Hyuga Lingnai led the three into the village. A fairly broad street came into view, lined on both sides with neat, symmetrical two-story wooden houses.
People bustled along the street. Though they were still wary, their spirits had improved considerably. There were few shinobi, and few people with chakra at all. Uchiha Mu was probably the only one keeping the entire village afloat.
It was an extreme situation. If war broke out, anyone who kept Uchiha Mu occupied could wipe out the village. But there was a problem with that: if the village was destroyed and Uchiha Mu survived, things would get troublesome.
Of course, all of this depended on the strength Uchiha Mu displayed in the days ahead. If he proved weak? Sorry, kid. Once Hashirama could no longer hold on, you would be the first to go.
If he proved strong? Then they simply would not provoke him. After all, Uchiha Mu occupied only a small territory, nothing compared to Konoha. Overall, it had resources, but they were not particularly good.
Hyuga Lingnai brought them to the Ninja Academy, where the daily ideology lesson was underway.
"Would you like to sit in?" Hyuga Lingnai asked with a smile.
"Then let's listen." En Uchiha was rather curious about this kind of institution and wanted to learn more.
"Today, we'll revisit the view of shinobi as tools and the view of shinobi as people," Uchiha Mu said.
"Tools are treated as expendable, while people aren't. Generally, shinobi raised to see themselves as people have convictions several times stronger than those raised to see themselves as tools," a red-haired boy said.
"The Uzumaki Clan?" Although En Uchiha found the conversation between Uchiha Mu and that Uzumaki clansman outrageous-what were shinobi if not tools?-he was more concerned about the Uzumaki Clan.
"When we visited the Uzumaki Clan, we saw a great many orphans. We pledged our clan's honor and paid the Uzumaki Clan to adopt some of them," Hyuga Lingnai explained. Of course, this also meant the Uzumaki Clan thought highly of Uchiha Mu. Otherwise, just let someone else try asking.
"So that's how it happened..." At that moment, Uchiha Mu spoke, and he continued listening.
"As I've said before, during the Warring States Period, that approach was acceptable. It could keep a clan stable..."
"Teacher, but it doesn't work now, right? Doing that now is essentially turning into one enormous shinobi clan, which will eventually lead to a war engulfing the entire Shinobi World," another red-haired boy interrupted. He thought his teacher was being a little long-winded. This was already the third time, though the Nintaijutsu Uchiha Mu taught was undeniably powerful.
"Hm?" En Uchiha furrowed his brow and began considering Konoha's current structure.
"That's correct, but today we're discussing individuals. Take my Uchiha Clan as an example. Our Sharingan awakens through emotional stimulation. That alone means shinobi can only be people, not tools."
"Without human emotions, the Uchiha Clan wouldn't get far. The same applies to other shinobi clans. Although everyone calls shinobi tools, they can only unleash unimaginable fighting power when they identify with their clan and village."
"Students, suppose you're a shinobi on a reconnaissance mission, and you happen to encounter someone who's dying and can no longer convey their intelligence. They ask you to take their body back. Do you take it or not?" Uchiha Mu asked with a smile.
"Take it back first," one of them answered.
"But then the mission fails, and the view of shinobi as tools places the mission above everything else. You must complete it."
"Well..."
"Teacher, this makes it easier to maintain control, doesn't it?" another girl, this one blonde, said.
"Oh? Explain."
"You bring the body back and fail the mission. In light of your efforts to recover the intelligence, you aren't punished. But if that shinobi ever wants to enter the leadership, others seeking the same position will use this incident to attack them. After all, no one but the leadership knows the price paid for that failed mission," the blonde girl offered her interpretation.
"Well said. Their own convictions will crumble, too. Once this happens enough times, other shinobi will start questioning the point of it all, and the village will weaken. Ultimately, it comes down to one central issue: treating a thinking person as a tool and assuming they won't have thoughts of their own."
Why did Uchiha Mu keep emphasizing this point? Aside from changing this damned Warring States mentality, he was also saying it for these visiting shinobi to hear. Perhaps they would think it over after returning home and bring some people to join the Hundred-Clan Country.
En Uchiha was deeply shocked. With Uchiha Mu breaking it down like this, he understood, but he did not agree. Perhaps only after truly experiencing war would he recall these words.
Hyuga Tenka felt the same way. He understood too, but that did not mean he intended to do anything. He was, however, curious about what this awkwardly named Hundred-Clan Country would look like in the future.
"Would you like to see anywhere else?"
"What is this place?" En Uchiha asked.
"This is the Ninja Academy, where we teach children ninjutsu. We focus on the Three Basic Body Techniques and chakra control," Hyuga Lingnai replied.
At first, she had wondered whether Uchiha Mu would teach some advanced ninjutsu. But after hearing his explanation, she understood that most people in this world were ordinary and did not possess exceptional talent.
If someone excelled at the Three Basic Body Techniques and chakra control, they could certainly defeat shinobi who knew a few other techniques. After all, if someone spent ages forming hand seals for a jutsu, they could be cut down long before they finished.
"Uchiha Mu must know a lot of ninjutsu," Hyuga Tenka could not help saying. Who did not know that the Sharingan could copy techniques? He had probably mastered the Five Basic Nature Transformations.
"Tenka, not everyone has the Byakugan or the Sharingan," Hyuga Lingnai said without elaborating.
"It seems you really have changed. Can love change someone that much?" Being chosen as the future head of the Hyuga Clan meant Hyuga Tenka had some ability, after all.
"It can. I've realized he's all I see. Whatever I'm doing, as long as he's beside me, I'm filled with confidence." Hyuga Lingnai reflected on herself and realized her heart was full of Uchiha Mu.
If Uchiha Mu abandoned her or was killed at this point, she could very well become a second-no, the first Obito. That was how strong her conviction was.
"Ah, show us around some more." Hyuga Tenka understood that he could neither bring Hyuga Lingnai back nor kill her, so he would simply let her stay here.
With a thousand years of research into the Byakugan, they knew that Hyuga Lingnai's lone bloodline would no longer be able to awaken it after a few generations, so it hardly mattered. Of course, a combination of the Sharingan and Byakugan kekkei genkai had never occurred before.
"All right, follow me." Hyuga Lingnai took them around the entire existing village. Almost everything was under construction, and the population was concentrated in a relatively small area. It was still a far cry from Konoha.
There was one thing En Uchiha thoroughly approved of, however: identity cards. These were the sole officially authorized proof of identity, and this had one advantage-it made planting spies extremely difficult for other shinobi villages.
The drawback was that spies planted at the very beginning would also be difficult to discover. Overall, the benefits outweighed the disadvantages, so Uchiha Mu had implemented the system outright. After all, if he did not make changes while the nation was being founded, was he supposed to wait until it was fully developed? Changing things then would be much harder.
Before you continue