Uchiha Takashi hurriedly dressed and left the hot spring establishment. The Uchiha clansman who had come to report was standing outside the entrance.
Seeing Uchiha Takashi emerge so quickly, he looked shocked. "Third Elder, you're that fast?"
A vein bulged on Uchiha Takashi's forehead. "Shut your mouth! Am I that kind of person? I had no idea this place offered those kinds of services!
"If I'd known, I wouldn't have come here to soak, all right? I only came here for the hot springs!"
Guard Force: Keep talking, I'm listening. I've heard this version plenty of times already. Got a new one?
Realizing he had misunderstood, the Uchiha clansman hastily gave two awkward coughs. "Sorry, Third Elder. Let's talk about the Chinoike Clan instead."
Uchiha Takashi nodded. "My ultimate goal for the Chinoike Clan is to force them to join us Uchiha. Ideally, they'd integrate directly into our clan.
"After all, if their Ketsuryūgan merged with our Sharingan, it would definitely strengthen our Sharingan. What worries me now is, if they refuse,
"do we have enough military strength to suppress them and force them to join us...?"
Hearing this question, the Uchiha clansman immediately pulled it out again and glanced at it twice before saying firmly,
"Rest assured, Third Elder. We absolutely do. We Uchiha have a full fifteen Mitsudomoe and fifty Futatsudomoe clansmen here. We have more than enough strength to suppress them.
"The Ketsuryūgan Genjutsu the Chinoike are so proud of has absolutely no effect on our Futatsudomoe clansmen. Our Genjutsu, on the other hand, can inflict tremendous damage on them.
"Our Sharingan perfectly counters their Ketsuryūgan."
Uchiha Takashi was astonished to hear that there were actually fifteen Mitsudomoe here. There was even a contingent of elites hidden away here.
After all, the clan did not have many Mitsudomoe left now. Setting aside those who had died and excluding those incapable of fighting, there were only around fifty Mitsudomoe in the clan.
Who would have thought that fifteen Mitsudomoe were hidden in the tiny Land of Hot Water? What exactly was going on?
A Mitsudomoe was at least a Jonin; calling them an Elite Jonin would not even be an exaggeration. Every Mitsudomoe clansman held an important position in the clan.
They represented the absolute elite, the very core of the Uchiha.
"That many? What's going on? Why are there fifteen Mitsudomoe here? Why didn't anyone here move even when the clan faced an emergency?"
Uchiha Takashi asked in some confusion. The Uchiha clansman answered, "Actually, we only had two Mitsudomoe here at first.
"Later, the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning worried that the guard wasn't strict enough, so he paid the clan to send another group of Mitsudomoe. That's why there are so many."
The corner of Uchiha Takashi's eye twitched. "So why didn't any of you move when the clan faced an emergency?"
The Uchiha clansman scratched the back of his head. "Because we took their money. We promised to stand guard here, so how could we just move as we pleased? Besides, we never received orders from the clan head."
Uchiha Takashi tilted his head, somewhat speechless. So it had been for the Uchiha Clan's reputation. Sure enough, was this why the Uchiha had such a good reputation?
At this point, the clansman suddenly remembered something and said, "Um, Third Elder, if we absorb the Chinoike Clan into the Uchiha just like that, wouldn't it violate our contract with the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning?"
Uchiha Takashi said, "Why would it? What's the problem? The daimyo only asked us to guard them. We can take them back to our clan and guard them there."
The Uchiha clansman seemed not to have expected such a shameless argument. At a loss, he said, "Well... isn't that a little underhanded? Wouldn't it damage our reputation?"
Uchiha Takashi waved dismissively. "Reputation? That's meant to be spent! We've saved up our reputation for so long. Shouldn't we put it to good use?
"Besides, the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning would love for us to bring the Chinoike into the Uchiha Clan. That way, they wouldn't have to pay anymore."
After all, this was an old bill that had been hanging over them for ages. Because of this matter, the Land of Lightning had to pay the Uchiha every year.
After several generations, the current daimyo had long since stopped wanting to pay. If they had not believed the Chinoike Clan could pin their Yotsuki Clan to the ground and beat them, they would have stopped paying long ago.
Uchiha Takashi folded his arms. "Don't worry about the daimyo. They'll agree. What we need to think about now is how to take the Chinoike at the lowest possible cost."
Seeing his Third Elder so confident and certain, the Uchiha clansman gradually relaxed. "Third Elder, the Uchiha Clan's strength is beyond question.
"When it comes to military strength, we have absolutely nothing to worry about!"
Uchiha Takashi said, "Is fighting all you have in your head? I said, how do we take them at the lowest possible cost! That means avoiding a fight if we can.
"Ideally, we should preserve as much of the Chinoike Clan as possible. After all, anyone who dies would have been one of our people in the future! It pains me!"
The Uchiha clansman ∑(O_O;): "Huh? So that's what you meant?"
Soon, Hen Uchiha and the other clansman accompanying Uchiha Takashi emerged. Both were a little unsteady on their feet, but their faces were full of satisfaction.
Several women following behind them waved. "Come back and have fun again!"
Uchiha Takashi looked at the two with contempt, while inwardly wondering whether the Chinoike Clan had come about under just such circumstances.
Some Uchiha ancestor had left offspring behind while fooling around outside, and a mutation had then produced the Chinoike.
And that person must have had an extremely pure bloodline. Otherwise, after several generations of dilution, their descendants would have been practically ordinary civilians before any mutation could occur.
It might very well have been a son or grandson of Indra. Even Indra himself was not out of the question.
Uchiha Takashi immediately sucked in a cold breath. He felt that his guess seemed very reasonable-or rather, that this was exactly what had happened!
Uchiha Takashi felt that he had discovered a truth, understood a buried truth that no one knew.
Looking at Uchiha Takashi's expression of having figured everything out, Hen Uchiha was instantly filled with confusion.
"Third Elder, what are you doing?" Hen Uchiha scratched the back of his head. Perhaps because of what he had just done, he was now very sensitive to facial expressions.
Only then did Uchiha Takashi come back to his senses, his expression turning contemptuous again. "Hen Uchiha, if I remember correctly, you're only ten, aren't you? How could you already..." As he spoke, he stared straight at the establishment, his meaning obvious.
Hen Uchiha immediately flushed and hastily said awkwardly, "I happened to find out about this place once when I came here on a mission. Besides, it's all legal..."
Uchiha Takashi said, "Then do you remember that the clan regulates this kind of thing that might allow our bloodline to spread outside?"
Hearing that this was being taken to the clan level, Hen Uchiha waved his hands repeatedly. "No, Third Elder, nothing like that happened. I know about that, so I only..."
As he spoke, his face grew redder and his voice grew quieter, until his final words were inaudible.
Uchiha Takashi seemed to have realized something. He raised an eyebrow and said nothing more, turning and waving for the others to follow him away.
Oh my, doing that sort of thing while still ensuring the bloodline didn't spread outside. There weren't any contraceptive methods in this era, so how exactly had he done it? Such a hard guess...