Uchiha Yorin lifted his chin, chest out, and walked away like no one else in the world existed, leaving a hall full of nobles so angry they could die—yet completely unable to do anything about him.
They gathered together afterward, furiously denouncing him.
But those labels didn't hurt him in the slightest.
And after the scolding, they still had to think of solutions.
"Are we really going to have to give up profit to Konoha?"
Silence.
"Can't we think of some other way?"
Silence.
"The moment we give them this precedent, ninjas will never again put us in their eyes!"
Silence.
…
Back at the embassy, Yorin reported the day's events to Konoha.
This time he didn't bother with low-tech courier beasts or messenger birds—he used wired telephones.
In the old days, Konoha couldn't really build a proper telegraph or phone network, not because they lacked the technology, but because the wilds were flooded with natural energy—and, more importantly, full of rampaging ninja beasts smashing things to pieces.
Now, thanks to the Konoha Transport Company Yorin led, those wild ninja-beast packs had become Konoha's hired muscle. They didn't wreck roads anymore—in fact, they patrolled and maintained them.
The telegraph lines and phone cables of Konoha now stood neatly along both sides of those roads.
Roads and telegraphs always advance together; woven like a spiderweb, they wrapped the whole Land of Fire, turning the entire country into prey caught in Konoha's net.
With those lines in place, Konoha's communications, economic coordination, decision-making, and strategic control all jumped a level. Overall power, cultural influence, soft power—everything rose.
So today, Uchiha Yorin's "call" with Konoha's leadership used the Magic Lantern Body Technique—basically live video projection.
Don't be surprised; phone calls are okay, but nothing beats video chat.
And with his relationship to Nagato, the guy finally agreed to teach him this very handy support technique.
At first, Nagato had said, "This isn't really a normal jutsu, it's a dōjutsu. Even if I teach you, you might not be able to use it."
But not long after, Uchiha Yorin was happily using Magic Lantern Projection to video-conference with Konoha. Nagato was left staring, stunned and confused.
Looking again into Yorin's gold-and-silver three-tomoe eyes, he couldn't help but wonder: Could this pair really be on par with the Rinnegan?
Of course not.
But Yorin's eyes were very clearly evolving in the right direction.
…
So, over Magic Lantern Projection, Yorin and the Konoha leaders were all sitting in a meeting as floating upper bodies in the dark—turning what should've been a normal Konoha high council into something that looked exactly like an Akatsuki meeting.
Fortunately, none of them knew what Akatsuki meetings actually looked like, so everything seemed normal. Only Yorin himself found it hilarious.
Today he was once again alone with this joke—no one to share it with—so he felt an empty, lonely chill in his heart. He'd have to cure it with extra cuddling from girls.
Decision made: tonight he'd go see Mei. After Mei, Konan. After Konan, Pakura. After Pakura, Yakushi Nonō. After Yakushi Nonō, Yugito. After Yugito, Kurotsuchi.
Don't ask if he can handle it—he's got Ryūchi-brand virility pills.
…
Uchiha Yorin:
"That's the situation. So what does everyone think?"
"Is it really okay to defy the Daimyō like this?"
As usual, the Third Old Man (Hiruzen) could only contribute gloomy lines.
Yorin:
"So we should just hand over our profits like a nice little gift, huh, Third?"
"I didn't mean that, I just…"
And then he stalled.
He felt that what Yorin was doing was wrong—but exactly how it was wrong, or why they "shouldn't," he couldn't explain himself.
There were quite a few like him in Konoha's upper ranks: elders and conservatives who felt uneasy but couldn't articulate a coherent alternative. And there were even more in the middle and lower ranks.
Yorin couldn't just massacre them all. He could only slowly reshape their thinking.
The ones who could be persuaded—or at least grudgingly united, like the Third—he'd keep around. However useless and outdated, they were still part of Konoha.
The ones who really couldn't be brought into line? For those, Yorin had the Cheka. One by one, they'd go "join Danzo."
Yorin:
"Relax. Everything's under control."
He said:
"We're not really going to break completely with the Daimyō. This is just another game of chicken—whoever flinches first, loses."
"If you ask me, we should shake them up a bit."
The militant faction, as usual, backed Yorin. Their most vocal rep: Inuzuka Tsume.
