The reforms had completely ground to a halt.
The new chakra training method that had originally been planned was only being tested among a very small number of young ninjas because of the opposition from the hardliners.
Contact with the surrounding minor clans had also been completely cut off because of the Haikawa incident.
The people Tajima sent out to try to ease relations either returned empty-handed or were directly refused a meeting.
The fighting at the border was still continuing.
Tajima had no choice but to personally take command at the front lines.
But his body did not allow him to maintain high-intensity combat for long periods.
Once, during an inspection, he forcibly activated his Sharingan to predict the enemy's movements. As a result, his chakra went into reverse flow, and he vomited blood on the spot. His trusted subordinates hurriedly brought him back.
When the news reached the clan grounds, the voices of doubt became even louder.
"Is the clan head no longer capable?"
"He's gotten weaker after being injured, and he's still talking about reform?"
"Why not let someone younger take charge of clan affairs..."
Although they did not dare say these things to his face, they reached his ears again and again through various channels.
Tajima began to suffer from insomnia.
Night after night, he sat in the clan head's office, staring at the moon outside the window, the same question circling repeatedly through his mind.
"Was I wrong from the very beginning?"
The memories from his transmigration told him that the Uchiha in the original work eventually walked toward tragedy.
He wanted to change it, wanted to end the war early, wanted his two sons to no longer have to live in hatred.
But reality was like a wall, crashing him into it until he was battered and bruised again and again.
The mysterious man's warning, the chaos at the border, the doubts within the clan, his physical injuries... all these things piled up together, pressing on him until he could barely breathe.
He began to grow suspicious of everyone.
Once, a young clan member who had always supported the reforms came to report on the training progress, but Tajima suddenly interrupted him and asked coldly, "Were you bought off by someone too?"
The man froze where he stood, his face deathly pale.
Tajima realized that he had lost control, but it was already too late to take the words back.
From that day on, even the people from the reformist faction began deliberately distancing themselves from him.
———
Another half month passed.
The Haikawa clan caused trouble again.
They claimed that they had been subjected to a "retaliatory attack" by the Uchiha and requested assistance from the Senju.
The Senju were already burning with anger because of the border conflict, and they almost immediately decided to send more troops.
When Tajima received the news, he was processing a casualty list.
He looked at the familiar names one after another, and his hand could not help trembling.
"Enough..."
he said quietly.
"Really enough."
That night, he left the clan grounds alone and went to the forest where he had fought the mysterious man before.
Under the moonlight, the scorched marks and knife scars on the ground were still clearly visible.
Tajima stood there and suddenly shouted, "Come out! I know you're still watching! If you have the guts, come out and fight me again! Don't hide in the dark and play tricks!"
There was only the sound of the wind in the forest.
There was no response.
Tajima stood there for a long time. Only after his throat had gone hoarse did he slowly crouch down and hold his head in both hands.
For the first time, he clearly realized something.
He might really be unable to change anything.
That mysterious man was unimaginably powerful, the chaos at the border seemed to be pushed along by an invisible hand, opposition within the clan was rising wave after wave, and he himself had not even recovered from his injuries.
"What... am I even doing...", Tajima muttered to himself.
From that day on, Uchiha Tajima's state of mind truly began to collapse.
He no longer talked about reforms with the ambition he once had, nor did he forcefully convene clan meetings to push through his plans.
When handling clan affairs, he was often absent-minded, sometimes even falling silent for a long time and staring blankly at some place.
Someone saw him repeatedly wiping the knife that had already developed cracks at night. As he wiped it, he would suddenly slam the knife heavily onto the ground.
Others heard him letting out suppressed growls and curses when he was alone in his room.
Madara and Izuna noticed that something was wrong with their father.
Once, Madara gathered his courage and asked him, "Father, did you encounter something you can't solve?"
Tajima looked at his son's young but serious face and suddenly could not say anything.
He wanted to say "No," wanted to say "Father can handle it," but when the words reached his lips, they turned into nothing more than a heavy sigh.
"You two... just live well.", In the end, he only said this.
The conflict at the border was still continuing, the cracks within the clan were still widening, and Uchiha Tajima, the transmigrator who had once been ambitious enough to try to rewrite history, was being crushed by reality bit by bit.
He began to question the meaning of his transmigration.
He began to question whether those "memories of the future" were salvation or a curse.
And he began to wonder whether, somewhere in a corner of this world, there really was a pair of eyes coldly watching all his struggles and futile efforts.
And he was gradually running out of strength to resist.
Uchiha Tajima gave up completely.
After returning from the forest that night, he sat in the clan head's office until dawn.
The light outside the window slowly brightened, illuminating his haggard face.
"It's impossible to change...", Tajima said quietly to himself.
"It was impossible to change from the very beginning."
In the morning, Tajima summoned all the elders and core clan members.
The atmosphere in the meeting hall was heavy.
Everyone looked at this clan head whose temperament had changed drastically recently and who was still injured, not knowing what decision he was about to make.
Tajima sat in the main seat, his voice so calm that it carried a dead quality.
"From today onward, all the reform measures from before are to be revoked."
The hall fell silent for half a second, followed by waves of surprised and doubtful voices.
"Clan head, you mean..."
"The new chakra training method, the border withdrawal strategy, and the plan to establish contact with the minor clans are all to be stopped."
Tajima raised his eyes and swept his gaze over everyone present.
"Return to the old system. As for the border issue, an eye for an eye. If someone attacks us, we strike back. The grudge over the Haikawa clan killing my envoy must be repaid."
The elders of the hardliner faction were stunned at first, then looks of delight flashed through their eyes.
The people from the reformist faction, however, went deathly pale. Someone could not help speaking up. "Clan head, didn't you say before that we should reduce meaningless casualties and accumulate our strength? Why have you suddenly..."
Tajima interrupted him, his tone leaving no room for discussion. "I said all of it is revoked, so all of it is revoked. Anyone who mentions reform again is making themselves an enemy of the entire clan."
Tajima paused, then added, his voice carrying fatigue, "This world has its own way of moving forward. We... just have to follow it."
After his words fell, no one in the meeting hall dared to oppose him again.
The orders were quickly passed down.
The new training method that had already begun testing was halted, and all related scrolls were collected and sealed away.
The contacts sent to the surrounding minor clans were urgently recalled, and all records of their secret contacts were destroyed.
The border forces were redeployed according to the old organization. They would no longer withdraw. Instead, preparations began to strengthen patrols and retaliatory attacks.
The retaliatory operation against the Haikawa clan was also put on the schedule that same day.
Tajima personally gave the order: three days later, an elite squad would be sent to kill the Haikawa clan head, repaying blood with blood.
He no longer tried to investigate the truth behind the conflict, nor did he ask where those strange rumors had come from.
All his doubts, unwillingness, and ambition were forcibly pushed into the deepest part of his heart.
The mysterious traveler's warning became a knife hanging over his head.
He no longer dared to gamble.
Nor did he want to gamble again.
That afternoon, he went alone to his sons' courtyard.
Madara and Izuna were practicing basic shuriken techniques. When they saw their father arrive, both of them stopped.
Tajima looked at them and remained silent for a long time before slowly speaking.
"From now on, there is one thing you must remember."