Chapter 198: Fugaku: Sometimes, You Have to Become Stupider!

"A descendant of Uchiha Kagami?" Jiraiya was taken aback. Uchiha Kagami. They had mentioned this name before, and he had felt emotional—if Uchiha Kagami were still alive, perhaps the relationship between the Uchiha and Konoha would not be so tense now. He had not expected that this senior actually had a grandson still living. He was a little surprised, then felt a wave of wistfulness. "A grandson... a new generation replaces the old. Unknowingly, another era has changed!" "Idiot." Orochimaru sneered. Jiraiya instantly flew into a rage. "What idiot? I’ve been tolerating you for a long time!" "Shouldn’t you have known long ago that the era has already changed? In the past, everyone called out for the Sannin. Now, they are all afraid of Kyohiko-kun and Minato," Orochimaru sneered. "Do you still think you’re very young?" Jiraiya opened his mouth, but was speechless. That’s right! I’m no longer young. Sensei is also old. An era has already changed without me realizing it. He was silent, then sighed and silently took a sip of wine. A slight smile touched Orochimaru’s lips. "So, join my plan. Although you are a complete idiot, you are very good at making me happy. If I have you with me for eternal life, I won’t be lonely." "Eternal life? Hahaha, I, the Toad Sage Jiraiya, never pursue such a thing!" Jiraiya laughed loudly. "Spirit! What I pursue is the continuation of the spirit, the inheritance of the will. Sigh, someone like you will never understand!" In the quiet, cold forest, loud laughter echoed. Until late at night. "You’re drinking without calling me? I had to find you at the Anbu!" "You were busy." "Then why didn’t you come and help me with my paperwork?" A series of noisy shouts rang out. At this moment, Orochimaru’s expression was dazed. He felt... for a moment, it was as if he had returned to the time of studying under Sarutobi Hiruzen, when everyone didn’t have so many pursuits and worries, and the only thing on their minds was getting stronger. --- "Ouch, ouch!" "Weren’t you having a great time drinking last night?" Inside the house, Shizune’s dissatisfied voice came out. Tsunade chuckled. "Shizune, it’s rare to be happy, of course we have to drink to our heart’s content. Sigh, it’s been a long time since we’ve gathered together. It’s really nice to suddenly get together!" Shizune came out holding some things. Seeing Kyohiko, she immediately made a "shh" gesture. Coming closer, she said, "Tsunade-sama is not fully awake yet. Let her sleep a little longer." "Hahaha, Shizune, thanks to you, otherwise Tsunade-nee definitely couldn’t work and slack off so peacefully," Kyohiko said with a smile. Shizune sighed, looked back, and said, "Before returning to Konoha, although Tsunade-sama played around everywhere, she wasn’t happy at all. After returning to Konoha, her spirits have lifted, but she’s very tired and busy... I really don’t know what to say." "These are the troubles of a great person," Kyohiko said, smiling as he patted her hair. Shizune dodged to the side with dissatisfaction. She pouted. "I’m the same age as you. Why do you talk as if you’re much older than me?" "Of course. I’m the Anbu captain, a great person in my own right," Kyohiko smiled. He was about to say more when Tsunade’s voice came from inside. "Stop teasing Shizune. If you make her angry, I won’t clean up the mess." Tsunade, her posture upright, wearing simple pajamas, walked out of the room and went straight to the washroom. "Tsunade-sama, you... how can you come out so casually, without any decorum!" "What does it matter? We’re all our own people here. By the way, Kyohiko, about yesterday’s matter, let’s have a good talk later. And the matter with the Cloud Village, shouldn’t that also be put on the agenda?" "No rush," Kyohiko smiled. The more anxious they were, the more the Cloud Village would think they were asking for something, and then slowly raise the price. The Cloud Village had always been like this. So, "Not only can we not be anxious, we also need to let them hang for a while. Have our Land of Fire merchants reduce the number of trips there, and then let them experience the inconvenience brought by the decline in trade." "Mmm, you handle it." Tsunade’s mouth was full of foam, followed by the "hē hē" sound of gargling. --- The Third Raikage was indeed waiting for Konoha to come to him. But he didn’t wait for Konoha to come. Instead, he waited for the person from Konoha to handle the signing of the compensation and apology agreement. Jiraiya? The Third Raikage was a little surprised. "I didn’t expect it to be you. I remember you were in the north guarding against Onoki, right?" "Konoha and Iwa have always been on good terms, where’s the need for guarding? I was just in the north