Uchiha's personal opinion

Just as the county garrison commanders, who were of noble birth, didn't take it seriously, Uchiha Tokumitsu was even less concerned.

After the ninja army moved in, it was only natural that the members of the ninja cat clan would follow their contracted jonin to establish territories in the new city and begin to explore the gold exchange locations in various counties.

Uchiha Tokumitsu felt he could be patient a little longer. Once he had a good idea of ​​the location of the underground gold exchange, he would set a trap to lure the people behind the exchange into the trap, then capture them all and gain both wealth and lives.

Meanwhile, in order to accelerate the construction of the Land of Waves storage base, Uchiha Tokumitsu also creatively issued futures on the Nakagawa Stock Exchange under the name of United Fisheries Company to raise funds.

But obstacles beyond the daimyo and the village also began to emerge.

On behalf of the Senju clan, Tsunade initiated a motion at the Hokage Building, demanding a thorough investigation into the ninja forces stationed in various regions for violating the "Three Prohibitions for Ninjas" and "suspected" of engaging in illegal activities. She argued that smuggling by ninja forces would seriously damage the ninjas' combat capabilities and thus endanger the safety of Konoha and even the Land of Fire.

While the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was pleased with the proposal, he did not make a clear statement on it. Instead, he handed the matter over to Sakumo Hatake for discussion at the Jonin meeting, where he would take appropriate action based on the collective opinion.

Although Tsunade's motion was verbally described as "suspected," everyone in Konoha and even the Daimyo and nobles of the Land of Fire knew that the Uchiha clan was currently the largest smuggling ring!

Therefore, although it wasn't explicitly stated, everyone understood who Tsunade was referring to.

Uchiha Tokumitsu didn't take the matter too seriously.

After all, as the leader of the Jonin squad, Sakumo Hatake's motion would absolutely not pass the Jonin vote unless something unexpected happened.

"The construction of warehouses in the Land of Waves needs to be accelerated! In addition, Earth Release ninjas should be mobilized to assist, and it would be best to build a bridge across the strait between the Land of Waves and the Land of Fire."

Uchiha Tokumitsu issued orders to his subordinates.

He has always disregarded public opinion.

No matter how high the prestige of the Senju clan is, he doesn't take them seriously unless a peerless powerhouse comparable to Senju Hashirama appears.

Even if the Hokage Building skips the Jonin class and issues the resolution directly, he will just burn it down and pretend it doesn't exist—without strength as an arm, where is justice to speak of!

However, Sakumo Hatake's failure to reorganize his forces was also a significant problem. As time went on, the smaller ninja clans under his command might be lured away by the Senju clan, while Tokumitsu Uchiha, as an ally, found it inconvenient to step forward and win people over—more importantly, his own interests had already been distributed, leaving him with no more benefits to win over others.

But before the motion to thoroughly investigate the Ninja Army's illegal activities could be voted on, Tsunade launched another proposal.

This proposal was put forward at the Konoha Generals' Meeting, demanding strict military discipline and prohibiting the garrisoned ninja from bullying the daimyo nobles of the small countries they were stationed in...

This proposal infuriated Uchiha Tokumitsu!

This time, it was a blatant insult directed at the Uchiha clan, especially him!

As is well known, two of Konoha's four border defense forces are stationed in buffer zones of small countries, while the only one has ever conscripted ninjas from small countries to fill trenches and even set up a ninja army under its own name in the Daimyo's capital to collect protection money from the Daimyo—Tsunade may not say who it is, but everyone knows.

"Why give up being a proper ninja, why give up being a proper clan leader, and instead get involved in council struggles!"

Inside the central command tent, Uchiha Tokumitsu kicked over the table in front of him in a fit of rage.

The Jonin under his command were all silent with fear.

"...I plan to go back to the village again."

Uchiha Tokumitsu took a deep breath.

He felt that his temper had been a bit off lately, and he was much more irritable than before.

Perhaps it's the negative influence of the Mangekyou Sharingan...

Uchiha Tokumitsu closed his eyes and did the eye exercises he had done in his previous life.

"Lord Tokumitsu..."

