"You traitors..." Naka Chinoike stood petrified on the spot, looking as though he was about to crack apart.
Behind him, his clansmen wore expressions of resolve and reluctance as they wiped away snot and tears. "Clan leader, go in peace. We'll live well among the Uchiha. Don't worry about us."
Naka Chinoike: "..." Could you stop the corners of your mouth from turning up when you say that? Saying it with a smile really doesn't make you very convincing!
"It seems your Chinoike clansmen have already made the choice for you. The future will prove their choice was correct. As for you... since you don't want to join us Uchiha, you're of no use anymore."
Uchiha Takashi slowly clasped his hands behind his back. "The Uchiha don't keep useless people around..." As his words fell, several Uchiha clansmen behind him immediately crowded forward, their faces full of excitement.
Naka Chinoike backed away two steps in fear and hurriedly gave an awkward laugh. "Hahahaha, actually, it's not like I couldn't do it. I can love the clan too. I can love the Uchiha too!"
Uchiha Takashi: "..." I really overestimated the Chinoike Clan's backbone. Are they really this spineless? Is this really the Chinoike Clan that was once known as the little Uchiha?
Could living in Hell Valley and breathing volcanic ash every day have turned these people into idiots?
"Hehehe... Third Elder! From today onward, the Chinoike Clan belongs to the Uchiha! We pledge our loyalty to the Uchiha Clan!"
Uchiha Takashi: "..." They say a wise man knows which way the wind blows, but isn't this taking it a little too far? They agreed after just a little threatening tease. I haven't even offered any incentives yet.
Naka Chinoike (ಠ .̫.̫ ಠ): "..." What's with that contemptuous look? This is clearly your Uchiha's handiwork, all right?
...Ka-chunk (transition sound effect)...
"This is how you're living now?" Uchiha Takashi looked disdainfully at the rice wine on the table.
The other Uchiha also wore scornful expressions.
Back in their clan, this kind of wine was just something to casually chug straight from the bottle or pour onto the ground as an offering to the dead. It was so low-grade that hardly anyone even drank it.
"Hey, hey, hey, don't touch my wine! I was saving that to enjoy next month!"
Naka Chinoike actually treasured this stuff, barely bearing to drink a few mouthfuls all year.
It gave Uchiha Takashi an even clearer understanding of just how bitter the Chinoike's lives were.
Watching the wine bottles he had set on the table being handled so casually, Naka Chinoike felt his heart bleed. That was the entire stock he had scraped together through months of scrimping and saving.
The moment these Uchiha arrived, they had divided all his wine among themselves without hesitation! What an evil Uchiha Clan!
"Tch... I wouldn't even drink this stuff back in the clan." Uoyuki Uchiha sat in a chair with his arms folded and his head held high, speaking with a disdainful expression.
Naka Chinoike: "..." I'm so sorry our Chinoike Clan's wine failed to satisfy you esteemed Uchiha.
Looking at Naka Chinoike standing beside him, Uchiha Takashi rubbed his chin and asked, "You Chinoike have been locked up here for so many years. Have you never considered escaping?"
Naka Chinoike gave a bitter smile. "How could we never have dreamed of it? The Daimyo of the Land of Lightning imprisoned us here, and you Uchiha guard the entrance every day. How could we possibly escape?"
Hearing this, Uchiha Takashi coughed awkwardly twice and hurriedly changed the subject. "Don't worry. Since you've already joined the Uchiha Clan, all the charges the Land of Lightning has laid on you will be wiped clean.
"As for the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning, we Uchiha will naturally take care of everything."
At last, Naka Chinoike showed a trace of bearing befitting a clan leader. He sat cross-legged and asked, "Just what is your Uchiha Clan planning by having us join you?
"Have the Uchiha really become so desperate that they need the Chinoike to bolster their strength?"
Uchiha Takashi merely gave him a casual glance. "You don't need to know how the Uchiha are doing yet. All you need to know is that our group alone could wipe out the entire Chinoike Clan."
Feeling the powerful chakra emanating from Uchiha Takashi, Naka Chinoike swallowed. He did not doubt Uchiha Takashi's words in the slightest.
The group of Three-Tomoe Sharingan users Uchiha Takashi had brought alone could slaughter every last one of their Chinoike, and that was without counting Uchiha Takashi himself.
After all, if they could beat them at all, they wouldn't have been trapped inside Hell Valley by these Uchiha, unable to leave.
Although Uchiha Takashi was only ten, he wasn't stupid. How could he fail to see Naka Chinoike's blatant probing?
Naka Chinoike had asked that question to test the Uchiha's current strength, so he could decide whether the Chinoike should submit.
Naturally, Uchiha Takashi had no qualms about displaying a little of his strength. After all, when forcing someone to submit through intimidation like this, you had to flex your muscles to make them accept it wholeheartedly.
They wouldn't understand if you spouted lofty principles about love and peace. Only fists could teach them who held the upper hand!
"What, you aren't convinced?" Uoyuki Uchiha glared over. "Looks like you won't be happy until you've had a fight. Come on, come on. Spar with me if you've got the guts."
As he spoke, Uoyuki Uchiha activated his Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
This gave Naka Chinoike quite a fright, and he hurriedly begged for mercy. "Hey, hey, hey, don't, don't, don't! That's not what I meant! I was just curious!"
Uoyuki Uchiha curled his lips into a smile. "That was what you had in mind, wasn't it? Come on, come on, let's spar. I want to see what your Chinoike's Ketsuryūgan is like too."
"Save me, Third Elder! Third Elder..." Naka Chinoike was dragged out of the room by Uoyuki Uchiha.
Uchiha Takashi sat in his chair, ignoring the pair. Giving Naka Chinoike a beating was fine too. It would establish their authority nicely.
Now that the Chinoike Clan had submitted, what other ways were there to improve the Uchiha Clan's fighting strength?
He couldn't really just count on the Chinoike Clan to increase their bloodline purity. After all, the Chinoike Clan didn't have many ninja either. He had to think of something else.
Uchiha Takashi swayed his head and rubbed his chin, racking his brains, until he suddenly caught sight of Hen Uchiha out of the corner of his eye.
An idea suddenly flashed through Uchiha Takashi's mind! Hen Uchiha had given Uchiha Takashi a little inspiration. Uh, not about being amorous.
Although the Uchiha Clan had no rules specifying how marriage should work, most Uchiha valued their feelings deeply and were stubborn about them, so they generally had only one partner throughout their lives.
So expecting the Uchiha to become amorous and find themselves a whole bunch of wives was impossible!
But that didn't stop them from having children. The more children there were, the larger the population, and the better the clan could develop. Uchiha Takashi discovered in astonishment that his thinking had converged with that of the former clan leader, Ryō Uchiha.
Ryō Uchiha valued the younger generation and focused on the growth of the clan's juniors. Uchiha Takashi was the same, except that he had added increasing the number of the clan's juniors to that foundation.