It was common knowledge that relations between the Uchiha Clan and the other clans in the village had always been strained.
Given how prickly and conceited the Uchiha were, few people were willing to offer warmth only to receive a cold shoulder, apart from certain people who were drawn to them for reasons unknown. Besides, they had lost the war against the Senju Clan before the village was founded, so people naturally gravitated toward the victors rather than the defeated.
Before anyone realized it, the village's various shinobi clans had gathered under the Senju banner. Even though Hashirama Senju himself had never intended it, a natural divide had still formed between the Senju and Uchiha factions.
If things continued down this path, it was easy to imagine how much worse the already hostile relationship between the two clans would become. Some particularly perceptive people even sensed that something irreversible was bound to happen in the future.
So when Shiring Aburame and Hiruzen Sarutobi followed a group of Uchiha youngsters under Senju Toka's supervision, all walking together as naturally as if they were on a spring outing, plenty of people were stunned. They almost wondered whether they had fallen under Uchiha genjutsu.
Although the group had divided into two smaller groups based on whether their surname was Uchiha, keeping a restrained distance that was neither too close nor too far, their simply walking together carried extraordinary significance. Shiring Aburame was the Aburame Clan's young heir, and Hiruzen Sarutobi held a similarly important position in the Sarutobi Clan. To certain watchful observers, this was practically a political declaration-
Had the Uchiha finally decided to build better relationships with the other clans?
Ever since the Uchiha Clan had joined Konoha's big family, their poor social skills had left them in a prolonged stalemate