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

Launching a decisive battle prematurely is inherently risky, and naturally, there will be opposition when the focus is on stability.

Although he was the commander-in-chief, he also had to fully consider the demands of these people.

Those present did not represent only themselves.

"Alright, I think I understand everyone's thoughts." Jiraiya waved his hand, not wanting to waste any more time. He decided to adopt a solution that could satisfy most of the demands. "Immediately urge the rear to transport military supplies to the front as soon as possible, but the front cannot slack off because of this. From now on, the number of squads sent out should be increased to eliminate the eyes and ears of the Cloud Ninja Army."

He looked at everyone.

"My strategy is to keep the Cloud Ninja Army trapped in their strongholds as much as possible before we launch the decisive battle. Does anyone have any objections?"

"No, I have no objection, Jiraiya-sama."

"Agreed."

"The Hyuga clan will conduct reconnaissance."

Representatives of the ninja clans expressed their opinions, while the commoner Jonin were relatively "simple" and had no objections.

With a consensus reached, Jiraiya waved his hand and adjourned the meeting.

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Kagutsuchi

Taking advantage of the Konoha ninja army's change of strategy, with its main force on standby, they shifted their focus to eliminating large numbers of enemy squads in open field battles.

The Jonin, including Uchiha Shingen, were given a chance to rest, and Jiraiya rotated the Jonin to fight, sending only a small number of them.

Although Uchiha Shingen felt that, given the current configuration of the Konoha ninja army, charging straight in would be the most efficient approach, since that was everyone's opinion, then so be it.

After all, a ninja village is essentially a service organization.

When Tobirama Senju created the Hokage nomination system, it wasn't actually aimed at the Uchiha clan. At the time, the Uchiha clan themselves didn't intend to compete for the position of the First Hokage.

However, Hashirama Senju handled this matter very poorly, causing Madara Uchiha to inexplicably experience a rollercoaster ride.

With no combat missions for the time being, Uchiha Shingen also got to enjoy the unique features of Yugakure.

However, while enjoying the hot springs, he didn't neglect his spiritual practice.

Lightning Release Ninja Taijutsu and Kagutsuchi.

The latter is much more difficult to deal with than the former. Kagutsuchi is a true kaleidoscope eye technique. Theoretically, without activating the kaleidoscope, it's impossible to know how to use it.

Most Uchiha who awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan in history couldn't explain their Mangekyou techniques at all. All Mangekyou techniques were born directly from inner desires after awakening the Sharingan, and they are not part of the same system as ninjutsu; they are very idealistic.

Uchiha Kei created this technique using the power of his three-tomoe Sharingan.

The effect is exactly the same as Kagutsuchi from Kaleidoscope.

Before the gods come out to fight, any kaleidoscope eye technique is a powerful weapon.

Amaterasu, 99% of people who encounter her will be killed by her gaze; this is the pinnacle of single-nature transformation.

Tsukuyomi and Kotoamatsukami, one a violent attack and the other a slow, insidious approach, represent the pinnacle of visual illusions in these two directions.

Kamui is both offensive and defensive; among space-time ninjutsu, it's the most powerful.

While the Earth element may not appear as powerful as the others, its ability to transform its form is truly unmatched.

The difficulty of turning something that was originally idealistic into something that can be used like a regular ninjutsu is unimaginable.

If you switch to a three-tomoe jade pendant, you might not be able to learn it.

Uchiha Shingen was precisely the kind of Uchiha who could properly use his eye power at the three-tomoe stage.

So it's difficult for him, not impossible.

During this period, the training grounds in Yugakure Village, which had long been abandoned and turned into tourist attractions, were often filled with crackling sounds.

There are often pillars of fire shooting into the air.

This made the local ninjas afraid to get too close to the place, but the Uchiha clan ninjas came here often.

The Uchiha Jonin's thinking was very simple.

Show solidarity.

The Uchiha clan realized this from the night of the Nine-Tails' rampage.

Discussing which strategy is better every day is a waste of time; it's better to take direct action and unite beforehand when problems arise.

Even if there are any problems, we can just make adjustments.

Therefore, Uchiha Shingen's crisp and clean art style was highly appreciated by these Jonin.

Just like this time, regardless of whether Uchiha Shingen has any inheritance or not, let's form a group first!

Today, as always, a group of Uchiha were gathered in the training ground.

They're all playing with fire.

Believing that sharing joy is worse than enjoying it alone, and also because it was Uchiha Kei's wish, Uchiha Shingen, upon discovering that the Uchiha Jonin had all come to his side, simply pulled them all together for training.

