Oto Senju said calmly, "We only want to reclaim our family's gate. Otherwise, with this place in your possession, what makes you think you have the sincerity to negotiate?"
Upon hearing this, Uchiha Satoshi immediately stood up from his chair, pointing at Oto Senju, ready to unleash a torrent of abuse, but Uchiha Takashi stopped him.
Seeing Oto Senju's expression, Uchiha Takashi suddenly laughed and said, "Since you want this place, then of course we can give it to you."
"Clan leader!" Uchiha Satoshi's eyes widened upon hearing Uchiha Takashi's words.
Uchiha Takashi slightly raised his hand, signaling to calm down, and then continued, "But this place was hard-won by us. It's not appropriate for you to take it back with just a word, is it?"
What are you going to offer in exchange? Or what are you going to show your sincerity to demonstrate that you are willing to negotiate?
Oto Senju narrowed her eyes. The pressure from this Uchiha was far greater than that from other Uchiha; this Uchiha was far too intelligent.
Other Uchiha members simply didn't have that kind of brain; at least in the history he knew, very few Uchiha possessed such a mind.
Most Uchiha Clan Head, due to their overwhelming strength, completely lack critical thinking and act impulsively without considering the consequences. This Uchiha before them is indeed different from the others.
"We certainly have sufficient sincerity. Our Three-Clan Allied Forces will naturally disband, and this place will be solely under the control of the Senju Clan."
Uchiha Takashi shook his head. "You want to take this place back without giving anything in return? A mere disbanding of the Three-Clan Allied Forces? What a joke! Even if your Three-Clan Allied Forces disbands, can't you regroup?"
Do you think I'm stupid? This place was hard-won, and there are only two ways to take it back: either take it back from us, or buy it back. You choose.
Second Elder Senju: "What do you want? Are you Uchiha Shin willing to give up this place?"
Uchiha Takashi nodded, then said, "Of course, standing here, we Uchiha also need to send people over, okay? It's quite troublesome."
Furthermore, we don't particularly like this place, so as long as you make an offer that meets my expectations, this place is certainly available to you.
Oto Senju thought for a moment, then stated a figure. "We are willing to spend 5 million as compensation for the sacrifice of the Uchiha Clan members and in exchange for the right to establish a presence in this place."
Uchiha Takashi smirked. "5 million? You really think we Uchiha don't know about the Senju Clan's shady dealings in City of Fire?"
Or are you completely unaware that your scheme in City of Fire was intercepted by our Uchiha Clan? Didn't your clansmen send a message back?
You yourself know how much money you're after, yet you only offered 5 million. And after we intercepted it, do you think the Uchiha will be short of money?"
Oto Senju got angry just thinking about it. Damn it, their Senju Clan's long-planned scheme was thwarted by the Uchiha.
The thought of it made his chest ache with anger.
"So what kind of money do you want? If you don't want any of that, then what do you want?"
Uchiha Takashi raised an eyebrow. "Of course, it's other things, like important strategic resources that money can't buy... Chakra Metal mines, or salt mines."
"Of course, if you're willing to exchange people, that's not out of the question. The Uchiha has been in constant war for years and is currently short of manpower; if you're willing to exchange slaves, that's also possible."
Additionally, because it was the Warring States period, various families faced extreme shortages of people, or rather, labor, leading to the emergence of something akin to slavery.
Although the various families were not completely off-farm, they were partially off-farm, meaning that the vast majority of their food came from the harvests of the poorest members of the families.
However, due to the disruption caused by the war and the extreme shortage of labor, the family had no choice but to absorb some other civilians as a supplement to the workforce.
However, as mentioned, this was a system similar to slavery. With the consent of the major powers and daimyo, each family could own no more than half the number of commoners as private property or farm tools.
To put it bluntly, it meant that half of the family's population could be used as slaves to supplement the labor force. Moreover, the daimyo explicitly stipulated that this group of people could not be used for war or other purposes; they could only be used for labor.
However, clans like the Uchiha and Senju, due to their already large populations, did not need these.
The "major clans" mentioned here actually refer to small to medium-sized clans, not clans like the Uchiha or Senju.
This law was gradually abolished in the mid-to-late Warring States period because the various small families gradually became unable to survive, and their bloodlines were extremely diluted, leading to complete assimilation into the common people, with no distinctions remaining.
So this law was later abolished, but it hasn't been abolished yet. There are still several hundred years until the founding of Konoha, and the Warring States period is still in its early to mid-stages. We haven't reached that point yet (all of the above are the author's personal interpretations).
"You're going to use slaves?" Oto Senju suddenly stood up. It should be noted that the Senju and Uchiha, for centuries, had never used this method due to their clan pride.
The Uchiha and Senju disdained using other commoners, partly to prevent the dilution of their bloodline. After all, such a large-scale influx of people could easily lead to bloodline dilution if not managed carefully.
This kind of problem easily arises when people get really angry, which is why families that rely on their Kekkei Genkai or consider their bloodlines to be relatively pure won't use this method.
This is why Uchiha Oto Senju was surprised; the Uchiha clan, which relies on bloodline awakening to Sharingan, would actually use slaves?
"Are you surprised? The Uchiha currently facing a population shortage, so it's normal that they need slaves, isn't it?" Uchiha Takashi said indifferently, without even raising his eyelids.
Uchiha Satoshi, standing to the side, was somewhat bewildered. Wait, when did the Uchiha start using slaves? Was it the Uchiha Village? But... if he remembered correctly, they seemed to have enough labor there, right?
Besides, they're still absorbing refugees from abroad, so what use are they for slaves? They're doing all this covertly anyway, so it seems like it doesn't really matter whether they have them or not.
Uchiha Takashi glanced at the bewildered Uchiha Satoshi beside him, and sighed in exasperation, rubbing his forehead.
That's just how the Uchiha is—simple-minded, physically strong, and who wouldn't want more labor?
While things haven't gotten out of hand yet and the family management system is still functioning, let's hire more workers. Just in case things get really heated later.
It's simply a matter of throwing all those people into the Uchiha Village, separating them from the core members of the Uchiha.
This way, the outer bloodlines of the Uchiha can be expanded while preserving the purity of the core bloodline—a win-win situation that also provides an additional workforce.