In the spring of Year 52 of Konoha, after several months of fighting, the Fourth Great Ninja War officially came to an end. The Five Great Nations laid down their arms and withdrew their troops. Everyone finally exhaled, and life slowly began to return to something like normal.
The biggest way this war differed from the previous three wasn't how brutal the battles were, nor the diplomatic twists and turns, nor what clever formations the commanders used.
The real difference was this: this war actually produced a clear winner.
Not a pyrrhic "both sides lost" mess, not some "we all won in our own way" propaganda spin, but an indisputable, concrete, gigantic victory—huge gains, minimal losses.
And that winner was Konoha.
…
Unlike the first three ninja wars, Konoha's performance in the Fourth was dazzling. It was victory after victory, a winning streak straight off the charts.
Most historians now trace the true beginning of this war not to the Kumo–Iwa alliance, but earlier—to the moment the Fourth Mizukage led the Mist's elite forces to attack Konoha.
Then came Norman Conquest.
Then Konoha's "oil offensive" bluff that spooked Suna.
Then Yorin's one-on-one duel with Ōnoki.
Every piece was part of Uchiha Yorin's design.
Even though Yorin himself felt his "strategy stat" was only so-so—he said if you dropped him into a Three Kingdoms game, an INT rating of 80 would already be generous—in the extremely simple-minded ninja world, that was enough to earn him the title of "Sage of Strategy."
From "Konoha's Flame Claw" to "Konoha's Strategist Sage," Uchiha Yorin's social standing skyrocketed.
After the ceasefire was signed in Iwagakure, Ōnoki thought long and hard and finally decided, like the other four great villages, to appoint Yorin as Tsuchikage's Aide.
Whether or not Iwa had ever had such a position before didn't matter. What mattered was that they couldn't risk isolating themselves.
All four of the other villages had invited Yorin to be their Shadow's aide—if Iwa insisted on being "different," what would that look like? That they were gearing up to stand alone against a four-village alliance in the next war?
And so, Uchiha Yorin became something unprecedented—and likely never to be repeated: aide to all Five Kage. His status was transcendent, faintly above the Kage themselves.
Because if you're only riding two boats, you're just a scumbag.
But if you're standing on five boats, and all five begged you to come aboard… then you're a legend.
So then, what was the price?
The price was that, more than the impressive title "Konoha's Strategist Sage," the nickname most people actually remembered him by… was another one:
"The World's Number One Harem King."
…
Yorin felt this was completely unfair and extremely annoying—especially when he had to face his official girlfriends.
"It's just a figure of speech," he protested. "Things between me and Kurotsuchi are completely clean. I did not decide to pull her into my harem just because she has nice legs.
Actually no—I don't even have a harem. I just… happen to like a few girls. And they like me back. We're mutually in love, okay? You have to believe me."
His three original kunoichi girlfriends—Tsunade, Pakura, and Mei—just stared at him, all three of them looking half skeptical.
That look really got under his skin. He genuinely wanted to grab them all, pin them to the wall, and make it very clear who exactly ran the Uchiha–Senju household.
Yes: Uchiha–Senju.
Not "Uchiha."
Not "Senju."
But Uchiha–Senju.
That was one of Yorin's recent pet reforms: fusing the Uchiha and Senju into a brand-new clan.
His reasoning, at least on paper, was very solid.
Because at this point, if he didn't marry Tsunade, it would be hard to explain to anyone.
But if he did marry Tsunade, then the newly revived Senju clan… was in danger of going GG all over again.
Yorin had heard of a very nasty potential development: the Fire Daimyō might try to send his trusted retainers into the Senju clan and quietly seize control of that "ancient noble" name.
After all, not every Senju had stayed with Konoha. Some had taken cushy offers directly from the daimyo and become full-time nobles—Senju in name, but bureaucrats and lords in practice.
Early on, these Senju nobles acted as a bridge between Konoha and the Fire Daimyō, deepening their ties.
But now, most of them had almost fully completed the transformation from shinobi to aristocratic clan. They identified far more as Fire Country nobility than as "ninja," and many looked down on shinobi altogether.
If those noble Senju suddenly rejoined the clan en masse, it would be a mixed blessing. Yes, you'd get an influx of numbers, resources, and connections—but it'd also dilute the Senju's "purity."
Yorin himself wasn't afraid of that problem in the long term. He'd just wired Orochimaru another truckload of funding.
If that snake wasn't scamming him, it wouldn't be long before cloning technology became practical. Mass-produced Uchiha–Senju hybrids—true "mixed-blood" powerhouses—would come rolling off the line.
