In December, Konoha was wrapped in silver. Though people hadn't fully recovered from the wounds of the Third Great Ninja War, the New Year was near, and the holiday air was creeping in.
Konoha's ability to bounce back was the strongest among the nations.
On top of that, the transport-and-trade venture run jointly by the Uchiha clan and the Hokage's office had taken off, sharply speeding the village's economic recovery.
With a little more cash in every pocket, folks could buy their kids candy, pull a couple of yards of cloth for new clothes, even splurge on a better meal—add two slices of meat and an egg to the usual plum onigiri and miso soup.
Because of these measures, Minato's reputation grew by the day—gradually overtaking the Third's.
Shinobi will follow a leader who brings victory and honor.
And if he brings prosperity too, all the better.
"New Year already."
"Yeah. New Year."
On such a cheerful day, Uchiha Fugaku could only sigh.
If he could, he'd rather be with his wife and son than sit here staring at Uchiha Yorin.
"You know Lady Tsunade's escape skills are number one in the world. Even for us Uchiha, finding her is… difficult."
After saying that, Fugaku probed, "How about changing targets, Yorin? That girl we introduced last time—she seemed pretty good."
Uchiha Yorin said nothing, just stared at the clan head, applying pressure.
"Even if you look at me with that much sincerity—if we can't find Tsunade, we can't find her."
Uchiha Yorin: "…"
"All right, all right—I'll ask Mikoto to put the matchmaking on hold for now…"
Uchiha Yorin: "That's more like it."
…
With the marriage pressure kicked down the road, the chat between "Kid" and "Brother" loosened up.
Yorin: "Got a second-child name picked out yet?"
Fugaku: "We do. 'Sasuke.'"
Yorin: "Tss… what if it's a girl?"
Fugaku: "Oh, then 'Sako.'"
They clinked cups and moved on.
Yorin: "By the way, Clan Head, what's your relationship with Orochimaru like?"
Fugaku: "Orochimaru…? We're not close. In the Third War our Uchiha were matched against Mist, not on his line. Hardly any dealings—why?"
Yorin: "No big deal. Just thought Orochimaru might help with the 'growing-the-clan' problem."
Fugaku: "Oh?" That piqued him. "Orochimaru can help? How?"
With high tech, of course.
As everyone knows, the ninja world is a madhouse where black-tech flies. Plenty of places don't even have electricity, yet maniac scientists are researching artificial humans.
Yes—artificial humans—that's what Yorin had in mind. Orochimaru's top-shelf synths, clones, and assorted "people" are famed for being mature, stable, and cost-effective.
The ones he treats like his own sons even have Sage Mode. And you're worried they couldn't awaken a Sharingan?
Cooperating with Orochimaru—or extracting his human-fabrication tech by other means—and handing it to the Uchiha would rapidly boost the clan's headcount and fighting power.
"You can do even that? Science is… incredible."
At Yorin's words, Fugaku's eyes widened slightly, and he couldn't help sighing:
"Maybe we've been too obsessed with our eyes—and fallen behind in other fields."
Yorin thought there was truth in that. And it wasn't just the Uchiha—Konoha's lived off its legacy too long, losing its drive in R&D.
For all its scale and resources, Konoha is clearly outclassed in "mad-science specials" by the smaller villages.
In the Land of Snow, the snow-nin built chakra armor that defends and attacks, steam trains and chakra sleds—the armor even flies, ninja-world Iron Man–style.
Sky-nin, wiped out once by Konoha, were even wilder: from bio-ninja beasts to flying fortresses—stuff that would make the Sage of Six Paths go "whoa, damn."
Lightning Country has new-energy rail and ships. Wind has puppet engineering. Earth has the strongest legs. Water has… Terumi Mei.
Add it up and Fire Country really does lag in creating and adopting new tech…
Well, if you include Orochimaru, that's a different story.
But Orochimaru's heart isn't in the village. His obsession with immortality and Uchiha/Hashirama cells has sent his biotech skyrocketing year after year.
Yorin wasn't saying biotech didn't matter—everyone says the 21st century is the age of life sciences.
But the ninja world is still straddling the 1st, 2nd, and "80th" industrial revolutions. Going all-in on biotech now is… a bit premature.
Orochimaru's tech is useful—and his ruthlessness is alarming.
Desecrating the First Hokage's remains for Hashirama-cell research is one thing. But experimenting on comrades in the village crosses the deadliest of lines.
Within two years, his secret labs will be exposed.
Then he'll flee to found Sound. Dealing with him will only get harder—and riskier.
"If we could manufacture Uchiha—ethics, morality, combat power—would those Uchiha really be 'fine'?"
"No."
Uchiha Yorin said calmly, "Mass-produced Uchiha. Mass-produced Sharingan. A million Uchiha, a million pairs of Sharingan. Clan Head—if we held power like that, what should our next step be?"
"Become… Hokage?"
Fugaku's heart jolted; his gaze burned, half fanatic, half afraid.
"Too small."
Yorin shook his head, disappointed. "You let me down, Clan Head.
We could wield a power that changes the world—and your endgame is just 'be Hokage'? You won't even imagine conquering the world?"
"…Conquer the world?" he echoed, eyes wide and guileless.
"With a million Sharingan, wouldn't conquering the world be trivial?"
"…"
Once again, Fugaku was stunned into silence.
Seeing he couldn't push the talk further, Yorin stood, patted his shoulder, and said:
"Think it over, Clan Head. Think hard about the Uchiha's future."
He headed for the door—then turned halfway.
"Oh—almost forgot. One more thing.
That old fossil Danzō sent people to 'discuss' something with me.
If I don't come back, I'm counting on you to rally every man, woman, and child of the Uchiha to avenge me.
At the very least—burn me that old fossil's head."
~~~
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