The next day, a full three hundred-plus women still came to the Uchiha Clan Compound for interviews.
After screening, around half remained.
It continued like this every day afterward.
As time passed, within just one short week, Xia Yu had successfully taken nearly a thousand wives and concubines.
But in the days that followed, the numbers were noticeably lower than before.
Xia Yu understood that the initial excitement had faded...
Or rather, everyone who was going to come had already come.
These thousand or so wives shared certain characteristics:
They were either poor young women of humble birth in Konoha, hoping to marry into the wealthy Uchiha family and live comfortably on its name and fortune;
Or they were wealthy businesswomen in Konoha, carefree lovers of pleasure who had come purely for Xia Yu's looks and body. Deeply addicted, they were willing to sacrifice anything and could not tear themselves away from him.
In short, there were very few middle-class women.
In other words, there were almost no female ninja.
Female ninja had relatively stable wages. As long as they went on missions, they earned income. They might not have been wealthy, but they certainly were not struggling.
Moreover, they were proud and would never willingly swallow their pride and marry into the Uchiha family.
The reason he had managed to take Anko before was also a matter of fortunate timing. Xia Yu and Anko had happened to be alone in a dim bedroom, and with alcohol in the mix, a man and woman alone were easily tempted into bed. Sparks were inevitable.
The same went for Akimi Inuzuka. Only after experiencing Xia Yu's "charm" up close had she become completely enthralled.
Looks like if I want them all, I'll still have to take the initiative and seduce them myself. Otherwise, Konoha's [high-quality women] won't take the bait so easily.
After thinking for a moment, Xia Yu stretched and sat up in bed.
Over the past few days, he had spent almost all his time in the clan compound working on his grand "frantic seed-spreading" plan, day and night alike.
"Phew... At this rate, I should be able to make sure I've bedded every wife in another four months or so..."
"Time to get up... Keep working hard! On to the next room~"
Konoha, the Hokage's office.
"Knock, knock, knock..."
"Come in..."
The door opened, and Danzo walked in, his eyes narrowed and his face expressionless.
As usual, he sat on the nearby sofa and spoke quietly. "Hiruzen, you sent for me in such a hurry. Is something wrong?"
Hiruzen said, "What else could it be? It concerns the Uchiha Clan, of course. Otherwise, I wouldn't have asked to see you alone."
Danzo said, "What have the Uchiha done now?"
Hiruzen said, "Heh... Danzo, there's no need to pretend in front of me. Don't tell me you don't know. I've seen very clearly how those secretive subordinates of yours have been watching the area around the Uchiha Clan Compound."
Danzo said, "Oh? Looks like we had the same idea. You've been sending people to watch the Uchiha too."
Hiruzen sighed. "I'm starting to regret agreeing to Xia Yu's terms. I originally thought he would take seven or eight wives at most. Who knew he would make such a huge production of it..."
"It's good to be young..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep drag on his pipe, his eyes actually filled with envy.
Danzo said, "You're actually jealous of a useless Uchiha who only thinks with his lower half? Does the leader of Konoha really have that much time on his hands?"
At this, Hiruzen snapped, "Danzo, that's easy for you to say! I've been receiving letters of protest from many young men in the village. If this continues, Konoha might turn into a village of bachelors!"
Danzo snorted coldly. "Hmph, what are you panicking for? From what I've observed of Uchiha Xia Yu these past few days, he's nothing but an arrogant, extravagant, debauched stud. If he keeps up this pace, he'll die of kidney deficiency within six months. You have my word."
"In six months, Xia Yu's women will become widows. Won't they end up marrying those male villagers anyway? A village of bachelors? Not going to happen..."
Hiruzen said urgently, "What kind of talk is that? What young man in his prime would marry a widow?"
Danzo said, "It's still better than being a bachelor! The ones submitting protest letters must all be ordinary people without money, influence, or strength. Men with strength don't have to worry about finding a wife who hasn't been married before. Only those rabble would worry about this nonsense. With their status... widows are all they deserve."
Hiruzen's expression darkened. "Danzo, aren't you afraid those words will alienate the villagers?"
Danzo said, "I've never cared what people without strength think of me. Whether they feel alienated has nothing to do with me."
Hiruzen was utterly speechless. "Forget it. I shouldn't have asked you here to discuss this today. I've already decided to limit the number of additional wives and concubines Xia Yu can take. After all, we accepted his money, so outright revoking the arrangement wouldn't be right. We'll just keep his number of wives at the current thousand."
Danzo shook his head decisively. "No. I disagree."
Hiruzen froze. "Why?"
Danzo said, "Hiruzen, you've also had people observing him for a week. You should have seen what Xia Yu is trying to do, right? He only sleeps with each woman once. Clearly, he wants to increase the population carrying Uchiha blood by fathering children."
Hiruzen said nothing and merely nodded. He had already noticed this himself.
Danzo continued, "Although I find the Uchiha repulsive, I acknowledge their power from the bottom of my heart. I believe increasing their numbers again would do more good than harm when it comes to improving Konoha's overall strength. Since Xia Yu wants to have children, let him..."
"At the rate he's exhausting his body, he'll be dead within six months. A year from now, little Uchiha will be born one after another, at least a hundred or so. As long as we don't limit his number of wives, Xia Yu might even leave behind more seed before he dies..."
"Think carefully. These little Uchiha will all be young, ignorant blank slates. In the future, they'll all serve our Konoha!"
"They'll be steeped in Konoha's will from childhood. Who knows? We might raise more selflessly devoted people like Shisui Uchiha..."
The more Danzo spoke, the more animated he became, and the ruthlessness in his eyes grew increasingly apparent. "And even if those little Uchiha refuse to submit to our control, that won't matter. At worst, we can secretly carry out another Massacre. Hehehe... Uchiha corpses are all treasures!"
"Hiruzen, I've laid it out this clearly. You should understand what I mean... Leave him alone. Let Xia Yu have his children. What use is it for that bunch of ordinary villagers who do nothing but protest to get wives? They'll only produce another ordinary person..."
"As far as Konoha is concerned, children born to ordinary people are dispensable. We'd be better off investing all those women in Xia Yu."
"Everything I've said is for Konoha's good."
After hearing Danzo's words, Hiruzen said nothing and sank deep into thought.
Before you continue