I have a bunch of relatives who want to become Hokage.

However, before the remaining less than two thousand Konoha ninja in Yugakure could even get nervous, the main force of the Konoha ninja army arrived.

Slightly fewer in number than the Cloud Ninja, but still more than ten thousand ninjas, they marched straight in and reached the Hidden Hot Spring Village.

The commander of this unit was Jiraiya. When this man learned that war had broken out, he couldn't care less about finding the Chosen One and immediately ran back to the village to support his apprentice.

After not seeing him for several days, this last remaining member of the Sannin looked to be in good health.

Before the outbreak of this war, the first issue of his "Intimate Paradise" had already been officially published.

Uchiha Shingen was a man of his word. He immediately went and bought a copy that day and gave it to Hatake Kakashi. Kakashi initially tried to act cool, but Shingen forced it on him.

When he got home, he found that his father had also bought one, but unfortunately, his wife found out.

However, when he saw Kakashi Hatake with dark circles under his eyes the next day, he felt it was all worth it.

The first showdown between tea drinkers and erotic novel enthusiasts ended in victory for the tea drinkers.

Hey, you surnamed Hatake, you already have dark circles under your eyes in just the first episode! You're just trying to look good!

The Konoha ninja who entered Yugakure improved the village's defenses with even greater force than the Kumo ninja.

Jiraiya then gathered all the Jonin together for a strategy meeting.

The meeting's theme was simple and clear: how to kill the Cloud Ninja on the battlefield.

Fighting the Cloud Ninja is different from fighting any other opponent.

It's too close to Konoha, and from the Land of Frost to the Land of Hot Water to the Land of Fire, there's really no good terrain along the way to stop the Cloud Ninja Army's advance.

Unlike the battles between Konoha and Iwa and Sunagakure, where Iwa attacked the Land of Fire far from their homeland and had long supply lines.

While the Sand Village is nearby, its size is limited. They rely on puppeteers to supplement their manpower and use poison attacks to compensate for the deficiencies in their ninjutsu system.

Once the poison's formula is cracked, its attack power is halved.

The Yunren do not have any of the aforementioned defects.

The Cloud Village doesn't have such long supply lines, and since it's a wealthy village, they would organize multiple supply lines like the Leaf Village.

It also boasts a strong offensive capability.

Most importantly, the Cloud Ninja produced two perfect Jinchuriki in this generation, and given the Raikage's tradition of personally leading troops into battle, at least one Jinchuriki would accompany the army, ensuring their offensive capabilities.

The only way to fight the Cloud Ninja is through direct confrontation.

Based on the discussion between Jiraiya and the Jonin, the Konoha ninja and the Kumogakure will first engage in a tough battle on the narrow territory of the Land of Hot Water, where the brave will prevail, to test the waters.

The main force moved slowly forward, while hundreds of small teams served as scouts to search for and hunt down the enemy.

Uchiha Shingen really liked this fighting style.

The Uchiha clan ninjas all liked it.

Next, we need to determine the staffing arrangements.

That's easy to do. Four people per team, one Chunin leading three Genin. Once the combat area is assigned, just send these teams out.

Some of the Jonin followed Jiraiya to the central command to prevent the Cloud Ninja from taking out their hearts, while also keeping the opposing Jonin in check. Others formed their own teams and joined the ranks of scouts to hunt down the Cloud Ninja.

Whoever is forced to retreat in this kind of small-scale battle becomes blind and loses the initiative.

As expected, Uchiha Shingen was on the same team as Pakura.

There's no suspense here; there's no set rule for Jonin team formations, it all comes down to personal chemistry.

The Jonin of the former Vanguard Army were very clear about the "relationship" between Uchiha Shingen and Pakura.

No one bothered them at all.

Both Uchiha Shingen and Pakura thought it was acceptable.

The two were very familiar with each other, so they worked well together.

"Well then, it's decided then. Everyone, set off as soon as possible." Jiraiya summarized the meeting. "Take care of yourselves. If you encounter a strong enemy or the situation becomes untenable, you are allowed to retreat."

He had already made up his mind. If the Fourth Raikage, who had lost to his student, were to appear, he would step in to take his place.

It's a pity that Minato became Hokage. According to Konoha's tradition, the Hokage has to guard the village. Otherwise, a mixed doubles fight between master and student would be quite exciting.

Regardless of Jiraiya's inner thoughts, the meeting was over, and everyone went out to work in a large group.

Uchiha Shingen and Pakura had no other preparations to make, so they left the village and began to roam freely.

The two ninja armies acted in sync, with over a thousand squads from each side launching searches and battles ahead of the main force.

The competition was fierce from the very beginning.

Chapter Sixteen: Lie Down with Your Head Lifted

Uchiha Shingen pulled his sword from a Cloud Ninja and wiped it on the man.

