Chapter 77 — Yujiro: "The Thousand Hands Will Rise Again—Through My Hands!"
It took only one single day for Uchiha Yujiro to pull off what should've been impossible.
With a perfect blend of charm, bluffing, backroom deals, and profit-sharing promises, he managed to win over every major ninja clan in Konoha—and even got the Fourth Hokage himself on board.
Even the most stubborn opposition, the Sarutobi Clan, finally relented.
When Tsunade personally came knocking, Hiruzen could only sigh deeply and mutter:
"Tobirama-sensei always showed me great kindness… If the Senju wish to rebuild, how could I possibly refuse?"
As for Danzo—
Well, if the man were still alive, he'd surely have screamed "Uchiha conspiracy!" and fought this plan to his dying breath.
Unfortunately for him… he'd already met that fate.
And dead men don't complain.
---
Watching Yujiro bulldoze through every obstacle with terrifying ease, Tsunade's inner monologue could only be summed up as:
"What the hell—what the actual hell—what the hell am I watching?!"
At first, she'd followed him around out of genuine curiosity. She wanted to learn his methods, maybe even pick up a few leadership tricks along the way.
But the longer she observed, the more her mind short-circuited.
By the time he'd singlehandedly roped in every clan, she was numb with disbelief.
And then, to make matters worse, Yujiro turned to her—eyes bright with expectation—and asked:
"So, Tsunade, how much of my strategy did you manage to learn?"
"Heh."
"What's that supposed to mean? Don't just heh me—give me a percentage!"
Yujiro frowned. Tsunade knew her attitude wasn't exactly polite, but honestly—how could it be?
This man wasn't just Uchiha Yujiro anymore.
He was a tactical genius and master manipulator fused into one infuriatingly handsome package.
What she should've done wasn't snark at him.
No—she should've dragged him somewhere private, folded her robe neatly, knelt properly on the ground, and begged:
"Master, please enlighten this foolish princess!"
Just like one of those political light novels where the proud princess finally realizes the cunning strategist before her is the only one capable of saving her empire.
If she truly wanted to restore the Senju clan, that was the attitude she needed.
But… could she actually bring herself to do that?
Wouldn't that be too forward? Too humiliating?
Would he think she was an idiot?
And if she didn't… what else could she do?
The confusion in her chest was maddening—
worse than the day she found out Kushina was her distant cousin,
worse than when she heard Orochimaru defected,
and even worse than discovering that Danzo had literally dug up her ancestors' graves.
She was this close to breaking down and doing something impulsive when Yujiro's calm, teasing voice pulled her back to reality.
"Forget it. If you didn't learn anything, you didn't learn anything. That's fine too."
He said it so casually, with that lazy grin that made her want to hit him and hug him at the same time.
Yujiro was generous—in his own way.
After all, a clever prince knows:
"It's easier to manage an empire when the empress isn't too clever herself."
---
Tsunade's shoulders slumped. For the first time in a long while, she felt… small.
She lowered her head, her voice soft and uncertain.
"I'm sorry…"
There was frustration in her tone, but also something gentler—an unfamiliar vulnerability.
Because for all her bravado, Tsunade finally realized just how far ahead of her Yujiro was.
And perhaps, deep down, that realization scared her more than she cared to admit.
"Don't worry about it," Uchiha Yujiro said gently, patting her shoulder.
"You've already done great."
Tsunade nodded, a quiet "Mm." escaping her lips.
"Next up," he continued, "we'll handle the Shikkotsu Forest mission together."
"Mm."
"And about that Yin Seal technique of yours—mind if I learn it?"
"Mm."
Yujiro smiled. "What a good girl."
"Ehehe~"
Shizune, standing to the side, froze mid-blink.
Her face was an unreadable collage of disbelief, exhaustion, and pure secondhand embarrassment.
---
The next day, The New Konoha Times headline practically exploded off the front page:
"KONOHA'S NEW ERA — LADY TSUNADE VOWS: Make Senju Great Again!"
Subheadline:
"From today onward, Tsunade-hime will inherit the Senju name as clan head, vowing to restore the honor of her forebears. Rebuilding the Senju is not a dream—it's our duty!"
---
The article overflowed with praise for Senju Tsunade, now officially reinstated as clan leader.
But of course, Yujiro hadn't forgotten to slip in a few lines glorifying the Fourth Hokage as well.