If this thing really becomes widespread, the basic skill for the Uchiha clan when they go out will no longer be fighting two people at once, but three.

Kagutsuchi is a divine artifact for the Uchiha clan, who rely on fire-style techniques.

But as always, everyone's flames remained untamed.

Anyway, they just don't listen to reason...

Ultimately, it comes down to the use of eye power, which is very different from chakra.

The use of chakra is supported by a rigorous and mature theoretical framework.

The power of the eye, from the inside out, is purely subjective. If one had to find a theoretical basis for it, it would be: "If you say you can do it, you can, even if you can't!"

This really gave a group of Uchiha Jonin a major headache.

Uchiha Shingen was also having a headache. He had thought that with so many people, there would be strength in numbers, and with so many pure-blooded Uchiha, surely a few would have a flash of inspiration and push the project forward.

As a result, they were all even worse than him.

In fact, the Uchiha clan members are no strangers to the concept of form transformation. Techniques like Great Fire Dragon and Dragon Flame Song are all form transformations of Fire Release.

However, such techniques all require hand seals, and once the form changes, it becomes fixed.

Those born under the sign of Kagutsuchi value doing as they please, using their pupil power instead of hand seals, and their transformations are unrestricted.

As long as the fire jutsu is not extinguished, it can be used as a "weapon" indefinitely.

However, no one, including Uchiha Shingen, could achieve even basic mimicry.

To this day, Uchiha Shingen's fate can only be attributed to insufficient eye power.

Once the amount of chakra reaches a certain level, it will trigger a qualitative change, and the same is true for eye power. Before that, the change that Uchiha Shingen experienced was the enhancement of the basic functions of the Sharingan.

Uchiha Shingen speculated that perhaps the qualitative change in each person's eye power would be different.

The qualitative change in Uchiha Itachi may bring about controllability.

Once again, Uchiha Shingen had to admit that he truly couldn't use the technique under normal circumstances.

Just like with the armor set, he can't use it without activating Sage Mode.

The essence of the armor is to use eye power instead of hand seals to change the shape of chakra.

It seems that as long as the Kaleidoscope remains unactivated, he will have no choice but to use this buff as his regular combat strength.

With a sigh, Uchiha Shingen said to the crowd, "Everyone, make some room for me, I'm going to try Sage Mode."

Upon hearing this, the high-ranking ninjas stepped back a bit, clearing a space for them.

Actually, they were all quite far apart to begin with, since once flames get out of control, they don't care whether others are skilled in fire-style techniques or not.

These days, even Mist Ninja can be killed by Water Release techniques.

With a thought, Uchiha Shingen drew upon his stored natural energy, and a flame pattern appeared on his face.

Once he entered Sage Mode, his chakra and eye power began to surge.

Uchiha Shingen released a suitable amount of chakra from his hand and performed a nature transformation.

A ball of flame appeared in his hand, and then he used his eye power, recalling the "insights" that Uchiha Itachi had said and the feeling he had when he used the armor, and used Kagutsuchi.

The flames began to deform as they flickered.

Finally, it took the shape of a sword.

The crowd gathered around in amazement, staring at the remarkably stable flaming sword in Uchiha Shingen's hand.

"How about we cut down a target?" someone suggested.

Uchiha Shingen nodded, walked to the target, and slashed down with his sword.

Without any obstruction, the sword, transformed from fire-style magic, slashed through the middle of the target.

It was as if the target had been cleaved by a real sword; the upper half of the target slowly slid off, leaving a charred black mark at the cut.

Uchiha Shingen used Kagutsuchi, and the transformation was perfect.

It should be called—Sage Art: Kagutsuchi.

Chapter Thirty: Charge In

In the final days before the decisive battle, one of Uchiha Shingen's main tasks became accumulating natural energy.

Once he realized that he couldn't use it without activating the buff, he stopped worrying about it.

Of course, I still need to practice every day, but really just a little bit, and then I quickly turn it off.

Good steel should be used where it's most needed.

If you can't fight for a hundred rounds, what kind of buff is that?

A man must last!

And so, he finally got to the time for the group fight.

Konoha's military supplies have been replenished, and most importantly, the Cloud Ninja have been defeated to the point that they can no longer operate independently in small teams.

Having escaped the clutches of the Nine-Tails, the Konoha Ninja Army possesses a solid foundation of grassroots combat strength.

In the original timeline, Konoha's losses during the Nine-Tails' night were concentrated at the grassroots level; the Jonin were mostly unharmed, unless they were foolish enough to deliberately walk into the Nine-Tails' clutches.