Seriously, this woman was exactly Yorin's type politically.
She looked a bit fierce, sure—but when it came to being hardline against outsiders, she and Yorin were totally in sync. She'd joined the Youth Officer Corps, was an active member of Konoha One-Heart Society, and even an honorary Uchiha.
All the things Yorin himself was too embarrassed to say, she could shout at the top of her lungs. Sometimes he even felt the urge to take her as his honorary "goddaughter."
No, can't do that. She's a widow. If I go that route…
While thinking that, he smiled and nodded at Tsume, tacitly praising her.
Getting Yorin's approval only made Tsume's speeches more intense:
"They need to see exactly how tough we are, or they'll never return what's rightfully ours."
"That's way too much! If we do that, we'll be at a huge disadvantage politically!"
A few conservative elders couldn't help protesting.
"Disadvantage? I don't see it," Tsume shot back. "Those Daimyō and nobles are cowards. All they respond to is fear. As for us going too far…
"Tsk. How is taking back what already belongs to us considered 'too far'?
"Those Akatsuki bastards are the ones out of line. But look at the nobles—they don't dare do anything to them. No, to be precise, they're incapable of doing anything.
"And if they can't do anything to Akatsuki, then they can't do anything to Konoha either.
"But tell me this: same 'untouchable' organizations—how come they don't dare lay a finger on Akatsuki, yet they do dare sanction us?!"
Tsume's words slammed into the chamber like a hammer.
From radical to conservative, everyone fell silent.
It wasn't hard to arrive at the conclusion:
"Because Konoha is the 'good guy.'"
And once that answer formed, a heavier, angrier thought followed:
"So 'good guys' are the ones who get guns pointed at them?!"
What an infuriating, suffocating answer.
It made more than a few of them want to snap and say:
"…Fine then, Daimyō. I won't be a good guy anymore."
…
Clan heads, department heads, all of Konoha's upper echelon listened to Tsume and fell into deep thought.
Seeing their serious faces, the Third and the conservative bloc started to panic.
"No way… no way, right?"
"Konoha was founded to protect peace. Everyone, even if we have friction with the Daimyō, we can't let this become open hostility.
"If it really comes to that… how are we supposed to face the First and Second in the Pure Land?"
The Third was frantic.
Yorin, meanwhile, thought: the First might care, but the Second definitely wouldn't.
Tobirama's ruthlessness and tactical viciousness arguably outstripped even Yorin's.
Yorin believed the time wasn't yet ripe; he needed to cultivate more cadres and prepare to take over the Land of Fire's government smoothly after the Daimyō regime collapsed—minimizing casualties, damage, and infiltration by opportunistic scum.
The Second had no such patience.
Watching the daily swelling of Konoha's finances, the growing ninja army, the skyrocketing tech, plus four other villages already subdued, Tobirama looked at Yorin like he were a disappointing prodigy. Every time they met, he was this close to saying, "So when exactly are you becoming Emperor of the Ninja World?"
Some might ask: wasn't Tobirama supposed to hate the Uchiha most of all? Why is he suddenly so supportive of Yorin?
Simple: people change.
Staring at the deranged, possessive Madara, who kept trying to steal his brother's love and torch the world, Tobirama was always going to be hostile.
But faced with a mature, composed Uchiha Yorin—who led Konoha into a new golden age after Hashirama, and actually ran the village well—Tobirama nearly turned into a full-time marriage-pusher, wanting him and Tsunade wed ASAP.
If their child could inherit the Senju surname, so much the better.
…
So now, seeing the Third wavering, waving Tobirama's name around like a moral shield, Yorin had to fight the urge to prank him—to just reveal Tobirama's existence and let the two "generations of Hokage" argue it out.
Best case, Tobirama would give him a couple of solid slaps and play out the classic "Master thrashing his incompetent disciple" scene.
Just imagining the Third Old Man getting beaten bloody, then staring at his teacher with a mix of resentment and aggrieved injustice, almost made Yorin burst out laughing.
"Ahahahaha—"
The Third: "???"
He knew Yorin was a… let's say "unconventional" Uchiha, but laughing like a madman in the middle of such a serious meeting—was that really okay?
The Third just stared at him, utterly confused, wanting to speak but not knowing where to start.
~~~
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