With that kind of stock, a handful of noble Senju coming back into the fold would be nothing.
But right now, in this awkward transition, if Tsunade "married out" and the clones weren't ready yet, the Senju clan could very easily end up being taken over like a nest robbed by another species.
And that would be beyond embarrassing.
So could Yorin simply change his surname to Senju, become "Senju Yorin"?
Also no.
At his current status, he was no longer suited to be the Senju clan's live-in son-in-law. Even Tsunade didn't have the face to demand that kind of sacrifice from him.
For one thing, Fugaku had already decided—and told Yorin so—that once they returned to Konoha, he'd hand over the Uchiha patriarch's position and retire to an "administrative elder" role instead.
Day-to-day clan affairs would remain Fugaku's job, but all big decisions would be Yorin's to make.
And what kind of Uchiha clan head becomes a Senju son-in-law? Right, Madara?
"So… what you're really saying is, you don't want to marry me," Tsunade said flatly.
"How could that be? I love you like crazy," Yorin shot back without missing a beat.
And so, the Uchiha–Senju clan was born.
"Ohhh, I get it now," Tsunade said, looking satisfied. "So there's this kind of workaround."
The Senju currently had no real industries, just the brand. Tsunade was basically the only active member. Folding Senju into Uchiha faced very little actual resistance.
Meanwhile the Uchiha were happy. They'd be inheriting the Senju clan's enormous political legacy—a huge strategic advantage.
If things kept going this way, future Hokage might be like other villages' Kage: the position simply rotating inside the Uchiha–Senju super-clan.
Sure, changing the clan name was a bit salty, but the entire Uchiha clan now had one overriding creed: "If Yorin says jump, we ask how high."
After winning the Fourth Ninja War, his prestige was at its peak. Every Uchiha was a noisy, devoted Yorin fan—including a certain big brother with a little weasel problem.
If he told them to rename the clan, they'd do it.
If he told them to walk on their hands in public, someone would yell, "This is youth!!" and get to it.
…
"Fine, I'll barely count that as a pass," Tsunade sniffed. "Next question, explain your relationship with Temari."
"And with Kumo's side," Mei added.
"Yeah," Pakura chimed in. "Kumo sent three kunoichi at once, didn't they?"
The three kunoichi who usually bickered among themselves were now perfectly united when it came to outside competition. It was… something.
"Even if only Yugito stayed, you still haven't cut off contact with Samui and Mabui, right?" Mei said sweetly—and dangerously.
All three of them stared at Yorin, waiting for his answer.
"As I said," Yorin sighed, "Yugito is stationed in Konoha as a diplomatic envoy. Temari too. At least for now, that's all it is."
"At least for now?"
They all latched onto the phrasing at once.
"Ah," Yorin said. "For the sake of world peace, for the unification of the ninja world, for the happiness of all… certain sacrifices are necessary."
You call that a sacrifice? all three of them almost laughed out loud.
Seriously, could he not just be a normal Uchiha and declare "power rules everything, I'll conquer the world with force," instead of making it this convoluted?
Yorin was annoyed too. What, you get on the train and now want the doors welded shut? Nobody else allowed on? No lead wife helping recruit the rest?
It's because of this selfishness, this small-mindedness, he thought, that the shinobi world had been in endless chaos for so long.
He sighed inwardly. Ideological re-education of the harem was now a pressing historical necessity.
"Orochimaru's got Edo Tensei and Living Corpse Reincarnation," he muttered under his breath. "I should get him to develop a brainwashing and conditioning machine next…"
At this rate, he thought darkly, the first technique he awakened when he finally got his Mangekyō was going to be Tsukuyomi.
…
That same night, in the Hokage's office, Minato stared helplessly at his "righteous" best friend, then hesitated. In the end he couldn't hold back a jab.
"Didn't you say your harem would never explode?"
"Huh? When did it 'explode'?" Yorin replied, as if he could brute-force the truth through sheer insistence.
Sure, he'd dropped out of the last round, but he refused to admit defeat.
"And I'm only here because I felt sorry for you," he added piously. "I came voluntarily to help you catch up on paperwork. With a brother like me, you should be secretly grateful."
"Is that so?" Minato said. "Perfect timing then. It's Kushina's birthday today. If I stayed here working overtime, I'd feel bad. I'll leave the paperwork to you and slip out first."
Before Yorin could respond, Minato flashed through space in a yellow blur—Flying Thunder God—and was gone.
~~~
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