Revitalizing the Uchiha clan starts with becoming a Kage.

"I'll say it again: my surname is Uchiha! That's all!"

After speaking in a very serious tone, Shoji stood up again and bowed slightly to Jiraiya.

"Well then, I'll excuse myself first, Jiraiya-san!"

Without any further hesitation, Jiang Si turned around, leaped, and disappeared into the deep night.

Jiraiya was left alone, staring blankly in the direction where Shoji had left, a look of melancholy on his face, before letting out a soft sigh.

"well....."

372. Return trip

The world is vast, and all living beings are numerous.

Many people live ordinary lives from birth to death. In this world, a significant portion of people experience the most brutal lives. This is true for people in large countries as well as those in small countries. They rarely have the freedom to choose their own lives. In the darkest times and the most tragic lives, freedom and survival are luxuries that ordinary people can only dream of.

Compared to these people, Jiraiya was clearly very lucky.

Perhaps Jiraiya was a commoner orphan, or perhaps he was indeed a descendant of the Senju clan, or perhaps he had some other identity.

But none of that matters. Compared to ordinary people, Jiraiya was taken in as a personal disciple by Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, when he was young. Later, he became one of the legendary Sannin of Konoha. Jiraiya had more freedom of choice in life than ordinary people, and even more than 99.9% of ninjas!

His path and his destiny have always been in his own hands. Even when he followed the prophecy of the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku and embarked on a life of wandering, it was all based on Jiraiya's own free will and judgment!

Therefore, from a general perspective, Jiraiya was fortunate, but this hero of Konoha also had a very unfortunate, even tragic, side. He could not protect the people he cherished, could not realize the ideals and dreams he upheld, and ultimately died at the hands of his own disciple.

Jiraiya's life in the original work perfectly illustrates the tragedy of a pure 'naive idealist'.

Naïve is not a mistake, and idealist is not a derogatory term.

Strictly speaking, both of them still have a positive connotation, but when combined, the meaning changes subtly. Many people say that Naruto inherited Jiraiya's ideals and beliefs very well, but what is the truth?

In the original work, Naruto was merely following the same path as the First Hokage, a path that had already been proven to be a dead end. Naruto and Sasuke were like Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha before them. The only difference was that after a fierce battle, Naruto and Sasuke eventually reached an agreement and did not both perish. But even so, it could not change the fact that decades later, when the two of them reached the end of their lives due to the limitations of lifespan.

The ninja world will once again face another great war.

To reiterate, humanity has both good and evil sides, and the latter far outweighs the former. As long as the power structure of the ninja world remains unchanged, and as long as the major powers maintain the same status quo, history will prove what the true trajectory is.

Therefore, Shoji will not acknowledge Jiraiya and Naruto; he will only firmly follow his own path. You can say that Shoji is arrogant, or even that he is self-righteous, but at least this is the path that Shoji himself has chosen.

One world, one country, one ninja village.

Even if internal conflicts among humans are ultimately unavoidable, the world situation at that time will be countless times more stable and peaceful than it is now, and that is the peaceful world that Shoji envisions.

Jiraiya wouldn't understand, nor could he possibly understand. If he were so easily influenced by others and changed his ideals, he wouldn't be Jiraiya, and it's impossible for him to have reached that point in the original story.

Shoji has no intention of changing Jiraiya's wishes and beliefs. As the saying goes, admiring Jiraiya's character is one thing, but firmly following one's own path is another. Jiraiya will obviously be one of the biggest obstacles on the path he will take in the future, and when that time comes, Shoji will not hesitate to swing his blade and kill this hero of Konoha.

With a determined look on his face, Jiang Si took advantage of the darkness and hurried back to the hotel where his delegation was staying.

After Jiraiya left, he remained alone on the rooftop, drinking by himself. After finishing the entire pot of sake, Jiraiya slowly rose, took one last deep look at the location of the inn where the Iwagakure delegation was staying, and then decisively turned and left. He came with firm steps and left with an upright posture.

This hero of Konoha was a man of unwavering will, and he would never give up his ideal of pursuing the path to peace!

On July 16, the day after the signing of the peace treaty between the three countries, ending the pseudo-Fourth Shinobi World War, the two delegations from Iwagakure and Kumogakure set off from Konoha and embarked on their respective journeys westward and northward.

A peace agreement was finally reached between the three major ninja villages.

