The talks (part one)

Having just received Uchiha Mu's instruction in Genjutsu, the ninja asked his permission to leave so they could digest what they had learned. Only the Uchiha leadership and Konoha's Hokage brothers remained.

The Hyuga had left long ago, while Hyuga Lingnai brought Hyuga Rei over to Uchiha Mu.

"This is Rei. You know her."

"Lord Mu," Hyuga Rei greeted him respectfully.

"Just call me Mu. Come here. From now on, the Hundred-Clan Shinobi Nation is your home." Uchiha Mu beckoned her over.

Hyuga Rei first glanced at Hyuga Lingnai, then came to Uchiha Mu's side.

"Lingnai's willfulness made you suffer." As Uchiha Mu spoke, he used Medical Ninjutsu to erase every scar she had received among the Hyuga.

"All better. A girl should have nice skin." Uchiha Mu patted Hyuga Rei's shoulder.

"Thank you..." Hyuga Rei lowered her head and bit her lip, keeping Uchiha Mu from seeing her in such a sorry state.

"You're exactly like that fellow Izuna," Tobirama Senju remarked snidely. In light of Uchiha Mu's earlier instruction, he refrained from calling him an evil Uchiha.

"I can hear you, Tobirama. You just took all that money from me, and now you're turning your back on me?" Uchiha Mu looked at Tobirama Senju.

"You evil Uchiha brat, that was a transaction! Don't make it sound like I just demanded money from you." Tobirama Senju grew a little flushed. It was only when dealing with the Uchiha, especially one like Uchiha Mu, that he struggled to control his emotions.

"Haha, I don't know much about building a village either. I'll leave it to Tobirama." Hashirama laughed heartily, then left.

With the talks approaching, Uchiha Mu stopped wandering around and settled down in Konoha with his companions. Hyuga Rei had joined them, but no one minded.

Over the following days, Uchiha Mu only taught people who came to him on their own initiative. After having Kakuzu coordinate with Tobirama Senju, he found himself with nothing to do.

Yet no matter how idle he was, his suffering began as soon as the clones finished their work and dispersed. Using Shadow Clones to multiply his training had its pros and cons. After making his clones do the work, he had nearly taken the full brunt of Unlimited Void.

During this time, the other nations' Kage and their guards arrived one after another, and the meeting organized by Hashirama officially began: five Kage and one nation. It should originally have been six Kage, but Uchiha Mu represented a nation rather than a shinobi village under a great nation like theirs, hence the meeting's name.

Uchiha Mu's delegation consisted of four people this time, while each of the Five Kage had three. He took a quick look around. Aside from those from Sunagakure, whom he did not know as well, the representatives from the other nations seemed to include their future Second Kage. They, too, were witnesses to this historic moment.

Uchiha Mu sat in his assigned seat, with Hyuga Lingnai and Keiko Uzumaki standing behind him on either side. Hyuga Rei stood a step farther back.

"Are Konoha's Hyuga planning to move to the Hundred-Clan Shinobi Nation?" The Kazekage immediately started running his mouth.

The representatives of the other nations said nothing. They watched Uchiha Mu, following his every move. From the intelligence they had received, they knew that this Uchiha possessed strength on par with Madara's.

But now that the Five Kage saw him up close, wasn't he far too young? By the time he died, their villages might have already gone through another fifty or sixty years. By then, it would be far too late.

"Heh. Does Sunagakure not want our business anymore?" Uchiha Mu asked.

"Hmph." The Kazekage promptly shut his mouth. Business was business, but he could hardly forget who had brought about their current situation. Every year, the Daimyo of the Land of Wind spent enormous sums buying the unusual things Uchiha Mu produced.

The more money spent on those things, the less was left for the shinobi village. This had forced Sunagakure to mine ore and pan for gold. With the Hundred-Clan Shinobi Nation as a trading partner, Sunagakure had managed to survive and was even wealthier than before.

The Raikage wisely kept silent. Hashirama was now the only one absent from the meeting room. Tobirama Senju stood behind his seat, occupying the same position as Hyuga Lingnai, Mū, and the others.

Since the Mizukage had never witnessed Uchiha Mu's strength, he spoke up. "Uchiha Mu, don't you think it's inappropriate to lure people with kekkei genkai away from my village?"

"Who's luring anyone away?" Uchiha Mu looked utterly bewildered.

Hyuga Lingnai and Keiko Uzumaki stared at Uchiha Mu in shock. Had they known what a Little Golden Man was, they would have long since complained that Oscar owed him one.

The other three Kage, along with Tobirama Senju, were alarmed to hear this. Once they returned, they would have to keep a close eye on the members of their kekkei genkai clans. They certainly did not want to face the Hundred-Clan Shinobi Nation in the future and find all sorts of troublesome kekkei genkai there.

"You..." The Mizukage, Byakuren, pointed at Uchiha Mu, unable to get another word out. His senses told him that Uchiha Mu's chakra reserves were terrifying. He could already be considered a tailed beast in human form. Wasn't that supposed to be a Senju and Uzumaki trait? Since when did an Uchiha have so much chakra?

"I really haven't done anything. I'm simply a compassionate man. I can't turn a blind eye to orphans struggling to survive, because they remind me of myself." Uchiha Mu adopted a reminiscing expression. His parents in this timeline had died in a minor clash with the Senju.

That was perfectly normal. The fighting back then had left both clans with countless orphans, and Uchiha Mu was merely one of them.

How can anyone be this shameless? Everyone present except Uchiha Mu shared that thought. Hyuga Lingnai and Keiko Uzumaki's faces turned scarlet. At that moment, they felt ashamed of themselves for liking him.

"Kirigakure doesn't need that. We're perfectly capable of taking care of them. We don't need you meddling," Byakuren retorted angrily, mainly because Uchiha Mu was acting far too brazenly.

"Neither do we," the representatives of the other shinobi villages hastily responded. This was no time to play dumb. They exchanged glances, as though asking whether they should join forces against Uchiha Mu's Hundred-Clan Shinobi Village.

Then the Kazekage's gaze wandered, and the other villages immediately understood that they could not count on Sunagakure. Would the rest of them be enough? They looked toward Konoha again, only to find Tobirama Senju remaining silent. He clearly had no intention of getting involved in their affairs.

And so, this unspoken alliance to jointly attack Uchiha Mu fell apart. They had no desire to fight for their lives only to end up making Konoha the top dog. That would be a terrible bargain.

"What a shame." Uchiha Mu spread his hands, then decided to keep a lower profile. He was not trying to become the target of the entire Shinobi World's outrage. He had already brought back quite a few people with kekkei genkai. By the time the original story's events rolled around, their descendants would have grown up long ago.

Hyuga Lingnai patted Uchiha Mu's head. "Mu, business. The business."

The others all turned toward Uchiha Mu, wanting to know what he intended to say and do.

"Since you've all come here, naturally you're here for your villages' interests. Today, I'd like to talk to you about those interests. I have a new business venture I'd like to cooperate with you on." Uchiha Mu propped up his chin.

"What kind of business?" The Kazekage was the first to speak. As the leader of the first shinobi village to tie its interests to Uchiha Mu's, he was eager to obtain the outcome he wanted at this meeting.