"What did Setsuna just say to you?"
"Acting all secretive. Clearly up to no good."
Only after Fugaku and Setsuna had left did Tsunade finally speak.
"Nothing much."
Tanaka opened his mouth, wanting to explain, but in the end, he couldn't say it like that.
There was no way.
He couldn't just tell Tsunade that Setsuna had the same idea about her as Hyūga Tsunade.
He wanted Mikoto to change her surname and become Hyūga Mikoto.
"There's something I must remind you of."
"The Uchiha clan is different from other clans. On the surface, they seem like normal people, but once they awaken their Sharingan, most of them start developing mental instability. The more times their Sharingan evolves, the stronger their eye power becomes, the worse their condition gets."
"Some extreme cases even use their loved ones as sacrifices to awaken or evolve their Sharingan."
"Take Setsuna, for example. In order to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan, he personally killed his own disciple and best friend. But in the end, he still failed to awaken it."
When Tsunade spoke about Setsuna, her voice was filled with undisguised disgust.
"I see."
Upon hearing this, Tanaka fell into deep thought.
He finally understood why, during Tobirama's rule, suppressing and guarding against the Uchiha clan was completely reasonable.
After all, back in the Warring States period, most of Tobirama's brothers had died at the hands of the Uchiha.
It was also understandable why Konoha's top brass, including Danzō, sought to eradicate the Uchiha.
After all, the members of Konoha Council were all taught by Tobirama.
But there was one thing Tanaka had never been able to figure out—why were the Uchiha so universally hated in Konoha?
From the Hokage down to ordinary ninja clans, except for Minato and Kushina, almost no one in Konoha's leadership had a good relationship with the Uchiha clan.
Tsunade had finally cracked the case.
It wasn't that the Uchiha were inherently detestable.
It wasn't that no one wanted to befriend them.
It was that they couldn't afford to.
The closer you got, the faster you died.
The stronger the bond, the worse your fate.
Who would want to risk becoming a stepping stone for an Uchiha's Sharingan evolution?
Being a ninja was already a high-risk profession.
Before even becoming an adult, you had to go to war. Even after reaching adulthood, you had to keep going to war, constantly walking the thin line between life and death.
With that kind of mental pressure, just knowing that the Uchiha could awaken their eyes by sacrificing loved ones was enough to make anyone close to them feel chills down their spine.
And then there was the fact that from Tobirama to the Konoha Council, the Uchiha were constantly suppressed and monitored. The other major ninja clans naturally chose to keep their distance to avoid trouble.
"I'm glad you understand."
Tsunade nodded, then a thoughtful expression crossed her face.
"If you want to practice the Eight Gates, you can, but you must notify me first."
"You can only train when I'm around."
"If I'm not present, you are not allowed to touch this technique."
Tsunade's insight was certainly not inferior to Orochimaru's.
Through her previous intelligence gathering and her close interaction with Tanaka just now, she knew that despite his young age, he was highly strategic—someone who thought three steps ahead but acted only one step at a time.
Since he chose the Eight Gates Released Formation from among the many A-rank forbidden techniques in the sealed scroll, he must have his reasons.
So instead of warning him off like Hiruzen might have, Tsunade decided to supervise his training personally.
"Thank you, Lady Tsunade."
Having the top medical-nin assisting him in his training was an unexpected blessing.
Although he had eaten the Op-Op Fruit, he didn't actually know medical ninjutsu or pharmacology, and his body was still developing.
With Tsunade's help, even if he couldn't completely eliminate the risks of training the Eight Gates, at least for the first few gates, things wouldn't go terribly wrong.
Even if he messed up his training, with the combination of the Op-Op Fruit and Tsunade's medical skills, they could still pull his body back from the brink.
"I'm not looking forward to you crippling yourself and then leaving no one to send me money."
Tsunade snorted lightly, turned her head, and walked away.
There was too much that had happened today. She needed time to go back and process everything.
Only after she left did the other clan leaders dare to approach and greet Tanaka.
After chatting for a while with the heads of the Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka clans, everyone eventually dispersed and returned to their respective homes.
"Brilliant! Your move to send money to Lady Tsunade was truly brilliant." As Hizashi walked alongside Tanaka back toward their clan compound, he spoke with admiration.
As for whether anyone nearby was eavesdropping?
Please, he had the Byakugan, he would know.
"Without the Caged Bird, the Hyūga clan is just another Uchiha clan in the eyes of the village. No matter how much effort we put into building relationships, in the end, we'll still be treated with suspicion."
"But she is different. When the village and all the major clans refused to support her, you stood by her side."
"Compared to gaining the friendship of one of the Sannin, the consequences of opposing the Third Hokage, or a bit of money, are insignificant."
"Let alone half of the Hyūga clan's wealth, so what if we gave all of it to her?"
Hizashi sighed in admiration.
During the vote earlier, he had been completely shocked by Tanaka's decision. But after calming down and thinking it through, he almost wanted to slam the table in praise.
Was half of the Hyūga clan's wealth a lot?
Yes, it was a huge sum.
But money, to a prestigious clan like the Hyūga, was nothing more than numbers unless their entire financial chain collapses.
Forget the rewards from missions, just the clan's former main house-owned businesses within the village generated immense daily income.
The money spent on Tsunade today would be earned back in time.
But the friendship of one of the Sannin? That wasn't something money could buy.
Especially now, when faced with Hiruzen's subtle suppression and targeting, Tsunade had openly stood in front of Tanaka, shielding him from the storm, repeatedly challenging the Third Hokage head-on.
Just now was another example.
The greatest medical-nin had become Tanaka's personal doctor, an exclusive one, at that.
Could money buy this kind of privilege?
Even back in the days of the First and Second Hokage—no, even when Mito was still alive, no amount of money could have persuaded Tsunade to do this.
But now?
Not only had she practically become the "Hyūga's friend," but in the near future, she would train 100 medical-nin for the Hyūga clan.
For a clan that relied on the Gentle Fist, the body was of utmost importance.
No matter how much chakra they had or how strong their taijutsu was, if their body failed them, it was all meaningless.
But now, with Tsunade and 100 trained medical-nin, the Hyūga clan would never have to worry about injuries or illnesses again.
Training in the Gentle Fist, developing the Byakugan—so long as they didn't completely cripple themselves, they could train as hard as they wanted.