“If only Danzo were half as reasonable as the two of you, Konoha would have nothing to fear about becoming even more prosperous.”
Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head with a soft sigh and gently placed his pipe on the desk with a crisp click.
“At a time when Konoha is weathering such turbulent circumstances, we need the Uchiha’s strength.”
The two advisors exchanged a nod.
Mitokado Homura adjusted his glasses, a complicated mixture of emotion showing in his eyes behind the lenses.
“Five Uchiha at the Kage level, more than fifty Uchiha with Three-Tomoe Sharingan, dozens of jōnin, and more than two hundred chūnin.”
“Such formidable strength is truly a gift from heaven. No wonder Teacher Tobirama kept suppressing them.”
“If it weren’t for the Ninja Academy, which trained a large number of outstanding shinobi, it really wouldn’t be certain who would be the master of Konoha today.”
“Back then, Teacher Tobirama gave the Uchiha the Police Force precisely so he could keep them under his watch.”
Utatane Koharu looked toward Hiruzen Sarutobi.
“Hiruzen, allowing the Uchiha to leave the village this time is a dangerous gamble. I only hope that among the Uchiha who go to war, those evil eyes won’t emerge.”
“That’s why we must end this war as quickly as possible. We absolutely cannot allow the fighting to drag on.”
Hiruzen stared intently at the map spread across the table.
“The most urgent matter is to throw the other four great shinobi villages into chaos, preventing a situation where we truly have to face all four of them at once.”
His fingertip traced across the border with Sunagakure.
“I’ll have Orochimaru secretly depart ahead of time. Working together with Jiraiya, he’ll first eliminate the weakest of them, Sunagakure, from the battlefield. At the same time, I’ll have the ANBU disguise themselves as Iwagakure shinobi and launch attacks on Kumogakure.”
“The specific details will be adjusted according to how the battlefield develops.”
“Excellent.”
The two advisors nodded in succession.
…
Moonlight flowed quietly over the Uchiha clan compound like water.
When Uchiha Anlan and Uchiha Mikoto returned side by side from the training forest, two familiar figures were already standing on the bluestone pavement at the entrance to the clan grounds—
The smiling Uchiha Setsuna and the Uchiha Honoha, whose face carried an expression of helplessness.
“Grandpa Honoha!”
Mikoto had just been intimate with Anlan in the forest, so the blush on her cheeks had yet to fade.
Under the clear moonlight, she looked even more beautiful and radiant.
Seeing the gazes of the two elders fall upon them, she hurriedly released Anlan’s hand like a startled fawn.
She quickly moved to Uchiha Honoha’s side and lowered her head slightly, trying to conceal the embarrassment of a young girl.
She could ignore the gazes of her subordinates and fellow clansmen, but the attention of two elders close to her still made Mikoto feel shy.
“Everyone in the Uchiha clan already knows about the two of you. Why are you suddenly acting shy now?”
Uchiha Honoha looked at his granddaughter, who had hidden herself beside him, her face as delicate as a peach blossom.
He found it both amusing and bittersweet. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
He knew that his granddaughter had been in contact with Setsuna’s grandson, but he had never expected that once their relationship was exposed, the two would immediately become lovers.
That afternoon, he had been reminiscing about the past and chatting about the future with Uchiha Setsuna.
Then, that evening, when Uchiha Hazuki came to report the results of the clan meeting and tell him about this matter, he had nearly thought he had misheard.
Setsuna, on the other hand, had immediately grinned from ear to ear.
Without saying a word, he had dragged Honoha to the entrance of the clan grounds, insisting on personally waiting for the young couple to return.
Now, seeing the two of them approaching hand in hand, Uchiha Honoha had already tacitly accepted his granddaughter’s choice.
But whenever he thought about how the granddaughter he had carefully cherished had been quietly “stolen away” by the grandson of this old rival of his, an indescribable irritation would rise in his chest.
No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t feel good about it.
