku frowned at this. If Itachi was led astray by Aren and the others as well, things would become difficult.

"Clan Head Fugaku, what are you doing here?"

As Madara Uchiha considered how to answer Aren's question, which demanded that he pick a side, an energetic voice came from the woods ahead. Then Shisui Uchiha's agile figure came into view.

"Aren, I've told you plenty of times: if you think the Uchiha Clan is the strongest, become the strongest yourself before telling everyone else that. Why don't you fight Lord Minato? Otherwise, if we ignore contributions and judge by strength alone, even though Namikaze is a commoner's surname, Lord Minato alone could claim that the Namikaze Clan is the strongest, couldn't he?"