Chapter 46

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Toki and Uchiha Shisui were not on the same page.

While Toki encouraged Konoha's ninjas to join the battle against Kumogakure, his true motivations were far from the ideals of Konoha's peace or the "Will of Fire." Victory and helping Konoha resist a strong enemy were merely secondary objectives for him. Toki's primary goal remained unchanged from the beginning: to strengthen the Uchiha clan and avoid their eventual annihilation.

Originally, Toki planned to scatter the Uchiha clan across different border regions to sharpen their combat skills and enhance their Sharingan abilities. The awakening of the Sharingan required intense emotional stimulation—whether it was to awaken the regular Sharingan or the Mangekyō Sharingan. The Uchiha clan members needed varying degrees of emotional strain to unlock these powers.

After the Third Shinobi World War, fewer than a hundred Uchiha clan members had awakened the Sharingan. The peaceful and easy life of the Konoha Military Police Force had dulled their fighting instincts. When Uchiha Itachi first awakened his Sharingan, Uchiha Fugaku even saw it as a huge achievement, showing just how far the clan had fallen.

To avoid that state of decline, Toki took the initiative to assume responsibility for Konoha's border defenses. Initially, his goal was to gradually awaken the Sharingan within the clan. However, the sudden appearance of Kumogakure forced him to revise his plans.

In his previous life, based on the anime, formula books, and other sources, Toki had believed that large-scale battles had ended after the Third Shinobi World War, especially by the time of the Chūnin Exams. But when Kumogakure marched against Konoha, he quickly realized his mistake. The term "Shinobi World War" referred to a war involving at least two of the Five Great Nations.

Although Iwagakure had signed a peace treaty with Konoha, Kumogakure hadn't. They only came to negotiate peace when Hinata Hyūga was three years old. This meant that, although the war between Kumogakure and Konoha wasn't classified as a "Shinobi World War," the conflict was still just as intense as any other.

Understanding this, Toki decided to escalate his original plan. Rather than simply helping his clan members awaken the regular Sharingan, he now aimed higher. Given this excellent opportunity to strengthen the clan, he wouldn't be satisfied unless the Uchiha produced at least 8 to 10 pairs of Mangekyō Sharingan.

How could they awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan? The key was intense emotional trauma. Most believed that the death of a loved one was necessary to awaken the Mangekyō due to overwhelming sorrow. But Toki knew that it wasn't just family members; lovers, friends, and comrades could also serve as emotional triggers for unlocking the Mangekyō.

Thus, Toki decided to help the clan members find emotional "triggers"—comrades they could bond with deeply. If these comrades were killed during the war, it would push the Uchiha to awaken their Mangekyō Sharingan. Of course, Toki couldn't just kill these comrades himself; if he did, his clan would hate him rather than thank him. But in the context of war, death was inevitable.

Rather than allowing his comrades to die in vain under Sarutobi Hiruzen's leadership, Toki preferred to ensure their sacrifice at least benefited the Uchiha clan by unlocking the Sharingan's full potential. As the Uchiha clan didn't have many members to begin with, Toki couldn't afford to waste their lives to awaken their Sharingan. To him, living Uchiha clan members were far more valuable than the power of their eyes alone.

Increasing the Uchiha clan's numbers quickly wasn't feasible through natural birth rates alone. Therefore, Toki devised a clever plan that would accomplish three goals at once.

First, by integrating civilian ninjas into the Uchiha clan's efforts, these ninjas had a much better chance of surviving under Uchiha protection than they would have alone against Kumogakure.

Second, as Uchiha members formed close bonds with their battlefield comrades, their comrades' eventual sacrifices would push them to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan.

Finally, unlike the strict bloodline inheritance of the Hyūga clan, the Uchiha allowed outsiders to join their ranks if they pledged their loyalty. Those who changed their surnames to Uchiha could bolster Toki's clan and increase his personal prestige as the Uchiha patriarch.

Upon discovering that loyal members outside the clan could also contribute to his family's prestige, Toki set a new, modest goal for himself: to eventually have all of Konoha change their surname to Uchiha!

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