Chapter 109: Bugs? Then Fight

Not long after Sima Yi left with Ying Shu, the six elders arrived one after another, each bringing their own guards.

It had been several days since they last parted at Fugaku's house, and now they gathered once more at the clan head's home—only this time the clan head was Shisui Uchiha.

"Elders, please!" Shisui wore a smile, looking quite spirited and confident.

He had deliberately chosen a relatively secluded room and arranged seven round cushions in a circle.

After the several men entered the secret room, they exchanged glances; the cushions before them reminded them of how Fugaku had looked when he first became clan head.

Back then Fugaku had been just as spirited and confident. After they elected him as clan head, he had rushed to summon them all together within three days, eager for change.

Unfortunately, everyone's gaze then fell on the Grand Elder, but the Grand Elder simply stood quietly beside Shisui without saying a word. Seeing this, the others had no choice but to remain standing in the room.

Seeing that none of them would sit, Shisui finally realized what was happening and took the lead, sitting on the cushion directly facing the door.

After he sat down, the Grand Elder came to sit on his left, the Second Elder sat on Shisui's right, and the other elders each found their positions and sat down one by one.

"Thanks to your cooperation over this period, Elders, I now have a general understanding of the clan's affairs. I invited you all here today to discuss the future of our family together."

As soon as Shisui finished speaking, the Fourth Elder said, "Konoha's higher-ups already know about Fugaku's preparations for the Coup, but we've already made our choice between Fugaku and Konoha, and this decision is enough to reassure the higher-ups about us.

The Third Hokage surely trusts the clan head as well. As long as the family develops steadily from here on, with the relationship between the Third Hokage and the clan head, the family's future is bright—there's nothing to worry about."

The Fourth Elder sat in the second seat to Shisui's right, and his words drew frequent nods from the Second Elder.

Sitting opposite him was the Third Elder, who immediately curled his lip upon hearing these remarks and looked at the other with rather disdainful eyes, saying:

"What steady development? What a joke. We've been developing for how many years now, and the family's strength hasn't grown—it's only gotten weaker. If we keep staying steady, sooner or later Konoha will swallow us whole.

If you ask me, for the family to have a future, we must produce a Hokage. The Third Hokage is getting old now. Of the Legendary Sannin, two have left the Village, and one is never seen and has long faded from view. The Village is at a time when talent is scarce.

With our support, plus the Third Hokage's trust in the clan head, if we seize the opportunity, success is not impossible."

As the two began arguing, the first meeting after Shisui became clan head commenced in this unremarkable room.

However, the meeting started quickly and ended just as quickly.

"I thought you were a steady man—I didn't expect you to be so reckless. How could we have been so blind as to choose you as clan head!"

The guards outside only heard a roar, and then saw several elders walk out one after another with gloomy faces.

Only the Grand Elder had a calm expression, leaning on his cane as he unhurriedly stepped through the doorway. Before leaving, he looked back at Shisui, shook his head and sighed, and only then departed.

Shisui's face was livid, his Copy Wheel Eyes glaring as he recalled the reactions of those fellows just now. If he hadn't felt it wasn't worth it, he truly wanted to hit each of these elders with a Kotoamatsukami—or Amaterasu. Great Fireball would do, too.

He sat alone on the cushion, his back to the door, looking at the torn-up proposal in his hands, silent for a long time. This was the fruit of four days of his hard work, now reduced to a pile of shredded paper.

He didn't understand. Apart from the Grand Elder, why did the several elders who had previously supported him so strongly keep rejecting his proposals?

Reorganizing the family's industries was for the family's benefit; abolishing the clan meetings was to improve the family's efficiency; and reinstating and emphasizing supplementary clan education was for the family's future.

Even his request for them to contribute some money to ease the living pressure on ordinary clansmen was rejected with all sorts of excuses—even though those people were from their own branches.

Could they really not see whether these things were beneficial to the family? Shisui fell into deep thought. He first recalled the arguments between the elders during the meeting just now; what they said was not nonsense—each proposal had at least some chance of success.

