“No one in the Uchiha clan trusts me.”
“I don’t have a single companion.”
“Not even one person is willing to leave with me…”
“What a terrible way to begin a one-man enterprise!”
Uchiha Makoto felt somewhat helpless.
At this stage of history…
There was simply no way for him to compete with Uchiha Madara for prestige and authority within the clan.
“Don’t forget…
there’s still Senju Hashirama.”
“Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama…
Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama…”
Despite his disappointment, Uchiha Makoto joined the chanting, adding “Senju Hashirama” to the repeated slogan.
The Uchiha paused.
“That’s right!
The bright future will be created by Hashirama and me!”
Uchiha Madara also heard that “discordant” voice, but he was too busy enjoying the cheers of his clansmen to identify where it had come from.
But that didn’t matter!
Those words sounded great!
Whoever had said them…
The Clan Head approved!
Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama…
How wonderful those two names sounded together!
“Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama!!”
The Uchiha exchanged awkward glances.
They all felt that adding Senju Hashirama’s name at a moment like this was somewhat inappropriate.
Unfortunately, Uchiha Madara had already endorsed the chant.
And so the slogan became:
“Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama!”
Over and over again.
Several days later…
Uchiha Makoto packed his belongings and left the Uchiha clan alone.
That morning…
A few clansmen even came to see him off.
“This is still a much better send-off than the one future Uchiha Madara will get.”
Uchiha Makoto consoled himself with that thought.
He also had the traveling expenses Uchiha Madara had given him tucked inside his clothes.
A full ten million ryō.
To be fair…
Uchiha Madara had treated Makoto quite generously.
According to the mission-rank system that Konoha would establish in the future, only high-difficulty S-rank missions, which required the participation of elite jōnin teams, would offer rewards in the million-ryō range.
Ten million ryō was equivalent to the rewards of ten S-rank missions.
For Uchiha Makoto, ten million ryō was an enormous fortune.
He could practically call it getting rich overnight.
But…
It was still nowhere near enough!
Establishing a shinobi village would inevitably require funding on the scale of hundreds of millions of ryō, if not more.
If he wanted to gather such an enormous amount of capital through conventional methods, completing missions and slowly accumulating money…
He could work himself to death and still never earn enough.
So…
After careful consideration, Uchiha Makoto realized he needed a financial backer.
Ahem.
More precisely…
He needed a generous, public-spirited financial backer!
Fortunately, he had a model he could copy.
In the future shinobi world, every major shinobi village had an financial backer pouring money into it.
Konoha’s financial backer was the Land of Fire.
Sunagakure’s backer was the Land of Wind.
Iwagakure’s backer was the Land of Earth.
Of course, none of the gifts granted by fate came for free.
The daimyō of each country provided regular funding to their shinobi villages, while the villages had to pledge their loyalty to the daimyō, protect their lives, and safeguard their rule.
The daimyō needed the power of shinobi.
After all, where there was oppression, there would be resistance.
The nobles of the shinobi world were hardly known for their kindness.
The starving common people weren’t going to obediently wait for death.
Peasant uprisings challenging the rule of the nobles weren’t particularly rare either.
They were simply suppressed by shinobi every time.
“I need an financial backer!”
Uchiha Makoto decided to copy Konoha’s business model.
He then opened the map he carried with him.
If he wanted a financial backer, he had to find a major financial backer!
Small countries?
Immediately rejected!
The Land of Wind…
Endless sand, sparse population, a weak country, and impoverished people.
Rejected!
That miserable place was barely suitable for human habitation.
One gust of wind and you’d have a mouthful of sand.
Uchiha Makoto had no intention of building a shinobi village in the middle of a desert.
The Land of Water…
Too far away.
There was a huge stretch of ocean in between, and it was isolated from the mainland.
Building a shinobi village there would mean becoming the troublemaker of the entire shinobi world…
Temporary backup option!
The Land of Earth was pretty good.
The Land of Lightning…
Not bad either.
The Land of Fire was the best choice of all.
