While the Uchiha was thriving, the Senju Clan was not idle either.
Oto Senju led a group of Senju clan members, bypassing the Uchiha Clan's territory and making a large detour, before arriving at the Hyuga Clan.
Upon hearing of the Hyuga Clan Senju Clan's visit, the Senju Clan immediately housed the visiting Senju members and dispatched the head elder of their Main Family to conduct diplomatic exchanges with them.
Oto Senju, sitting in the reception room, had her eyes slightly narrowed. She only looked up when the door opened and Da Zhang slowly entered.
"Elder Hyuga, I, Oto Senju, have long admired your reputation. Hyuga you today, I am truly impressed by your extraordinary character."
Oto Senju immediately launched into a barrage of commercial praise, which made the Hyuga Grand Elder on the other side somewhat flattered. He coughed twice, his face flushed.
"Alright, Senju Clan brat, I won't let your flattery cloud my judgment. State your purpose."
Oto Senju shook her head and said, "No, no, Hyuga, what I said just now came from the bottom of my heart. It wasn't that I really thought you were extraordinary."
I just wanted to offer a sincere compliment; there was no other meaning behind it.
The Hyuga elder, with his eyes closed and a smile almost reaching the sky, still managed to suppress his laughter as he said, "Alright, Senju Clan brat, quickly state your purpose!"
Only then did Oto Senju stop her commercial hype and begin to explain her own thoughts.
"I'm here to persuade the Hyuga Clan to form an alliance with our Senju Clan to jointly combat the Uchiha."
Upon hearing this, the entire reception room fell silent, and Hyuga's expression froze on his face.
After a long silence, the Hyuga Elder finally found his voice. "Do you know what you're saying? Don't you know that the Uchiha Clan requested reinforcements from our Hyuga Clan in exchange for iron ore?"
"Our Hyuga Clan is now an ally of the Uchiha. We have already stopped fighting against your Senju Clan. What makes you think we would betray our ally?"
Oto Senju suddenly leaned forward and said, "Because you pursue balance, but now the Uchiha Clan has firmly suppressed the Senju Clan."
If you want to continue pursuing balance, then you must join forces with our Senju Clan to deal with the Uchiha. Wasn't that the reason you allied with the Uchiha in the first place? Are you just going to stand by and watch the Uchiha Senju suppress them and ultimately become the dominant force?"
Elder Hyuga fell silent again, while Oto Senju was extremely nervous on the other side, fearing that Hyuga Uchiha were still in a passive position, strategically surrounded.
So, while Elder Hyuga pondering, he added fuel to the fire.
"If the Hyuga Clan accepts our Senju Clan's proposal, our Senju Clan is not only willing to take over all the iron ore previously provided by the Uchiha, but also to allocate an additional batch of Chakra Metal ore!"
If Hyuga can deliver this message back and agree to our request, we will offer up the iron ore in full. Shortly afterward, we will also offer up our own Chakra Metal!
And this perfectly aligns with your balancing policy, doesn't it? A win-win situation...
Upon hearing what was offered, Hyuga Hyuga's eyes immediately lit up, and he stood up without hesitation, saying...
"Good lad, to offer such a generous gift! It seems the Senju Clan is truly sincere; I can feel it. I'll say hello first."
We are not betraying the Uchiha; we are merely maintaining a balance. We are willing to mediate your conflict and will cease our actions, but we will not target the Uchiha.
And I'm not after these so-called ores; we simply want to maintain a balance.
Seeing that the Hyuga elder had agreed, Oto Senju curled the corners of her lips. She hadn't been wrong; the Main Family of the Hyuga Clan was a group of people with short-sighted strategic vision.
They couldn't see that the Uchiha were in a passive situation of being strategically surrounded; they could only see their immediate tactical victory, and that was the loophole he exploited.
The Hyuga Clan's Main Family is incompetent, yet the branch Branch Family is arrogant. The branch family has the ability to see through this, but cannot persuade them otherwise. Even if all the information is given to the Main Family, the Branch Family cannot change Main Family decision because the Main Family is arrogant and does not consider themselves inferior to the Branch Family.
"Then I thank Elder Hyuga. I hope the Hyuga Clan can finalize the agreement as soon as possible so we can quickly deliver the ore. The treaty should also be prepared."
After speaking, Oto Senju left with her entourage. Watching her departing figure, the Hyuga Elder sat back down in his chair and began to reconsider.
"Elder, are we really going to agree to the Senju Clan's alliance? Wouldn't that be a betrayal of the Uchiha Clan? What if the Uchiha go berserk and attack us?" a member of the Hyuga Clan asked worriedly.
The Hyuga elder glanced at him. "Nonsense, how could I not know? The Uchiha a bunch of lunatics. If they knew we betrayed them, they'd definitely come and beat us up, even if it meant risking the extermination of their clan."
Not to mention, the fewer people they have, the stronger their remaining members will be. It's questionable whether the Senju Clan can even wipe out the Uchiha Clan in the end.
The Hyuga clansman shrank back, and said tremblingly, "Then why did you agree to that just now?"
Elder Hyuga shrugged. "It's just talk. No treaty was signed. An unsigned piece of paper is just for wiping your backside; it's too hard to even sit on. It's just something to reassure the Senju Clan. Who said we'd actually follow through?"
"Does the Senju Clan think I'm stupid? If I betrayed the Uchiha, the Uchiha will go crazy and come after me!"
The Hyuga clan members then gave an "oh," Hyuga elder continued, "However, the Uchiha Clan is indeed currently suppressing the Senju Clan."
This doesn't align with the Hyuga Clan's balance-of-power policy. If only there were a way to force the Uchiha to withdraw from the three clans' territory... Oh well, I'll go back and discuss it with the clan head.
No one is allowed to leak the news of today's negotiations with the Senju Clan. If it gets back to the Uchiha Clan and we get beaten up, whoever does it will be a sinner against the Hyuga Clan!
The surrounding tribesmen immediately stood at attention. "Understood!"
After glancing around, Hyuga left the reception room and went to the clan head's office where he handled official business.
The Hyuga Clan Head was sipping tea with his eyes closed when the Hyuga elder strode in and whispered in his ear, " The Senju Clan..."
The Hyuga Clan Head suddenly opened his eyes and said, "Is that true? Are they really willing to provide these minerals?"
The Hyuga elder nodded. " The Senju Clan is currently being suppressed by the Uchiha Clan. If we withdraw, they can regain the initiative on the battlefield."
So this matter must be true.
The Hyuga Clan Head's eyes lit up when he heard about minerals. "That's great! Then let's call it a day and maintain the balance."