Similar to the Nara Clan's compound, the Senju Clan's buildings were also uniformly constructed of wood.
In comparison, the more obvious differences were the Senju Clan crests displayed everywhere, the extremely common vermilion torii gates, and even a "Myojin gate" serving as the main entrance to the entire compound.
Of course, these were certainly not special Wood Release creations left behind by Senju Hashirama, but merely decorative structures built by later craftsmen using wood.
From this, one could see the reverence and remembrance all Senju Clan members held for Hashirama, the "God of Shinobi."
In contrast, the traces left by Second Hokage Senju Tobirama within the clan were relatively scarce.
However, regardless, Senju Tobirama's death ultimately caused the clan to lose a sitting Hokage, leaving many Senju Clan members feeling sorrowful and bewildered.
Of course, not all Senju Clan members were lost in bewilderment.
The twelve young clan members gathered at Senju Mori's home at this time displayed an unprecedented level of extreme excitement.
Senju Mori's residence was quite spacious, with a large round table in the main hall. Senju Hane and the others naturally sat around this table.
"Big Brother Mori, I didn't expect it to be just as you said..."
"Hahahaha, look at Hiruzen Sarutobi's ugly expression when Big Brother Mori returned to the Village!"
"Mori, what's our next step..."
After Senju Mori accurately predicted the events that would unfold, personally traveled to the Land of Lightning, and brought back Senju Tobirama's body and the six paths sage tools, these young Senju fell into a state of fervent admiration for him.
In comparison, Senju Tobirama's death itself did not cause them much emotional fluctuation.
For these young Senju Clan members, after Senju Tobirama successively proposed "disbanding the Senju" and the "Konoha integration plan," calling him Clan Head Tobirama was already a great act of restraint and respect.
"The Jonin confidence vote cannot be ignored. Although I brought back Clan Head Tobirama's body, it is well known that Hiruzen Sarutobi and his six companions are the true Hokage successors Clan Head Tobirama had in mind."
Senju Mori sat at the head of the table. At this moment, he remained calm and had not been carried away by the continuous success of his plan.
Although his high-profile return to the Village made him the focus of attention throughout Konoha, and his meticulously planned public opinion offensive also gained him some advantages, this did not mean that victory was assured.
With the former Hokage, who could single-handedly decide the successor, now deceased, who would become the next Hokage did not depend on the vast Konoha villagers, who were easily swayed by public opinion, nor on the Chunin and Genin who constituted the overwhelming majority of the Ninja community.
Instead, it depended on the Jonin group, who, although only a small fraction of the Village's population, held almost all political discourse power.
Jonin were the true core fighting force and foundational pillars of a Ninja Village. Even Konoha, now recognized as the foremost Ninja Village, only had just over a hundred Jonin.
Most of Konoha's Jonin at this time came from various Ninja Clans.
Among them, the Uchiha and Senju, as the two major Ninja Clans that founded the Village, each contributed about thirty Jonin.
The Hyuga, as a prominent family second only to the Uchiha and Senju, also had more than ten Jonin.
Although the Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi Clans each only had a few Jonin, because they had always acted in unison, if they were considered as a single entity, they would instantly become a formidable force with a combined total of nearly twenty Jonin.
Further down were smaller Ninja Clans like the Sarutobi, Shimura, Inuzuka, and Aburame, who also only had a few Jonin.
In addition, there were some minor Ninja Clans with only one or two Jonin and extremely small numbers of clan members; calling them Ninja Clans was even a stretch, as most consisted of only one or two families.
Examples include the Hatake, Sarutobi Clan, Kurama, and Matsuri... As for Jonin from civilian Ninja backgrounds, there were almost none, as the original Konoha was, after all, a Village formed by the alliance of various Ninja Clans.
For a long initial period, Ninja Clans were the true core components of Konoha Village.
It wasn't until Second Hokage Senju Tobirama established the Ninja Academy that some civilians living in Konoha gained the valuable opportunity to learn Ninjutsu and become Ninja.
However, they would still need some time to slowly grow.
