With that, his talk with Jiraiya ended. Jiraiya told Minato, "I'll go rest," then hobbled off, one hand on his lower back.
Uchiha Yorin wondered where he'd head next.
Up on the Hokage Rock to overlook Konoha, or to the Memorial Stone to think of fallen comrades?
Given the way he was walking, bracing the wall with a hand on his back, the "drown your sorrows at the club" option could be ruled out—unless a "clean" version.
Thinking about it, it was a bit sobering.
Not only Tsunade and Orochimaru—even Jiraiya, who loved Konoha the most—couldn't stand staying here. Konoha's knack for grinding down its own aces…
For the Three Sannin, the so-called Hokage seat must look like a dead rat under a night cat's claw—nothing worth having.
At this point… what can you do?
No worries—Uchiha Yorin would step in.
…
"Alright then." Yorin stood, ready to say bye to Shisui and head to the Uchiha training grounds to get some reps in.
Lately it was tea and talks with Orochimaru, or hustling to open factories—occasionally escorting Jiraiya-sensei to the No. 1 club.
Busy with this and that—no time to train.
You have to understand: a hard right hook is a shinobi's foundation. Without Kage-class strength, you don't even dare talk loud.
And Kage-class is just the baseline. In a few years, the ninja world's power curve will inflate—jōnin will be common as dogs, Kage everywhere you step.
Then only beyond-Kage gets to talk loud… and even beyond-Kage looks small in front of Six-Paths tier.
Yorin felt the crisis keenly.
If the system's rewards weren't the real deal, he wouldn't be doing all this—he'd just let Minato lose his hair.
From Yellow Flash to Yellow Shine—Namikaze Minato becoming "Namikaze Saitama," picking up taijutsu and boxing his way to sudden enlightenment, perhaps.
But now it's different. Power gained by grinding can't match power poured in by the system. At last, Uchiha Yorin could ditch the Rock Lee route.
[Permanent Quest · Build the Business: Work hard to earn money for the Senju's tomorrow! Goal: acquire money or real estate. Reward: scales with wealth gained.]
…
Ordinary folks: the more money they earn, the more money they just have. Yorin's different: the more money he earns, the more firepower he gets; and the more firepower, the more money.
Strongest shinobi and richest tycoon—that's reasonable, no?
One day Uchiha Yorin would master the supreme art: Gold Release · One-Trillion-Ryō Impact!
Use it to buy out the Five Great Villages and realize permanent peace.
For now, the system chimed three stage clears: [Stage clear: net worth ≥ 10,000,000 ryō → Reward: one pair of Sharingan]
[Stage clear: net worth ≥ 100,000,000 ryō → Reward: +1 free attribute point]
[Stage clear: net worth ≥ 1,000,000,000 ryō → Reward: Lightning nature; A-rank jutsu Lightning Release · Chidori (incl. Chidori derivatives)]
Perfect—trim the hair, change the fit, say you're Uchiha Sasuke from twenty years in the future, and somebody's bound to believe it.
…
He hadn't gotten the Cloud's lightning-style body arts like Lightning Armor, his favorite—but a full Chidori suite still put him in a great mood.
With this many jutsu and a Stamina stat at 13, he could fire off wide-area ninjutsu. Let's see who dares yell, "Shame! Go sit at Might Guy's table!"
…
That last "net worth ≥ 1,000,000,000 ryō" hit two days ago—Yorin took a loan and happily expanded capacity.
Pity the ninja world has no stock market; if Uchiha Grand Pharmacy listed, never mind a "small goal" of 10 billion—100 billion, 1 trillion, even 10 trillion wouldn't be out of reach.
Uchiha Yorin: "Wait for it—one day."
There are so many rich suckers in the ninja world—if you don't collect a few IQ taxes, aren't you letting them down?
…
As for the Sharingan, when the system awarded it Yorin briefly worried he'd sprout an extra pair and become a literal four-eyes—thankfully, no.
The pair sits in system storage; when he wants them, he can hot-swap instantly.
That made him very happy.
The Sharingan is the Uchiha's deepest foundation—but it has a huge problem: eye-power drain.
Once the eye power runs dry, you go from Uchiha to Hyūga—unless you transplant a sibling's Mangekyō and get Eternal Mangekyō.
Yorin has no sibling; his earlier deal with Orochimaru for clones was to see if he could copy eyes and avoid "becoming a Hyūga." Now it's different.
He tried swapping in the system-grade Sharingan—perfectly compatible, no "hot-swap" feel—like original equipment. Extremely satisfying.
He now had materials for an Eternal Mangekyō fusion. Failing that—if he's blinded mid-fight—he has spares.
Women keep spare tires; Uchiha keep spare eyes—reasonable.
…
Lightning and Sharingan handled, the free point was even better. Yorin put it into Seals.
Don't be fooled by late-anime "no-seal casting"—Yorin chalks that up to frames being cut. The anime snips the hand-seals; it doesn't mean they aren't needed.
So seal speed still matters. Ninjutsu climbed to 8 thanks to the Chidori line—but casting still needs practice.
Higher Seals → higher Ninjutsu; and vice versa.
Uchiha Yorin: "Still have to train."
He was about to head out when Minato stopped him:
"Yorin, wait a moment."
That piqued him. What else did Minato want—make him acting Hokage aide to pull all-nighters? If so, hard pass.
Konoha can only have one baldy—and that's Minato. Yorin had no desire to work himself bald.
It wasn't that.
What Minato said wiped the easy, devil-may-care smile off Yorin's face:
"Orochimaru. And Shimura Danzō. What do you think of them?"
Yorin: "What… do I think?"
Namikaze Minato: "I can't shake the feeling they're hiding something from me."
Credit to the Fourth—he'd clocked their oddities fast.
No—maybe he'd noticed long ago, and only now, with enough trust between him and Yorin, was he bringing it up.
Yorin's mind spun up and landed on the right answer:
"What do you need me to do, Minato?"
At a time like this, you don't ask questions, you don't cast doubt, and you sure don't cover for Danzō or Orochimaru—you plant your flag on Minato's side.
Hearing that, a flash of relieved joy crossed Minato's face.
He hadn't misjudged it—Uchiha Yorin stood with him.
…
Current MC stats:
Nin: 8 | Body: 9 | Illusion: 9 | Wisdom: 8
Strength: 9 | Speed: 10 | Stamina: 13 | Seals: 6
Total: 72. But since Stamina 13 is an overflow stat, the "official" total counts Stamina as 10 → 69, just shy of beyond-Kage level.