No one wanted to tear open the facade yet, but tensions were rising, the looming war only making them worse, it was only a matter of time.
At the Uzumaki Residence, Shiki retold the events with his personal observations of the matter added on top.
"So you think the Yamanaka little girl can be trusted?" Mito asked with a raised brow.
"Well . . . Her loyalty to us is questionable but I think she knows betting on our side is the right move for her future." The boy replied.
"That's good enough for now." Mito calmly nodded, sipping on some tea she had prepared.
"What about the Uchiha? Waiting for them to come to us is the strategic move but I have doubts whether they will obediently do it or not." Shiki reasoned.
"True, their pride might result in unacceptable delays but if we approach them ourselves, their elders will most definitely start getting full of themselves, more so than they already are if that's possible." The Uzumaki matriarch responded.
"Fortunately, I have an old friend in the Uchiha clan that can be trusted." She continued.
"We have already determined that the Uchiha are willing to step into the fray with us so she can be relied upon to smooth things out." Mito concluded.
"An old friend?" Shiki inquired.
"Yes, Uchiha Naori, a fine lass, she's been getting on in years and has gone blind from the side effects of Ocular Jutsu but Sanguine Pills like the ones I gave to you might help solve that issue." The Uzumaki matriarch explained.
"Can the Sharingan's blindness be reversed like that?" The boy doubted.
"You have read up on the Sharingan and the Mangekyo in my library, yes?" Mito asked.
Shiki nodded.
"Naori's left eye lost its light from repeated use of her Mangekyo Sharingan over the years but I believe the rejuvenative and regenerative effects of the Sanguine Pills can fix that." The Uzumaki matriarch declared.
"Her right eye on the other hand is more complicated since she sacrificed its light to cast a powerful Uchiha forbidden jutsu, the Izanami. That will likely not be reversible." She explained.
'Right . . . Uchiha Naori, she appeared in the historical flashback when Itachi explained the Izanami to Sasuke.' Shiki remembered.
"She is very respected amongst her clan, with her prowess restored, things will go over much better." Mito concluded.
If the redhead trusted her with secrets like the Sanguine Pills and the power they provided, the Shiki was perfectly okay with things being done like so.
"What does Mito-sama think regarding timing? With war approaching, things could get very complicated." The boy inquired.
"Definitely." The Uzumaki matriarch nodded in agreement.
"The Monkey will be looking into diverting the internal pressure to external enemies, a tried and true tactic. So delaying things is not favorable for us." She spoke.
"Not to mention that war is a great chance to shave off our strength and that of our potential allies." Shiki added.
All Hiruzen had to do was send out the force of the Uchiha and remaining Senju, spread them out across the hottest battlefields and watch their numbers drop without having to do anything himself, keeping his hands clean.
"Also, with Mito-sama setting yourself up against him, it is possible. that Uzushio mind find itself isolated." The boy cautioned.
Knowing Uzushio's fate in the original timeline, Shiki had long been looking for a good opportunity to broach the subject and he felt he finally found one.
"I have the same thought, the other villages have long coveted the Uzumaki's legacy and without them, a great part of my political capital would be gone, especially since the Monkey and his little friends still believe I am growing old and frail." Mito responded.
"You do not have to worry though, I have already taken heavy measures to ensure Uzushio's future." The redhead reassured her ward.
His worries lessened for the time being, Shiki decided to trust Mito and her measures.
The Uzumaki matriarch was far more powerful and far more active now than in the original timeline so it would be foolish to assume the situation would remain the same or even remotely similar for that matter.
"Since Mito-sama says Uzushio is safeguarded, how do we play things here?" The boy inquired, moving the conversation to the topic of action.
"To be honest, it is difficult to pin anything truly damning on the Monkey, he's too smart for that." The Uzumaki matriarch replied.
"The Hokage faction should have a pretty substantial list of crimes." Shiki argued.
"Yes but the Monkey can and would pin most of them on his advisors, his character and abilities as a leader would be questioned while his foundation would be heavily damaged but in the end, he could likely hold on to his seat." Mito claimed.
"At that point we could just force him out, no?" The boy questioned.
"Yes but that would harm our legitimacy, not to mention the destabilizing effect the whole conflict would have on the village." The Uzumaki matriarch explained.
"And we can't have that with war on the horizon, it could even set things off ahead of time if we're unlucky." Shiki relented.
"Exactly." His mistress nodded.
"So we're stuck until the war?" The boy asked.
"Yes but we can't let ourselves fall into a passive position either." Mito replied.
"We must gather the means to secure our interests and topple the current regime ahead of the war. That way we can set up a decisive counter during wartime." She added.
"I see . . ." Shiki realized Mito's vision.
They already knew the Hokage faction would make a big play against their side during the war, it was the best chace to cull their people after all.
The more threatening and powerful they seemed before the war, the harsher the Hokage faction's wartime move would likely be.
So, they would gather as much dirt as possible, establish alliances and secure resources as well as support and then, when the Hokage faction made their move, a decisive counter could be made.
"Then we should get started with preparations then." The boy said.
"You tell me you have been getting very good at spying and infiltrating so try and gather up as much dirt as you can. That little bastard Danzo should have countless dirty secrets hidden within and around Konoha for you to find." Mito suggested.
"Meanwhile, I will secretly contact Naori and get things started with the Uchiha clan. I'll also see if we can draw another clan or two to our side, we can't cast a wide net and catch the wrong kind of attention but I still have a few connections beyond my reputation." She decided.
"Very well then, Mito-sama." Shiki respectfully responded.
"I already have pretty much all of Konoha mapped out so I'll start looking for secrets in the village's surroundings, maybe even track Root squads and see if they lead me anywhere interesting." He declared.
"There'll be plenty of free time since it would be stupid to try and do missions with the circumstances being what they are." The boy continued.
"We should also be looking into securing key individuals that might become targets, Tsunade-sama and Nawaki-sama for our side, Mei and possibly her brother Fugaku for the Uchiha side and so on." He added.
"You're probably right." Mito nodded.
The Uzumaki matriarch let out a tired sigh.
"Can't say I missed all this scheming and politicking but oh well . . ." She trailed off.
"We do what we must for our future."
+++++
Hey, Author here!
To promote the novel I will be releasing BONUS CHAPTERS on SUNDAYS based on the previous week's power stone count.
100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
500 Power Stones = 2 Bonus Chapters
1000 Power Stones = 3 Bonus Chapters
Every earned BONUS CHAPTER on Webnovel will also be posted on Scribble.
Just a reminder that you can read up to a FULL MONTH ahead of this site on pa-treon.
I'm trying to become a full time Author now and I'm not going to be starting any new novels just so I can make sure this one is properly completed.
Find those sweet advanced chapters on pa-treon.com/lusoba without the -