This also signifies that the ninja world can usher in a relatively long period of peace, which makes the small ninja villages near the three great ninja villages breathe a sigh of relief. Even Sunagakure feels a little regretful that it cannot take this opportunity to counterattack and reclaim its northern fortress. Kirigakure, from beginning to end, has been in an extraordinary 'silent standby' mode, making the entire ninja world almost forget that such a great ninja village exists.

So, in the end, the world where only Kusagakure and Yugakure were injured is now complete. After all, if Konoha does not intend to launch a further counterattack, the Land of Grass and the Land of Hot Water will be completely within the sphere of influence of Iwagakure and Kumogakure.

It wouldn't be surprising if the Land of Grass and the Land of Hot Water were merged into two great nations someday in the future, and the villages of Grass and Hot Water disappeared as a result. This has happened before in the history of the ninja world!

The once most famous Uzushio Village was destroyed by the combined forces of Kumogakure and Kirigakure, and the territory of the Land of Whirlpools was completely incorporated into the Land of Water!

With these vivid examples, what do you think the high-ranking leaders of Kusagakure and Yugakure will think? The two daimyo of Kusagakure and Yugakure will probably be very uneasy. Even if it is a small country, they are still daimyo. If they are really annexed, although they will definitely retain their noble status, they will certainly not be able to compare with their time as daimyo!

Therefore, it is entirely foreseeable that in the coming years, or even more than a decade, the high-ranking leaders of the two countries and the two ninja villages will do everything in their power to change the current situation. In particular, the leaders of the two ninja villages will try their best to contact Konoha, Sunagakure, and Kirigakure. In the eyes of these small ninja villages, only a situation in the ninja world where the five great nations are on equal footing is the most friendly situation for them!

Whether they can realize their plans and regain 'independent authority' in the future depends on their own efforts, and also importantly, on whether Iwagakure and Kumogakure will give them the opportunity.

Otherwise, no matter how hard they try, it is virtually impossible for Iwagakure and Kumogakure to fail if they make foolish mistakes within their own villages. Kusagakure and Yugakure will inevitably be gradually incorporated into the two great ninja villages over time, and Kusagakure and Yugakure will be gradually devoured by the two great ninja villages, eventually becoming part of history.

It will be difficult for them to have a place in the future.

At least that's how it seems to Shoji.

To annex other countries and destroy other ninja villages—this was the only correct path that Shoji himself had chosen.

Moreover, he planned to immediately suggest to his Tsuchikage that he push forward the relevant plans as soon as he returned to the village, with the first step being to obtain the joint command authority for all the ninjas of Kusagakure during special periods.

Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.

In the previous generation's world, there was a superpower with many member states that provided the generals with a very good strategy for peaceful annexation. As long as they didn't mess things up, they could naturally and completely merge into one country.

The Land of Grass and the Hidden Grass Village are the best first targets for Shoji to try this plan. If it is feasible, not only the Land of Snow and the Land of Grass that have already joined the system, but also the surrounding small countries in the future can use the same plan. Necessary violent means are certainly indispensable, but it is impossible to use violent means alone.

The right way is to combine strength and gentleness.

In fact, after seeing that the war could not break out any further, Onoki returned to the village and began to arrange the corresponding work. Even though some things were limited by the limitations of the times and other means could not be considered, Onoki was, after all, a Kage who had held power in the ninja village for more than 30 years.

They still possess some conventional methods and a strong sense of the big picture!

Onoki's first step was to build a more comprehensive network of reconnaissance, defense, and logistics bases within the Land of Grass, and to gain full control of the entire Land of Grass. This was a plan that would take at least one or two years to achieve initial full configuration. The accompanying plan was naturally to suppress the Hidden Grass Village. Compared to the Hidden Cloud Village dealing with the Hidden Hot Spring Village, it was much more troublesome for the Hidden Stone Village to deal with the Hidden Grass Village!

This is a ninja village with over two thousand ninjas, not so easy to completely control, but it's just a matter of time. As for the Land of Grass itself, that's left to the daimyo of the Land of Earth, along with other nobles and politicians to consider. I believe these politicians are several times more skilled at handling such matters than the people of the ninja village. Otherwise, how do you think the five great nations have their current land area?

Do you really think these countries were always this vast in territory? They acquired them step by step through conquest!

