Uchiha's personal opinion

Uchiha Tokumitsu, nominally the deputy commander but actually the leader of the Uchiha ninja army, was too lazy to bother with this ragtag force after reading the intelligence. However, Uchiha Himon, as the commander of the force, had to talk to them and understand them. He also drew people from his affiliated ninja clans to incorporate into this ragtag force, intending to take control of the troops as soon as possible.

For this expedition, the radical Uchiha faction deployed 20 Jonin and 46 Chunin, while the police department drew 5 Jonin and 30 Chunin. If Uchiha Tokumitsu himself is included, the Uchiha clan alone has 26 Jonin. As for the 12 Jonin and 80 Chunin from affiliated ninja clans, Uchiha Tokumitsu and Uchiha Himon decided, after discussion, to incorporate them all into their border defense forces as the core force.

Thus, a ninja army of 485 people was officially formed. However, apart from the Uchiha ninjas directly commanded by Uchiha Tokumitsu, the combat strength of the other ninjas could only be described as mediocre.

After the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, finished his speech with great enthusiasm, Commander Himon Uchiha made a few dry and casual remarks before waving his hand and ordering the ninja army to set off!

The ninja army's mobilization and marching differed from the samurai army of the daimyo. As ninjas skilled in high-flying and low-moving maneuvers, they naturally didn't organize themselves into neat, orderly ranks. However, they were generally divided into three divisions: front, middle, and rear, as well as a reconnaissance unit. Although the three newly appointed regimental commanders were not particularly strong, they were still veteran ninjas with many years of experience. Faced with the overwhelming strength of the Uchiha ninja army, they showed no intention of disobeying orders. They followed Uchiha Himon's various arrangements and the reorganization of his subordinate ninjas flawlessly.

This left Uchiha Tokumitsu, who had been somewhat inclined to pick a scapegoat and behead it as a sacrifice, feeling a little regretful.

Damn it, why isn't there a chance to crush them with sheer strength and slap them in the face? These unknown background ninjas are actually so sensible, it's so boring.

Seeing that all of Uchiha Himon's orders were going smoothly, Uchiha Tokumitsu couldn't help but feel uneasy.

Marching is always boring.

Since the war has not yet reached the Land of Fire, and there has been no formal declaration of war with the Land of Earth, the march has proceeded relatively smoothly overall. Moreover, Uchiha Himon did not lower his guard just because the march was within the country. He strictly avoided cities and crowds, traveling by day and night, and his concealment and reconnaissance were very thorough. During the march, he also learned about the situation of his ninjas one by one, and mixed all the ninjas outside the Uchiha ninja army into his own ranks, and used the march as an opportunity to conduct joint exercises and training. His methods of winning people over through conversation and reorganizing and training impressed Uchiha Tokumitsu.

Although the Uchiha clan is lacking in political maneuvering, the elite members are still quite capable of leading troops in battle.

The journey was uneventful, proceeding at a leisurely pace. What would normally be a two-day journey for a ninja took a full five days under Uchiha Himon's command.

Although the march was slow, it was still very effective. The dispersed and mixed ninja army gradually calmed down from the tension of heading to the battlefield through the march, and the personnel gradually became familiar with each other. The various tasks such as reconnaissance, cover and setting up camp during the march also deepened the tacit understanding among the personnel. The morale of the whole army was completely different from when they first set off.

On the fifth day, the reinforcements led by Uchiha Himon and Uchiha Tokumitsu arrived at the Grass Country garrison of the northwestern border defense forces. Mokumo Kōdō, the commander of the area, had been eagerly awaiting their arrival.

Chapter 26 Reorganization of the Border Troops

Koto Mokumo was a so-called "Ninja Village Faction" ninja. He was one of the best among the first generation of ninjas trained since the founding of Konoha. Although his reputation and strength were not as great as Sakumo Hatake's, he was still a rare Jonin elite.

The characteristics of the "ninja village faction" in Konoha are very obvious. As the first generation of ninja villages, they especially worship the "God of Shinobi" Hashirama Senju, regarding him as a living god who ended the war, and regard Konoha as their only treasure. However, they also pay special attention to individual will, believing that only independent consciousness can make one a true strongman. Their respect for the Hokage is relatively superficial, and they value the bonds between comrades more, etc.

In short, Koto Mokumo was a first-generation Konoha ninja who was taught the "Will of Fire," but this "Will of Fire" was the will of the first Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and is basically the same as the "Will of Fire" currently popular in Konoha, which was reinterpreted by the third Hokage, only in name.

Mokumo Kōdō had already received the Third Hokage's order and knew that the Uchiha clan would be coming to accept the border defense forces. However, he thought that the Uchiha would at most send ten or eight ninjas and a bunch of able-bodied men from the villages to make up the numbers. He did not expect that the Uchiha clan would send such a powerful ninja army from their own clan alone.

"Commander Fire Gate... The Uchiha clan truly lives up to its reputation as the number one clan. With the arrival of their ninja army, the northwestern border will surely be as secure as a mountain." This extremely powerful ninja army impressed Koto Mokumo.

Especially when he learned that the leader of the Uchiha clan's ninja army was actually the eight-year-old Uchiha Tokumitsu, he thought, "At such a young age, he is so adept at handling all kinds of practical matters. He truly deserves to be called a genius of the Uchiha clan; not only is his combat strength unparalleled, but he is also so proficient in administrative affairs..."

Inside the main tent of the Northwest Border Defense Force's garrison, the tent door was lifted, and Uchiha Hamon and Koto Mokume were chatting and sipping tea inside.