Upon closer inspection, Senju Mori and Hiruzen Sarutobi had roughly the same size of support base.
Senju Mori's support base mostly came from the Senju Clan itself. In addition, those minor Ninja Clans, who largely admired and were affiliated with the Senju, would likely also be willing to support another Hokage from the Senju Clan.
While the Sarutobi Clan, to which Hiruzen Sarutobi belonged, could not compare to the Senju Clan, he had a small political alliance formed for him by Senju Tobirama through their teacher-student relationship.
The Sarutobi, Shimura, Mitokado Clan, and Mito Clan combined also accounted for over ten Jonin.
If Akimichi Torifu could persuade the Nara Clan and Yamanaka to support Hiruzen Sarutobi along with the Akimichi Clan, then Hiruzen Sarutobi could even secure nearly forty votes.
As for who the other Jonin would ultimately support, that would depend on the abilities of the two individuals.
Among the remaining Jonin whose stances were unknown, the Uchiha could be considered the undisputed largest force. No matter whether they sided with Senju Mori or Hiruzen Sarutobi, they would certainly be courted and won over with great intensity.
However, for Senju Mori, winning over the Uchiha was by no means an easy task.
He himself carried the bloodline of the Senju, who had a thousand-year blood feud with the Uchiha. This opposition, stemming from the Sengoku period, was as unshakeable as the alliance between the Senju and Uzumaki Clans.
Moreover, since Senju Tobirama took office, the suppression of the Uchiha Clan had gradually become apparent.
After all, most Uchiha Clan members at this time were still born during the Sengoku period. Although their various past actions showed that the political wisdom of these battle-crazed individuals was as low as that of their descendants.
But they had at least gained some experience through repeated failures, far from being as easily deceived as the naive Uchiha of the future, which also made the Uchiha even more lacking in a foundation of trust for the Senju.
This was the so-called "having been tricked too many times, one eventually learns to walk around a pit when encountering it again."
Fortunately, Hiruzen Sarutobi also found it difficult to win over the Uchiha Clan.
After all, his most important political bargaining chip—"Senju Tobirama's successor and disciple"—was precisely the identity most abhorred by the Uchiha Clan.
Nor could Hiruzen Sarutobi openly make statements criticizing Senju Tobirama just to curry favor with the Uchiha Clan.
That would be practically suicidal.
And Uchiha Kagami, that precious bridge specifically left by Senju Tobirama for Hiruzen to communicate with the Uchiha Clan, had died inexplicably during the previous Kumogakure pursuit.
All five of Hiruzen Sarutobi's group survived, yet the Ninja named Uchiha became the only Shadow Guard Squad member to perish. This completely severed the possibility of Hiruzen Sarutobi befriending the Uchiha Clan.
In fact, just before this, the Uchiha had even jumped out to publicly question Hiruzen Sarutobi, causing him no small political turmoil.
Thinking of this, Senju Mori couldn't help but laugh.
Despite being at odds with both of the only two Hokage candidates, the Uchiha Clan did not perceive any crisis, nor did they take any corresponding action.
Instead, they held repeated meetings in their almost secluded compound, constantly releasing statements to assert their presence... Could it be that they wanted to run for Hokage themselves?
Did they not understand that, after successively losing Madara and Kagami, two Mangekyo clan members, the Uchiha couldn't even put forward a "Hokage candidate" with sufficient qualifications and strength?
But the Uchiha Clan's way of thinking was exceptionally unusual.
Even with almost no chance of winning, it was still very possible for them to make all sorts of inconceivable choices.
For example, abandoning the monetization of this valuable political resource, casting all thirty-plus clan votes for their own clan head, and ultimately achieving a "good result" of third place in the Hokage election.
Was it merely to prove that the Uchiha Clan was never inferior to others?
In this way, although the Hyuga Clan had only half the number of Jonin as the Uchiha Clan, they were more likely to reap the political benefits that originally belonged to the Uchiha Clan.
Meanwhile, the more powerful Uchiha Clan would not only gain nothing but would also likely face suspicion and suppression from the new Hokage.
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