Uchiha Fugaku might shout "we should become Hokage" when he's with the clan, but in truth he's a conservative. He favors maintaining relations with the village. If they can deepen those ties, great; if not, keeping the current status is acceptable.
But now Uchiha Yorin has brought intel that shows huge risks and looming crisis.
If they fall out with Danzō and Orochimaru, relations between the Uchiha and the Hokage faction could deteriorate sharply.
Even if the Uchiha are "in the right," this world doesn't run on "right."
"Our relationship with the Fourth… maybe we can… No—we can't stake everything on the Fourth alone… We have to handle Obito quickly… But if we do that, the Fourth's attitude toward us could change…"
If Obito lives, he is the reason for the Fourth to cooperate with the Uchiha. To take him down, the Fourth has to unite with them.
If Obito dies, the Fourth's stance could become… delicate.
The Yellow Flash of the Leaf shouldn't be a scumbag—he shouldn't butcher the ox after it plows the field, burn the bridge after crossing, or physically force the Uchiha to keep this secret forever.
But that's only "shouldn't," not "won't."
You know someone's face but not their heart. You're not Kushina—how can you be sure whether Minato Namikaze is a straight shooter or a hypocrite?
"What a headache you've handed me," Fugaku said with a wry smile—then noticed Yorin, radiating confidence, and blinked in surprise.
He himself had tied his own brain in knots. Why was this kid still so assured?
Uchiha Yorin: "Because I have another way to tighten our link with the Fourth.
When shared ideals and even shared crimes can't hold two sides together, there's one last, unbeatable trump card:
Interests."
Yorin intended to bind Uchiha and Minato together in the most rational way: with aligned interests.
Not the old trio of marriage alliances, sworn brotherhood, or calling someone your foster father. Those were declared defunct back in 184 CE.
The new trio is equity, dividends, and project funding.
Yorin had two ideas in hand—both could squeeze out major liquidity to top up Konoha's coffers.
If the Uchiha alone ran them, they'd make money—but not great money. The Fire Daimyo and his swarm of parasites would skim most of the profit.
Cue the bad joke:
"How come we only got 30%?"
"Because 70% belongs to them."
…
But if the Hokage is the one fronting it, it's different.
Konoha is the Land of Fire's first—and only—military contractor. The Hokage is the daimyo's most special senior retainer.
No matter how many times Minato outclasses Yorin in combat—when it comes to weight of voice, a thousand Yorins don't add up to one Minato.
Work with Minato—even if the Uchiha still give up 70%, 80%, or more—their absolute take will exceed what they'd earn going solo.
And a big slice of those proceeds will flow into Konoha, strengthening the village. Rounded up, that beats handing it to the daimyo and those noble parasites.
Yes, this serves the Uchiha. At the same time, it fits Yorin's own scheme:
the "Senju Revival" plan from that dumb system.
Don't forget: the king's son-in-law's wife—what's her surname?
Uzumaki Kushina. She's an Uzumaki.
The Uzumaki's relationship to the Senju is far tighter than the Uchiha's to the Senju.
When the Uzumaki collapsed—Uzushiogakure was blasted to rubble by the allied villages—the Senju's decline became only a matter of time.
When the Senju revive, the Uzumaki's revival won't be far behind.
So does Uzumaki Kushina want to revive the Uzumaki clan?
That isn't the key. What matters is that her and Minato's son will carry the Uzumaki name, not Namikaze.
In a sense, her stance—and the leadership's complicated thinking—is written right there in Naruto's surname.
So, Kushina wants to restore the Uzumaki—Minato, do you support that or not?
When Yorin pictured Minato caught between the village leadership and his wife, he couldn't help but feel a pang for Minato's grim future—and then the corners of his mouth crept up:
"Ha ha ha ha… ke ke ke." The laugh gave Fugaku goosebumps—and confirmed once more that this boy truly had the bearing of a Mangekyō.
But a Mangekyō isn't a money tree. Fugaku largely accepted Yorin's "interest-binding" theory. Even the "First-Lady diplomacy" and "Uzumaki–Senju reconstruction" hints Yorin floated as a way to bind Minato—Fugaku said they were worth considering.
The former, though, made him uneasy.
"All the big-money businesses in the Land of Fire are monopolized by others. What can we do?"
He looked helpless.
He could claim his lavish house was bought with honest business sense and hard work; Yorin humored him. But say Fugaku knows business? Yorin had no objection.
"Tobacco, alcohol, sugar, salt, iron, coal… almost every lucrative trade is monopolized by the nobles. Land, mines, and rivers too.
Konoha can only touch timber and construction at most—just enough to sip the soup."
Fugaku did know his stuff; he rattled off the list, then fell into a glum frown—making Yorin itch to roast him.
Konoha—and the other big villages—have one core business, and it's not timber, renewables, or civil engineering.
It's military contracting.
Sure, the daimyo has samurai, monks, shrine maidens—chakra-using fighters.
But compared to Konoha, a 20,000-strong standing force—they're all small potatoes…
Yorin just wanted to rant.
Konoha and the other villages are the sorriest lot he's ever seen.
They even managed to run military contracting—the most profitable trade on earth—into the ground. Incredible.
If it were up to him, he'd have copied the Italian condottieri ages ago.
Italian mercenary companies were a marvel.
Flip the board, extort both sides, switch banners as needed—squeeze the last copper from the Land of Fire treasury.
When it's actually time to "fight," toss three kunai at the sky—that's what your daimyo pays for.
And not only Konoha—he'd get all Five Great Villages in on the bit—mutual playacting—united in fleecing the daimyo.
Make a noisy show with tags and shuriken—blow through 10 million ryō a day—and don't let anyone die.
Lose the war? Who cares—the daimyo cedes land and pays reparations. What's that got to do with Konoha?
What, the daimyo doesn't want to cede land or pay?
Then jack up the military budget, you muppet.
What, the treasury's so empty even rats won't run through it?
Fine—pawn your tariffs, mines, plantations. Monetary issuance? Monopolies on tobacco, alcohol, salt, iron? I'm not picky—I'll take it all.
So how—how did you manage this? Taking the most lucrative business in the world and turning a loss—then having the gall to say "I tried my best, what more do you want?"