Especially the Land of Wind in the south and the Land of Water in the east.

From small countries to large countries, these two nations have annexed the most other countries. The Land of Earth, the Land of Fire, and the Land of Lightning have all done similar things to varying degrees, so they have an abundance of experience in this area!

They will only be faster than those ninja villages, not slower. And as long as the Land of Earth can successfully annex the entire Land of Grass, the Hidden Stone Village can more easily achieve its goal of fully controlling the Hidden Grass Village.

Lacking internal support from the highest levels of the government and being completely overwhelmed by external pressure, Kusagakure could not possibly survive for long.

This is a blatant, overt conspiracy; it reflects the gap in hard power at the national level. —Gu Qiao

Just as Huang Tu, Jiang Si, and Chi Tu returned from the Land of Fire after a journey of a little over two days, Onoki received the detailed information reported by the delegation a little in advance. When he saw that the most important part of the plan—obtaining the Hyuga clan's bloodline limit—was successfully achieved, Onoki was overjoyed!

In this way, all the costs paid in the previous war were worthwhile. Although it has been said that controlling the entire Land of Grass would achieve the initial bottom line goal of their ninja village, it is still quite different from the original plan.

To say that Onoki felt no sense of loss would be a lie. You have to understand that he originally intended to take a big bite out of Konoha, and sending his son and the Five-Tails Jinchuriki is the best proof of that.

Later, due to the circumstances, they had no choice but to stop.

The apparent satisfaction was merely self-comfort, but now they were truly content. Kumogakure had only gained a pair of Byakugan and a corpse of questionable value, while Iwagakure had obtained a complete Byakugan bloodline and a living, breathing Hyuga clan boy!

He truly never imagined that in his lifetime, he would see both the Sharingan and Byakugan, two great bloodline limits, appear in his own ninja village at the same time. Especially the former, which was practically a treasure he had found for free!

It was precisely because of the arrival of the Uchiha clan that all the benefits were obtained. This is why Onoki felt more and more satisfied and gratified the more he looked at the Uchiha clan and Uchiha Shoji!

He truly felt that his decision back then couldn't have been more correct.

In the Tsuchikage's private office in Iwagakure (Hidden Rock Village).

After Huang Tu, Jiang Si, and Chi Tu returned, Onoki summoned the three of them immediately. After inquiring in detail about the entire delegation's negotiation process in Konoha and the final result, Onoki nodded in satisfaction. Although in some other aspects, the benefits gained by Iwagakure could not compare with those of Kumogakure.

But these were originally just extras, so Onoki wasn't dissatisfied. After all, he had already secured the most important part of the benefits, so who would care about those details?

"Very good, you've worked hard on this trip. Akatsuchi will be in charge of the specific work of receiving supplies. Prioritize supplying the newly established base in the Land of Grass with the supplies sent from Konoha. In these aspects, make sure to coordinate with Arai."

Onoki looked at Akatsuchi on the right and said in a deep voice.

Although he is not an outstanding disciple, that is in comparison with Huang Tu and Jiang Si. Compared with most ordinary ninjas, Akatsuchi is already one of the most outstanding ninjas. Moreover, in terms of personal strength, Akatsuchi is firmly in the level of elite Jonin to Quasi-Kage!

He is a genuinely capable individual who can contend with Kage-level figures. Even when Shoji uses his Mangekyou Sharingan and Susanoo, it still takes considerable effort to suppress and defeat Akatsuchi. Even with a high probability, it's not guaranteed that he can kill Akatsuchi. After all, if he can't win, can't he just run away?

In fact, unless the difference in strength is really huge, or you fall into a trap or ambush, it is very difficult for a ninja of the same level to kill each other in a one-on-one situation. Not everyone can use space-time ninjutsu like Tobirama Senju, Minato Namikaze, or Obito Uchiha, which would be a bug!

It cannot be measured by common sense.

Therefore, within the vast Iwagakure system, Akatsuchi is a very important prospective high-ranking figure. Although Onoki did not consider him one of the candidates for Tsuchikage, he was still grooming him, hoping that Akatsuchi could become one of the high-ranking members of Iwagakure and shoulder a great responsibility.

"Yes, Lord Tsuchikage!"

Akatsuchi bowed deeply in response as soon as Onoki finished speaking.

