When Uchiha Tajima walked out of the clan leader's office, he had completely become a different person.
He first called his two most trusted subordinates into a secret room and ordered in a low voice, "From today onward, all border patrols are to pull back by half a day's journey."
All pointless bloodshed is to stop. Anyone who dares throw their life away for 'honor' again, I'll deal with them personally."
The subordinates looked at each other, but did not dare ask anything more.
Over the next half a month, visible changes took place throughout the Uchiha clan grounds.
Tajima personally devised an entirely new chakra training method, changing the old, brutal "push yourself to the limit" approach into phased strengthening. The injury rate immediately dropped by thirty percent.
He promoted several young but very capable clan members to manage logistics and intelligence, while secretly sending people with generous gifts to contact several small clans that had maintained neutrality for a long time.
Even more surprisingly, he began intentionally reducing direct conflicts with the Senju clan.
During several border disputes, he even directly ordered, "Give up 2 kilometres of ground. Don't fight if we can avoid it."
Two voices soon emerged within the clan.
Some of the older generation secretly shook their heads, feeling that the clan leader had suddenly become "weak."
Some of the younger people, however, faintly felt that this clan leader seemed much more clear-headed than before.
But most people still wanted war, because the Yuruo clan was different from the others. Their ancestors had all been killed by the Senju, and they needed revenge.
As for Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Izuna, they gradually noticed something strange through being repeatedly called by their father to "reason with them."
Five-year-old Madara could not help asking once, "Father... why have you been staring blankly at me and my younger brother lately?"
Tajima patted his head, his expression complicated. "Because in the future, you two will be more important than I imagined."
———
All of this was clearly seen by Arisu, who stood at a high place.
Arisu stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze passing through the void and falling toward the Uchiha clan grounds.
Arisu remained silent for a long time.
Arisu had already determined that this Sweet Island was a transmigrator.
'Troublesome.' Arisu slowly spoke in his heart.
'This transmigrator... has quite some ambition.'
Arisu knew very clearly that the identity of Uchiha Tajima was definitely not a chess piece that could be dealt with casually.
In the original history, although Tajima did not have many scenes, he was the most important "father" symbol in Madara and Izuna's growth.
His existence shaped Madara's sense of responsibility toward the clan in his early years and indirectly pushed forward the later grudge between Madara and Hashirama.
If Tajima died too early, Madara would lose his father's protection and guidance ahead of time. His personality might become even more extreme, or he might take on the burden of the entire Uchiha earlier.
If Tajima died too late, or was completely led astray by this transmigrator, Madara's path of growth would likewise deviate.
The most important thing was that...
Nearly half of Madara's future was tied to this father.
Once Tajima was crudely erased, or allowed to continue drastically changing history according to the transmigrator's ideas, no one could say what Madara would become in the future.
The establishment of Konoha, the reconciliation between the Uchiha and Senju, and even everything that came afterward would all produce a chain reaction because of this.
"The closer it gets to a critical period, the less I can let my guard down."
Especially the upcoming establishment of Konoha...
Arisu closed his eyes.
He could not deal with him like an ordinary abnormal variable and simply erase him.
Nor could he allow this transmigrator to continue pushing forward his plan of "establishing Konoha early and treating Madara and Hashirama as accessories."
"I have to find a way... that can make Tajima leave the stage without completely destroying Madara's future."
Arisu's thoughts slowly turned in the night.
It could be dying of illness.
It could be "naturally" sacrificing himself in some necessary battle.
It could be some kind of "fate" secretly pushed along by Black Zetsu.
Or it could be... making this transmigrator realize for himself that he had touched something he should not have touched, and then voluntarily restrain himself.
But no matter which one it was, it had to ensure one thing...
Madara would still lose his father.
He would still truly grow into that Uchiha Madara who stood at the turning point of history at a certain critical moment.
And not become an "accessory" who was protected in advance and had everything arranged for him ahead of time.
Arisu opened his eyes, the corners of his mouth pressing down slightly.
"Tajima... your role is indeed very important."
"So, the way I deal with you must also be equally important."
He raised his hand, and several faint traces vaguely appeared in the void.
The next second, Arisu's figure quietly disappeared into the night.
Meanwhile, within the Uchiha clan grounds, Tajima was standing by the window, looking at the heavy night sky in the distance as he muttered, "This time, I absolutely won't let history repeat itself."
He did not know that a pair of eyes had already begun seriously considering...
What method should be used to cleanly remove him from this game of chess?
At the edge of the Uchiha clan grounds, inside an inconspicuous wooden house.
A clan member who looked to be in his early thirties, with an ordinary face and eyes that were always lowered, was leaning against the window, slowly wiping a short blade in his hand.
His name was "Uchiha Shin."
At least, that was what was written in the clan records.
No one knew that this taciturn clan member who never said more than necessary and usually only handled border patrols and supply counts...
His true identity was the Uchiha Katsu who had long since disappeared from history.
Following Arisu's instructions, he had completely hidden his existence.
His Sharingan was completely sealed, his chakra fluctuations suppressed to the lowest level. Even his habits of breathing and walking had been deliberately changed into the most ordinary forms.
Uchiha Katsu simply watched.
He watched the Uchiha of this era slowly move toward the appearance he remembered.
Until the past half month.
Uchiha Katsu's movements suddenly stopped.
The blade faintly reflected the moonlight.
He raised his eyes and looked through the gap in the wooden house toward the direction of the clan leader's office in the distance.
Tajima... had changed.
It was not the steadiness that came with age, nor the exhaustion caused by the pressure of war.
It was some kind of... more fundamental thing that had been completely replaced.
"Could it be..."
Uchiha Katsu returned the short blade to its sheath, leaned against the wall, and closed his eyes.
His mind quickly replayed everything he had secretly observed over the past half month...
The border conflicts had suddenly been deliberately reduced.
The chakra training method had been drastically changed.
Young clan members had been promoted ahead of schedule.
He had even begun contacting neutral minor clans and testing the possibility of forming alliances.
Most importantly, there was the way Tajima looked at Madara and Izuna.
That was not the way a father looked at his sons.
It was the gaze of someone... who knew too much about the future and was sizing up the chess pieces in his hands.
Uchiha Katsu's brows lightly furrowed.
'Something's not right.', Uchiha Katsu said quietly in his heart.
This Tajima was definitely not the original Tajima.
Just like how he himself had been pulled away from the predetermined path by Arisu back then, this person had also been... replaced by something.
'A transmigrator?'
'Or the work of some other higher existence?'
Uchiha Katsu did not immediately reach a conclusion.
Arisu had once said, 'The overall direction of history could be slightly adjusted, but core points should not be easily overturned'.
He had also said, 'If one encountered an existence that could truly shake the foundation, or someone who knew things they should not know, observe first, then decide whether to act.'
When you cannot be sure, contact me directly.
Uchiha Katsu opened his eyes, his gaze turning heavy.
He still was not certain what this "new Tajima" ultimately wanted to do.
Did he want to end the war early?
Or did he want to take the establishment of all of Konoha into his own hands?
Or perhaps... he simply did not care what Madara and Izuna would become in the future.
Uchiha Katsu gently let out a breath.
"Can't act rashly."
"Keep watching for now."
"See how far he can go, and where he will lead Madara."