Then he thought of Sima Yi, of his reactions during this period, and then of how Fugaku had looked when these elders gave him a hard time back then.

Lost in thought, he didn't know how much time had passed. A gust of cold wind poured in, scattering shredded paper all over the floor. The room suddenly darkened as a silhouette blocked the doorway.

Shisui slowly raised his head. When he saw the person, he had thought he would recount the meeting's contents to them exactly as they happened, and then calmly analyze and think of countermeasures together.

But when the person actually appeared before his eyes, his body and mind first relaxed, and then his nose stung, as an inexplicable sense of grievance and anger surged into his heart.

Of course, this anger was absolutely not directed at the person.

Sima Yi stood quietly at the doorway, looked at Shisui's reddened eyes, and sighed. Then he slowly stepped forward and patted his head. "Since things have come to this, let's eat first."

In an instant, like a flood bursting through a dam, Shisui threw his arms around Sima Yi's leg and buried his head deeply.

Sima Yi was taken aback. Looking at the thirteen-year-old boy before him, he chuckled softly, then gently stroked his head.

After a long while, Shisui calmed down, his face flushed red, and he bowed his head to apologize.

"Heh, letting it out once in a while is fine. Get up and let's eat."

Following Sima Yi out of the secret room, Shisui only then noticed that the sky was dark and night had long since fallen.

After the two had eaten, Shisui followed Sima Yi to the study. As soon as the door closed, he couldn't wait to ask, "Grandfather, did you already know they wouldn't agree to the reforms?"

Sima Yi's expression was calm. He lifted a box from under the desk onto the table and casually explained, "In large families—especially one as populous as this—mutual constraints between branches are commonplace, let alone in the Uchiha's particularly complex situation."

"Then why did you still agree to let me try? And here I was, preparing the proposal so earnestly, and they didn't agree to a single item.

I was so angry I nearly turned on them, but I only said they weren't considering the big picture, and they threw the fact that they supported me as clan head back in my face.

Even if we're just talking about the elders, the Grand Elder clearly contributed the most. The Grand Elder never spoke against it—what right do they have to suppress me like that!"

The more Shisui thought about it, the angrier he got, itching to reveal his Mangekyou and force them to compromise.

But he also knew that unless his Mangekyou could control six people at once, neither the Grand Elder nor Sima Yi would agree to him exposing it again.

If one person knows, it's a secret; if six people know, probably all of Konoha will know.

Sima Yi raised an eyebrow and explained with an amused expression, "I told you to try, but you shouldn't only listen to half of what I say. I also told you to plan slowly—you have plenty of time."

Shisui was taken aback. After thinking back carefully, he said, "I did plan slowly. I spent four days on this plan. Didn't you also say I wrote it well?"

"There's nothing wrong with how it's written. If it could be implemented, the family would naturally prosper gradually."

"Then—"

"But the 'planning' I spoke of means implementation, while the 'planning' you spoke of means proposals.

Every one of your proposals either asked for money or people—each cut landed on them, and you swung dozens of cuts in one breath. It's only because they can't beat you that they didn't resort to violence already.

Hahaha~"

Saying this, Sima Yi couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Shisui's face turned red. After all that, the other had known everything all along but had been watching him make a fool of himself, which left him utterly frustrated.

"Grandfather! You could have at least reminded me. Now that I've aroused their wariness, won't it be even harder to propose reforms later?"

Sima Yi reined in his laughter, looked at Shisui's expression, and shook his head with a sigh, "You see? Impatient again."

"Ever since you became clan head, you've been somewhat restless. How can you calm your mind without encountering setbacks and suffering a little?"

Seeing Sima Yi's expression turn serious, Shisui paused and quickly stood at attention.

"I have reminded you repeatedly, yet you have turned a deaf ear. How can you accomplish anything without taking the long view? How could the clan's root troubles be eliminated in a single day? Right now these are still just internal clan affairs. With your strength, even if you suffer a temporary setback, they cannot do anything to you, nor can they affect the overall situation. That is why I let you act freely."