It can be said that Akatsuchi, who was nurtured by Onoki, has a very kind and honest personality, almost like the earth itself. Moreover, he regards Onoki, his mentor, as his parents, and will carry out his orders to the Tsuchikage teacher without any discount.

"Okay, you can go and rest first, and then familiarize yourself with some other materials in advance. I will send some other people to assist you."

He had to train his own son, and he couldn't neglect the others either. Originally, Onoki also had to take care of his closed-door disciple, Deidara, and his granddaughter, Kurotsuchi, as well as their training. Now that he had handed the two over to Shoji to lead, Onoki was much less troubled.

"Yes!"

After abruptly lowering his head, Akatsuchi turned around and strode out of the office.

"That Hyuga clan boy, Shoji, can stay at your house for now. If I remember correctly, Xiaoyang and Xiaosaki are about the same age as Neji, right? It would be good to trouble you to take care of them too!"

This is the biggest source of profit in this war.

Onoki also valued Hyuga Neji's existence, but firstly, Neji was only four or five years old, so it was impossible for him to be of any use at this time. He would have to wait a few more years. Moreover, Neji was a member of the branch family, and Onoki had already learned that he had the Caged Bird Seal, a common feature of the Hyuga clan's branch families!

Onoki was more looking forward to the birth of Neji's descendants more than ten years later, when their Iwagakure would truly possess the Byakugan bloodline limit!

During this stage, it's enough to provide a good environment for their growth. Therefore, without thinking, Onoki subconsciously decided to hand Neji over to Shoji to raise.

“That might not work, Third Hokage. You should be aware that the relationship between our Uchiha clan and the Hyuga clan is a bit delicate. It's not appropriate for Neji to stay with our Uchiha clan. I suggest that Neji live alone outside. He's already four years old and will be able to start school next year. He's also much more mature than the average child. If you're worried, you could ask Rena Uzumaki to take care of him. What do you think?”

However, it was after hearing Onoki's arrangement that Shoji realized this.

Almost immediately, he shook his head with a wry smile and said, "This is not to shirk responsibility. In fact, back when the Uchiha clan was still in Konoha, if we were to talk about which clan they had the most tense relationship with, it would definitely be the Hyuga clan. The fact that the Byakugan and Sharingan are the three great dojutsu alone is enough to make the two clans dislike each other."

The pride deep within the Uchiha clan.

And the most traditional stubbornness of the Hyuga clan.

This is the biggest point of conflict between the two clans. Jiang Si's statement is in line with the temperament of both clans. However, this is only the surface reason. The deeper reason is what was mentioned before: Jiang Si does not want the other people in the village to think that his clan is forming factions and separatist groups!

Just like the previous Uzumaki Rena and Uzumaki Karin mother and daughter, and later Yakushi Nono and Yakushi Kabuto mother and son, if everyone is led by themselves, and you also include Hyuga Neji now, you may not be able to see anything now, but in the future, there is no doubt that the power of their own clan will expand without limit. This is the bloodline of the Uzumaki clan and the Hyuga clan!

Uchiha Shoji is not the Tsuchikage yet. Moreover, even if he does become the Tsuchikage of Iwagakure in the future, Shoji will never plunder all the benefits to supply his own ninja clan without limit. That would be the most foolish thing to do. Of course, people have selfish desires, which is a normal behavior, but there must be limits. In particular, different views from different positions and heights require different judgments.

Including some existing systems and regulations, Tsukasa plans to suggest changes to Onoki in the future, or perhaps wait until he actually becomes the Tsuchikage before making them. Although some things are still very vague now, they are ultimately a line of thought and a direction.

Feeling one's way across the river by touching the stones is a stage that human societies inevitably go through when faced with sudden changes.

Of course, Onoki could see right through Shoji's little schemes. While he was impressed by Shoji's understanding and sensible nature, he was also a little annoyed. In the eyes of the Third Tsuchikage, Shoji was definitely not treating him as one of his own.

However, this thought only lasted for a moment before Onoki dismissed it. It was precisely because of Shoji's personality that Onoki valued him so much. Moreover, Shoji's actions were indeed in accordance with the rules. Although it seemed like a long process, the Uchiha clan had only been in Iwagakure for a little over a year and a half!

It was only because so many things had happened in the past period, and because he had become more and more in sync with Shoji, and because Shoji's performance was increasingly satisfying to Onoki, that the Third Tsuchikage subconsciously overlooked this point.