Naruto's civilian cannon fodder starts with the three-body technique

Chapter 213 Second-Rate Ninja Clan
"Clan Head Umino, aren't we being a bit too high-profile?"

"Zhiwei, we are currently in a period of pacification and need to boost morale. The prisoner presentation ceremony will be completed soon, so please bear with it for now."

Umino Sasuke kept reassuring her, but Aburame Shiki was still not used to such a high-profile scene. If it weren't for his persuasion with righteous indignation, these Aburame ninjas would have all run away long ago.

Since she had previously refused to include Shiro Aburame in the Mobile Support Force, Shiro Aburame felt a little embarrassed to refuse Sasuke Unno's kind offer, so she held back.

Aburame Shiguro hadn't completely rejected the request; he had sent a three-person squad to join Umino's unit, which was a pleasant surprise.

The Yu Nu tribe is known for its low-key lifestyle, so it was indeed a bit difficult for them to participate in the captive presentation ceremony as a whole.

However, in order to bind the Umino clan to the Aburame clan and enhance the Umino clan's reputation and status in Konoha, this captive presentation ceremony was indeed a rare opportunity.

Although the Aburame and Inuzuka clans are both second-rate ninja clans in Konoha, even second-rate ninja clans are divided into different ranks.

The Inuzuka clan is a relatively weak second-rate ninja clan, while the Aburame clan, no matter how low-key it is, is definitely a strong second-rate ninja clan. If it weren't for its small population, the Aburame clan's average combat strength would make it easy for them to become a first-rate ninja clan in Konoha.

More importantly, in addition to their considerable combat strength, the Aburame clan are also rare sensory ninjas in the ninja world, and their parasitic insects are an excellent air force force.

The Umino clan, with its relatively large population and abundant wealth, shed its label as a low-ranking ninja clan upon entering Konoha, becoming a third-rate ninja clan in the village.

Later, they formed an alliance with the Inuzuka and Teku clans. Although they were not yet considered a second-rate ninja clan, they were still considered a quasi-second-rate ninja clan in Konoha.

Now, Umino Kozuki has become a Jonin of Konoha for his merit in imprinting explosive tags, while Umino Ikkaku has greatly improved his strength since he trained several of Tobirama Senju's A-rank Water Release techniques. With the merit he earned in the last mission to stop the Iwa Ninja Army, it won't be long before he is promoted to Jonin.

With three Jonin from one family, the Umino clan is fully qualified to be ranked among the second-rate ninja clans.

If the Umino clan weren't a relatively new clan with a small number of ninjas, possessing only three Jonin voting rights, they would already be considered quite influential among the major second-rate ninja clans of Konoha.

Now, taking advantage of the momentum from annihilating the powerful Kamisumi clan of Iwagakure, we can promote the Umino and Aburame clans together, which will be a good opportunity to enhance the Umino clan's reputation in Konoha.

While reputation may not seem important in the Konoha ninja clan's ranking system, which primarily relies on the number of Jonin, overall strength, and achievements, it can sometimes be quite useful, especially during the Third Hokage's reign.

Sasuke Umino's actions were not truly for the sake of the various privileges of the Konoha ninja clans or the exploitation of ordinary civilian ninjas in Konoha, but rather for long-term considerations after the end of the Ninja War.

During the Ninja War, Konoha's internal conflicts could be shifted to external forces. Once the Ninja War ended, Konoha would inevitably face a new round of political reshuffling, and infighting would be unavoidable.

Once the Umino clan develops and possesses a large number of industries and private ninja soldiers, even if Shimura Danzo wanted to cause trouble, Sarutobi Hiruzen might not agree, especially since it is a ninja clan with great prestige.

Reputation may seem useless, but sometimes it can be a very good form of protection.

In order to move the corpses of the giant high-level spirit bees of the Upper Flow Clan, the entire Umino Clan, except for the elderly, women, and children, was mobilized.

Fortunately, the Umino clan had experience in transporting large quantities of seafood from the Land of Waves and had also formed their own transport team. After borrowing many wagons from the Teku family, the ceremony of presenting the captives was quite grand.

Especially those giant, high-level spirit bees, each as large as a small mountain, clearly demonstrated their immense combat power.

Such enormous summoning beast corpses were so large that, had Sasuke Umino not used the Light-Heavy Rock Technique on them, even with the Umino clan's experience in transporting giant whales from the Land of Waves, they would never have been able to transport so many summoning beasts back to Konoha Village in one go. The arrival of these giant summoning beast corpses in Konoha Village caused a sensation throughout the entire village.

It was even larger than the last time the Umino troops returned triumphantly from the Land of Rivers.

There was nothing they could do. Living in Konoha Village, they saw the Hokage every day, so the triumphant ninja army was nothing special. But seeing so many giant summoning beasts was something they had never seen before.

The villagers of Konoha all put down their work and came to see what was going on.

"Wow! Is this a high-level summoning beast? It's huge!"

"Look at these wounds, they were all fatal blows. Who has such strength to kill such powerful high-level spirit beasts with a single strike?"

"It shouldn't have been done by a member of the Aburame clan; their parasitic insects couldn't have caused such a wound."

"What! All of these are the achievements of Konoha's Iron Wall alone?"

"As expected of the Iron Wall of Konoha in our village, their strength is indeed incredibly powerful."

The villagers of Konoha were buzzing with discussion. Some of the bolder villagers even ran up to the corpse and curiously touched it to feel the power of the high-level summoning beast.

The Umino clan members in charge of transportation were mostly not ninjas and couldn't stop the villagers from joining in the fun. Fortunately, the Aburame clan ninjas, dressed in trench coats and sunglasses, acted like bodyguards, keeping a distance and preventing the scene from becoming a complete mess.

"I heard that these are all high-level summoning beasts of the Kamimizu clan. The Kamimizu clan is a powerful ninja clan in Iwagakure, with a status equivalent to our village's Uchiha clan."

"Doesn't that mean that the Umino and Aburame clans combined are already capable of defeating the Uchiha?"

"Fūtarō, you can't calculate it like that. How can those ninja clans in Iwagakure compare to the ninja clans in Konoha? However, as a powerful clan in Iwagakure, the Kamimizu clan is still very strong. Even if they are not as strong as the Uchiha, they should be able to compete with the Ino-Shika-Cho clans."

"I never expected that the newly established Umino clan would be so powerful."

"Who told them to have such a powerful clan leader? Futaro, train your kid well, and who knows, your clan might produce a powerful Jonin, and then you could even establish your own ninja clan."

The villagers of Konoha were talking about it with great envy.

While there have been some changes in the perception of the Aburame clan ninjas, who are known for keeping strangers away, these changes are still limited. However, there is a completely new understanding of the Umino clan.

I initially thought the Umino clan was just a newly established small ninja clan, nothing more than lucky country bumpkins who only knew how to sell fish. But now it seems that the Umino clan's strength is no less than that of the established ninja clans.

I'll have to be more polite when buying fish in the future. However, I still need to haggle when necessary. Although the quality of their seafood is good, the prices are really a bit expensive.

The ceremony of presenting the captives lasted for most of the day, until Mito Uzumaki, who had long since retired, sent a ninja to invite Sasuke Umino to the Senju clan's territory, which brought it to an end.

(End of this chapter)