"Some things, you will only firmly remember after personally experiencing them once and learning the lesson."

Shisui lowered his head upon hearing this, overwhelmed with shame.

"Do you still remember the supplementary words I told you when we discussed the 'Basic Annals of Gaozu'?"

Shisui's expression shifted. He looked up at Sima Yi and replied, "When the cunning hare is dead, the good hound is boiled; when the high birds are gone, the good bow is stored away; when the enemy state is broken, the scheming ministers perish." "Just remember it. Those words are not meant for you. What you need to do comes before those words—that is, what must be done after ascending to power."

"Please teach me, Grandfather!"

"Consolidate your gains, reward according to merit, win over people's hearts, enhance your strength, then burn the bridge behind you to cut off the path for those who come after. That is what you should do after accomplishing your goal."

Sima Yi continued to explain, "Rewarding according to merit and winning over hearts—you have in fact already done part of that."

Shisui was puzzled, recalling what he had done since becoming clan head. "Do you mean Brother Hui?"

Speaking of rewarding according to merit, it seemed only Hui had moved upward.

"Your public promotion of Hui to squad captain did indeed have that effect. Afterward, you took the initiative to visit the various elders and those ninja at their homes. Though the main purpose was to understand the clan's situation, it likewise served some of that function."

"I see."

"But what you did was not comprehensive, and the order was also wrong. You failed to see the priorities and their relative urgency."

"After accomplishing your goal, the first thing you should have done was immediately take over the strength Fugaku left for you. That is consolidating your gains."

"Grandfather means Senior Tie Huo, right? I will value him!"

Sima Yi shook his head and said, "Not just Tie Huo alone. Fugaku served as clan head for so many years and cultivated quite a few people, openly and covertly. As long as you make heavy use of Tie Huo, you can set their minds at ease and bring them to submit. With Fugaku's covert instructions, you will soon be able to take over everything, and our strength will swell rapidly."

"Beyond that, he also left behind some enterprises, which can likewise be put to your use."

"Huh? Where did Grandfather get this information?"

"."

"That intelligence report is right in your room. You brought it back so many days ago—did it never occur to you to read it carefully again?"

"Moreover, I did tell you, didn't I, that Fugaku's intelligence would save you a great deal of trouble!"

Sima Yi looked at Shisui, his eyes somewhat shocked. He had not expected that after weathering the crisis, Shisui's performance would actually be worse than before.

Could it be that this boy is more like Yuan Shao?

Shisui's face flushed crimson. He lowered his head in shame and listened to the reprimand, not daring to offer the slightest defense.

"I'm sorry, Grandfather. I was too impetuous."

"You~"

Sima Yi rose to his feet, pointed at the box on the table, and said, "During the time you were drafting your plan, I had already arranged for someone to temporarily take over those enterprises. These are the account books Ying Shu and I brought back today. I will help you audit them as soon as possible."

"However, we are short on manpower. If the audit turns up no major issues, we can let the original people continue managing them."

After Sima Yi finished speaking, Shisui suddenly dropped to both knees and prostrated himself before him, saying, "I'm sorry, Grandfather. Just now I actually thought Grandfather was deliberately avoiding me. I was truly out of line!"

Sima Yi's eyes merely shifted slightly, then he gave a gentle nod and continued, "Mm, no matter. After consolidating your gains, you must reward according to merit. Aside from Hui, Yatsuda, Inabi, and those Elite Forces outside the Police Department who chose to pledge themselves to you can all be given some rewards."

"But the Police Department only has four squads. Yatsuda and Inabi are already squad captains. The only step up would be to become department heads."

"The way of adaptability lies in adapting to circumstances. You must know how to be flexible."

"Those elders may control the greater part of the Police Department's strength, but the Police Department is ultimately part of Konoha's establishment, not a family matter. As department head, you have direct authority to appoint and dismiss. Simply create a sinecure to promote them in name while demoting them in substance."

"As for those clan Elite Forces outside the Police Department, you can directly establish a new squad within the clan. On the pretext of selecting and training ANBU members for the Third Hokage, place all of them into it."

