Uchiha Takashi had guessed correctly. The grand elder wasted no time taking action.
As soon as Fū Uchiha delivered the news, the grand elder began selecting young, able-bodied workers from the clan without hesitation.
He selected over 900 people. Those 900-plus able-bodied workers represented over 500 households, with a total population of more than 2,400.
That very evening, he sent over the first batch: around 100 people from roughly 25 households.
Uchiha Takashi immediately settled the arrivals into the vacant houses that had already been cleaned and prepared. Starting the next day, these clansmen would begin integrating into the village.
However, in the Warring States period, clan ties were still extremely strong. These people sent here would be unable to fully integrate with the original inhabitants.
The arrivals would form their own branch, because they represented the Uchiha, and the blood flowing through their veins belonged to the Uchiha Clan. Although their bloodline had grown too thin to support awakening their eyes or becoming ninja, they were still members of the Uchiha Clan.
In the Shinobi World, rulers, nobles, generals, and ministers really were born of special blood. This was especially true of clans like the Uchiha, who relied on their bloodline to begin with. They placed even greater importance on bloodlines than other clans did.
Even the Uchiha Clan's commoners would keep themselves separate from other villagers. This was also reflected in Konoha in later years.
Even after Konoha had been established for so long, the Uchiha remained the Uchiha. Even their commoners were still Uchiha.
The Uchiha Clan's commoners were not allowed to freely marry outsiders, so even gathered here, they would still remain clearly separated from the villagers.
Uchiha Takashi naturally knew all of this. Compared with more traditional views, his ideas were somewhat more moderate and progressive.
For now, the Uchiha Clan members sent here would certainly set aside land within the village and form a small clan compound.
Uchiha Takashi believed that Uchiha commoners already lacked the aptitude to become ninja, and their bloodline was too thin for them to awaken their eyes. Thus, he felt the clan could select some commoners who had failed to make the cut and allow them to integrate with ordinary commoners.
This might even give ordinary commoners a slightly better chance of becoming ninja, while leaving no need to worry about diluting the bloodline.
After all, the commoners selected already had thin bloodlines. Diluting them a little further would not matter.
As for concerns about the bloodline spreading outside, Uchiha Takashi's view was that the village's commoner residents, unlike ninja, were not allowed to leave the village and settle elsewhere at will in the first place.
Thus, the likelihood of the bloodline spreading outside was even lower than the likelihood of a missing-nin emerging. Uchiha Takashi believed that missing-nin fleeing and leaving descendants elsewhere were the more likely way for the Uchiha Clan's bloodline to spread outside.
As he reached this thought, Fū Uchiha stepped forward and said, "Third Elder, along with the workers, the grand elder also provided a large quantity of farming tools for us to use in clearing the land."
Hearing this, Uchiha Takashi immediately turned around. "Oh? Where are those tools? Take me to see them."
Fū Uchiha immediately had people bring the tools over. The iron farming tools were all pushed over on handcarts.
Uchiha Takashi slowly walked forward and tapped the tools on a handcart, then turned to ask, "How many farming tools did the grand elder provide in total?"
Fū Uchiha said, "We only brought fifty sets this time. The grand elder said he would provide six hundred sets in total. The rest will arrive later with the clansmen."
Six hundred sets? Uchiha Takashi lowered his head in thought. Six hundred sets were indeed enough. After all, his plan was not to give these tools to the villagers for free, but to have the village keep them under centralized management.
Anyone who needed them would apply to use them and have to return them afterward. If they really were given away for free, even a few thousand sets would barely suffice.
Even with the Uchiha Clan's wealth, they could not promise every villager a set of farming tools. Having a few thousand sets in storage within the clan would already be impressive.
Running his hand over the tools, Uchiha Takashi said in a low voice, "We can't rely solely on the clan for workers. We also need to take in people from outside.
"We can accept people fleeing here from wars in other countries. Of course, any criminals who would harm the village's development are to be killed on the spot!"
Yukimichi Uchiha cupped his fists. "Understood. But Third Elder, our Guard Force might not have enough manpower."
Uchiha Takashi said, "Don't worry. I know your Guard Force is short-handed, but its members can't all come from the clan.
"The clan's ninja still need to fight the Senju, so there's no way large numbers of them can join the Guard Force. That's why we need to recruit commoners.
"Don't we happen to have ten suits of samurai armor here? We can recruit ten ordinary villagers into the Guard Force. Although samurai can't put up a fight against ninja, they're enough to manage the villagers."
Yukimichi Uchiha said, "I see. It's just..."
Seeing Yukimichi Uchiha hesitate, Uchiha Takashi raised an eyebrow. "What do you want to say? Speak freely. There's no need to agonize over it."
At that, Yukimichi Uchiha gathered his courage and said, "Third Elder, if the Guard Force recruits other commoners as samurai members, it might cause resentment among our clansmen when they enforce the rules."
Yukimichi Uchiha's words reminded Uchiha Takashi of something. By clansmen, he meant the Uchiha commoners who had moved here.
Although they were commoners within the clan, they were still Uchiha when dealing with villagers. Yet commoners who joined the Guard Force would have authority over them, which could cause resentment.
Would he have to establish a special privilege? Non-Uchiha members of the Guard Force wouldn't have authority over Uchiha commoners?
Although this would not cause any problems in the short term, it would definitely cause resentment among the other villagers over time. The problem would become even more serious then.
This was indeed a question worth considering. Uchiha Takashi had not thought of it before, but now that he did, the problem really did seem a little... No... There was no problem at all!
Uchiha Takashi had fallen into a mental trap once again. He always liked to think about the present using the conventional thinking of his previous life. He had to recognize what era this was-the Warring States period.
Privileged classes were extremely common in the Shinobi World. Especially in the current Warring States period, the major clans were themselves privileged classes.
Moreover, the idea of privileged classes had long since taken root in people's minds. Establishing a rule that non-Uchiha members of the Guard Force were not allowed to exercise authority over the Uchiha would not cause any consequences.
Perhaps it would provoke intense resentment among commoners in other worlds, but this was the Shinobi World, and the Warring States period at that. Even if they resented it, they would have to put up with it. They could not even fill their stomachs-who had the time to think about such things?
By the time they could eat their fill and began having other ideas, the Uchiha Clan's commoners would probably have almost merged with ordinary commoners.
By then, nearly everyone would be Uchiha, with some Uchiha blood in their veins, more or less. What would be the point of worrying about such things then? Even the Guard Force's members would all be Uchiha. Having that rule would be no different from not having it.
At this thought, Uchiha Takashi could not help laughing. Many things that would be problems elsewhere were no longer problems when brought into the Shinobi World.