How to Survive as an Uchiha

Yagura's words demonstrate that the Five Kage were indeed ninjas with the most intelligence in this world.

Information was one of the most powerful forces a ninja could have. There were far too few people who could disregard intelligence and rely solely on raw combat power.

Masashi's smooth journey thus far owed much to the power of information.

On the flip side, any individual who exhibited enough unpredictability had to be treated with caution.

Yagura was currently the most unpredictable person he had encountered in this life.

"Mizukage-sama, wasn't it you who wiped out the Yuki clan?" he asked. "Taking control of someone from the Yuki clan doesn't seem like something you would do."

"At the time, I was under control. This was the only insignificant thing I could do as the Mizukage." Yagura spoke seriously. "After all, it was the genjutsu of the Mangekyō Sharingan. I only managed to break free with great effort."

After saying this, he felt it wasn't convincing enough, so he added more.

"That power is truly overwhelming. I can't believe there is such a powerful force in this world. The Uchiha truly deserve to be called the strongest clan in the ninja world."

Masashi and Shisui remained expressionless. Both of them had their Sharingan activated at this moment.

Masashi didn't need to say anything, but Shisui possessed a pair of Mangekyō Sharingan himself.

"Mizukage-sama."

"What is it, Shisui?"

"Please show a little more sincerity. The way you're acting right now reminds me of Masashi-nii, and I'm not enjoying this experience."

"..."

"..."

Shisui snorted, his Sharingan staring intently at Yagura.

Despite the banter, he wasn't slacking off on his duties.

"Let's get to the point. Stop wasting time with meaningless flattery." Masashi sighed.

This marked the beginning of the countdown to the end of the Hōzuki clan.

Another great clan was about to face destruction.

"I'm afraid we cannot fulfill your request," he said to Yagura. "As Konoha's ninjas, Shisui and I cannot and will not intervene in the internal affairs of Kiri."

"It's not an internal matter," Yagura said without changing his expression. "The missing-nin from Kiri, led by the Hōzuki clan, have been collaborating with Uchiha traitor, attempting to seize control of the village. Konoha discovered this and assisted me, the Mizukage, in eradicating them to maintain our amicable relationship."

"That's rough, don't you think so?"

"Yes, it's a bit crude. But as long as it works, that's all that matters," Yagura replied. "Perhaps you think I'm lying, but I was indeed controlled at first, and their goal was to strike at Konoha's power."

"Oh?" Masashi grew interested. "And how did you break free?"

Since Obito's plan for the Eye of the Moon required weakening Konoha as a key step, it was worth probing whether Yagura's words were true or just a lucky guess.

"It's embarrassing to say, but when the enemy controlled me to attack the Yuki clan, attempting to kill every member of the clan, I was so impacted by the tragedy that I broke free of their genjutsu." Yagura wore a sorrowful expression. "Seeing my companions die at my hands caused me immense pain."

Liar! Masashi watched him expressionlessly as Yagura delivered his performance.

"Mizukage-sama."

"Hmm?"

"That's enough. How many times have you used that excuse? Can you take it down a notch?"

From the side, Shisui shot Yagura a schadenfreude-filled look.

"My apologies. I might have gotten a bit carried away." Yagura immediately dropped the sorrowful act, returning to normal. "But that's basically what happened. Recently, the enemy modified his technique, but it's not perfected. I found an opportunity to connect with the Three-Tails' spirit and broke free of his genjutsu together."

That's better.

In the original timeline, Yagura was indeed controlled, but he was such a minor character in the story that even his death wasn't elaborated upon. He didn't get the attention he deserved, unlike other minor Kage who were killed off early.

Even during the Five Kage Summit, Yagura was mentioned only briefly, as the villages were still scheming against each other. Even half-truths had ulterior motives behind them.

It never made sense that Yagura, the first person since Hashirama and Madara to perfectly control a tailed beast, would go down so easily.

For someone to achieve such a feat, their chakra would have to be incredibly strong. In the end, genjutsu was just a battle of chakra, and Obito's current chakra shouldn't have been enough to crush Yagura.

The portrayal of Kiri in the original timeline never added up. It was as though, once Yagura's control was discovered, all the village's problems were miraculously resolved. The previous bloodshed suddenly seemed like a path to the village's rebirth.

