Chapter 569: We're going to do something big, that's right, something big

"You unfilial son, this is the empire your brothers worked so hard to build for you."

Uchiha Gin parked his motorcycle, pointed a finger at Izuna's nose, and scolded him with a face full of frustration,

"Do you think what you're doing is fair to us?"

"."

Izuna fell silent; how could he not know how much money and effort his elder brother had spent to pave the way for him?

Once upon a time, he too had been filled with passion, prepared to fight for the village for the rest of his life.

But with the permanent departure of his nemesis, Tobirama Senju, Izuna seemed to have lost his motivation to move forward, and the Hokage seat he had once obsessed over no longer held any appeal in his eyes.

Only at this moment did he suddenly realize that his Hokage dream was never a real dream at all,

It was merely a childish competition between two children who were sulking at each other.

Of course, Izuna could not tell others about these feelings. Facing Uchiha Gin's questioning, he slowly spoke with a solemn expression, giving an impeccable reason,

"Sorry, big cousin, I think the most important thing right now is to find our missing elder brother first. As for the Hokage position or whatever, how could that be more important than him?"

"These two things don't conflict, do they?"

Uchiha Gin frowned. He would naturally worry about finding his big cousin; the Ghost Corps of the Land of Water had already been dispatched in full force and would soon turn the entire ninja world upside down,

Even if the person who took his big cousin was hiding at the ends of the earth, they would still be able to find traces of the other party.

On the other hand, the village was currently leaderless, and Izuna was clearly the strongest person on the surface, with the added status of being the Hokage's assistant. With just a little maneuvering, he could easily succeed as the Third Hokage.

"I really don't have the heart for it right now. Besides, there are some unstable factors within the clan that need to be dealt with; I really can't spare the time."

Seeing that Uchiha Izuna was determined not to be the Hokage, Uchiha Gin thought for a moment and did not continue to force him,

After all, he was the most loving Uchiha; how could he force others to do things they didn't like?

"Alright, alright, I get it. But don't forget to participate in the vote in a few days; Kagami is waiting to take the position~"

Although his little cousin had given up the Hokage seat, it didn't mean the Uchiha clan had lost everything; Uchiha Gin still had a backup plan,

"Rest assured, Kagami is also my cousin-nephew; if I don't help him, who will?"

Izuna, who had been relieved, nodded fiercely upon hearing Uchiha Gin's words, indicating that he would definitely give his full support.

"By the way, judging by what you said earlier, there are problems within the clan?"

The two walked together for a while longer, and Uchiha Gin suddenly remembered what Izuna had just said and asked casually,

"Big cousin, how long has it been since you attended a clan meeting?"

"Uh... the last time I attended was the last time."

Not expecting his casual question to be met with such a mocking retort from his little cousin, Uchiha Gin scratched his head helplessly, his eyes slightly evasive,

"I'll definitely attend on time next time~"

Ever since his little cousin succeeded as Hokage, he had basically never attended the clan's regular meetings. In his previous life, he had been so sick of attending all kinds of meetings that he would subconsciously gag at the mere mention of the word "meeting" now,

"I really can't do anything with you..."

Uchiha Izuna shook his head and began to explain what had been happening within the clan recently,

"There is a group of restless people in the clan, and you should know the little guy who is leading them: Setsuna, the son of Ryuei."

"Setsuna, huh? That kid never looked like a good person since he was little; it wouldn't be surprising if he did something illegal."

Recalling the appearance of Uchiha Setsuna, Uchiha Gin nodded in deep agreement,

"So, what kind of trouble are they stirring up?"

For disobedient children like that, they should be sent to Mr. Gin's cozy little prison to get some experience.

"Actually, they haven't taken any substantial action; they are just spreading a certain theory."

"A theory? What theory?"

Raising his eyebrows in confusion, Uchiha Gin asked with some surprise,

Uchiha Izuna's expression suddenly became a bit strange,

"They claim that someone is secretly carrying out a genocide plan against the Uchiha clan."

"Huh?"

The members of the Uchiha clan were not idiots. Ever since the village was founded, how could the suddenly soaring sacrifice rate not arouse the suspicion of those with a heart? The person most concerned about this data was the aforementioned Uchiha Setsuna,

As an extremist racist, he had always believed in the supremacy of the Uchiha, thinking that the Uchiha were the descendants of the Sage of Six Paths, descendants of gods, and naturally superior to the other commoners.

