As the Uchiha Clan, the Senju Clan, and the Uzumaki Clan fell quiet one after another,
there were no more major disturbances on the surface of the Shinobi World. After all, the three top clans had all gone silent, and the Hyuga were too embarrassed to stir up trouble, afraid they would get ganged up on.
As for the smaller clans like the Sarutobi, Shimura, and Ino-Shika-Cho, there was even less to say. One thing worth mentioning was that Ino-Shika-Cho had not banded together as they would later, but instead fought separately.
Had the Shinobi World finally welcomed a long-awaited peace...?
The major ninja clans stopping their fighting did not mean the major nations had stopped fighting. The various nations still had armies of samurai. In this era, ninja could only be called mercenaries.
Ninja had not become a formal military institution as they would later. Since ninja villages had not been established, the one-village-per-nation system of later generations naturally did not exist.
The current Shinobi World was more like Japan's Warring States period, with a bunch of ninja added as mercenaries.
Samurai were the main fighting force of this era. The military strength under the daimyo consisted primarily of samurai. Ninja, at most, were just somewhat special mercenary organizations.
That was why a saying circulated during the Warring States period: once you hired the Senju Clan, your opponent would have to hire the Uchiha Clan to stand against them.
Any nation or organization could issue missions to ninja. Since ninja villages had not been established, practically every major city had a dedicated ninja mission office.
Any ninja could come here to take missions, but clan ninja clearly outnumbered civilian ninja and had better reputations, too.
Ninja could choose to accept missions in exchange for money. This was one of the major sources of income for the clans.
But that did not mean it was their only source of income. Although most ninja did not engage in production, during the Warring States period, civilians who lacked the qualifications to become ninja still did productive work.
At the same time, clan ninja also took part in their clans' wars. It was much like a military farming system: they were civilians during wartime, and once war broke out and they were called up, they became soldiers.
Honestly, things in the Shinobi World were strange, and things during the Warring States period were stranger still.
If the ninja villages of later generations were military institutions, militarized organizations, then the ninja clans of the Warring States period were more like roving bandits.
Yet these bandits were legal, approved by the daimyo. The daimyo also allowed these ninja clans to each occupy a territory and attack one another.
Seriously, you ninja have both fighting power and numbers, so why aren't ninja clans the daimyo?
Or why hasn't each clan occupied a place, made it their own country, and started building and developing a nation? Why is the Uzumaki Clan the only one in the entire Naruto setting to have established a country?
Uchiha Takashi did not understand. All he could say was that this world was too strange. If anyone was to blame, blame the Sage of Six Paths! Back then, he had clearly possessed the military might of the entire Shinobi World, yet he had not unified it! Instead, he had restrained ninja.
He had kept ninja from taking part in the struggle for the Shinobi World. Otherwise, how could those ordinary people still have been the ones establishing nations now? It would have long since become a world ruled by ninja!
Forget it. The Shinobi World's current state is a problem left over from history. If I can't figure it out, I won't think about it.
Returning to the original subject, because all three major clans had ceased their conflicts, the Uchiha Clan had also resumed accepting outside missions-all kinds of missions, such as serving as mercenaries and finding cats and dogs.
At the same time, the Uchiha Clan also engaged in trade. As the summoners of the Ninja Cat Clan, which happened to be a major arms producer, the Uchiha also ran an arms-dealing business.
In the City of Fire, the largest city in the Land of Fire, Uchiha Takashi, Aka Uchiha, and Homura Uchiha walked along a bustling street.
Although the three of them were only eight years old, their strength had already reached Genin level and could even rival Chunin, so they were allowed to take missions independently.
This was their first time leaving the clan grounds to travel so far. Before, they had only shuttled between the clan grounds and the front lines, never visiting a town where civilians lived.
Now that the three had suddenly arrived here, Homura Uchiha and Aka Uchiha looked like country bumpkins visiting a grand estate, looking left and right and finding everything novel.
"Hey, hey, hey, could you two stop gawking? Why do you look like you've never seen the world?"
Uchiha Takashi folded his arms and said irritably, "Besides, you're spending our funds on food. What are we going to do if something unexpected happens?"
Holding tricolor dango, grilled fish, roast chicken, Sweet Madame, and Teyvat fried eggs, with his mouth stuffed full, Homura Uchiha mumbled, "Ish fine, ish fine... jush a lil bit o' money (It's fine, it's fine, it's only a little money)."
Meanwhile, Aka Uchiha kept munching on tricolor dango, his eyes lighting up more with every bite. "Takashi, you really have to try this tricolor dango. It's sweet! Super delicious!"
Uchiha Takashi tilted his head, somewhat speechless. Aka Uchiha had seemed pretty reliable before, so how had he become assimilated by Homura Uchiha now?
Uchiha Takashi sighed. It seemed he would have to shoulder responsibility for this team... Ah, but this dango really is delicious. Pretty sweet, like eating chocolate.
"Munch, munch, munch, munch, munch... Who do you think invented this dango? Munch, munch, munch... It's so good."
Uchiha Takashi popped dango into his mouth as he said, "Who knows? Who cares, as long as it tastes good."
Homura Uchiha thought for a little while before saying, "This tastes really good. I'll bring some back for Xiao Li when I go home."
"I told you it tasted great, didn't I? And you didn't believe me! Look at you... You're a total siscon..." Aka Uchiha teased with a laugh.
Watching the two banter, Uchiha Takashi suddenly realized that war really had gotten into his head. How had he forgotten that these two were actually eight-year-old children?
Although both acted very mature for their age, they were ultimately just eight-year-old children. Wasn't it perfectly normal for them to like playing and eating sweets?
"All right, all right, all right, stop chatting, you two. We've bought everything and eaten, so hurry up and get to the mission hall. If all the old missions get snatched up, we'll be stuck doing the thankless ones."
Uchiha Takashi shook his head, interrupted their conversation, and immediately urged them to hurry onward.
"Oh, oh..." Homura Uchiha hurried after him with a huge pile of food in his arms. "Then do you want to try this grilled fish?"
Uchiha Takashi: "..." Well, this guy's a foodie. He's clearly an Uchiha, so why does he feel like an Akimichi?
The three had not walked far when Uchiha Takashi suddenly sensed a malicious gaze from beside them. He glanced over out of the corner of his eye and saw several boys their age on the roadside staring fixedly at them.
Uchiha Takashi's expression did not change. His gaze shifted down to their arms, and a familiar double-forked symbol came into view.
"The Senju Clan?" Uchiha Takashi withdrew his gaze. The two clans had an unwritten rule: fighting was allowed, but not inside a city. They had to leave the city to fight. In other words, there was no need to worry about a sneak attack from the other side while inside.
Meanwhile, the Senju Clan members had noticed Uchiha Takashi and his two companions, and their expressions darkened as well.
"The Uchiha Clan..."