Leaving Konoha

(Leave your brains here. Read for fun.)

Madara had left Konoha, and not a single clan member had followed him. The Uchiha Clan Compound was anything but peaceful. He had only just left, and although the others had stayed, they had still suffered a heavy blow.

At least within the village, they no longer dared to challenge the Senju. Hashirama was there, after all, and without Madara, the Uchiha could not stand against him.

The boy sitting in the corner paid no attention to his clansmen's arguments. He merely stared at the glowing screen before him, troubled. Of all the times it could have appeared, it had to be now.

He was Uchiha Mu, a transmigrator and a nobody among the Uchiha. Armed with his knowledge of the future, he had boldly fused hashirama cells into his body and mastered the Rasengan and Shadow Clone. Of course, he did not dare reveal his Wood Release.

As for how he had obtained hashirama cells, Hashirama was powerful, but he was not invincible. At the very least, Madara had previously fought him on equal footing.

Mu had taken advantage of the periods when Hashirama was healing himself to collect quite a bit of his flesh and blood. In the end, he had gambled everything on a transplant. Fortunately, it had worked, and he had survived. Perhaps that was because he was an Uchiha.

Either way, that had been his limit. He had never expected to awaken a system, much less a management system. If it had arrived earlier, he could have struck out on his own and sweet-talked people from other Shinobi Clans into joining him.

Now, though, all Five Great Villages had been established, and the clansmen had settled down. There was no one left for him to poach. Besides, he had never shown his talent, wanting to keep a low profile.

In his clansmen's eyes, Uchiha Mu was merely a decent member with a three-tomoe Sharingan who knew some swordsmanship and Fire Release.

[Please establish your village.]

"I know." Uchiha Mu quietly stood up. While his clansmen were busy arguing, he went to the place where the Uchiha stored their weapons.

He immediately set his sights on Uchiha Izuna's sword. Madara had not taken it with him. Mu guessed that seeing it would probably remind Madara of its owner, so he had chosen to leave it behind.

"Heh, don't mind if I do." Uchiha Mu promptly took the sword, left a note in his room, and headed out of the village.

Konoha was still under construction, and every Shinobi Clan was busy. Madara had left, but Hashirama had no time to grieve. He had to keep the village stable and establish diplomatic relations with the other four great nations.

The barrier was not yet fully developed either, but with Hashirama around, none of that mattered. Thus, Uchiha Mu's departure attracted no one's attention-except for one person.

"Hyuga Lingnai, what do you want with me?" Uchiha Mu looked at the girl from the Hyuga main family.

"Mu, what are you planning? Are you leaving Konoha?" Hyuga Lingnai fixed her Byakugan on him.

Uchiha Mu felt a headache coming on. He was fifteen now. Before the village had been founded, the various Shinobi Clans had been enemies, with the fiercest fighting taking place between the Senju and the Uchiha. With two legendary figures among them, the other Shinobi Clans could only play supporting roles.

Under those circumstances, this young Hyuga lady had been attacked on her way to pay her respects to the dead. Everyone wanted the Byakugan, after all, and main-family members rarely ventured outside. It had been an opportunity too good to miss.

As luck would have it, Uchiha Mu had happened to pass by and rescued her along the way. That had marked the beginning of this ill-fated connection. The young Hyuga lady would sneak out from time to time and come looking for him among the Uchiha.

Wasn't that just asking for trouble? She had made him far more noticeable. Otherwise, the Uchiha Clan would have known even less about him. After the village was founded, it had only gotten worse.

With Hashirama alive, every Shinobi Clan showed him at least some respect. That meant main-family members could wander around Konoha, giving them much more freedom of movement than before.

Of course, once Hashirama, the pillar holding everything steady, died, both the Hyuga and the Uchiha would return to their old ways.

"Yes. Do you want to come with me? Where are your guards?" Uchiha Mu asked. He also wanted to see whether a child born of an Uchiha and a Hyuga would be powerful.

"Sure. I found an excuse to send them away." Hyuga Lingnai smiled. As a member of the main family, she already had a marriage partner chosen for her, but she could not forget the figure who had come to save her. She had only meant to step outside for some fresh air, but then she had spotted Uchiha Mu heading out of the village.

"Let's go." Uchiha Mu did not hesitate. He motioned for her to follow and quickly left.

"Where are we going?" Hyuga Lingnai took out her Konoha forehead protector and covered her smooth forehead.

"First, we'll get some money from the nobles in the Land of Fire." Uchiha Mu had a clear goal. Building a village required money, and the Land of Fire's nobles were rich. Of course, he had no intention of taking the daimyo's money.

Negotiation was out of the question. He would simply start with genjutsu, then store the money in scrolls. With such an easy way to make money, there was no need to put in any extra thought.

Of course, if he were going to establish his village in the Land of Fire, he would have to use a different approach. But that was not necessary now.

The next day, Uchiha Mu handed Hyuga Lingnai a mask and began the operation. Lingnai coasted through the whole thing, while Mu did nothing but stare people down.

The Uchiha's Sharingan came with an innate command of genjutsu, and these nobles had only hired Bounty Shinobi. Those ninja knew two or three ninjutsu at most and otherwise relied on Taijutsu. Naturally, they could not stand against an Uchiha who had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan.

Speaking of awakening his eyes, he found it almost funny. He had actually awakened them during a fierce battle, triggered by the shock of the battlefield.

"Mu, how much should we pack away?"

"The more, the better. Of course, we'll only take a little from each household. We can't make these nobles desperate. We just want them to feel they're missing a bit of money." Uchiha Mu took Hyuga Lingnai on a series of quick loot-and-run raids, fleecing nearly every noble in the Land of Fire. He did not take much from each, but it all added up.

He had changed his mind. Next, he planned to tour the other four great nations. While all the villages were still under construction, he wanted to gather as much money as possible and build up a substantial fund for establishing his village. Along the way, he would also round up orphans with kekkei genkai from each nation.

Hyuga Lingnai's heart pounded as she sensed the money inside the scrolls. Even in the Hyuga Clan, she had never seen so much money. Did these ordinary people work so hard to make money because they could not become ninja? That was wonderful.

After spending a day and a night cleaning out the Land of Fire's nobles, Uchiha Mu left with Hyuga Lingnai. The genjutsu had already worn off. Once one household noticed, the rest would fall like dominoes.

Konoha had now received its first S-rank mission: go to the Land of Fire's capital and catch the thief who had stolen the money. Unfortunately, Uchiha Mu had already reached the Land of Wind.

With considerable disdain, Uchiha Mu took some of the Land of Wind nobles' money. The wealth of all the nobles in the country combined was less than what he had taken from just three noble households in the Land of Fire. They were simply too poor.

Fortunately, the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning made him feel much better afterward. Since reaching the Land of Water required a boat trip, Uchiha Mu spared them. He might have plenty of chakra, but he was not going to waste it traveling all that way. What if he got trapped there?

He then headed toward the Land of Waterfalls. This time, he could not simply seize territory by force. That would put the other daimyo on alert, and the Five Great Nations might well attack him together.

He had to put the daimyo of the Five Great Nations at ease, so spending money was unavoidable. It was not his money anyway. If he spent it, so be it.