gathering inspiration and writing a book," Jiraiya chuckled. A was stunned for a second, unable to help but say, "Writing a book? You?" "What? Don’t I look the part?" Jiraiya’s face was full of pride. A’s expression was strange. "It couldn’t be the kind that only adults can read, right?" "That’s art! What does a little brat like you know?" Jiraiya glanced at him, then walked towards the Third Raikage. "Alright, sign what needs to be signed, write what needs to be written. The compensation has already arrived anyway. Raikage-sama, we are still friends and allies in the future." "Yes, still allies." The Third Raikage smiled. Sending Jiraiya over... As expected! Konoha wants to increase trade with the Land of Lightning and then get more benefits from it. They can’t afford to fall out with the Cloud Village. It’s just a little friction. They had endured the Tailed Beast issue back then, what was this now? The Third Raikage was relieved. After going through the whole process, he said with a chuckle, "Previously, you mentioned the issue of commercial trade. We thought about it for a long time, and we’re not very familiar with this stuff. Why don’t you send someone to guide us?" "What issue of commercial trade? I don’t know. I only know that after signing with you, I can send you out of the country. After all, you have stayed in Konoha for too long, and it’s not having a good influence." Jiraiya didn’t bother to engage at all. The Third Raikage was stunned. He looked at his assistant and A beside him, completely confused about the situation for a moment. "Wait a minute..." A stepped forward, but for a moment didn’t know what to say. Konoha... hadn’t really given any clear indication. They just asked them to fix the roads and improve the country’s infrastructure, saying it was inconvenient for them to trade in the Land of Lightning. It was equivalent to a complaint. It’s just—normally, such words shouldn’t be brought up by Konoha in such an important meeting, but by some merchants or family representatives. Or was it that Konoha valued the Nara and Yamanaka clans very much, and this was an indirect way of winning them over? Until they were sent out of the country, the group was silent, completely not understanding Konoha’s purpose. The Third Raikage took a deep breath. "Don’t follow their rhythm." "Raikage-sama, what do you mean?" "After we go back, we do what we need to do. Don’t be influenced by Konoha’s little tricks. They probably want us to think east and west, and then fall into chaos ourselves." The Third Raikage’s tone was deep. "We only need to recognize one thing. In a battle of wits, we are definitely no match for Konoha, especially now that Konoha is backed by the current number one genius in the shinobi world, an existence even more terrifying than Senju Tobirama back then..." "Don’t think about trying to outsmart them!" the Third Raikage reiterated. Everyone nodded in deep agreement. In their years of dealing with Onoki and Konoha, their consistent strategy was to respond to all changes by not changing. No matter what schemes the opponent came up with, they would open a path with their fists. Simply put... be reckless! Thus, the enemy would not have a preconceived plan. For example, wasn’t that how Senju Tobirama died? "Let’s go, it’s indeed time to go back!" --- In Konoha, at the Police Force. Uchiha Fugaku walked along the Police Force headquarters towards the lake, his gaze sweeping over this piece of land. A very beautiful place. But—looking at Konoha from here, everything seemed so distant. If the Uchiha clan really moved from their current location to here, for the Uchiha, it would basically mean being completely away from the center of Konoha. Fortunately—Danzo was dead. The current Tsunade and Kyohiko, although they held a certain degree of vigilance towards the Uchiha clan, their attitude was somewhat similar to that of Senju Tobirama back then. Guarded, but also used. "It’s much better than being suppressed and seeing no hope for a lifetime. And outside the village, who knows what the situation is?" Uchiha Fugaku looked at the lake in front, and while muttering to himself, he couldn’t help but sigh softly. Being a clan head... is difficult! If it weren’t for the clan, he could have been an ordinary Jonin and wouldn’t have needed to stand out as the clan head at all. Fortunately—he had a good son, and there were excellent descendants like Uchiha Shisui in the clan. Of course, there were also... outliers like Uchiha Obito! Fugaku became depressed again. If it weren’t for Uchiha Obito, he wouldn’t have had to face so many difficult problems. He just needed to quietly wait for Konoha’s next generation to completely take power and slowly change their policy towards the Uchiha. Unlike now, everything was stirred up by