“Grandpa!”
Mikoto called out softly before politely greeting him.
“Grandpa Setsuna.”
The girl’s sweet voice seemed to possess a kind of magic.
Even the hawkish old man whose reputation was enough to give children nightmares couldn’t help but smile until his eyes narrowed.
What do you mean, Grandpa Setsuna?
You only have one grandpa, and that’s Honoha!
Nearby, Uchiha Honoha was so annoyed that his beard bristled and his eyes widened.
He desperately wanted to punch Uchiha Setsuna’s wrinkled face, which was grinning like a chrysanthemum.
“Good girl.”
Setsuna’s hearty laughter rang especially clearly through the night.
“If Anlan ever dares to bully you, just come and tell Grandpa. I’ll break his legs.”
“Anlan would never bully me.”
Uchiha Mikoto smiled sweetly, happiness shining from the corners of her eyes and brows.
Uchiha Honoha, caught between the two of them, was just about to say something when he noticed Uchiha Anlan approaching with a smile.
The old man immediately snorted and turned around with his hands behind his back.
“Mikoto, let’s go home first. I have something to tell you.”
“Anlan, Grandpa Setsuna, I’ll take my leave first.”
Knowing that she needed to give her grandfather some dignity at a time like this, Uchiha Mikoto waved her hand.
Before leaving, she couldn’t resist giving Anlan a playful glance.
Watching Mikoto’s figure gradually disappear into the distance, Uchiha Setsuna turned around and solemnly patted Anlan on the shoulder.
“Mikoto is a good girl we’ve watched grow up. She’ll surely become a gentle and considerate wife in the future.”
“You brat, you must treat her well. Don’t let her feelings for you go to waste.”
Moonlight spilled across Anlan’s handsome profile.
His gaze was firm as he looked back at his grandfather.
“Don’t worry, Grandpa. I’ll treat Mikoto well for the rest of my life.”
“In that case, go home and have dinner by yourself. This old man won’t keep you any longer.”
Watching his grandfather hum an off-key tune as he leisurely walked away, Anlan stood where he was and shook his head helplessly.
The night breeze brushed past, stirring the loose strands of hair over his forehead.
A gentle smile spread through his eyes as he turned and walked toward his own home.
Meanwhile, Uchiha Honoha led Uchiha Mikoto back to their residence.
Under the old man’s gaze, which clearly said, “Confess and you’ll be treated leniently; resist and you’ll be dealt with severely,” the granddaughter sitting at the dining table first stammered and stumbled through her explanation.
Then came a string of “this happened, and then that happened, so that’s how things turned out,” leaving Honoha both amused and exasperated.
In the end, he could only wave his hand.
“I already gave you permission at the clan meeting to do as you wished, so I had already anticipated this.”
Seeing the undisguised joy appear in his granddaughter’s eyes, Honoha secretly gritted his teeth.
He had originally wanted to tease her a little more, but he was afraid of genuinely upsetting his precious granddaughter.
So he suppressed his amusement and put on a stern expression.
“As for your relationship with Anlan, you can make your own decision. However…”
Before he could finish, Mikoto had already jumped up from her seat, her eyes curving into crescents as she cheerfully exclaimed,
“Thank you, Grandpa!”
She had deliberately made her feelings for Anlan known to everyone, and deep down, she had harbored a few little calculations of her own.
She had hoped that her grandfather, as an elder of the dove faction, would have no choice but to acknowledge their relationship.
Mikoto was genuinely worried that the conflict between the dove and hawk factions would cause her family to refuse to bless her relationship with Anlan.
Now that she had heard her grandfather’s tacit approval with her own ears, the heavy stone weighing on her heart finally fell away, and joy surged through her like a spring in bloom.
“All right, let me finish speaking.”
Honoha said irritably,
“How many things are you and Anlan still hiding from me?”
“For example, why did you suddenly go to help the orphanage a few years ago for no apparent reason?”