Now, this scenario felt far more reasonable.

And very much like Obito.

He always enjoyed showing off his "innovations" to Masashi—only for them to backfire spectacularly.

Surprisingly, Masashi almost sympathized with Black Zetsu for a moment. Even though Black Zetsu was a villain, his work ethic was commendable.

It must have been exhausting to partner with someone like Obito, whose interests often took precedence over their plans.

Still, villains were villains. When they messed up, Masashi benefited.

If he couldn't stop the villains, he might as well encourage Obito to develop more "hobbies" like these.

"I still hope you and Shisui will consider my proposal carefully." Yagura said. "From Konoha's perspective, you wouldn't want Kiri to remain in chaos for too long."

Masashi looked at him, whose expression betrayed nothing. His poker face was impressive.

"I'm sorry, but your reasoning is still insufficient," Masashi replied. "The risks of getting involved are too great. If it's to deal with traitors, neither you nor the Hōzuki clan will hold back. Why should we step in and bring trouble upon ourselves?"

"If the conflict drags on, Kiri might resolve it by declaring war on Konoha."

"That's fine. Ninjas who don't fight will become obsolete."

"You're truly greedy, Masashi." Yagura sighed, reluctantly offering another bargaining chip. "You can take Hikari and her brother."

"I'm sorry. That's still not enough, Mizukage-sama. It's not greed—it's caution. Times have changed. Any action Shisui and I take will be tied to the Uchiha name. Now, the Uchiha must be particularly careful."

"A Kage Advisor clan indeed needs to be cautious." Yagura nodded. "But what if Kiri provided the Association with access to the Land of Water?"

"What do you mean?"

"The Land of Water is isolated by the sea but rich in resources. Its nobles also wish to find better opportunities to grow their wealth. I know a little about how the Kage Assistant's election was won. If Kiri shows its sincerity and convinces the Water daimyō to allow the Association to act as a special trading partner with the Land of Fire, then, considering the challenges the Association faces, we will protect the Association's personnel and help solve any problems within the Land of Water."

"You sound like you're trying to take control."

"I think no one can outmatch you in this area. As long as you're alive, the Association belongs to the Uchiha."

Huh? The Mizukage is flattering me now?

"Masashi, think about it. As a show of sincerity, I'll give the Hōzuki clan another day. After all, I don't want to kill my comrades either."

Yagura placed the Mizukage's ceremonial hat back on his head.

"I've enjoyed today's conversation with both of you. But now, I should return. After all…" he smiled faintly, "I am a 'useless man' who was controlled, after all."

---

After returning to the Mizukage building, Yagura once again seemed like the rumored puppet Mizukage, controlled by outsiders.

The three of them returned to the council chamber and, following the protocol, performed a formal play of "This agreement isn't great. Let's renegotiate it and talk again."

After that, each person went their separate ways.

Outside the building, Masashi and Shisui returned to their guesthouse, heading straight to Shisui's room.

His room had a small bed, but the sofa was wide and long—good for discussions.

Sitting on the sofa, the two began to digest what they had gained today at the Mizukage building.

Yagura had already presented his terms on the rooftop; it was now up to the two of them to decide.

Observing from the sidelines posed no risk, while getting involved promised high returns but with significant risks.

From a risk perspective, the two should have chosen the former.

That was Shisui's view—he believed the Uchiha clan needed to proceed cautiously during this critical period.

However, being someone who knew about Kaguya sealed on the moon, Masashi had to consider more.

On the surface, killing Obito and Nagato would allow Kaguya to continue sleeping. But in truth, Black Zetsu—the prime instigator—possessed limitless possibilities, and the current shinobi world had no jutsu capable of eliminating or sealing it.

The only choice before Masashi was to prevent everything with sheer, overwhelming strength.

Striving to master Yin-Yang Release was also for countering Nagato's Rinnegan—a set of troublesome eyes left behind by Madara.

Yet, no matter how powerful the Rinnegan was, without the Ten-Tails, it was meaningless.

Engaging Nagato head-on wasn't particularly significant; the tailed beasts were the real focus.

Continuously eliminating jinchūriki was one option, but it was a stopgap measure. Forming an alliance with strong jinchūriki for mutual defense was much better.

The olive branch extended by Yagura had undeniably tempted Masashi.