A Jonin from the Uchiha clan asked tremblingly, "After you return to the village, how should headquarters arrange military affairs?"

“Each of you will take turns on duty for one day, serving as the overall person in charge of the shift.”

Uchiha Tokumitsu casually instructed, "Be careful in the Land of Water. All Kirigakure transport ships must unload at the Land of Waves base and are no longer allowed to dock in the Land of Whirlpools!"

"As ordered!"

The group of Jonin responded with a resounding roar.

"Furthermore, the shipyard on the west coast of the Land of Whirlpools needs to be constructed as soon as possible..."

"Don't be afraid to spend money. You'll earn it back. Our goal is to strengthen our resources. That's the foundation of our survival!"

The real reason why Uchiha Tokumitsu wanted to move the smuggling hub to the Land of Waves was that a large shipyard to be built in a secluded strait on the western coast of the Land of Whirlpools was to be constructed.

Even though a reconciliation has been reached with the Hidden Mist Ninja Clan and a meeting between the clan leaders is about to be held, Uchiha Tokumitsu still has his heart set on the Land of Water, especially the current Mizukage of the Hidden Mist Ninja Village.

Or rather, he couldn't forget Madara Uchiha, the manipulator behind the Third Mizukage!

Chapter 174 Parliamentary Struggle

In fact, besides the Jonin class, Konoha has another similar power structure, namely the Ninja Clan Council.

When Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha reconciled and established Konoha, the people who joined Konoha were mostly from the major ninja clans in the ninja world. Therefore, when deciding on major events, they would often convene the clan leaders and others to discuss the matter. The Ninja Clan Council thus became a de facto decision-making body.

During the reign of the powerful Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, who ruled Konoha, he began to suppress the ninja clans and established a village-run ninja academy to train junior genin. In addition, as the structure of Konoha's various departments became more complete, the number of ninja clan meetings naturally decreased. However, since the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, was not strong enough to suppress the ninja world, he relied relatively on the assistance of jonin, and thus the status of the jonin class rose accordingly.

After the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, took over, the only function of the Shinobi Council was to recruit shinobi from various clans and purchase weapons during wartime; it had no other power whatsoever.

The situation was similar for the Jonin class.

Before Sakumo Hatake took over as the leader of the Jonin Team, the Jonin Team was dominated by the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. Anyone who harbored discontent would be either given a severe warning by the Jonin Team Leader or, in more serious cases, be taken away by Root for questioning.

However, under the machinations of Uchiha Tokumitsu and Hatake Sakumo, the Jonin team became the center of Konoha's political struggles. The two also used the Jonin team's power to stir up various forces in Konoha. Although Hatake Sakumo's subordinates were loosely organized, their numbers also increased dramatically.

But what follows is the emergence of imitators who will follow suit.

Although Uchiha Tokumitsu often used the Jonin team to cause trouble, he absolutely did not welcome others to do the same.

Especially since it's now being dragged into their own affairs.

Therefore, after arranging the affairs of the eastern garrison, Uchiha Tokumitsu immediately returned to Konoha to discuss countermeasures with clan leader Uchiha Shimo and Hatake Sakumo.

"Tsunade Senju..."

Inside the police chief's office, the mere thought of that name sent a wave of irritation through Uchiha Tokumitsu.

After the Senju clan was reorganized, Tsunade and her younger brother Nawaki both restored the Senju surname.

What's most troublesome about this surname is its prestige.

According to past practice, Uchiha Tokumitsu might have already begun gathering his followers to create an "unexpected incident" after informing his clan and Hatake Sakumo. But if it were Tsunade...

"De Guang Jun, please don't act impulsively..."

Inside the police chief's office, sitting opposite him was the clan head, Uchiha Yomo. Although he was somewhat dissatisfied with the recent series of motions initiated by Tsunade, his biggest concern was that Uchiha Tokumitsu would lose his temper and choose to start a fight.

"Chief, you don't need to worry so much. The Red Guards are still in the Land of Grass and haven't returned yet!"

Uchiha Tokumitsu glared at Uchiha Yomo with annoyance, "Are you even a Uchiha if you're this weak! You should know your shame!"

