Chapter 33 – Creating a Million Uchiha Clones, Conquering the Shinobi World Becomes Trivial
By December, Konoha was blanketed in silver snow. Though scars from the Third Great Ninja War hadn't fully healed, the New Year was around the corner, and a festive atmosphere lingered in the village.
Konoha's recovery rate was always the fastest among the Five Great Nations.
With the recent boom in transport and trade, thanks to the Uchiha clan's partnership with the Hokage's office, the economy rebounded even faster.
People now had a little more money in their pockets. Parents could afford to buy their children sweets, or enough fabric to sew new clothes. Meals weren't just ume onigiri and miso soup anymore—sometimes, they even had extra slices of char siu and a whole egg.
Because of this, Minato's prestige soared. His popularity was beginning to surpass even the Third Hokage.
Ninjas naturally rallied behind a leader who brought victory and honor. But if that leader could also bring prosperity? All the better.
"Almost New Year, huh."
"Yeah, time flies."
But for Fugaku, the season wasn't all joy. If he could choose, he'd rather spend the time with his wife and son—not locked in a staring contest with Yujiro.
"You should know… Tsunade-sama's ability to run away is number one in the world. Even for the Uchiha, finding her is nearly impossible."
After saying this, Fugaku cautiously offered, "If you can't find Tsunade, Yujiro, maybe… change your target? That girl we introduced to you last time—she seemed quite suitable."
Yujiro said nothing, only stared at him harder, increasing the pressure.
"…Even if you stare at me like that, no matter how much 'sincerity' you put into your eyes, the fact remains: if Tsunade doesn't want to be found, we won't find her."
"..." Yujiro's silence only grew heavier.
"Fine, fine. I'll tell Mikoto to put the matchmaking efforts on hold for now."
"…That's better," Yujiro finally relented.
---
With the matchmaking issue temporarily brushed aside, the conversation lightened a little.
Yujiro asked, "Thought of a name for the second kid yet?"
Fugaku nodded. "Yes. If it's a boy, Sasuke."
"And if it's a girl?"
"…Sasuko."
The two clinked cups and drank, moving onto the next topic.
"So, Clan Head," Yujiro began, "how's your relationship with Orochimaru?"
"Orochimaru?" Fugaku frowned. "Not close. During the war, our clan fought mostly against Kirigakure. Orochimaru wasn't on our front. Hardly had dealings with him. Why?"
"Nothing much. Just thinking… when it comes to increasing our clan's numbers, Orochimaru might actually be useful."
"Oh?" Fugaku's interest sparked at once. "And how exactly would Orochimaru help?"
The answer: high technology.
Everyone knew the shinobi world was full of madmen inventing black-tech nonsense. Many places still didn't even have proper electricity, yet there were already maniacs researching artificial humans.
Yes—artificial humans. That was Yujiro's solution. Orochimaru was infamous for his expertise in cloning, replicas, and all sorts of freakish creations—reliable, mass-producible, cheap.
Some of his "children" had even reached Sage Mode. What was a mere Sharingan compared to that?
If the Uchiha could cooperate with him—or better yet, wrest his techniques from him—they could rapidly expand both their population and combat strength.
"Such a thing is actually possible? Incredible. Science truly is formidable."
Fugaku's eyes widened slightly at Yujiro's words, unable to stop himself from marveling.
"Perhaps the Uchiha have been too obsessed with these eyes of ours," he admitted, "to the point we've fallen behind in other fields."
Yujiro had to agree. It wasn't just the Uchiha—the whole of Konoha had grown complacent, resting on its laurels for far too long.
Sure, Konoha had size, heritage, and everything else. But when it came to wild innovation? They lagged far behind the small villages and their "specialist lunatics."
Look at the Land of Snow. Their snow-nin had developed chakra armor, powered steam trains, and chakra-driven sleds. That armor could even fly—like Iron Man in the ninja world.
Compared to that, Konoha's "Fireball Jutsu R&D" looked downright pathetic.
The Hidden Leaf had already been razed once—so the Sky Ninja from the Wind Land were something else entirely. From man-made ninja-beasts to airborne fortresses, their tech made even the Sage of Six Paths go, "Whoa, holy crap."
The Land of Lightning had new-energy trams and ships. The Land of Wind had puppet-mechanisms that were pure nightmare fuel. The Land of Earth had the strongest leg fighters. The Land of Water had Mei Terumi. Put it all together and it looked like the Land of Fire was lagging behind in new tech…
Of course, Orochimaru is a special case.
His obsession with immortality, with Uchiha and Hashirama cells, had pushed his biological research forward at a terrifying pace. Yujiro wasn't saying biotech wasn't important—after all, everybody said the 21st century belonged to biology—but the shinobi world as a whole was sitting on the cusp of its first, second and eightieth industrial revolutions at once. Jumping straight to biotechnology was, frankly, wildly ahead of the curve.
Orochimaru's tech was useful. His ruthlessness made him dangerous.
Desecrating the First Hokage's corpse and studying Hashirama cells might be reckless but tolerable as "research." Experimenting on villagers—human testing inside the village—crossed Konoha's line. Sooner or later Orochimaru's secret labs would be exposed. When that happened he'd run, found Sound Village, and negotiating with him would become far riskier.
"If we can manufacture Uchiha—ethics, morality, combat power… are manufactured Uchiha even feasible?" Fugaku asked.
"Yes," Yujiro said calmly. "Manufactured Uchiha. Manufactured Sharingan. One million Uchiha, one million pairs of Sharingan. Clan head, if we wield power like that, then what's our next move?"
"Become… Hokage?" Fugaku repeated.
Yujiro's words hit him like a shockwave. His eyes flickered between fanatical and terrified.
"That's too small," Yujiro said, shaking his head with a hint of pity. "You disappoint me, clan head. We could have a power capable of changing the world—and you're content with the Hokage? You won't even imagine conquering the world?"
"…Conquer the world?" Fugaku echoed, his face honest and bewildered.
"If we have one million Sharingan, wouldn't world conquest be trivial?" Yujiro pressed.
Fugaku fell silent, stunned, unable to answer.
Seeing him at a loss, Yujiro patted his shoulder and said, "Think it over, clan head. Consider the future of the Uchiha seriously."
He rose to leave, paused at the doorway, and turned back.
"Oh, right—one more thing I almost forgot. Danzō's men want to 'talk' with me. If I never come back, I ask one favor: lead all the Uchiha—old and young—and avenge me. Burn Danzō's head as an offering. At the very least."