After careful consideration…
Uchiha Makoto decided to make his move on the Land of Fire before Konoha could!
The Land of Fire had an exceptional geographical position.
It was located at the heart of the shinobi world and possessed the most fertile land and the cheapest…
Ahem.
The most abundant human resources.
If he could obtain the support of the Fire Daimyō…
That would be ideal.
As for the future Konoha…
Could the enormous Land of Fire really not accommodate two shinobi villages?
Wouldn’t that be an insult to the Fire Daimyō’s greatness?
Besides, Senju Hashirama was famous for being a good-natured pushover.
And good people were always the ones people pointed guns at.
He just had to be a little wary of Senju Tobirama!
With these thoughts in mind, Uchiha Makoto shook his head.
He was thinking far too far ahead.
First, he had to convince the Fire Daimyō to become his financial backer.
That was the major hurdle standing before him.
As for how to convince the Fire Daimyō…
Uchiha Makoto already had a few ideas.
Everything needed to revolve around one central argument.
The Senju Hashirama Threat Theory!
Question:
“What are daimyō most worried about?”
Answer:
“The overwhelming strength of shinobi threatening their political power!”
The shinobi world created by that old rascal Kishimoto was fundamentally warped.
Shinobi possessed overwhelming military power, yet they didn’t hold the highest political authority.
Instead, they remained at the bottom of the political hierarchy.
It was an incredibly bizarre worldbuilding premise.
Shinobi were treated as tools.
Shinobi clans fought endlessly against one another in pursuit of missions.
Meanwhile, the daimyō remained behind the scenes.
And this system had continued for a thousand years.
There had occasionally been disturbances along the way, but none had ever managed to create a serious upheaval.
But things were different now.
This system had encountered an unprecedented challenge!
Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara were simply too powerful.
Either one of them alone could sweep through the entire shinobi world.
Throughout the thousand years of history, both the Senju and Uchiha clans had produced extraordinarily powerful shinobi.
But no one had ever been as powerful as Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara.
The two of them should be the strongest pair among all the reincarnations of Asura and Indra.
Their power had even approached the level of Asura and Indra themselves.
But…
If that were all, it wouldn’t necessarily be a problem.
Because according to the traditions of the past thousand years, the reincarnations of Asura and Indra should spend their entire lives locked in conflict, fighting one another until the very end.
They would have no time to concern themselves with the rest of the shinobi world.
The daimyō only needed to continue assigning missions to the Uchiha and Senju.
But this generation was different.
The reincarnations of Asura and Indra in this era—Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara—had temporarily broken free from their destiny.
They had abandoned their thousand-year cycle of conflict.
And now they intended to join hands and walk toward a new future.
They wanted to establish a shinobi village belonging to the Senju and Uchiha clans.
Once something like that happened…
How could the daimyō sleep at night?
Two of the strongest beings in the shinobi world had joined forces.
They were establishing a shinobi village together.
And they even wanted to bring peace to the shinobi world.
The daimyō would be thinking:
What the hell are you two planning?!
Just imagining such a scenario would be enough to make the daimyō’s backs go cold and leave them constantly on edge.
Even if the naive and good-natured Senju Hashirama had never once considered overthrowing the daimyō’s rule…
That wasn’t the point.
The question wasn’t whether he wanted to.
It was whether he could.
A general of the Han Dynasty, for example.
He had obediently served the Han Dynasty and had no intention of raising an army in rebellion.
Yet Perhaps there was a story of jealousy and power struggles behind it all.
still had him executed.
He died at the hands of a woman.
And in this shinobi world…
The daimyō were in an even more dangerous position.
They could be said to possess absolutely no means of resistance.
If Senju Hashirama truly decided to reshape the shinobi world…
There would be no one capable of stopping him.
“Although this approach might seem unfair…
I’m sorry, Senju Hashirama!”
“I need to advance my position!”
With that, Uchiha Makoto began writing down the contents of his Senju Hashirama Threat Theory on paper.
