Chapter 171: Compromise
"Thank you for your help!"
Masahiko looked at the young man bowing and thanking him with complex feelings.
After realizing that the person in front of him was Teuchi, the owner of Ichiraku Ramen in the original story, Masahiko lost interest in watching the finale of the "love triangle" and started chatting with him instead.
In the end, Masahiko provided him with some "startup funds," resulting in the other party bowing in gratitude.
Waving him away, Masahiko frowned. He had fully activated his perception just now but didn't sense a trace of chakra fluctuation from Teuchi; he seemed like a genuinely ordinary person.
"Does Otsutsuki Ichiraku really exist?" Masahiko muttered. He was very curious about this character, who had been hotly debated in his previous life, and wanted to investigate personally. Actually, he didn't really believe it and thought Teuchi should be an ordinary person, but the fact that he appeared at this specific time...
"This is a bit too coincidental, isn't it? Could he really be some clone of the Sage of Six Paths or something?"
"Troublesome..."
It took a while for Masahiko to snap out of it. The crowd before him had dispersed, and the conflict between the Senju and Uchiha had settled down, suppressed by Mito.
The Akatsuki attack that Masahiko worried about didn't happen either. Perhaps they knew he was in Konoha, or maybe they were delayed by other matters.
"I wonder what the final result was."
Masahiko muttered and returned to the Senju clan. Without needing to ask, just seeing the festive atmosphere in the Senju grounds told him that Mikoto had ultimately chosen Nawaki.
"Now, I can only hope that Fugaku quickly finds another Uchiha woman and can still give birth to Itachi and Sasuke."
Although this result might affect his grand cause of earning Witness Points, he was genuinely happy for Nawaki.
"In the original story, this child died an unclear death. Now, at least, he has found fulfillment," Masahiko thought as he walked towards Mito's house, where he sensed the chakra fluctuations of many acquaintances.
Nawaki's father Kenji, his sister Tsunade, and several Senju elders who rarely showed their faces were all gathered in Mito's room. Surprisingly, Danzo was there too.
Masahiko walked into the room and smiled. "Congratulations, Nawaki."
Nawaki was beaming with joy. "It's all thanks to your guidance!"
Masahiko nodded, smiling at the others. The atmosphere in the room was relatively serious. Finally, Masahiko focused his gaze on Danzo.
"Is Hiruzen with the Uchiha? Did he send you here to stabilize the Senju first while waiting for news?"
Danzo smiled bitterly. Although that was indeed the case, Masahiko stating it so plainly made the already awkward atmosphere even tenser.
"Elder Masahiko, rest assured. Mikoto Uchiha chased after him under the watchful eyes of everyone. It's unlikely they would dare to renege."
Masahiko pursed his lips. "How could the Uchiha not renege?"
As soon as these words left his mouth, Hiruzen's chakra approached rapidly from outside. His first sentence upon entering made Masahiko's face flush with embarrassment.
"The Uchiha agreed!"
Everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief, then looked at Masahiko with strange expressions.
Masahiko's old face turned red, and he glared at Hiruzen. It felt like Hiruzen was intentionally contradicting him.
Hiruzen didn't understand the situation. It took him a while to recover and continue.
"However, they have some conditions."
Masahiko let out a long breath. That sounds more like it.
"What conditions? Do they want Nawaki to marry into their family (matrilocally)? That's no different from reneging." Masahiko said with a smile, but obviously, no one in the room believed the Uchiha would dare make such a demand; that would be no different from declaring war directly.
Hiruzen smiled bitterly and shook his head, looking hesitant. "How is that possible? They only have one demand: if the couple's offspring awakens the Sharingan, they must be counted as members of the Uchiha clan."
"That's impossible!" Before Masahiko could speak, Tsunade blurted out, clenching her fists tightly.
Others in the room also frowned. Although they believed the Senju constitution was stronger than the Uchiha's, the Sharingan...
Masahiko smiled and shook his head. "In that case, the offspring will be 100% Uchiha."
Seeing the others' confusion, Masahiko didn't explain. No one would likely believe that Senju blood would act as a support to Uchiha blood (enhancing the chances of awakening/strengthening the Sharingan).
"We cannot agree to this condition, Hokage-sama," said Kenji. As the current Senju Clan Head and Nawaki's father, he had more say in this matter.
Nawaki also looked solemn; it wasn't easy for him to speak on such a matter.
The atmosphere in the room grew heavy. Masahiko sighed. "Since they are willing to propose conditions, the matter is basically settled. Nawaki is only 17, and Mikoto is 16. What's the rush? We can discuss this slowly."
Hiruzen and Danzo exchanged glances, both wearing cautious expressions. As the two great clans of Konoha, they actually didn't support a marriage alliance between the Senju and Uchiha, fearing they might become "too big to control." But with Mito and Masahiko present, they could only bury such thoughts deep in their hearts and even had to actively offer help.
Masahiko actually saw through this but didn't care. He knew that relying on a single marriage to unite the two clans was unlikely. Moreover, this was only Nawaki; if it were anyone else, he might even actively stop it. At least until he possessed the Kekkei Mora, it was too "dangerous."
The marriage alliance was basically set; the rest was just haggling between the two families.
The current Uchiha Clan Head was Kagami Uchiha after all. Even though the three Uchiha Elders were tough, once Kagami revealed his Mangekyou Sharingan, things became smoother.
Finally, the Uchiha clan compromised slightly. If the couple had multiple children, the eldest son would take the Senju surname regardless of the circumstances. For subsequent children, if they awakened the Sharingan before graduating from the Ninja Academy, they must take the Uchiha surname.
The Senju didn't push further; they could accept this result. Before graduating from the Ninja Academy, children generally wouldn't experience combat, so awakening the Sharingan was unlikely. Thus, the atmosphere became harmonious.
Although the matter was settled, the two children were still young. It wasn't like the Warring States Period where people married at fifteen or sixteen. Back then, it was because too many lives were lost in war, so marriages happened early.
As for now, not many people married before twenty. However, these two didn't need to wait that long. After negotiation, the Uchiha agreed to marry Mikoto Uchiha into the Senju family at the beginning of Year 38 of Konoha, which was a year and a half later.
With the matter settled, Masahiko frowned and said with a smile, "I have one more condition here."
The Uchiha members were startled, and the Senju were also confused. Masahiko hadn't intervened before, but now that it was over, he spoke up.
Masahiko looked at the Uchiha group. "Does your clan have any girls close in age to Mikoto? Like Uchiha Miki, Uchiha Mishi, or even Uchiha Meili? Betroth her to Fugaku to compensate him."
The entire room was dumbfounded...
Masahiko was helpless. Currently, he could only pin his hopes on the unreliable "world correction force."
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