"All right, I think my words have touched your soul. I hope I won't hear anything negative about you from now on."
Uchiha Takashi casually flipped through the papers on his desk and waved a hand, having Yuki Senju hauled away.
Then he picked up a report from the front beside him and began reading.
Ever since he had taken over as Third Elder and come here, the First Elder had regularly sent him news from the front.
By now, the front had stabilized completely, following the Hyuga Clan's decision to join the Uchiha camp.
The Hyuga had thoroughly mapped out the Three-Clan Allied Forces' outlying forces, and the Hyuga Clan generously shared all this intelligence with the Uchiha.
The Uchiha Second Elder then personally led men to wipe out those strongholds.
With the Hyuga Clan also tying down the Uzumaki Clan and Sarutobi Clan outside, the situation had returned to a one-on-one fight between the Uchiha and Senju.
At present, the Senju Clan was very quiet. It seemed they no longer wanted to launch a large-scale war. After all, even three clans together had failed to defeat the Uchiha.
Now that the Uchiha also had the Hyuga on their side, continuing to fight would only waste their own strength. They were better off taking this opportunity to rest and recover.
As it happened, the Uchiha thought the same way, and so this war subsided once again.
But Uchiha Takashi knew that another war would break out before long.
In two years at most, either the Uchiha would strike the Senju first, or the Senju would muster their forces to attack the Uchiha. In any case, one of the two clans would start a war.
War was unavoidable. The two clans' competition over resources and their enduring hatred both made war inevitable.
What Uchiha Takashi needed to do was develop the Uchiha with everything he had over these two years-or perhaps less than two years-and make the Uchiha even stronger!
...A few days later.
Uchiha Village was now on track. All 500 households relocated by the First Elder had arrived, bringing the population to over a thousand.
More than half of them had moved over from the Uchiha Clan. This not only greatly eased the pressure within the clan, but also ensured the growth of Uchiha influence.
Although the village could not yet sustain itself and still had to rely on supplies from the clan to some extent.
Before long, the village would be able to supply the clan in turn. At that point, they could move on to the next stage of the plan.
With winter about to end and spring approaching, the village had reclaimed a large stretch of fertile farmland.
Meanwhile, Fū Uchiha had already led men to establish an iron-mining production area. In another week at most, they would be able to extract a steady supply of iron ore.
At the same time, all the laws had been issued, and the Guard Force had been established, recruiting some civilians from within the Uchiha Clan, so manpower was not a concern.
Looking at the village, so full of vitality, with everything flourishing and thriving, Uchiha Takashi was very satisfied and filled with a sense of accomplishment.
However, one thing had surprised him somewhat: their contact with the Fujiwara Clan.
Yukimichi Uchiha returned less than two days after leaving, bringing news that surprised him.
Tsukina Fujiwara's father, Kai Fujiwara, had already left the City of Red for the Land of Fire's capital, the City of Fire.
Uchiha Takashi truly had not expected this. After all, Tsukina Fujiwara was his daughter, whatever else might be said. Had he actually left without waiting for his own daughter to return?
"He just left like that, without bothering about anything?" Uchiha Takashi asked incredulously. "He didn't leave anyone in the City of Red to wait for her or anything?"
Yukimichi Uchiha shook his head. "No. I took the letter and asked from household to household. The city lord told me outright that he had already gone to the City of Fire.
"Apparently, he left the day after Miss Tsukina Fujiwara departed. But I think I heard it was because Suke Fujiwara sent a letter..."
Uchiha Takashi lowered his eyes in thought. Whatever else she might be, Tsukina Fujiwara was a member of the Fujiwara Family. Leaving her out there to fend for herself without any concern did not fit the Fujiwara House's character.
Moreover, this was completely at odds with how a noble of the Land of Fire behaved. After all, nobles throughout the Shinobi World placed particular importance on bloodlines.
Logically, with Tsukina Fujiwara having been away for so long, the Fujiwara Family should have brought her back no matter what, to prevent the Fujiwara House's bloodline from spreading outside.
Yet Kai Fujiwara had simply up and left. Unless he had no choice, he could not possibly have left despite the risk of his bloodline spreading outside.
"It looks like the problem lies with Suke Fujiwara," Uchiha Takashi said slowly. "There was definitely something wrong with that letter from Suke Fujiwara."
What exactly had the letter said to make Kai Fujiwara prefer leaving alone, even at the risk of his bloodline spreading outside...?
Kai Fujiwara had no sons, after all. Tsukina Fujiwara was his only daughter-at least, that was how things stood on the surface.
Besides, the current laws of succession were not quite like those of ancient times. Women also had inheritance rights, though their priority was lower than men's.
Then, logically, all his property belonged to Tsukina Fujiwara. Even the continuation of his branch of the family depended on her.
Could he simply abandon such an important heir? And the timing was highly suspicious too: it had happened the very day after Tsukina Fujiwara left.
No matter how he looked at it, it felt as though Kai Fujiwara had sent her away so that he could leave himself.
After thinking for a long time, Uchiha Takashi shook his head. He knew too little at present to deduce much useful information. He needed more clues to confirm his conjecture.
"Yukimichi Uchiha, thank you for making another trip," Uchiha Takashi said apologetically. "Go to the City of Fire and secretly gather information on the Fujiwara Family.
"If I'm not mistaken... Kai Fujiwara should already be dead."
Yukimichi Uchiha asked in some astonishment, "Third Elder, why are you so certain?"
Uchiha Takashi did not answer the question. Instead, he said, "Go to the City of Fire first. You'll understand when you get there. This is bullshit between nobles..."
With no other choice, Yukimichi Uchiha set out again, his mind full of questions, heading toward the even more distant City of Fire.
Uchiha Takashi held his hands behind his back. Why had he guessed that Kai Fujiwara was already dead?
First, as the sole heir, how could Tsukina Fujiwara possibly have been casually given a few people and sent out to do business?
In these chaotic times, bandits ran rampant. They did not care whose daughter you were. If something happened to the sole heir, wouldn't that be the end of everything?
And why had Kai Fujiwara left the City of Red for the City of Fire the very day after Tsukina Fujiwara departed?
No matter how he thought about it, wasn't this deliberately sending her away?
Then, looking at it from another angle, perhaps Kai Fujiwara's aim had not been to send her out to do business, but to conceal her movements and send her somewhere safe?
Only her movements had been exposed, and nearby bandits had happened to abduct her.
In that case, all his actions made sense.
It was not that Uchiha Takashi liked to think of people in terms of conspiracies. Rather, all the information he had learned about the Fujiwara Family had involved conspiracies.
There were rumors that Kai Fujiwara's elder brother, Suke Fujiwara, was already very dissatisfied with Kai Fujiwara's branch of the family and had always wanted to wipe out the branch.
Whether this was true or false would all be revealed once Yukimichi Uchiha returned with news.