Flying Thunder God Technique

The group Xia Yan was thinking of was indeed troublesome.

Looking across all of Konoha, there was really only one group with the most talented people, who were more emotional than rational and were not particularly well liked.

That was the Uchiha Clan, which controlled Konoha's Military Police Force!

He had to admit that these Uchiha were fertile ground. Their talent was unimaginable.

But the problem was that their circumstances were also terrible. Xia Yan even felt that too much contact with them would bring trouble down on him.

They had long since split internally. One side clamored about being treated unfairly and considered using violence to gain the village's recognition.

The other side felt that violence would solve nothing and wanted to have an open, honest discussion with the village through peaceful means.

In Xia Yan's view, neither approach would end well for them.

Go to war with Konoha?

Konoha was indeed weakened, but how much strength did the current Uchiha have at their disposal?

If Xia Yan remembered correctly, the Uchiha might not even have a Mangekyō Sharingan at this point.

Even if they did, there was only one pair: Uchiha Fugaku's.

Granted, the Uchiha would have more than one pair of Mangekyō Sharingan in the future, but the problem was that the owners of two of those pairs had been brainwashed and led astray.

As for Uchiha Fugaku's personality, one only had to look at how he had obediently waited for Uchiha Itachi to cut him down when the entire clan was wiped out in the original story.

So their Kage Level strength could practically be disregarded.

And when comparing their middle- and lower-ranking forces, even if the Uchiha members were elite, how many ninja did Konoha have?

On top of that, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had inherited Tobirama Senju's strategy for dealing with the Uchiha, had long since driven a wedge between them and Konoha. Countless people hated them.

This would be a completely uneven war. No wonder Uchiha Fugaku never dared to step forward from beginning to end. If he hadn't finally been forced into a corner, he might have kept lying low.

At that thought, Xia Yan couldn't help shaking his head. As for peace talks with Konoha?

That was not impossible, but the question was whether anyone was willing to talk to them.

The only person willing to accept them and able to negotiate with them was the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.

Yet that Lord Hokage had died during the Nine-Tails' Attack.

Just like that, the person who could give the Uchiha hope was dead. Their future truly looked bleak.

Should I approach the Uchiha? Xia Yan silently weighed the matter.

Judging by talent and potential, winning over the Uchiha would be a tremendous help with his mission.

The problem was that he was currently just an Anbu squad leader. Besides, there was the relationship between the Senju and the Uchiha to consider.

In less than a year, once the Fourth Hokage died, he would have even less of a foundation for winning these people over.

This really is a headache. I'll take it one step at a time. If all else fails, I'll just approach those two who'll be able to join the Anbu in the future.

The two Uchiha who would enter the Anbu were Shisui Uchiha and Uchiha Itachi.

To be honest, Xia Yan was not particularly fond of either of them, mainly because of some of their actions.

Of course, if one focused solely on the village and the clan, some of their choices were not so strange.

Ultimately, they were only ninja, not decision-makers. The real problem lay with Uchiha Fugaku.

Of course, there are also some problems with their own worldviews and values.

If they haven't been completely brainwashed when they join the Anbu, perhaps I can approach them.

If they've already been remolded, forget it...

Xia Yan quickly made his decision. If possible, he truly did not want to give up on the fertile ground that was the Uchiha Clan.

But the people he could approach were truly limited. On top of that, the Will of Fire was far too infectious. He had no desire to make trouble for himself.

After all, throughout all those years, whether at the academy or in the Anbu, Xia Yan had always presented himself as someone who perfectly embodied the Will of Fire.

Every time his dreams came up, his answer was straight out of a textbook-protect the village and work toward becoming Hokage.

He would never say anything about protecting some particular person. During wartime, no one bought into that future talk of "bonds."

Wartime had its policies, and peacetime had its guidelines.

Once a war was lost, the cost was beyond words. That was how the tragedy of Sakumo Hatake had come about.

Of course, he could not rule out the possibility that Kakashi's father's prestige had already far exceeded what Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others could tolerate.

Sakumo Hatake did not seem to belong to the Second Hokage's master-disciple lineage at all, and public opinion had been extremely unfavorable toward him at the time.

Supposedly, even the people he had saved hated what he had done!

It was perfectly clear how many people had been fanning the flames behind the scenes.

Because if Hatake Sakumo truly rose to prominence, he would deal a fatal blow to the master-disciple lineage of the Second and Third Hokage.

Xia Yan would never follow his example. He felt that his teammates ought to thank him for not finishing off those who held him back.

That was political correctness.

"Knock, knock, knock..."

While Xia Yan was thinking, someone suddenly knocked on his door, immediately bringing him back to his senses.

He still remembered that the elder had told him a gift had been prepared for him. As for exactly what that gift was, Xia Yan did not really know.

He only knew that once members of their clan reached a certain age, they could choose to learn certain specific ninjutsu.

The Senju Clan had, after all, once been prosperous. Even if they had handed many techniques over to Konoha "free of charge" for various reasons.

Even after handing them over, they had still kept plenty of copies. Some things had never been handed over at all.

Things like Senjutsu, for example. The Senju Clan had definitely not handed those over.

Of course, Konoha was most likely well aware of this too. It was just that training in Sage Mode was far too difficult, as they could tell from Jiraiya.

Besides, Konoha itself had to avoid looking too greedy. If it became too blatant, it might invite some minor trouble.

Even if they were not afraid of trouble, they did not want to leave everyone nursing grievances.

Especially since this matter could also affect the other clans. Then the losses would outweigh the gains.

When he opened the front door, a middle-aged man appeared before Xia Yan.

The middle-aged man's name was Uesugi Gen, and Xia Yan was quite familiar with him.

Although the elder had looked after him since childhood, Uesugi Gen had been the one to teach him the fundamentals of being a ninja.

"Uncle Gen." Xia Yan immediately gave him a warm smile, then bowed slightly. "The elder mentioned it earlier, but I didn't expect you to be the one coming over."

"I live fairly close, and I haven't seen you in a while either." Uesugi Gen smiled as well, then patted Xia Yan on the shoulder and gave him a mysterious smile. "I think you know why I'm here. Take a guess. What did I bring you?"

"More of Lord Second's secret techniques?" Xia Yan blinked and asked uncertainly.

He had mentioned it in passing during his training. The Second's secret techniques were something people longed for desperately.

Before Orochimaru, he had been the Shinobi World's foremost researcher and developer. That was no joke.

Even now, Tobirama Senju's techniques still had a considerable influence on the entire Shinobi World.

Xia Yan hoped to obtain them. Even just one would do.

The Water Release techniques he practiced did not count as secret techniques at all. They were merely comparatively powerful Water Release techniques.

"What are you thinking? At your age, you can only learn one." Uesugi Gen shook his head, then handed the scroll straight to Xia Yan. "Here. Although... well, I hope you'll put in the effort."

"Put in the effort?" Xia Yan was somewhat puzzled.

But once he opened the scroll, he instantly understood what Uesugi Gen meant.

Because several words were clearly written on the scroll: Flying Thunder God Technique!