Nara Hiroshi slowly nodded.
As Nara Shikaku spoke, his own expression grew increasingly serious.
Yes.
Hearing his cousin lay things out like that, he too felt that the Sarutobi clan truly was showing signs of decline.
The problem was—what a headache!
If he had the choice, he honestly didn't want to bother with any of this.
But there was no way around it.
The Nara clan had reached a critical juncture. If they wanted the clan to thrive and weather the looming storm, he really couldn't afford to keep being lazy.
After a long silence, he finally spoke in a low voice.
"Uchiha… they really do have a trump card."
"Back when I received Kazama's letter and secretly entered the Uchiha compound, I learned something truly shocking."
"As for Fugaku, I really don't know what to say about him."
"Stupid. He's stupid as hell!"
"Facing me, an outsider—just because Uchiha Kai agreed to it—after a few simple conversations, a little bonding over drinks… one day…"
"Perhaps wanting to allay my suspicions, or perhaps sincerely trying to rope me in—"
"He actually told me a secret. That he himself had already awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan!"
"Yes, Shikaku, you heard me right."
"Fugaku may be an idiot. I didn't even dig for this information, yet he spilled it to me on his own!"
"So he may be dumb, but his strength cannot be underestimated."
"The Uchiha clan, sigh…"
"I honestly don't even know how to judge them anymore."
Nara Shikaku was dumbfounded.
The tea he had just sipped went spraying out of his mouth.
What the hell!
Sure, he had considered that someone like Uchiha Kai must be hiding some trump card or two, something to turn the tables at a critical moment.
But damn it—this was the Mangekyo Sharingan!
Across the entire shinobi world, the Mangekyo's weight was no less than that of a Tailed Beast jinchuriki.
Both were considered strategic deterrents, the very foundation of a great village's might!
In fact, in some respects, the Mangekyo was even more desirable than a Tailed Beast.
Because—it was controllable.
The Tailed Beast's Bijudama was powerful, sure, but finding a compatible jinchuriki wasn't easy.
Mangekyo, however?
It was one's own power. Naturally, it was easier to wield.
And with Susanoo, its destructive force was in no way inferior to a Bijudama.
More importantly—
Every pair of Mangekyo came with unique, terrifying hidden abilities and illusions.
And now?
Four pairs!
The Uchiha clan had four pairs of Mangekyo Sharingan!
This was absurd!
"This Uchiha Kai—is he brain-dead or something?" Shikaku couldn't help but complain. "With strength like that, why the hell is he still hiding and scheming? He could just march in and wipe out the Hokage faction head-on!"
Yes.
He truly didn't understand.
Schemes, what were they worth?
Sure, in some situations, they mattered.
But in most cases, they were meaningless.
In the shinobi world, raw strength was everything.
Otherwise, the great names of the shinobi world wouldn't be Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, or today's Kage and jinchuriki.
It would've been the Nara clan.
But the reality?
The Nara clan's intelligence might be unparalleled, yet after all their planning, all they could do was barely protect themselves.
So, he really couldn't wrap his head around what the hell Uchiha Kai was thinking.
On the other side, though, Nara Hiroshi just shook his head slightly.
Looking at his younger cousin, he couldn't help but sigh.
"Shikaku, you…!"
"You may be clan head now, and even the chief Jounin commander, but it's not like you're that busy."
"How could your brain fail to grasp even this?"
"What is Hiruzen Sarutobi's true foundation?"
"The so-called Four Great Clans? His three disciples?"
"No, none of that!"
"It's the legacy left behind by Tobirama Senju!"
"Barrier of Four Red Yang Formation, Dead Demon Consuming Seal, Reverse Four Symbols Sealing, the Tri-Element Seal…"
"As chief Jounin, don't tell me you don't know that the village's experiments with Hashirama's cells have never actually stopped? That they've even begun using both shinobi and civilians for them?"
"From my investigation, Orochimaru's secret labs already have one successful Hashirama-cell host. He just hid it away… for now."
"Danzo doesn't even know."
"If Hashirama's cells are already this far along, then what about the Impure World Reincarnation?"
"They say the technique has fatal flaws. But who knows the truth?"
"What if they've already perfected it?"
"What if they brought back both Hashirama and Tobirama?"
"So, Shikaku—"
"You need to calm down and think. Hiruzen Sarutobi is not as simple as you think."
"He has inherited the full legacy of both the Senju and the Uzumaki clans. Who knows how many trump cards he has up his sleeve?"
"So compared to you, Uchiha Kai is actually the more mature one."
"Step by step, he builds power through momentum, splits the Hokage faction piece by piece, all while denying Hiruzen any chance to use his hidden weapons."
"Look at his record since the very beginning—his schemes are all out in the open!"
"He wants to use overwhelming momentum to crush everything Sarutobi stands for."
"This gradual escalation approach may take longer, but it wins with one thing: stability."
"The Uchiha are a thousand-year clan. Hiruzen Sarutobi is no weakling either."
"And if it came down to a fight to the death—even if the Uchiha won—what would be left of Konoha to fend off the Four Great Villages afterward?"
Nara Shikaku slowly nodded.
Earlier, he'd just been too shocked, so he let his tongue slip.
But listening closely now to his cousin's words, he had to admit—the Uchiha really didn't yet have the confidence to crush Hiruzen outright.
For now, lying low truly was the wise path.
"Still, even so," Shikaku said softly, "we're talking about four Mangekyo."
"With the Uchiha's current strength, plus Uchiha Kai's cunning, the odds of success aren't small."
"So, cousin—I'll be counting on you."
"And you can't afford to harbor any other thoughts. You must dedicate yourself to helping the Uchiha."
"As for me, on the other side—"
"Even if Hiruzen is in decline, I'll still give him my full effort as well. And I won't mix in a shred of personal bias."
"You in the Uchiha, me with Hiruzen—it means the two of us will clash again."
"The last time we dueled in the clan, I lost. But this time, I'll definitely win it back!"
"Cousin… are you ready?"
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