Uchiha's personal opinion

Unbeknownst to them, Kakuzu had already discarded his Earth Release mask and escaped Susanoo's close-range attack.

"You're clever..."

Uchiha Tokumitsu was somewhat annoyed that he had failed to capture Kakuzu in one fell swoop.

Then Susanoo's palm ignited with flames, burning the black robe to ashes.

"Kakuzu, who claims to be immortal... how many lives do you have left?"

Through the Susanoo's shell, Uchiha Tokumitsu let out a muffled laugh.

Within the barrier of the Four Purple Flame Formation, only Uchiha Tokumitsu's laughter echoed.

"Playing dead, huh..."

Uchiha Tokumitsu then manipulated Susanoo to form a "Tiger" hand seal.

"Susanoo: Dust Concealment Technique!"

High-temperature smoke and dust spewed from the half-skull mouth of Susanoo, quickly filling the space within the Four Purple Flame Array barrier and rapidly seeping into the underground soil.

"Water Release: Water Curtain!"

Kakuzu, engulfed in flames, crawled out of the ground in a disheveled state, his mask on his shoulder spraying powerful water cannons to protect him from the intense heat and smoke.

"burst!"

Uchiha Tokumitsu silently commanded, manipulating the high-temperature smoke and dust created by the Dust Concealment Technique to cause an explosion.

"Boom boom boom boom!!!"

The dust explosion within the enclosed space of the barrier was exceptionally powerful. Even Uchiha Tokumitsu, the caster, was shaken by the violent shockwave and felt dizzy.

Uchiha Tokumitsu shook his head, shaking off the slight dizziness, and controlled Susanoo to grab at Kakuzu's body as he sensed it.

"Instantaneous Movement Technique!"

Kakuzu was also left dizzy and disoriented from the explosion; his water-attribute Earth Grudge Mask had been shattered in the dust blast.

In short, the two hadn't been fighting for long when Kakuzu lost two of his Earth Grudge Masks, which was equivalent to dying twice.

"You've overestimated yourself..."

Even Kakuzu's usually calm and undisturbed heart couldn't help but stir a slight ripple.

Whether it was the passage of time that completely eroded his fear or he simply had a death wish, Kakuzu immediately accepted the bounty mission from the Exchange Shop without hesitation, completely disregarding the glaring warnings in the intelligence report such as "Mangekyou Sharingan ability unknown, suspected of possessing a second bloodline power."

Susanoo casually grabbed again, condensing chakra into a long sword, which slashed towards Kakuzu in mid-air with the swing of the giant hand.

"Earthly Grudge - Tentacle Fist!"

Kakuzu struggled to twist his body, his fists aimed at the fiercely slashing chakra sword, and he deliberately shot out his fists and the black lines of earth-grimity towards the sword.

At the same time, it kept spewing out gusts of wind.

Then, under the recoil, his body crashed into the Four Purple Flame Array without hesitation.

"Pong!"

The seemingly transparent and fragile barrier was surprisingly tough; even when Kakuzu rammed into it with all his might, it only caused a ripple.

However, the barrier flames of the Four Purple Flame Array had already started burning on his body.

"Ahhhhh!!"

Kakuzu let out a shrill scream of pain, his body leaping up like a fish thrown alive into a pot of boiling oil.

He was then caught by Uchiha Tokumitsu's Susanoo's giant hand.

"Mr. Kakuzu, may I ask why you are so brave?"

With a cruel smile on his face, Uchiha Tokumitsu didn't wait for Kakuzu's reply before he suddenly clenched his Susanoo tightly—

"Pong!"

The "Kakuzu" in his hand also turned into a cloud of smoke, but some black earth grudge lines and black tubes remained in Susanoo's giant hand.

He had learned the Shadow Clone Technique that Uchiha Tokumitsu had just implemented, and he had even added some Earth Grudge Fear to the Shadow Clone Technique to deceive Uchiha Tokumitsu's senses.

"You're really slippery, Mr. Kakuzu~ You can't be called an 'immortal alien' in such a sorry state..."

Uchiha Tokumitsu said with a mocking tone.

Kakuzu, who landed and stood firmly on the other side of the barrier, remained silent.

Kakuzu's original hands had already been launched to collide with Susanoo's chakra sword and burned to ashes by the flames of his fire release. Therefore, Kakuzu released the Earth Grudge Black Lines, which condensed into a pair of temporary arms.

"It's really useful... but you can't really be considered human anymore, can you?"

Uchiha Tokumitsu was also somewhat amazed.

But while they praised it verbally, they showed no sign of stopping their actions.

Susanoo once again swung its long sword and slashed at Kakuzu.

Even this seemingly casual and primal physical attack was something Kakuzu couldn't block.

Even a slight scratch could cause his body, which was forged to be as solid as steel, to crack.

"Two of your Earthly Grudge Masks are already broken. If this continues, how many lives do you have left?"

While chasing Kakuzu like swatting flies, Uchiha Tokumitsu kept spewing out trash talk.

"Just submit obediently! Come to my lab, and I'll give you a permanent position so you can live a good life!"

Kakuzu remained silent, his hands, formed by black lines of earth resentment, struggling to dodge with the help of handprints.

