Everyone was all smiles and ready to paper this over—until Uchiha Yakumi couldn't sit still and pushed back.
At his words, Namikaze Minato and Sarutobi Hiruzen both froze for a beat, then—rather than taking offense—actually looked relieved. "There we go. That's more like an Uchiha."
"Don't worry."
Minato instinctively glanced at Hiruzen; seeing no reaction, he went on, "We'll absolutely take the Uchiha clan's concerns seriously. So—do you have anything in mind, Yorin?"
Warm voice, kind manner—no wonder the Yellow Flash is called Konoha's "little sun." Yorin felt that even if Minato said nothing and just stood in a crowd, the village's war support and cohesion would shoot up.
He could hear genuine sincerity in Minato's words.
Unlike the Third Hokage, who was showing signs of senility—Minato truly wanted to befriend the Uchiha.
Any rational, ambitious Hokage would court the Uchiha—make this powerful clan fight for him and take cities in his name. Only a fool would suppress, suspect, and ostracize them.
Unless that Hokage was too muddle-headed to read the room… or his teacher had hammered a mental brand into him every day: [Uchiha = Born Evil].
After Minato asked what he wanted, the other two also looked to Yorin.
Elder Yakumi kept waggling his brows—clearly urging Yorin to open his lion's mouth and squeeze some concessions.
The Third kept a smiling face, but his eyes held a hint of scrutiny. Yorin's Will-of-Fire spiel had boosted his favor, but the details still needed watching.
"I don't need anything."
Yorin said, "This wasn't the village's fault. So… if I have to say what I want: once the village goes to war with the Hidden Cloud in the future, I want to be posted to the front against them.
For the village—and for myself—I'll take that justice back with my own hands."
Hiruzen's smile grew even brighter.
A perfect answer—Uchiha pride and ambition paired with love for the village and the Will of Fire.
Confirmed: Uchiha Yorin is a good kid—the kind who makes him want to turn and bark at Danzō, "I'm the Hokage!"
"Oh right… I'm not the Hokage anymore."
At that thought Hiruzen felt a pang. He liked Minato and was satisfied with him, but stepping down still left him a little hollow.
"You'll have that chance."
Minato, too, was very pleased. He set a hand on Yorin's shoulder. "Konoha loves peace, but it doesn't fear war. If other villages truly wish to strike Konoha—let them come. I'll fight at your side."
"Lord Fourth!"
Yorin felt like letting himself be moved, just a little.
"I've told you—call me Minato in private, Yorin."
"Yes, Minato!"
"Yorin!"
"Minato! I've decided—I'm starting a newspaper. I'll show the world how much I love this village!"
"I'll be waiting to read it. I'll be your first subscriber!"
"Minato!"
"Yorin!"
"Minato!!"
"Yorin!!"
"MINATO!!!"
"YORIN!!!"
And so the two of the new generation, out of shared love for the village and the Will of Fire, resonated—kindred spirits, swept up in the moment. Under the Third's gratified gaze—and Yakumi's barely contained cringe—they penned a youthful little chapter of friendship.
In its own way, Uchiha Yorin and Minato were a Naruto–Sasuke substitute snack.
With that, the matter was neatly resolved.
Amid the warm fuzzies, the dumb system happily dispensed its reward. Yorin felt his chakra surge, spike, explode…
Okay, not that explosive. Mostly it felt big because his base was weak to begin with—he never had much chakra. To a chakra monster like an Uzumaki or the First Hokage, the boost he got would be just a tiny hakimi—basically a smidge.
Uchiha Yorin: "A smidge is fine—as long as it works."
He was quite satisfied. His natural affinities were Fire, Wind, and Earth, but his total chakra wasn't much, so in a fight he could only spit a few Great Fireballs, a couple Phoenix Sage Fires, raise an Earth-Style Wall or two—one Great Fire Annihilation or Dragon Flame Release Song and he was out of juice.
Now the system's extra chakra was like giving a lifelong dry-bread eater a sudden chunk of meat in his bun. That gut-level gratitude made him hallucinate for a second that he must've been from Shanxi in a past life.
And so, the day ended pleasantly—for everyone except Uchiha Yakumi.
Watching it all, he just felt weird: "Was that really moving? Why don't I feel anything? Never thought it—Yorin, with those thick brows and honest eyes, turns out to be a Hokage-faction guy. An Uchiha who's Hokage-faction—does that still count as Uchiha?"
So on the walk back to the compound from the Hokage Tower, Yakumi wore a scowl the whole way.
Out of respect for Yorin he didn't shout in the street, "Shame on you—turn in your fan and leave the clan!!" But once they got back, he couldn't hold it:
"What was that back there?! Why didn't you use the chance to ask the Hokage for benefits?! Have you betrayed the Uchiha?!"
"I won't betray the Uchiha. Getting along better with the village serves Uchiha interests.
Think about it—a Uchiha who fully trusts the Hokage and fully believes in the Will of Fire: that's the best outcome!"
Yorin answered without hesitation; elder or not, he didn't bow his head.
And he meant it. In his view, the Uchiha—and most people in the Naruto world—are way too low-key and clueless about PR and ops.
If the Hokage loves the damn Will of Fire so much, then the entire Uchiha clan should howl "Will of Fire!" together. Chanting is free. Say it enough times and even doubters will believe.
Then, even if a Hokage didn't want to, he'd still have to hold his nose and give the Uchiha real benefits. Otherwise people will see: the biggest clan, the loudest believers in the Will of Fire, still treated like dirt and not trusted by the Hokage? Then the slogan stops working—the whole village loses faith and the thing collapses.
An era when chanting a couple slogans gets you cold, hard cash doesn't come often. The next big wave like that won't be till the U.S.–Soviet Cold War!
Such a simple truth—how do you all not get it?!