a "Madara" whose authenticity was hard to distinguish, making the situation suddenly chaotic. Bang! He kicked a kunai at his feet, sending it flying. It landed in the lake with a thud. Then... he heard the sound of breathing. "Who’s there?" Fugaku looked in the direction of the breathing, his gaze imposing. "Come out! I already know you’re there." "Fugaku-sama." Shisui jumped down from a tree, scratching his head. "What you kicked away was the kunai I left here." "Ah?" Fugaku was stunned for a moment, then dazed. A kunai... just now? I didn’t notice at all. "How distracted am I!" he thought to himself. "Sorry, Shisui. I’ll give you another one." Fugaku took out a kunai, thought for a moment, then suddenly looked at the lake thoughtfully. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "I remember you also practice swordsmanship?" "Inabi-nii has taught me some swordsmanship," Uchiha Shisui replied. Fugaku smiled. "I’ll give you a sword. I hope you can become a great ninja of the Uchiha in the future." As he spoke, he took out a scroll from his waist. After a series of hand seals, the item within the sealing scroll appeared through the unsealing jutsu. A delicate short sword. "This..." Shisui took the sword, bewildered. He was just passing by on a run and came to wait and see if Kyohiko might come by. He hadn’t expected such a harvest. "Shisui." "Yes, Fugaku-sama!" Shisui stood straight. Fugaku sighed with emotion. "Do you still remember your grandfather?" "Grandfather... of course I remember." Shisui took the short sword. The sword felt very comfortable in his hand, making him reluctant to return it. Fugaku said, "Back then, Kagami-senpai was a peer of Sandaime-sama. Normally, it shouldn’t have been difficult for him to enter the high levels of Konoha. In that case, the fate of our Uchiha clan would have been changed." "..." Shisui’s eyes lowered. All of this... he naturally knew. But his grandfather had passed away, and it was too late to say anything now. Fugaku said, "You should have some connection with Konoha, right?" "Fugaku-sama..." Shisui looked up, his face shocked. Fugaku smiled. "Don’t be nervous. I was just guessing. And your thoughts and thinking are exactly the same as Kagami-senpai’s back then..." He sighed and said what he hadn’t finished. "The reason I said those things just now was to tell you that if Konoha has someone like Senju Tobirama, then our Uchiha still have a certain way out." "Fugaku-sama, I don’t understand what you mean." Shisui lowered his head, not daring to directly agree—even though he knew his actions had already exposed the real situation. Fugaku nodded lightly. "It’s alright, just remember it. Perhaps I am relatively incompetent and indecisive, but I support Konoha. If we leave Konoha, our Uchiha clan will be a piece of meat that anyone can come and take a bite of." "Is it that serious?" Shisui was a little surprised. He had originally thought that most in the Uchiha clan thought they were very strong and wouldn’t easily show weakness. As it turned out, this clan head... seemed to be the opposite. "Was the Uzumaki clan strong? They had a village, completely controlled their own resources, and had a very deep connection with Konoha. Now, aren’t they just as inexplicably destroyed, with only two female descendants left in Konoha?" Uchiha Fugaku replied. Even the Uzumaki clan couldn’t survive in this chaotic world. As the clan head, he also didn’t have the confidence to lead everyone out to become independent and strong. Madara... might be a direction, but for now, it was more likely a trap. The Uzumaki clan. In Uchiha Shisui’s mind, the term "Uzushiogakure" came up, but he didn’t know much more about this clan, including how powerful they were. "Shisui, you are very smart, but just being smart is not enough." Fugaku sighed. "You also need to learn... to compromise." "Compromise with what?" "Learn to compromise with fools, to make them understand and accept your ideas. For such a large clan, getting them to believe you and cooperate with you is actually harder than you thinking of a solution." Speaking of which, Fugaku rubbed his temples. "To this day, I still haven’t thought of how to persuade them well. The thoughts and problems of many people will make you feel incomprehensible. At this time, you have to lower your own thinking and think about why they think that way..." This point... he still hadn’t learned it. Fugaku never understood, with the clan’s strength against the village, or believing in that "Uchiha Madara" who had resurfaced after many years, how could they make such foolish choices every time? It was too much of a headache! Shisui opened his mouth, but in the end, closed it and remained silent. He could hear Fugaku’s pain. Perhaps... at this moment, he just needed to listen.