Uchiha's personal opinion

"Hai!"

Danzo remained as sparing with his words as ever.

"In addition, summon the second and third echelons of ninja."

The Third Hokage took a puff of his pipe. "The unusual activity in the Land of Wind is quite abnormal. According to intelligence reports from the Anbu, the movements of the ninja forces within its borders are becoming unpredictable."

"The Kingdom of Wind..." the advisor remained silent.

The Land of Wind is, after all, one of the five great nations, and should not be underestimated.

“We should also pay attention to the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning. Although the two countries are currently in a standoff, they have also made some significant moves on the border of the Land of Fire.”

"Then... how many ninjas should be recruited for the second and third echelons?" Koharu Utatane asked hesitantly.

"Let's all be around three thousand people!"

"In that case, the village's standing forces will be too weak..."

“The Ninja Academy can graduate a batch of genin early to strengthen the basic forces,” Danzo said from the side.

Hiruzen Sarutobi hesitated for a moment, but ultimately shook his head. "Things shouldn't come to this. The children of the Ninja Academy are the future of the village. We can't just do anything about them."

Finally, he added, "At least for now, there's no need to use the students from the Ninja Academy."

"What about the ninja clan?" Koharu Utatane asked meaningfully.

The third generation figure pondered for a moment.

"Mobilize all forces." After saying that, he took another puff of his pipe. "For unregistered ninja clan members, the rank assessment can be relaxed a bit. The scale of the war may be very large, and the village urgently needs fresh blood to join."

"Where's the Uchiha?" Koharu Utatane asked immediately afterward.

"Treat everyone equally." The Third Hokage's eyes were deep. "Try to draw four hundred clan ninjas from the Uchiha clan."

"Then this expense..." Mitokado Yan felt a bit of a headache.

Unregistered clan ninjas are the foundation of each clan, and each clan will definitely keep them under its control. To recruit them into the Konoha's ninja ranks, one must not only pay for their registration, but also exchange them for a large amount of funds and resources.

"So it's up to you, Danzo." The Third Hokage turned to Danzo. "The Daimyo's military spending is crucial. We must reach an agreement with the Daimyo during this trip to Kyoto."

Danzo nodded silently.

……

On the Uchiha clan side.

Uchiha Tokumitsu continued in his usual routine, leading the clan's ninja army in various tactical drills to strengthen their combat capabilities as much as possible.

In addition to the radical faction of ninja forces under his command, the clan chief's faction, the conservative faction, and the police department also followed suit, drawing personnel to form their own ninja forces for intensive training and drills.

The Uchiha clan's four ninja armies, totaling about three hundred elite ninjas, were thus organized.

Several smaller ninja clans that were close to the Uchiha clan followed suit and began to concentrate their clan's strength, but their strength was relatively weak, and the size of the ninja army they formed was also relatively small.

Seeing this, other ninja clans also recalled their ninjas who were away and actively prepared for battle.

In an instant, the number of ninjas in Konoha seemed to have doubled overnight. The ninja armies of each clan gathered in large groups, and the ninjas moved nimbly and agilely. The roofs of Konoha residents' houses were being repaired every three days, and the usually empty training grounds were now bustling with people.

The Konoha leadership was both pleased and worried. They were pleased that Konoha's war potential was indeed strong and that they could cope even if the scale of the war expanded. However, they were worried that each clan would gather its own ninja army, which, bound by blood ties, could both fight and cause trouble, making it relatively difficult for Konoha's commanders to lead.

Especially in situations where certain death is inevitable, it's unlikely that these gathered ninja clans and armies will be able to escape unscathed.

"If only all the clans in Konoha were as selfless as the Senju clan."

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, sighed as he reviewed the contentious documents concerning the mobilization of the ninja army in his office.

Unfortunately, the once glorious Senju clan suffered heavy losses in the First Shinobi World War. Currently, apart from Tsunade and a small number of her direct relatives, most of the ordinary Senju clan members went into seclusion during the Second Hokage's time, assimilated into various Konoha clans, and their whereabouts are difficult to trace.

Nowadays, the dominant ninja clans in Konoha are the Uchiha and Hyuga, powerful and traditional clans that are not easily fooled.

The opportunity to weaken and suppress the ninja clans during the war was aborted before it could even be implemented. The Konoha leadership had no choice but to reluctantly convene the leaders of each clan to discuss the conscription of their ninja forces.