Uchiha Makoto continued refining his Senju Hashirama Threat Theory while making his way toward the capital of the Land of Fire.
Nothing unexpected happened along the journey.
He merely encountered a few bandits who didn’t know when to quit.
Uchiha Makoto had no choice but to relieve them of everything they possessed.
After more than ten days of travel, Uchiha Makoto finally arrived at the capital of the Land of Fire.
Filled with anticipation…
Uchiha Makoto saw a magnificent city towering before him.
It truly was worthy of being the capital of the most powerful country in the shinobi world.
The shinobi world had been plagued by war for a very long time.
Compared with the cities he had passed through along the way, the capital could only be described as flourishing with vitality, with everything bursting into life.
But the world had never been a bright place.
Maintaining such a dazzling capital always required someone else to pay the price.
If you thought you were carrying a heavy burden and moving forward…
Then there was certainly someone else making it possible for you to enjoy peace and comfort.
Uchiha Makoto didn’t waste his time sighing over it.
He hadn’t even had time to eat before heading directly toward the palace where the Fire Daimyō resided.
The palace complex was heavily guarded.
An elite military force was stationed nearby.
Ahem…
Of course, they weren’t there to defend against shinobi.
They were there to defend against unruly commoners.
What if a group of starving peasants suddenly raised a banner, stirred up the masses, gathered into a large mob, and then accidentally charged into the capital?
That would be a serious problem.
Even if such an uprising could eventually be suppressed, the Fire Daimyō cared about his reputation.
The Holy Daimyō ruled the realm!
The entire land enjoyed peace and prosperity!
And the capital was supposed to be the finest place in the entire country!
If unruly commoners caused trouble right under his nose, it would be like repeatedly slapping him across the face.
The daimyō of other countries would certainly seize the opportunity to mock him.
Therefore, although the elite troops composed of ordinary people couldn’t do much against shinobi, their existence was still necessary.
As for the Fire Daimyō himself, he naturally had elite shinobi specifically assigned to protect him.
Every daimyō stood at the very top of the pyramid of power and wealth.
For them, hiring shinobi to provide round-the-clock personal protection was effortless.
The cost was practically insignificant.
If possible, the daimyō would probably even be willing to spend a fortune training their own shinobi.
The daimyō stood high above everyone else, firmly suppressing the shinobi.
But…
There was a fear buried deep within their souls.
A fear that had existed for a thousand years.
A fear that they didn’t even dare mention.
It was like a parasite attached to their bones.
Power was like a king’s sword.
But the hilt of that sword was always held by the shinobi.
It did not belong to the daimyō.
The daimyō had tried many times to cultivate shinobi of their own.
But every attempt had ended in failure.
Because when it came to core technology…
Secret ninjutsu passed down within shinobi clans, for example…
Those precious techniques were something the shinobi clans would rather let rot in their own hands than sell.
No matter how much money was offered, they wouldn’t sell them.
….
“Unauthorized personnel, stop!”
As soon as Uchiha Makoto approached the palace complex, he heard the guards shouting at him.
This was the royal palace.
Ordinary people didn’t even have the right to approach, let alone enter.
And when dealing with unruly commoners, the guards genuinely had the authority to kill.
Faced with the arrogant guards, Uchiha Makoto did consider sneaking into the palace.
After all, these ordinary human guards couldn’t possibly stop him.
But…
He had come to the capital of the Land of Fire to seek financial backing.
He couldn’t exactly meet the Fire Daimyō by breaking into his palace.
That kind of behavior could wait until later.
So Uchiha Makoto obediently presented his letter of introduction.
Under the suspicious gaze of the guards, Makoto revealed the Sharingan of the Uchiha clan.
The guard’s expression immediately changed.
Then, amid a terrified scream, he finally confirmed that Uchiha Makoto was indeed a genuine Uchiha.
The rumors were true!
The Uchiha possessed crimson eyes in which tomoe revolved.
All it took was a single glance…
And you could fall victim to genjutsu!