The Uchiha were known for many flaws, such as their poor social skills and arrogance, but most of them were undeniably attractive regardless of gender.
Today, however, the Uchiha were suffering an absolute defeat in fashion.
After showing the clan head's invitation to the guards of the Uchiha district as night fell, the three of them calmly entered and headed toward Fugaku's house.
Hibui and Kiyui wore dazzling evening dresses adorned with elegant jewelry, causing the Uchiha women to stare at them in fascination, already thinking about what kind of similar dress would suit them best and planning to use the Uchiha information network to figure out where they could get them.
As for Chad, upon seeing the proud Uchiha men wearing kimonos as if they were women, he snorted in amusement and gave them a disdainful look while adjusting the tie of his custom-tailored suit.
Normally, such an attitude would have earned him a barrage of fireballs from the Uchiha, but after comparing Chad's suit to their traditional kimonos, they wrinkled their noses as they realized the overwhelming difference in "masculinity" between them.
Reluctantly, they decided to ignore the guest and save face in front of the clan head, while also discreetly slipping away to figure out where they could get similar suits for themselves, customized with the clan emblem, of course.
Even when Fugaku and Mikoto greeted them at the entrance, they froze for a moment and exchanged subtle glances using their husband-and-wife code.
"Have you ever seen clothes like that before?"
"No. Have you?"
"Neither have I, but I really like them."
"I also think they look very elegant."
"We need to find out where they got them."
"Agreed. Let's bring it up while serving the second course."
"Maybe it'd be better during the appetizers to break the ice?"
"You're right, as always."
The exchange of information lasted only a fraction of a second before they welcomed them inside with polite smiles.
Chad chose to remain cautious and discreetly inspected the entire place while they walked through the polished wooden hallway.
The last thing he wanted was to sit down for dinner only to discover that all of this had been arranged by a certain person to deceive him and get close to him.
It was a relief to confirm that wasn't the case.
"Sasuke isn't here either? Good."
No offense, but he preferred eating without that brat around.
Dinner proceeded with astonishing calmness, which only made the three of them even more uneasy.
"So then, Fugaku," Chad couldn't understand how someone like the Uchiha clan leader could be so slow to bring up his real intentions. "Why exactly did you invite us to dinner?"
Fugaku was about to pick up his teacup and take a long sip, but something in Chad's gaze made him reconsider.
"Ahem! I invited you mainly to personally thank you for what you people from Kumo did."
A question mark nearly materialized at Fugaku's words.
What exactly were they being thanked for?
For killing Itachi before he went insane and taking his eyes?
For wiping out the Uchiha sent to the former Land of Water?
The clan seemed to have far more reasons to want them dead than to thank them, didn't they?
"My eldest son, Itachi… died at Kiri's hands," Fugaku said with a dark expression. "Although we don't know exactly who did it, the fact that Kumo inflicted such devastating losses on Kiri that the village was dissolved has helped my wife and me find some peace," he explained while taking Mikoto's hand as she struggled to hold back tears.
Chad looked at Hibui.
"Devastating losses?" he asked silently with his eyes while the Uchiha couple seemed overwhelmed by emotional pain. "I was the supreme commander of the war, and I don't remember us killing that many people, right?"
"I suppose Raikage-sama exaggerated the numbers and 'accidentally' leaked them to the spies of the other villages," Hibui argued through her posture.
"I don't think we deserve that much gratitude," and surprisingly enough, Chad said this sincerely. "We were just following the daimyo's orders."
Was he really not going to mention the issue of the Uchiha bodies during the war?
Strange.
"I'm aware of that, but since we obviously can't send our thanks to your kage directly, we believed this would be a good way to put the past to rest," Fugaku assured them.
As for the Uchiha who had been sent to the former Land of Water, Fugaku was actually pleased with their downfall, since they belonged to the hawkish faction he constantly clashed with inside the clan.
In fact, he hadn't even selected them or ordered them to leave. They had simply accepted the mission alongside a handful of Hyuga and departed without his consent.
All to prove to the Third Hokage that the Uchiha had not lost their edge.
And for what?
The Third Hokage fell into a coma shortly after the war ended, and Tsunade hadn't even bothered to visit them after returning and ascending as the Fifth Hokage.
Not them, not the Hyuga, not any clan… it was a complete display of disrespect and disregard for their influence and status.
They didn't like that, just as they didn't like how she had bypassed the proper Hokage election process, exactly like Hiruzen had done in the past.
The Uchiha and Hyuga in particular believed it was finally time for a Hokage from their own bloodline.
And as for this whole "temporary Hokage" business, who exactly was she trying to fool?
In fact, earlier that very afternoon they had managed to acquire key information from the black market, a document detailing exactly how much the last Senju owed to every loan house combined.
The clans panicked when they saw the numbers, fearing what kind of actions the Fifth Hokage might take in her desperation to pay them off.
Would she raise taxes?
Would she divert the daimyo's financial allocation to the village?
Would she demand monthly "shows of sincerity" from the clans?
Worse, what if she used the money for gambling? Wouldn't that only make things even worse?!
All the clans were secretly scrambling like ants on a hot pan, while Tsunade herself had no idea that every clan in the village was now fully aware of just how catastrophic her debt truly was.
She was trying to figure out why the Uchiha had invited Kumo's envoys to dinner.
Meanwhile, after finishing dinner with Fugaku and Mikoto, the group returned to their assigned hotel. Once they had gotten comfortable, Hibui pulled out a thick stack of bills and began counting them enthusiastically.
"Don't blame me, Hokage. I'd rather you be the one at a disadvantage during tomorrow's negotiations, not us," she thought without the slightest remorse.
Too bad they were in dangerous territory and couldn't truly relax. Otherwise, she would have wanted to share her good mood with her sister and celebrate with her husband.