Fugaku started running back and forth between the Police Force and the Hokage Building, living a busy, full life again.
Uchiha Yorin didn't take part—he only kept an eye on things.
Either way, with his pull, neither Fugaku nor Minato would forget to cut him his share of the dividends.
And as he watched, Yorin confirmed something a bit helpless:
They didn't have enough people.
In terms of elites, the Uchiha had plenty—lots of elite chūnin, lots of jōnin and elite jōnin, even several Kage-level fighters.
But logistics isn't about a handful of top-shelf fighters; it wants as many delivery runners, loaders, carters, and rank-and-file guards as you can get.
Konoha, at village scale, can supply those. Worst case, recruit from elsewhere in the Land of Fire.
The Third Great Ninja War just ended; there are refugees with no tomorrow scattered all over the world.
If the Forest of Death around Konoha weren't so dead, the outskirts would probably be packed with drifters; you'd need eighteen walls and still couldn't stop them "flocking to freedom and democracy."
But the Uchiha can't.
There are some civilian non-shinobi in the clan—people flipping crepes, running taverns, hawking tea eggs—but the headcount is nowhere near what a big logistics firm needs.
And under Uchiha protection, clan civilians are doing fine.
If life's decent, who wants to bust their back driving carts?
So in the end, the Uchiha only supplied a batch of ninja as escorts and some seed capital—nothing more. Yorin could only sigh: even handed a chance, they couldn't capitalize.
Uchiha Yorin: "Population, population… a clan's mobilization model really does lag behind a village's.
Even if Minato's willing to give us a hand, the Uchiha don't have that many resources and bodies to throw in.
So what now—does it really come down to becoming Hokage?"
…
Clans and villages aren't mutually exclusive. But for powerful clans like the Uchiha and Senju to coexist with a village, there's only one way: be the village's Kage.
Mid-sized clans like Ino–Shika–Chō have it easy:
Just back the Hokage—mindlessly.
Always back the Hokage.
Back whoever the Hokage is.
But the Senju and Uchiha are different—they're too strong.
Barring the Senju, no one can counter the Uchiha; barring the Uchiha, no one can ignore the Senju.
Put any other clan in charge and they quickly feel they can't handle subordinates that powerful; they start eyeing the Uchiha and Senju warily—instinctively opting to suppress, guard against, and distrust them.
That's a confidence problem. Right, Third?
Uchiha Yorin: "So it's not just Konoha that needs to change—it's the Uchiha too. And the future Senju… maybe the Uzumaki as well.
At the very least, the clan's 'internal circulation' rule has to go."
A key reason ninja clans are few, closed-off, and in decline is their love of "in-house" marriages.
To protect bloodline limits and secret techniques, clans marry internally to an extreme.
That tightens solidarity—but also breeds genetic disease.
"Daughters of daughters still daughters" sounds cute, but bloodline sanctimony has a price.
The end of that road is a clan riddled with hereditary disorders—Habsburg jaw territory—cured or not, still drooling.
Uchiha Yorin: "Large-scale intermarriage with the outside—bringing in new blood—serves two ends: it helps us reconcile with the village and win broader support; and it spares the Uchiha from hereditary collapse—from turning into Habsburg idiots…
Of course… there's another way…"
At that thought, Orochimaru's shadow flickered through Yorin's mind.
…
Yorin had another reason for pondering this besides the logistics company: lately he'd been under marriage pressure.
After flexing his power, he won the support of the younger guys—and the attention of the clan's aunts.
With Mikoto leading the charge, aunts rotated in, introducing matches and setting up dates until he was mentally and physically exhausted. Clan Head Fugaku and the other old-timers just sat back and enjoyed the show.
Clans value their own lineage survival above all. With Uchiha Yorin's "stud" genes, of course they wanted him to marry within the clan ASAP and pop out "ten or eight" kids to spread the branches.
Uchiha Yorin: "…Ten or eight, my ass—what am I, a stud boar? …Though, hold on, maybe that's not impossible."
Looks like the "dig-up-ancestor Uchiha Hikari to pad the harem" plan needs to be moved up.
Where's that kid buried again? Can't recall—time to check the clan library.
…
In those same days, Fugaku felt lucky—two happy events at once.
One: growing closer to the Hokage—finally the Uchiha set foot outside the Police Force and into other Konoha departments.
To show goodwill, Fugaku decided the clan's brightest youth—Shisui—would join the Konoha Freight Company.
Two: a private joy.
Mikoto was pregnant again—three months along at checkup.
Boy or girl, it would extend his line.
Both joys had to do with Yorin.
So when Yorin asked to open the clan library to study more jutsu, Fugaku agreed without a second thought.
Study whatever—take whatever you want. We're all brothers here; don't stand on ceremony.
He was so generous it left Yorin a little uneasy.
It's not Konoha's full jutsu vault—no all-Senju and a genius inventor like the Second—but the Uchiha library is still a treasure trove.
Is it really okay to throw it open to Yorin like this?
And what does "both things had to do with Yorin" even mean? He's been pure as snow with Sister-in-law Mikoto—don't slander us, Clan Head.
"It's Kakashi. About what you said—placing someone under Kakashi as a student…" Fugaku coughed awkwardly, explaining.
Oh—Kakashi. For a second I thought you meant Kakashi. In that case, no problem.
Yorin breathed easier and headed into the stacks to research.
First: chakra threads—upgrade Manipulating Kunai.
Second: scout useful ninjutsu—boost his firepower.
Also essential: speed up hand seals and grind jutsu practice.
With the system's permanent 2× training buff, Yorin's power skyrocketed month by month. After three months, he had chakra threads; Fire Style was familiar; he'd read through several Lightning jutsu.
He couldn't cast them yet without Lightning nature—but once the system hands it over, Kumo's taijutsu-lightning style is his.
Then he'll open Eight Gates and Lightning Armor—and if he can, Sage Mode too. Stack the buffs to the moon. Might Guy only almost kicked Madara-sama to death, but with one of Yorin's kicks—never mind Madara—even Kaguya's underwear would pop a seam.
Once he'd practiced what he wanted and hit a bottleneck, Yorin crawled back out of semi-hermit mode.
Too bad Fugaku had sent Shisui out "trucking"; if Shisui were training with him, the gains would be even faster.
Behind him, eight kunai on chakra threads coiled like rattlesnakes, guarding his flanks—his biggest harvest from seclusion.
Yorin was sure: if he fought Obito again, the result would be very different.
Sending him early to the Pure Land to see Rin Nohara would practically be a good deed.
…
Uchiha Yorin: "So—what next?"
He stepped out of the room, feeling the flow of chakra as he muttered:
"Go find Jiraiya—see if I can score a ticket to Mount Myōboku… or maybe… Orochimaru?"
Yorin's been drooling over Sage Mode for a long time. Conveniently, the Legendary Sannin each have a secret-realm inheritance.
Sadly, Jiraiya and Tsunade both ran—no idea where.
Jiraiya's not so bad—he pops into the village now and then; Minato can reach him.
Tsunade, though—poof. Fugaku promised he'd help look, but three months have passed and there's no sign—of Tsunade or even a strand of her hair.
Yorin was not happy. He figured it was time to turn up the intensity on the Clan Head—and add a little pressure.