In his view, not only the Hidden Leaf Village, but even the Land of Fire, and even the entire ninja world, should be ruled by the noble Uchiha clan.

Yet, in such a noble clan, the consumption rate of its members was ranked first in the village and remained high?

The naturally suspicious Uchiha Setsuna finally reached a shocking conclusion after years of investigation and evidence gathering,

Someone was secretly purging members of the Uchiha clan.

A deep sense of crisis was born from this, and he, terrified, repeatedly put forward his views at clan meetings, but they never received enough attention,

After all, during the Warring States period, the sacrifice rate of clan members was much higher than it is now; living past thirty was a luxury,

Looking at it now, seventy or eighty-year-old Uchiha men and women could gather at the village entrance at dusk to dance square dances—something Uchiha clan members wouldn't have dared to imagine in the past.

Uchiha Setsuna, who had been frustrated repeatedly, did not give up; instead, he gathered a group of like-minded people, secretly formed a small group to restore the Uchiha, and continued to investigate the sacrifices of clan members in secret,

Unexpectedly, they really did find something. According to Uchiha Setsuna, most of the clan members who died on missions went out alone, but there were also cases where they teamed up with others,

And among the members of those teams, the figure of the Senju clan was prominently present, and the proportion was not low.

As a traditional Uchiha, Uchiha Setsuna's brain exploded the moment he saw the word "Senju," and he was instantly enlightened,

He had attained the Dao,

The mastermind behind the surge in the Uchiha clan's sacrifice rate was the Senju clan, with whom they had a blood feud.

It was all the Senju's doing!

Actually, Uchiha Setsuna was really overthinking it. The reason the Senju clan looked for Uchiha when teaming up for missions was simply because they recognized the strength of their old rivals, thereby increasing the mission completion rate,

The Uchiha, who always had their noses in the air, naturally disdained teaming up with other commoners, but if it were the Senju clan...

They could barely entrust their backs to them.

But no matter how strong the combination was, it couldn't withstand someone's "Great Relocation Plan." Every clan member recorded on the transfer list basically never saw the gates of the Hidden Leaf again.

"Actually, I have also been paying attention to the data in this regard. In recent years, the sacrifice rate of clan members has indeed been very high, but it has returned to normal recently."

Of course it was normal; the people on the Great Relocation list had all been relocated, and those left in the Hidden Leaf were basically the dregs, so it was no wonder that weirdos like Uchiha Setsuna could exist.

"So, how are you planning to deal with them?"

"Them" here referred to the small group led by Uchiha Setsuna.

"What can I do? They haven't done anything harmful to the clan or the village."

Uchiha Izuna spread his hands and replied helplessly. It was true that Uchiha Setsuna's spreading of rumors had affected the harmony of the village, but the other party had not done anything out of line; at most, he would punish them by making them face the wall at the Naka Shrine for a period of time.

"Tsk tsk tsk~ That's hard to say. I see that kid has a villainous look; who knows what kind of evil he's plotting~"

Uchiha Gin was a purely visual animal; to put it bluntly, he judged people by their looks,

And Uchiha Setsuna had perfectly inherited his father's sinister appearance, so Uchiha Gin naturally found the kid unpleasant; otherwise, he wouldn't have been slapping his butt since he was little.

"If you put it that way..."

Uchiha Gin's words were not unreasonable. The reason Uchiha Setsuna and the others didn't dare to do anything out of line before was because of the existence of Tobirama Senju,

Now, this last guardian of the Senju clan had also died on the battlefield, and the situation of the Senju, who were already in decline due to the debt of the whole clan, would likely become even more difficult,

If this continued, complete dissolution was only a matter of time.

As for whether Uchiha Setsuna would take this opportunity to seek revenge on the Senju clan, that was unknown,

Uchiha Izuna frowned and thought for a moment, deciding to keep these people under good control so they wouldn't cause trouble at this critical juncture,

"When Fuyou returns tomorrow, I will arrange for him to supervise this group of people."

After a period of trekking, the two finally returned to the clan grounds,

"Crackling~ crackling~"

Before they even got close, they heard the sound of firecrackers in full swing. Above the central square, a Fire Style fireworks display, which would only be shown during the New Year, was being performed. Vivid flames soared into the sky, illuminating the entire clan grounds,

"It seems that everyone has not been affected by the disappearance of our big cousin."

Uchiha Gin raised his eyebrows, pointed at the smiling clan members rushing to eat at the banquet in the distance, and complained to Izuna beside him,

"People can laugh out loud in extreme grief."

