Chapter 35: The Final Encouragement Before Parting

Yamanaka Chujiu said to Shisui Uchiha, "Kid, haven't you noticed that the Uchiha are currently in a state of ideological chaos, where no one can convince anyone else?"

Shisui Uchiha and Itachi Uchiha nodded at the same time: "That's right, the Uchiha Clan is just like that."

Yamanaka Chujiu sneered: "That is because you Uchiha have forgotten the easiest way to convince your clansmen."

"A perfectly fine Uchiha Clan, foolishly following Sarutobi Hiruzen to learn how to hold meetings and use verbal persuasion—it's truly putting the cart before the horse!"

"As long as your strength is sufficient, you just charge in and fight; only once you've beaten them into submission do you start talking reason."

"Only then will your clansmen listen carefully and strive to understand the logic you are expounding, rather than focusing entirely on refuting and nitpicking."

"This applies not just to the Uchiha, but to the vast majority of people in the Ninja World: the weapon of criticism cannot replace the criticism of weapons!"

Yamanaka Chujiu's radical theory left Itachi Uchiha and Shisui Uchiha completely bewildered.

But soon, Shisui frowned and said: "That's not right, Senior Chujiu, what you're saying is wrong!"

"Back then, Madara Uchiha's strength was also beyond question, but when he chose to leave the ninja village, not a single person from the entire Uchiha Clan followed him."

Yamanaka Chujiu sneered: "That is because at that time, Konohagakure had an indisputably stronger person!"

"The First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, was invincible; he could not only beat Madara Uchiha into submission but also sincerely accept the Uchiha and grant them the greatest fairness!"

"The strength of the Second Hokage was also well-known; although he was quite wary of you Uchiha, he was willing to take Uchiha Kagami as a student and could treat everything with fairness."

"The strength of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, was dazzling; he not only had Uchiha Obito as a student, but his wife was best friends with your clan leader's wife, and he even had the intention of making the Uchiha Clan a core pillar."

"When the Hokage of Konohagakure is stronger and willing to accept the Uchiha, you will naturally take the current Hokage as the core, and your clan leader becomes an executor rather than an authoritative decision-maker."

"But is the Third Hokage the same as the other three Hokage?"

"When the Uchiha were risking their lives on the battlefield, the Third Hokage never appeared; when the Uchiha were framed and sabotaged by Shimura Danzo, the Third Hokage only knew how to smooth things over."

"The Uchiha have not felt fairness for many years; they have suffered too many grievances and harbor resentment in their hearts."

"Sarutobi Hiruzen has never gone to the battlefield to personally demonstrate an unrivaled, powerful strength, so naturally, he could not make the Uchiha accept him or form a unified ideology centered on the Hokage, which naturally led to a sense of resistance."

Itachi Uchiha said, full of pleasant surprise: "Senior Chujiu is right. When the Fourth Hokage was in office, the atmosphere within the clan was very good, and there was always a smile on Father's face."

"After the Fourth Hokage sacrificed himself, Father returned to his sorrowful appearance, feeling depressed and often arguing with the Elders."

Shisui Uchiha was stunned: "Ah, is that so?"

"I thought the predicament of the Uchiha Clan had always existed..."

The two brothers looked at each other and said simultaneously: "In that case, as long as Lord Orochimaru becomes the Fifth Hokage, the problem can be solved?"

Yamanaka Chujiu smiled and raised his fist, rewarding the two hot-blooded Uchiha brothers with a heavy punch each.

As proud Uchiha, both had their violent, rebellious hearts stirred, but as believers, they felt a certain strange "love."

The contradictory feeling caused their thinking to fall into a brief chaos, but after quickly regaining their clarity, they understood what Yamanaka Chujiu meant.

"I'm sorry, Senior Chujiu." Shisui Uchiha apologized in shame: "I forgot your teachings again."

Yamanaka Chujiu shook his head: "It's fine. Making mistakes is not scary, as long as you can realize it in time."

"However, the personality of the Uchiha Clan is indeed interesting. While you are extremely proud of your own bloodline and power, you have a mysterious faith in the strong, and you unconsciously pin your hopes on others."

"Do you remember what I said before about the first step in doing things being to distinguish between enemies and friends?"

The two nodded together: "We remember. We are already conducting investigations and have determined who the Uchiha's base is, but we are still investigating who the enemy is."

Yamanaka Chujiu agreed: "Mm, it is good to have results; subsequent thinking will have a starting point."

But he did not say that while continuing the investigation was not difficult, determining who the enemy was would be hard.

If the Uchiha Clan is taken as a whole, the enemy is the Third Hokage Group headed by Sarutobi Hiruzen, and Shimura Danzo is merely the most vicious and cruel thug in that group.

This alone would be enough to make Shisui Uchiha miserable, whereas Itachi Uchiha would accept it easily.

Having been branded with the Thought Seal by Yamanaka Chujiu, he is the most steadfast protector of the Uchiha and is already hostile toward Sarutobi Hiruzen.

But things did not end there; as long as Itachi and Shisui continued their investigation and continued to break down the distinction between friend and foe, they would discover:

The enemy is within the Uchiha!

At that time, they would have to first confirm their own stance—whether they stand with the clan leader and the Elders, or with the clansmen of the Uchiha.

This is not an easy choice to make; they will feel incomparable pain.

Yamanaka Chujiu deliberately ignored this point and continued: "After distinguishing between enemies, ourselves, and the middle-of-the-roaders, what we must do is win over the middle-of-the-roaders."

"If we have many friends and few enemies, we can achieve victory."

"This sounds simple, but it is very difficult to do, and it inevitably requires a different method for every situation and every person; one must analyze specific problems specifically."

This is the essence of thousands of years of political struggle in Chinese civilization, summarized by the Mentor into simple, easy-to-understand words with supreme genius.

But what is called "simple and easy to understand" applies to the people of Chinese civilization; for the illiterates of the Ninja World, it is still more obscure and difficult to understand than a heavenly book.

Fortunately, the two youths are different; they have received education from Yamanaka Chujiu for a period of time, and especially as Chujiu's believers, they can share each other's feelings slightly through the faith connection of the Mind Severing Realm.

So they understood.

It turns out that all the various contents Chujiu spoke of were categorized into a unified system within this single sentence.

Yamanaka Chujiu was very satisfied with the shock of the Uchiha brothers.

He smiled and asked: "Do you feel that your minds are clearer than ever before?"

"Do you feel that you have found the way to solve the Uchiha's problems, and that you might even succeed as long as you let go and do it?"

The two youths nodded repeatedly, like two little roosters pecking at food.

Yamanaka Chujiu's smile became even more radiant: "Very good, you have seen the correct path that leads to success."