……

It was at the Ninja Clan Conference that Uchiha Tokumitsu first met Tsunade, the granddaughter of Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage of Konoha and the legendary Tsunade, who became famous and magnanimous in later generations.

Chapter 23 Konoha Ninja Conference

The purpose of the Hokage's summons to the ninja clan meeting was well understood by the clan leaders and elders.

Everyone is aware of the current situation facing Konoha.

Yes, the village is in trouble, but what does that have to do with the ninja clan?

Each ninja clan has registered ninjas who serve the village, while those unregistered clan ninjas are the backup force for maintaining the clan's lineage.

Moreover, as early as when the village was founded, the first generation had already clearly defined the rules: the ninja village belonged to the ninja village, and the clans belonged to the clans, with clear distinctions and no interference between them.

Now, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, is clearly trying to destroy the roots of each family, which is a major taboo!

So: We have to pay more!

Moreover, it's not just about money and material possessions; one also needs the corresponding ninja rank and position. Otherwise, ninja clan members would rather not serve in public office.

To put it bluntly, it's about not releasing the hawk until you see the rabbit.

Moreover, with the ninja world on the verge of war, no one knows how the situation will develop or what the scale of the war will be. But if the ninjas they send out are ranked as Jonin and the war ends after only a couple of battles, then it would be a windfall for the ninja clans.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, naturally understood the psychology of ninja clans very well, after all, his Sarutobi clan was one of the most powerful ninja clans in Konoha, second only to a few thousand-year-old clans.

Moreover, he specifically brought Tsunade out for this ninja clan meeting, hoping that her status as a direct descendant of the Senju clan and the granddaughter of the First Generation would allow the people from the Senju clan, who were old friends of the Senju clan, to show mercy.

……

In the main conference room of the Hokage Building.

In front of the conference room was a long table made up of several tables, which were the seats for the Hokage and advisors. Below that were rows of tables and chairs, which were the seats for the leaders of the various ninja clans. The overall layout was rather simple, like half of a classroom in a ninja academy.

The first row of seats below is occupied by the Uchiha clan and their close ninja clans on the left, the Hyuga clan and their close ninja clans on the right, and the Senju clan, represented by Tsunade, and other small and medium-sized ninja clans in the middle; the strength and foundation of each ninja clan can be seen from the seating arrangement.

Even though the Senju clan was devastated after the war, many of the Senju who went into seclusion married or married into various small and medium-sized ninja clans, or established their own clans. Even though their prestige was gone, the Senju clan was still the superior clan in the hearts of various small and medium-sized ninja clans.

As for the Uchiha and Hyuga, one is a city management officer and policeman, doing all the dirty and hard work and getting cursed at; the other is just a scout, working hard as a scanner. Although they are both so-called thousand-year-old noble families, they don't have any decent power. They are not usually resentful, but at least they are not powerful enough.

The Uchiha clan members attending this meeting were the clan leader, Uchiha Yomo, and his eldest son, Uchiha Fugaku, along with Uchiha Yusuke, a representative from the police department, Uchiha Tokumitsu, a representative of the radical faction, and Uchiha Michiyo, a representative of the conservative faction. Looking around the venue, the Uchiha clan had the most attendees, but they were also the most dispersed.

Before the meeting even started, Uchiha Tokumitsu began to brazenly scrutinize the ninja clan leaders present.

First is Tsunade, the granddaughter of Hashirama Senju, the nemesis of the Uchiha clan. At present, Tsunade is probably only a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl. She does not have the magnanimity of later generations. Apart from her pretty face, she is just average.

Perhaps it was because Uchiha Tokumitsu's gaze was too blatant and unrestrained that Tsunade glared at him fiercely before gritting her teeth and turning her head away.

Uchiha Tokumitsu didn't care. He looked to the right side of the venue and saw three Hyuga members, one big and two small, sitting in the front row. They were probably the current clan leader and his two sons, Hyuga Hiashi and Hyuga Hizashi. However, both of them wore Konoha headbands on their foreheads, making it impossible to tell who was who.

Looking behind Tsunade, there were Konoha ninja clans such as Sarutobi, Shimura, Yamanaka, Nara, Akimichi, Aburame, Inuzuka, and Hatake.

The area behind Hyuga was also densely packed with people, who were likely vassal ninja clans under his command.

Looking behind the Uchiha, there were about ten people sitting in twos and threes.

The power balance between the Uchiha clan and the mainstream Senju and Hokage factions of the village is evident.