Not only was he a perfect jinchūriki who controlled his tailed beast flawlessly, but he was also the Mizukage—helping him would be immensely beneficial.

If Kiri could become a normal village, it could serve as a fallback option for the Uchiha.

After considering it carefully, Masashi shared his thoughts with Shisui.

"Masashi-nii, why do you have so little confidence in the village?" Shisui instinctively rejected any suggestion that would isolate the Uchiha from Konoha.

He had grown up in Konoha, after all—it was his home.

"This isn't about the village. People's hearts are unpredictable; you always need to prepare multiple paths," Masashi replied. "Even if it's not useful now, it might help someone in the future."

"Fine, but if anything goes wrong, the Uchiha clan might end up being blamed for starting a war." Though Shisui trusted Masashi's judgment, he felt obligated to point this out.

"I know that," Masashi nodded. "But Obito's existence is very sensitive. In truth, we're the ones forced to act."

As a member of the Uchiha clan and a Mangekyō Sharingan wielder, Obito naturally cast a shadow over the Uchiha name.

If the Uchiha weren't present during his actions, that would be one thing. But if any Uchiha was present, they would be forced to act—or else the clan would bear responsibility for his actions.

Much of the chaos caused by Obito would easily be framed as a conspiracy by the Uchiha.

That was likely why he used his Mangekyō Sharingan so often.

The Uchiha clan was the greatest obstacle to the Eye of the Moon Plan.

While his actions could be absurd at times, his logic was clear.

Eliminating the Uchiha clan took precedence over gathering the tailed beasts.

For now, this pitfall had been temporarily buried. But as for the future, Masashi wasn't optimistic.

Besides Kiri, there truly weren't many other viable options...

"Alright, since you have so much confidence in Kiri, I have no objections," Shisui said after a moment's thought. He, too, was frustrated with Obito's constant efforts to smear the Uchiha name.

"Don't look so reluctant." Masashi grinned, pulling out a sealing scroll and extracting its contents.

It was two sets of ANBU uniforms—Kiri's ANBU, to be precise.

"Masashi-nii, where did you get these?" Shisui asked in surprise.

"I replicated them when we were in the village," Masashi replied. "How do they look? Identical to Kiri's ANBU, right?"

He picked up a mask and tossed one to Shisui, putting the other one on himself.

With the mask on, he became emotionless.

Later, he could simply burn the outfit, and no matter what happened, it wouldn't concern him.

It would be Masked Man vs. Masked Man.

"You're really well-prepared…" Shisui muttered, fiddling with the mask in his hand, speechless.

On the rooftop earlier, Masashi and the Mizukage had gone back and forth with seemingly no choice but to accept the situation. The act had been flawless.

Shisui was skilled in combat strategies and tricks but couldn't pull off something like this.

Sometimes, he tried to be a bit shameless, but it never worked—people could always tell he was faking it.

Masashi had once mocked him for being "form without spirit."

Who knew what spirit even meant?

Looking at the Kiri ANBU outfit, though, Shisui felt like he understood a bit.

Leaving Shisui to his thoughts, Masashi sealed his outfit back into the scroll and returned to his room.

When he entered, he saw Hikari sitting on the bed, gazing out the window.

The current state of Kiri and its ninja were well reflected in her.

Seeing him return, Hikari quickly climbed off the bed to bow.

"No need, just rest," Masashi said.

He took out the uniform again, entered the dressing room, and changed into it.

When he emerged, he stood before Hikari in full Kiri ANBU gear.

"Masashi?" Hikari stiffened at the familiar image.

She had a feeling her benefactor was about to cause trouble.

"What do you think? Does it fit well? Does it look like the Kiri ANBU?" Masashi asked casually.

"It… it looks very similar…"

Back when her clan still existed, she had been to the Mizukage building and was familiar with the ANBU there.

Masashi's outfit was identical to the Mizukage Guard—the elite of the Kiri ANBU.

"As long as it looks convincing." Masashi nodded with satisfaction. "Feel free to pass the time however you like. I'm going out to take a look around."

"Where are you going?"

"Kiri is a big village; I want to see more of it," Masashi said with a smile. He formed hand seals and created a shadow clone.

The clone, however, still wore Konoha's ninja attire.

After placing a special Flying Thunder God Seal on his clone, Masashi disappeared from the room.

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