He wondered if people from the original story who never married, like Uchiha Madara and Senju Tobirama, had gone their whole lives without... doing *that*.
If it were merely a matter of venting his frustrations, Izuna could have as many women as he wanted with a crook of his finger. The maids assigned to him were all women with the Uchiha surname. This wasn't unique to Izuna; anyone qualified to sit in the Uchiha's highest council room had Uchiha clansmen as servants. This was to prevent intelligence leaks—even servants had to be trustworthy. These women were generally clan members with low combat aptitude or who were otherwise unsuited to be ninja.
But Izuna hadn't made a move on any of them yet.
How to put it? They were his fellow clansmen, sharing the Uchiha name. To use someone just to satisfy his own desires, with no intention of taking responsibility afterward, felt wrong. Although, given his status in the clan, probably no one would dare to say anything.
Setting these mundane matters aside for now, after two and a half months, a message finally arrived from Uchiha Kong in the northwest. After this period of observation, the four northwestern clans were beginning to buckle under Shimura Keizo's relentless assault. The power gap between the two sides was enormous to begin with; it was a miracle they had lasted this long.
During this time, the four clans had sought help from many ninja clans in the northwest, including the Ino-Shika-Cho trio they had tried to win over before. But this time, Ino-Shika-Cho's refusal was even more blunt. Of course it was. Last time, the Uchiha had been in a weakened state. This time, the Shimura were at full strength, and they had already annihilated the Hagoromo, a powerful clan in their own right. *You want to drag us into this mess? Dream on!*
The other ninja clans also had no desire to risk offending the old madman Shimura Keizo, and all of them refused the four clans' pleas for help.
"Now is the best time to declare war on the Sarutobi."
At another clan meeting, Izuna got straight to the point as soon as it began, stating the ultimate goal of the session.
There were no objections. The vote was unanimous.
Though it was a formality in the Warring States Period, the principle of "diplomacy before war" was still generally respected. In practice, this meant putting out a slogan and issuing a declaration of war. The Uchiha did the same. Except for their mortal enemies, the Senju, they would issue a declaration of war before attacking any clan, stating their reasons for doing so. This was especially necessary for clans like the Sarutobi and Shimura, with whom they had little prior enmity. A legitimate reason was needed.
Soon, a declaration of war was placed on the desk of Sarutobi Furukawa, who was guarding their home base.
"Four months ago, our clan was at war with the Hagoromo, Watanabe, Fuma, Saito, and Kikawa clans. We had no quarrel with your clans. Yet the Shimura clan ambushed the Uchiha's food convoy. The Uchiha have investigated this matter thoroughly.
The deaths of our brethren must be avenged. Today, the Uchiha clan formally declares war on the Shimura and Sarutobi clans.
Signed,
Uchiha Madara"
Reading the contents of the declaration, a large bead of sweat rolled down Sarutobi Furukawa's face.
It had been over four months since Shimura Ri's squad had ambushed and annihilated the Uchiha's food convoy. If not for this declaration of war, Sarutobi Furukawa himself had almost forgotten about it. But he never imagined that the Uchiha would have managed to uncover the truth and would choose this moment to declare war on their two clans.
Knowing the gravity of the situation, Sarutobi Furukawa immediately wrote a letter to Shimura Keizo on the front lines.
Upon receiving Sarutobi Furukawa's letter, Shimura Keizo, who had been preparing for the next round of attacks, was stunned. He too had never thought that the Uchiha could uncover this matter after four months. What surprised him even more was that Shimura Ri had left behind any weaknesses in his work. His once most-trusted subordinate had come from the assassination corps. He was an expert at handling assassinations, destroying crime scenes, and eliminating evidence. How could he have left a trail for the Uchiha to find?
But there was no time to ponder these questions now. According to Sarutobi Furukawa, the Uchiha clan head, Uchiha Madara, was already personally leading a large army and bearing down on the clan grounds that Furukawa was defending.
A vicious battle was imminent.
The question they now faced was whether to fight or seek peace in this war with the Uchiha. Shimura Keizo had never paid the four northwestern clans any mind, but the Uchiha were a different matter entirely. Even a man like Keizo, blinded by rage, had to weigh his options carefully.
He pondered in his military camp for half a day before the hawkish Shimura Keizo finally picked up his brush and began writing a reply to Sarutobi Furukawa.
In the letter, he wrote out his thoughts on the matter.
They should seek "peace."
They were currently at war with the four northwestern clans and had deployed most of their forces there. The troops under Sarutobi Furukawa's command would have a very difficult time dealing with the Uchiha. Therefore, they should avoid this battle at all costs and negotiate a truce. They should listen to the Uchiha's demands; if it came to it, they could even offer up their clan's treasured high-level ninjutsu scrolls as bargaining chips.
When Sarutobi Furukawa received the letter and saw that his old friend's thoughts aligned with his own, he breathed a quiet sigh of relief. He didn't want to go to war with the Uchiha at a time like this either. A peaceful resolution would be best.
***
But the Sarutobi and Shimura weren't the only ones who got the news.
Uchiha Madara had made a grand show of his advance, leading his army toward the Sarutobi and Shimura clan grounds as if he wanted to make sure everyone knew he was going to war. Within a few days, nearly everyone in the Warring States Period had heard.
The ones most ecstatic upon hearing the news were, without a doubt, the clan heads of the northwest, led by Watanabe. After several months, the four clans had each selected new clan heads. The new head of the Watanabe, a peak Jonin over thirty years old who had survived the previous battle with the Uchiha, was named Watanabe Ryokai.
Overjoyed to learn that Uchiha Madara was leading an army toward the Sarutobi and Shimura clan grounds, Watanabe Ryokai immediately called a meeting, gathering all the high-ranking ninja of the four clans to discuss the matter.
"Clan Head Watanabe, are the Uchiha suddenly attacking the Sarutobi to take advantage of the situation and make a profit?" asked the new head of the Kikawa clan.
Watanabe Ryokai shook his head. "No. It's said that the Shimura did something to offend the Uchiha, which infuriated Uchiha Madara. Our people haven't been able to find out the specific details."
"Regardless, this is a good thing for us. What we need to do now is ally with the Uchiha," the new head of the Fuma clan said impatiently. His clan had been particularly unlucky; all of their few peak Jonin had been killed in the previous battle, so they had to appoint a veteran elite Jonin as their new leader.
The Uchiha's pretext for attacking the Sarutobi and Shimura, with whom they had little past enmity, was "avenging their fallen clansmen." This slogan, at least, made it look like the other side was in the wrong, which greatly boosted the Uchiha's morale. They advanced triumphantly all the way to within eighty ri of the Sarutobi and Shimura clan grounds—a very short distance in the Land of Fire.
***
In the Uchiha's temporary military camp, Madara received a report from the Shadow Investigation Department. Shimura Keizo had already begun to redeploy his troops from the northwestern front back to this area. This meant the fighting was about to get much harder.
Not long after, another ninja hurried into Madara's command tent to report.
"Clan Head, the Sarutobi clan has sent an envoy requesting to negotiate with you."
At that moment, Madara was planning their battle lines with Uchiha Shin, Uchiha Enka, and others. Hearing this, they all turned to look at the Uchiha Chunin who had just entered.
"Oh? I figured they'd be here around now."
Madara had barely finished speaking when another Chunin rushed into the tent. "Reporting, Clan Head! Watanabe Ryokai, head of the Watanabe clan, requests an audience. He claims to be representing the four northwestern clans."
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