If he really intended to resolve the issue by force, he would have already summoned the clan's ninjas back from the two major garrison camps; there would be no need for him to be angry like this in the office.

Moreover, although he had awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan, excessive consumption of ocular power could lead to blindness and also had a great impact on his body, so Uchiha Tokumitsu tried to minimize the use of the Mangekyou Sharingan's power.

Besides, if an individual's strength were truly enough to suppress the ninja world, Uchiha Tokumitsu would have already turned on them and overturned the table.

Uchiha Yomo's concerns were not without reason.

As the nominal head of the Uchiha clan, he was the one who most directly felt the changes in Uchiha Tokumitsu's personality, such as the recent comment, "Too weak."

Especially after Uchiha Tokumitsu awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan, his personality and emotions became much more "distinct" than before.

He had also privately consulted the relevant records in the direct lineage's secret archives and found that this was a characteristic of all Mangekyou Sharingan awakeners. To some extent, the negative power of the Mangekyou Sharingan would cause great emotional ups and downs. Compared with the records, Uchiha Tokumitsu's personality changes were the least severe.

"Knock knock!"

There was a knock on the door of the Chief of Staff's office.

"Please come in!"

Sakumo Hatake pushed open the door and entered.

He looked somewhat tired.

"Sakumo-kun, thank you for coming all this way."

"I mishandled this matter, and I'm sorry to trouble you, Deguang-kun..."

Sakumo Hatake wore a wry smile, somewhat helpless.

The Jonin class's status was elevated by Uchiha Tokumitsu and himself, but now others are following suit and using the Jonin class to make trouble, which makes Hatake Sakumo, the class leader, feel extremely ashamed.

"The Jonin team meeting system is inherently open, so it's not surprising that some people manipulate the agenda..."

Uchiha Tokumitsu leaned back in his chair, relaxing his body. "But, Sakumo-kun, have you made up your mind?"

He was referring to having Sakumo Hatake reorganize his forces and establish rules to govern them.

"In principle, the village does not allow ninjas to form their own organizations..."

Sakumo Hatake sighed.

"It has been proven that ninjas who come together solely for the purpose of mutual assistance are inferior to ninja clans bound by blood ties in both combat strength and willpower."

Uchiha Tokumitsu said, "Especially the reorganized Senju clan, whose ancestors were so prestigious that they were the leaders of the ninja world. When facing them, perhaps even you, Sakumo-kun, feel a little hesitant?"

Sakumo Hatake remained silent upon hearing this.

Uchiha Tokumitsu took this as tacit agreement and continued, "Since you, Sakumo-kun, are already considering retreating, how could your subordinates possibly continue to argue with the Senju clan?"

"You know, both of the proposals put forward by Tsunade are flawless on the surface."

Ignoring the look in the eyes of the clan head, Uchiha Yoshikazu, Uchiha Tokumitsu continued, "In addition, those minor clans that have returned to the Senju clan are naturally enthusiastic and full of fighting spirit in order to stand out. So, Sakumo-kun, what other options do you have besides stalling?"

"If we're going to reorganize the tribe... what would be the most appropriate way?"

Sakumo Hatake gritted his teeth and finally made up his mind.

"I wonder if Sakumo-kun is aware of the organizational structure called 'political corps' among the bureaucrats under the daimyo?"

The so-called political groups were organizations composed of commoners who became officials of the daimyo through examinations or recommendations. Because they had no family background, no place to hold high-ranking positions like county governors, and faced exclusion from noble children, the officials often linked together by their place of origin, ideals, and aspirations, supporting each other in order to "progress" together.

"I have some understanding..."

Sakumo Hatake was taken aback at first, then seemed to understand.

Indeed, the status of Konoha Jonin who came from commoner or small ninja clans was not much different from that of a Daimyo's subordinates who had no chance of being promoted to a high position.

If Sakumo Hatake's forces were originally just banding together for mutual support, then if they were reorganized according to the model of a political group, they would at least become a political organization with some ideals and aspirations.

"But wouldn't this lead to many people choosing to turn away...?"

Clan leader Uchiha Shifu was somewhat puzzled.