The Uchiha clan, with their proud and aloof personalities and being in a suppressed position, found it extremely difficult to win over other ninja clans.

The task is arduous and the road ahead is long.

Uchiha Tokumitsu sighed inwardly.

While Uchiha Tokumitsu was sizing up others, the other ninja clans were also observing him, who was probably the most outstanding young generation in Konoha.

Especially the Hyuga clan with the Byakugan, although they look straight ahead without glancing to the side, the Byakugan bloodline limit allows them to observe a wide field of view even without activating it, just at a shorter distance.

"Father, the level of his chakra concentration... seems to surpass that of many Jonin..."

One of the Hyuga children whispered to the Hyuga clan leader.

"Hiashi, he should have already awakened the three-tomoe..."

The Hyuga clan head addressed his successor, his eldest son.

Both being ancient and prestigious clans, the Uchiha clan has always surpassed the Hyuga clan in both strength and prestige. Even though the Uchiha clan is currently at its weakest point in a thousand years, it still surpasses the Hyuga clan by a wide margin. Even the next generation seems to be incomparable to them.

"The three-tomoe jade pendant at the age of eight..."

The Hyuga clan leader lamented inwardly, "The mighty Hyuga clan, how can it possibly suppress the Uchiha and become the most powerful clan in the ninja world?"

……

As the leaders of the various ninja clans were chatting and boasting, a shout from the Anbu came from outside the back door: "The Hokage has arrived!"

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, arrived with three advisors: Danzo Shimura, Homura Mitokado, and Koharu Utatane.

"Lord Hokage..."

"Sandaime..."

In the center of the venue, the ninja clan leaders stood up to greet them. On the right, some of the leaders of the close ninja clans behind the Hyuga clan stood up to greet them as well. On the left, however, the Uchiha clan, whether they were Uchiha or their vassal clans, remained unmoved as if they knew nothing about the situation.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, exchanged pleasantries with the leaders of each ninja clan before taking his seat on the main stage of the meeting.

The opening was the same old official jargon: the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, highly praised the contributions and responsibilities of the various ninja clans, commended their noble sentiments, and stated that Konoha's development and prosperity were inseparable from the strong support of the ninja clans, and so on.

This long-standing, official speech left the Uchiha clan and their allies drowsy, the Hyuga clan resting with their eyes closed, and the Senju and Hokage factions in the middle applauding from time to time, showing great engagement and passion.

Oh, except for Tsunade, who was dozing off with her chin resting on her hand.

After discussing past contributions, the Third Hokage moved on to the current situation. He briefly outlined the current state of the ninja world and provided a basic assessment and contingency plan for a potential ninja war.

Finally, the main event—

"...Based on the above situation, after discussion between the Hokage and the advisors and elders, it is now proposed to recruit ninjas from various ninja clans and open a ninja assessment and ranking examination. If an unregistered ninja has the necessary strength, he or she can be directly judged as a Jonin!"

Upon hearing this, the representatives of the smaller ninja clans in the middle immediately erupted in discussion, directly praising him as a Jonin! This was great news for the smaller ninja clans that wanted to further expand their clan's influence.

In peacetime, since Jonin are the upper echelons of the village, the evaluation requirements are not only strength and command strategy, but also have a quota limit every year. Each ninja clan has some clan members who are not registered and have not been evaluated for the title of Jonin. In the past, when the direct evaluation was up to the Chunin level, no one cared and the clan ninjas could endure the loneliness. But if one could be directly evaluated for Jonin and become a member of the village's decision-making level, then the significance would be different.

Uchiha Tokumitsu looked at the excited expressions on the faces of Sarutobi, Shimura, and other ninja clan representatives as they whispered among themselves and the other ninja clan leaders, and he couldn't help but chuckle.

It's understandable that other ninja clans were unaware, but to say that the two clans from the Konoha leadership were unaware of this beforehand is a joke.

Looking at the Hyuga clan's camp, it was normal that the vassal clans sitting behind the Hyuga father and son were merely exchanging glances. Looking back at the Uchiha clan's rear, thankfully, everyone remained unmoved; when Uchiha Tokugawa turned around, the leaders of the various vassal clans even smiled and nodded in greeting.

'At least the Uchiha faction is still relatively steadfast.'

The Third Hokage looked at the noisy meeting with a kind smile, while Danzo and the other two advisors kept scanning the Uchiha and Hyuga sides.