"Doing so will not only deepen the Third Hokage's trust but also allow you to exchange ANBU quotas for resources from the other elders."

"As long as you do these things well and publicize them slightly, people's hearts will naturally submit and your strength will naturally increase."

"In time, our power within the clan will be consolidated and then swell rapidly. By then, no elder from any faction will be able to stand against us alone."

"Consolidate gains, reward merit, win hearts, enhance strength—I see. But giving Yatsuda a sinecure—won't that displease the Grand Elder? He helped me so much, and he was the only elder at today's meeting who did not reject my proposal."

Sima Yi stroked his beard with a smile and asked in return, "So you're saying he agreed to your proposal?"

"Uh, well, he didn't explicitly agree either."

After Shisui finished speaking, it dawned on him. "So the Grand Elder doesn't support me either?"

Sima Yi shook his head. "I don't know what he personally may think, but the Grand Elder's faction and the hawks he represents will certainly not agree."

Shisui's face twisted. He scratched his head, his scalp tingling.

"Why does it have to be this complicated? How did the clan turn out like this? With these insects, no wonder Clan Head Fugaku could find no hope of changing the future!"

Seeing Shisui's frustration, Sima Yi laughed heartily. "I have learned quite a bit during this time. It is not actually their fault. The fact that the clan's infighting has reached such a degree must be traced back to your ancestor Madara."

"Ancestor Madara? How is it him again."

Shisui felt helpless. The source of the clan's changes always seemed to be that man.

"The lineage of Madara Uchiha has been passed down for a long time. Every past clan head came from this line. It can be called the orthodox line of the Uchiha, its status akin to the main house of the Hyuga clan."

"Unfortunately, when he left Konoha back then, he left no heirs."

"And his several younger brothers all died even faster than he did. The orthodox line was directly extinguished. From that point on, the Uchiha clan no longer had any distinction between main and branch lines."

"These clan elders were originally just representatives of their respective branch lines, assisting the clan head in managing part of the clan's enterprises, but the clan head held absolute authority over them."

"After the orthodox line of the Uchiha disappeared, that authority fell into the hands of the various branch line elders, with the Grand Elder of that time being foremost, controlling more than thirty percent of the clan's enterprises."

"If a new clan head could have been selected quickly, this situation would have been manageable. Unfortunately, the Uchiha temperament tends toward self-confidence."

"They all felt that only their own line could revive the Uchiha, and because their ideals clashed, none would yield to the others. Thus they engaged in constant infighting."

"It was not until they jointly selected Fugaku as the new clan head—but by then it was too late. The clan's enterprises had already been in the hands of the various branch lines for decades. Getting them to voluntarily hand them back through negotiation was impossible."

"Absurd! A bunch of stubborn old fools!"

Shisui's eyes narrowed slightly, his aura changing abruptly. "If talk won't work... then use force!"

No matter what, he had to reclaim the clan's enterprises, centralize authority, and march toward Konoha! This time, Sima Yi did not call him a hothead. Instead, he nodded with satisfaction. "After those four steps comes burning the bridge behind you, to cut off the path for those who come after. This is to prevent others from using the same method to rise to power."

"However, given the clan's current state, those elders no longer have suitable candidates."

"So this time we must display martial power and establish absolute prestige within the clan. Only then will we have the confidence to push through institutional reform, to centralize authority, and to command the clansmen as one commands one's own limbs."

Shisui and Fugaku are oddballs of the Uchiha clan—their thoughts are hard to guess—but Sima Yi has gradually come to understand the little schemes of other normal Uchiha.

Since neither is willing to submit to the other, then let them fight it out until they do submit!

Today was my first time coming to school; I spent the whole day in the car and got a bit dizzy. I originally wanted to take leave, but I barely managed to finish writing.

This is basically supplementary setting. Earlier, some people didn't quite understand why things were like this, so I added the reasons behind the internal clan conflict.

If there's anything wrong, I'll check it tomorrow. Right now, I'm seeing stars.

(Chapter end)