After using Body Flicker Technique to evade Susanoo once again, Kakuzu landed in an open area within the barrier, and all three remaining Earth Grudge Masks emerged, with the power of wind, fire, and lightning chakra attributes condensed on his right arm.

"Earth Grudge - Final Shot!"

This is Kakuzu's ultimate attack, a desperate strike.

However, the ray was not aimed at Uchiha Tokumitsu's Susanoo, but rather struck the barrier of the Four Purple Flame Formation at close range.

"Crack!"

The barrier shattered into pieces like tempered glass after being hit hard. Then, Kakuzu dropped the Wind and Lightning Earth Grudge Masks and used the Fire Mask to pull his mangled body into the ground.

"Pong!"

A tunnel was unearthed by the Earth Grudge, and Kakuzu also fled with it.

Uchiha Tokumitsu, who was on high alert, was a little confused.

Even the Uzumaki ninjas whose barrier had been broken were still in a daze.

The Wind and Thunder masks that remained in place began to randomly spew fire and lightning in all directions.

"Seal those two things away!"

Uchiha Tokumitsu somewhat displeasedly withdrew his Susanoo.

Three Uchiha Jonin quickly leaped forward and used ninjutsu to trap the two Earth Grudge Masks. Then, four Uzumaki ninjas rushed forward and used sealing techniques to imprison them.

Ignoring his subordinates' busy work, Uchiha Tokumitsu slowly walked to the hole that Kakuzu had crawled out of when he escaped, and carefully examined it in deep thought.

"Lord Deguang, shouldn't we pursue them...?"

After sealing the two Earth Grudge Masks used to cover the retreat, a Jonin from the Uchiha clan stepped forward and asked Qin Sheng.

"unnecessary……"

Uchiha Tokumitsu thought for a moment, then shook his head and refused.

"By the way, later we'll deploy the ninja army to wipe out all the gold exchange offices in the east."

"As ordered!"

The subordinates quickly bowed to receive the order.

"Then...should we notify the Ninja Cat Clan again to find the person who issued the mission?"

The Uchiha clan's contracted summoning beast clan, the Ninja Cat Clan, has also been active in the ninja world's black market, engaging in arms trafficking, and their intelligence sources are relatively wider.

"No need, just pretend it was the daimyo who did it!"

Uchiha Tokumitsu sneered, leaped up, and continued his advance towards the eastern garrison camp.

Chapter 173 Provoking Trouble

Uchiha Tokumitsu was vengeful and always kept his word.

If the blame for Kakuzu's attack is to be placed on the daimyo, then retaliation is inevitable.

Of course, it wouldn't be appropriate to launch another attack on Kyoto by the ninja army at this time. After all, Tsunade's reorganization of the Senju clan might have been due to her "arrogance and domineering behavior that disrupted the one country, one village system," so Uchiha Tokumitsu has toned it down a bit.

He simply dispatched a company of his ninja troops to each of the eight eastern counties for 'auxiliary defense and garrisoning,' and requested that an area be designated in the county seat as a directly administered defense zone for the eastern ninja troops.

Ostensibly, the ninja troops stationed in the county town were tasked with close-range elimination of 'enemy country forces infiltrating,' but which of the officials in the Land of Fire didn't know that the Uchiha clan and the Hidden Mist clan were running a thriving smuggling business? And they call that counter-infiltration?!

Because of the pre-existing notoriety of "disrespecting the daimyo" and "bullying by the ninja army," the governors of each prefecture dared not disobey the will of Uchiha Tokumitsu, and either voluntarily or involuntarily approved the ninja army's entry into the prefecture cities.

In fact, it's neither allowed nor permissible.

Each squadron has a Jonin from the Uchiha clan serving as its squadron leader. When they reveal the blood-red tomoe in their eyes and the gleaming blades in their hands, the city's guardians wholeheartedly provide the ninja army with every convenience.

After all, the county town wasn't his own fiefdom, so there was no need to risk his life. If the Uchiha ninja's sword really came down, it would be too late to regret it.

It was precisely because of the weakness and compromising nature of feudal nobles, and because Uchiha Tokumitsu did not directly infringe on their own interests, that the city's guardians not only reluctantly accepted the rude ninja army, but also hoped to get a share of the profits from the smuggling terminal.

Uchiha Tokumitsu did not reject this idea.

He never minds sharing the money, but the condition is that once you take the money, you have to behave properly.

Therefore, after sending a message back to Konoha and discussing with the leaders of the various affiliated ninja clans, Uchiha Tokumitsu decided to outsource the final sales of smuggled goods to the daimyo of various prefectures under the name of the United Fisheries Company.

The guardians of each county take on the responsibility of purchasing the goods allocated to each county—currently mainly seafood—and then decide for themselves whether to sell them locally or resell them wholesale.

In this way, the smuggling network was fully integrated, encompassing transportation, warehousing, distribution, and bulk cargo handling.

Uchiha Tokumitsu and the other ninja clan leaders couldn't help but celebrate.

A well-established logistics and sales network means that the most perilous leap for goods has been successfully achieved. The next step is to strengthen communication with sales terminals and systematically determine the share of goods smuggled from the mist to maximize profits.

As for the issue affecting the tax revenue of the daimyo...