"Besides, didn't you tell me that our elder brother's life is not in danger? I didn't hide it from everyone."

The reason the Uchiha clan members could still be so relaxed was entirely due to the information passed on by Uchiha Gin,

After all, he had once demonstrated the magical Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation in front of everyone, so the news he gave that Uchiha Madara had not yet returned to the Pure Land was highly authoritative.

"Since things have come to this, let's eat first~"

Uchiha Gin, who had wanted to continue complaining, suddenly smelled the fragrance of honey-glazed eight-treasure rice. His eyes narrowed instantly, and he greeted his little cousin to walk toward the banquet.

"Greetings, Vice Clan Leader!"

The banquet had been going on for a while, and the clan members were drinking and having a great time. Seeing Uchiha Gin and Izuna walk in, everyone immediately stood up to salute,

"Keep the music playing, keep dancing."

Uchiha Izuna nodded slightly in response and raised his hand to let everyone continue having fun. The scene instantly became joyful again,

It could be seen that they felt incomparable grief over someone's sacrifice, so much so that they were smiling because of their extreme sorrow.

In the corner of the banquet, a group of people were huddled together sneakily. The leader was a young man with a sinister face; it was Uchiha Setsuna, whom Uchiha Izuna had just mentioned,

"Everyone, this is the best opportunity to take revenge on the Senju clan."

Uchiha Setsuna looked around, emboldened by the alcohol, and said viciously while clenching his fists,

"Boss, as long as you give the order, I'll go dig up Tobirama Senju's grave right now!"

The loyal little brother number one immediately patted his chest and stood up,

"Idiot, what kind of skill is it to trouble a dead man? We're going to do something big!"

Although he was very tempted by his subordinate's suggestion, the pride in Uchiha Setsuna's bones made him subconsciously reject it.

"Let's do something big. How about we go poach Senju Toka? She should count as the biggest one in the Senju clan, right?"

Upon hearing this, Underling Number Two was stunned, a smile that every man understands immediately appearing on his face; he licked his dry lips and asked, his face flushed red as he perked up.

"."

Uchiha Setsuna covered his face in helplessness; why did he recruit such a group of misfits as his underlings? They were either reckless brutes with big heads and slow brains, or lecherous perverts with heads full of yellow filth.

"Senju Hina!"

Gritting his teeth as he spat out the name, a faint glimmer flickered in Uchiha Setsuna's eyes; this illegitimate daughter who had suddenly appeared for Senju Tobirama had already successfully been acknowledged by the clan.

As the saying goes, a father's debts are paid by the son; he must dampen the spirit of this newcomer to the Senju, and let the Senju clan know that they, the Uchiha, are not to be trifled with.

"Boss, I'll go dig up her grave right now!"

"Boss truly has a discerning eye for breasts; she is indeed a few sizes bigger than Senju Toka."

"."

"Gulp~"

The silent Uchiha Setsuna tilted his head back and downed a cup of bitter wine, only then stopping the dull ache in his chest.

Having such subordinates really was his own "blessing."

"Bam!"

Slamming the empty wine cup onto the table, Uchiha Setsuna, his eyes bloodshot, rallied them:

"We act tomorrow night; success or death!"

"Understood, Boss!"

On the other side, Uchiha Gin, completely unaware of Uchiha Setsuna's petty schemes, was busy devouring the honey-glazed eight-treasure rice on the dining table.

This glutinous rice, drenched in syrup and honey, was exactly one of his favorite delicacies.

"Big Cousin, didn't Sister Hikari instruct you recently not to eat too many sweets, so as to avoid a blood sugar spike?"

Izuna, sitting beside him, frowned and reminded him; he had also seen Uchiha Gin's medical report, and the blood sugar levels were indeed somewhat high, with the doctor's advice also being to control sugar intake.

"It's fine. If you don't say anything and I don't say anything, how could Hikari possibly know?"

Uchiha Gin, his mouth stuffed with the cloyingly sweet eight-treasure rice, shook his head with an indifferent expression, not taking Uchiha Hikari's words to heart in the slightest.

"Oh?"

Suddenly, a fair, delicate little hand appeared before his eyes and snatched away the remaining eight-treasure rice on the table, infuriating Uchiha Gin so much that his tiger eyes widened, and he slammed the table and stood up on the spot.

"Who has such guts to dare snatch food from a tiger's mouth!"

You have angered a lion!

"What are you looking at? Still want to eat? I've come to collect~"

(End of chapter)