While Uchiha Takashi was examining the stone tablet, the grand elder came over carrying the tablet recording their achievements.
"Well, Takashi? Did you see anything?"
Uchiha Takashi turned around. "Of course, though I couldn't read all of it. All I saw on here was..."
Uchiha Takashi hesitated. He did not know whether he should reveal what he had seen with his Mangekyō Sharingan.
Then he reconsidered. Wait, the Uchiha Clan had produced several Mangekyō Sharingan users during the Warring States Period anyway. Wouldn't they see the same thing when the time came?
With that, Uchiha Takashi put his concerns aside and shared the tablet's contents without holding anything back, including the tailed beasts and combining yin and yang to gain the power of all creation.
The grand elder stroked his chin, looking rather bewildered. "What does combining yin and yang mean? And what the hell is a tailed beast?"
Clearly, people in this era still did not know what either of those things actually represented.
Uchiha Takashi said, "According to our ancestors' records, tailed beasts are incredibly powerful concentrations of chakra with minds of their own.
"The tablet says that the Uchiha Clan's Mangekyō Sharingan can control tailed beasts.
"But according to our predecessors' records, the tailed beasts were left behind by the Sage of Six Paths to protect the Shinobi World."
Hearing this, the grand elder hesitated before saying, "I see. Guardian beasts left in the Shinobi World by the Sage of Six Paths? What do you think, Takashi?"
Uchiha Takashi said, "I don't think I should forcibly control them. That would be disrespectful to the Sage of Six Paths. But if we could persuade the tailed beasts to help us, that would be another matter."
The grand elder nodded in satisfaction. His thoughts were largely in line with Uchiha Takashi's. Forcibly controlling them would be a little too sacrilegious toward the Sage of Six Paths.
If they could sit down peacefully with the tailed beasts and talk them into helping of their own free will, that would be what he wanted.
Uchiha Takashi thought, So basically, if it weren't for the Sage of Six Paths' name attached to them, you really would want to control them, huh?
"Grand elder, I think we need to leave a record warning future generations not to forcibly control the tailed beasts. Otherwise, it could cause unnecessary trouble."
Uchiha Takashi said this after a moment of silence, mainly because he was worried he might fail.
Or perhaps he would succeed, but the Shinobi World would still follow the original plot.
If he could make the tailed beasts think favorably of the Uchiha, perhaps that could introduce some variables.
"That makes sense too. All right, I'll record that as well."
Uchiha Takashi nodded, then said goodbye to the grand elder and left.
His main focus was no longer on their headquarters. His efforts were primarily directed toward Uchiha Village.
That was the Uchiha's second base, their trump card, and a fallback they had prepared.
If the Uchiha really did lose to the Senju someday, at least their bloodline would survive, wouldn't it? They couldn't end up like they did in Shippuden, with only Sasuke Uchiha left.
"Third elder." At the entrance to Uchiha Village, Fū Uchiha, who was responsible for managing its civil affairs, happened to be there.
Uchiha Takashi looked over the village, then asked, "Fū, has anything happened in the village lately?"
Fū Uchiha shook his head. "No, but we've been discussing whether we should take in refugees.
"According to the information brought back by the clansmen we sent out, there's a village not far from here that's about to be wiped out. There are several hundred people there."
Uchiha Takashi said, "Oh? A village of several hundred people that's about to be wiped out? We could bring all those people back, then. Our village still has too few people, after all."
Having received his approval, Fū Uchiha nodded and immediately went to round up people from the Guard Force to bring them back.
But Uchiha Takashi stopped him. "Just stay here. I'll handle relocating those people."
Fū Uchiha asked in confusion, "Why?"
Uchiha Takashi said, "...No reason. Just leave that to me and get back to handling civil affairs. Let me know right away if anything important comes up."
Uchiha Takashi simply did not want to deal with that pile of tedious administrative work. As an Uchiha, he was not good at handling any of it. It was better left to a professional like Fū Uchiha.
Soon, Yukimichi Uchiha came over with members of the Guard Force. After taking a head count, he told Uchiha Takashi, "Third elder, ten people in total. Everyone's ready."
"If everyone's ready, let's go." Uchiha Takashi wasted no more words and set off.
Though the village had been described as nearby, it was actually several dozen kilometers away. With stops along the way, the ten of them took half a day to get there.
Looking at the village before him, which was like Uchiha Village had been at the beginning, if not worse, Uchiha Takashi could not help feeling wistful. Villages like this were the norm in the Warring States Period.
They slowly approached the village and were soon spotted by the samurai standing guard at the entrance.
"Who goes there? Stop right there!" a samurai shouted. He then drew the katana at his waist and took a fighting stance.
Yukimichi Uchiha slowly walked up to him and gave him a look with his Three-Tomoe Sharingan. The samurai's eyes rolled back, and he fainted on the spot.
The ten of them walked into the village unimpeded. As they made their way down the street, Uchiha Takashi looked at the residents along the roadside.
Noticing Uchiha Takashi's gaze, the surrounding residents all shied away, not wanting to draw attention.
After all, this group was walking down the street carrying weapons. No matter how anyone looked at them, they were not people to mess with.
But before they had been walking down the street for long, an old man hurried over. "My lord, I was unaware of your arrival. Please forgive me!"
Faced with the old man's deeply humble manner, Yukimichi Uchiha felt too awkward to use a particularly fierce tone and instead asked calmly,
"Are you the village chief?"
The old man nodded hastily. "Yes, yes, I'm the chief of this village. Lord ninja, what important business brings you to our village?"
There was a trace of pride in Yukimichi Uchiha's voice. "You're in luck. Our Uchiha Clan has decided to offer you protection.
"Your days of hardship are over. Everyone in your village can come live in our village with us. You'll be allotted farmland.
"Our clansmen will ensure your safety. As long as you obey our laws, you can live and work in peace."
Uchiha Takashi had taught him those words. Otherwise, with Yukimichi Uchiha's thunderous way of talking, he probably would have said something like this:
"You paupers are pretty lucky. The Uchiha Clan has taken a liking to you. Go home, pack your things, and come with us without any fuss.
"It's your honor to be ruled by the Uchiha Clan. Don't fail to appreciate the favor!"
Believe it or not, Yukimichi Uchiha really would have said that. He might seem quite humble in front of Uchiha Takashi,
but that was because Uchiha Takashi's fists were strong enough. The Uchiha had always respected the strong. Faced with civilians who had no fighting ability whatsoever, Yukimichi Uchiha had little good to say.
That he could communicate calmly without acting superior and looking down his nose at people was all thanks to Uchiha Takashi's effective instruction.