"Under the previous Hokage's administration, Konoha lost two of its most vital allies—the Uzumaki and the Senju clans. It was a dark chapter in Leaf history."
"But under the wise leadership of the Fourth Hokage, that darkness has been dispelled! The Uzumaki are rising again, and the Senju have returned!"
"Truly, the Fourth Hokage's reign surpasses that of the Third in every way."
"Every good thing in Konoha now is thanks to Lord Fourth's leadership. Every bad thing still lingering? Just leftover rot from the Third's era, of course."
---
Hiruzen Sarutobi, sitting in the retirement ward with a cup of tea, blinked down at the newspaper.
His pipe nearly fell out of his mouth.
"What the hell did I just read?"
Meanwhile, up in the Hokage's office, Minato Namikaze folded the same paper, his expression… complicated.
"Yujiro-kun really will be the death of me," he sighed, though his lips twitched with a reluctant smile.
"Still… it is good news."
---
With Danzo dead and Hiruzen half-retired, the remaining advisors had lost their grip.
Konoha had officially entered the Era of the Fourth Hokage.
But Minato felt the weight of that title.
Unlike his predecessors, he was a commoner, not a scion of any ancient clan.
He had brilliance and strength—but no roots.
Without Hiruzen's protection, the elders had grown bitter and cold toward him.
They whispered behind his back, muttering that the young Hokage "didn't respect his elders."
In contrast, Yujiro was firmly on his side.
But as much as Minato appreciated that, he knew Yujiro wasn't clan head, and his influence only stretched so far.
He found himself thinking late into the night—
If the Uzumaki clan could be restored… I'd finally have a family base of my own.
Unfortunately, the Uzumaki bloodline had scattered far and wide. Their revival would take time.
Still, with the Senju and Uzumaki bound by generations of marriage, the Senju's return strengthened Minato by proxy.
If Tsunade's clan could rebuild, his political foundation would grow sturdier as well.
And now that the Senju had "officially" revived—albeit as a small, struggling household—Tsunade could only rely on one person to keep her footing:
Her not-so-secret ally, the Fourth Hokage himself.
---
The "new" Senju Clan was, in truth, modest to the point of poverty.
Tsunade bought a modest house near the Uchiha compound, with the funds quietly fronted by Yujiro.
A few elderly ex-Senju came to help, half out of loyalty and half because they simply had nowhere else to go.
They shared meals, chores, and dreams—a makeshift family built more on willpower than bloodline.
Of course, to the public eye, Yujiro's frequent visits to her home looked rather… suggestive.
The New Konoha Times, unsurprisingly, milked that for all it was worth:
"Exclusive! Uchiha Prodigy Linked to Senju Princess — Is This the Alliance That Will Unite Konoha's Strongest Clans?"
---
"Yujiro-bro," said Shisui, deadpan as ever, holding the paper up, "you'd better pray Tsunade never finds out that you own this newspaper, or you're going to die a very creative death."
Yujiro waved it off. "Relax. What's she gonna do, kill me?"
"…Ah," Shisui muttered meaningfully.
Yujiro clapped him on the shoulder. "Don't worry. I've got contingencies. And besides—look at this."
He tapped his forehead proudly.
Shisui's eyes widened. "Wait—what the hell—The Yin Seal?! She actually taught you that?!"
Yujiro just smiled. "Ah."
Of course, the truth was… not exactly that.
The seal had been a reward from the "Senju Restoration System" itself.
Even if the revived clan currently consisted of only a handful of people and a dream,
the system still recognized the achievement and handed over an S-rank technique as a congratulatory gift.
Publicly, though, the story was that Tsunade taught him personally, and Yujiro—ever the fast learner—had mastered it in record time.
It made him look good, made her look generous, and gave the tabloids endless fuel for gossip.
Uchiha Fugaku was thrilled.
So thrilled, in fact, that he immediately authorized a collection of rare Uchiha secret scrolls to be gifted to the Senju—
as a "wedding present," naturally.
Much faster approval than when Yujiro had proposed police reform, by the way.
To Fugaku, those scrolls didn't even sting to part with—half were loot from the Warring States era, and the rest were copied by Sharingan anyway.
But more importantly, he'd already set his sights on the next generation.
"You and Lady Tsunade should hurry and have a child," he said, eyes gleaming.
"A child with both the Sharingan and Wood Release… That would be the greatest hope for Konoha's future."
Fugaku smiled solemnly, as though making a divine decree.
"I've decided. That child will be the Sixth Hokage."
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