He has become a mature Jonin and knows how to save money.

Around them, three other Yun Ninjas lay dead in a pitiful state.

Yekura stood next to a dried-up corpse, having just dissipated her Scorching Release fireball.

As a hero of Sunagakure, Pakura is truly skilled. Although her Scorch Release technique is only one move, she uses it with great agility.

For example, the fireballs created by the Scorching Release technique can split, expand, and explode, with highly flexible trajectories, and can also accelerate or decelerate, making them difficult to defend against.

This thing uses the Scorching Release nature transformation as its core. The outer layer looks like flames, but it is actually wrapped in chakra after the shape has been transformed. Therefore, for the attacked party, unless they can release their own chakra to form a defense, they will be doomed if they touch it.

Uchiha Shingen's approach involved directly incorporating the Scorching Release nature transformation into the Uchiha clan's Fire Release system.

Use Fire Release the same way you would use Scorch Release.

Both methods of use have their advantages.

This is the sixteenth Cloud Ninja squad that Uchiha Shingen and Pakura have encountered.

This Cloud Ninja squad also includes Jonin, clearly indicating they share the same ambitions as Konoha.

He was just unlucky to run into Uchiha Shingen and Pakura.

As a ruthless judge from the opposing Jonin faction, Uchiha Shingen commented that this Jonin's basic skills were quite solid.

but.

Uchiha Shingen is his Thanos father.

I am destiny!

Thanos's lines were so cool!

Unfortunately, Uchiha Shingen felt that his actions and expressions when he said those words to the Cloud Village Jonin were still not quite right, and his acting skills needed improvement.

"Shingen, what did you mean by what you just said?"

Ye Cang walked over and asked.

They were fighting just fine when Uchiha Shingen suddenly said, "I am destiny," and the expression on his face was just so incredibly smug.

It's crazy and irrational.

Yecang thought that he might have been electrocuted while practicing Lightning Release.

No, we absolutely cannot allow such a risk when we're going out to fight!

"Oh, I was just quoting a famous saying by a powerful figure." Uchiha Shingen waved his hand dismissively.

However, in Yekura's eyes, this was precisely a symptom of "illness".

Obsessed with training, people become stronger while simultaneously wasting their brains. In the end, they do become stronger, but their IQ drops to negative numbers. Yekura has seen plenty of examples like this.

She's not a novice; she's a veteran in the industry. How come she doesn't know which expert has such a famous saying?

However, knowing that one cannot reason with a patient, Yecang said nothing, but simply asked, "Where to next?"

“Let me think about it…” Uchiha Shingen began to consider it seriously.

The previous route was from southeast to northwest.

But now, the number of Cloud Ninja has begun to decrease, and more than half of them were encountered along the way.

Uchiha Shingen felt that he was approaching the maximum distribution range of the Cloud Ninja Team.

Further out, even if you encounter them, they'll only be chunin or genin, and you won't have the ability to spot them.

They've reached a pretty good position.

“Let’s go into the mountains and then head north,” said Uchiha Shingen.

He explained his thoughts to Yekura.

Ye Cang nodded repeatedly upon hearing this.

Good, the condition is not serious yet, there is still hope.

"I have no objection."

The two then changed direction and headed northwest.

The Land of Hot Water is oriented from northwest to southeast on the map. Its elevation increases continuously from southeast to northwest. The mountains in the northwest region are high and dense, and the mountain ranges of the Land of Frost and the Land of Lightning are actually a whole.

The Frost Kingdom is largely composed of mountain ranges, and its population is mainly concentrated in the eastern coastal region.

The army of the Land of Lightning entered the Land of Hot Springs from this coastal region.

Just like on Earth, in this world with chakra, lower elevations offer better living conditions. Higher elevations mean less arable land. Of course, there are exceptions, but this is true for most areas.

From a military perspective, low-latitude regions are also more convenient for large-scale troop movements and logistical support.

Even when the Cloud Ninja invaded the Land of Hot Springs, they followed the laws of nature.

Uchiha Shingen's target was not the headquarters of the Cloud Ninja Army.

Are you kidding? He's not Madara Uchiha.

His target was the "corridor" behind the Cloud Ninja Army.

Due to the dense mountains within its borders, the coastal region of the Land of Frost is a narrow "corridor" with mountains behind it and the sea in front, characterized by rolling hills and a treacherous terrain. This "corridor" became the main marching route for the Land of Lightning when it invaded the Land of Hot Springs. At the border between the two countries, there is a fortified city, which is an important transit point for the Cloud Ninja army to replenish supplies.

He died here during his first playthrough, and at that time, he left a "warehouse" in the deep mountains nearby.

I didn't need it on my first playthrough, but as long as it hasn't been discovered yet...