All handover documents, unresolved matters, and key tasks were thoroughly reviewed by Mokumo Kōtō and handed over to Uchiha Hōmon.

But as a commander, it's always good to chat with colleagues, since there are still people and things that need to be entrusted to him for help.

The Konoha Northwest Border Defense Force is one of the four major defense forces dispatched by Konoha. Its main target is Iwagakure in the Land of Earth. The force is authorized to have about 1200 personnel, but due to long-term conflict casualties and frequent personnel transfers, it has only maintained a strength of about 1000 personnel throughout the year, which is an understrength state. Moreover, the border forces are often transferred to other defense areas for support. Before the outbreak of the conflict in the Land of Rain, about 200 ninja were transferred to the Land of Rivers to support the western border defense force under the command of Hayato Shirakumo, and they have not yet returned to their original units.

Therefore, the current northwestern border defense force has only about 800 ninjas on staff, including many wounded and ninjas who have served too long and need to be rotated back to their villages.

Inside the mission management tent at the garrison camp, Uchiha Tokumitsu looked at the rotation list with amazement. Among the approximately 200 people on the rotation list, it was clear from the names that most of those being rotated back to the village were members of the ninja clan.

"Sarutobi, Shimura, Aburame, Nara, Yamanaka, Akimichi, Inuzuka, Takagi, Ise, Utatane, Mitomon, Gekko... and the Hyuga clan too. Uh, the Hyuga clan's ninjas are injured. That makes sense. Looks like the second-largest clan in Konoha still cares about saving face..."

"Should I say that the ninja clan members are incredibly resourceful, or that they simply have a keen sense of the times?"

Although the Uchiha clan is also a member of the ninja clans, and even the most powerful and prestigious one, the Uchiha's mockery was still merciless.

The three nominal regimental commanders, Takatake Shimura, Tsunashige Nakagawa, and Daigo Nagashima, stood silently with their hands at their sides beneath the tent. Meanwhile, the clerk from the northwestern border defense force accompanying the tent was trembling in a corner.

There's no way to respond to that.

Shimura Takatake was born into a ninja clan and was a member of Danzo's clan, whom the Uchiha hated the most. He might even be carrying out some special mission that he dared not show his face. It was already a great blessing that he could avoid being targeted. Nakagawa Tsunashige and Nagashima Daigo were Jonin, but they were commoners who had basically risen through the ranks based on seniority. They were not to be trifled with by the list of ninja clans that Uchiha Tokumitsu had just recited.

Seeing that the others remained silent, Uchiha Tokumitsu turned to Uchiha Nobuhiko and Uchiha Kensuke beside him and said, "Speaking of which, is our Uchiha clan really the strongest and most powerful ninja clan?" Uchiha Tokumitsu waved the list in his hand, "There isn't a single member of our clan in the border troops during peacetime, and now that war is about to break out, we only just rushed over from the village. It wouldn't be right if the Hokage didn't give us tons of gold medals."

Uchiha Tokumitsu's teasing made the more serious Uchiha Nobuhiko and Uchiha Kensuke a little uncomfortable. Uchiha Nobuhiko bowed slightly and replied, "Reporting to our young lord, our clan mainly serves in the police force, so naturally there are fewer people in other permanent ninja units..."

"That's true. The police department's lucrative positions aren't as good as those of the border defense forces during peacetime, it's just that we're on the verge of war now."

Uchiha Tokumitsu's sweeping attack made Shimura Takatake, Nakagawa Tsunashige, and Nagashima Daigo lower their heads even further.

Seeing the three of them looking so cowardly, Uchiha Tokumitsu didn't mind their awkward silence. "Call them over in batches; I'm easy to talk to. After all, they are pillars of Konoha's ninja clans, so it's always good if fewer of them die."

"Yes!" ×3

The three of them stepped out of the tent and quickly summoned the rotating ninjas according to the list to register and complete the formalities.

Uchiha Tokumitsu checked the names, appearances, and mission details one by one, without saying anything sarcastic or mocking to the healthy clan ninjas. He simply and decisively issued return-to-village certificates to the rotating ninjas—those who returned to the village without a pass issued by the garrison camp would be executed on charges of defection.

Uchiha Nobuhiko and Uchiha Kensuke were naturally amazed to see Uchiha Tokumitsu handling official business so skillfully. It was one thing to be strong, since there were so many genius Uchiha in history who dominated the world at a young age. But to be able to handle government affairs on his own at such a young age, and to do so logically and clearly distinguish between public and private matters, was something they had all learned.

As for Uchiha Tokumitsu, he was a manager-level office worker in his previous life, so basic management skills and various paperwork skills were naturally not his weaknesses. He was quite adept at handling these purposeful government documents.

The identity verification and certificate issuance for each rotating ninja were basically completed within a minute, but even so, it still took Uchiha Tokumitsu a little over three hours.

"Ah...this is really torturous, even more tiring than training~" After finishing his rotation of administrative duties, Uchiha Tokumitsu stretched out a big yawn.

"Next, let's arrange the next steps..."

While Uchiha Himon was still chatting with Komaki Koto, Uchiha Tokumitsu had already finished handling the rotation of government affairs and was preparing to start taking stock of supplies.

The warehouses of the garrison were piled high with supplies, which showed that the person in charge of the wooden tools was relatively clean.

However, after a thorough search, it was discovered that while there was no shortage of various ninja tools and large machinery, there was a severe shortage of medical supplies, ration pills, and explosive tags, which were usually the most consumed items. Upon inquiry, it was found that the dispatched ninja army that had been sent to support the Land of Rivers had taken away most of the supplies.

"Send a document back to the village, requesting three times the base amount of supplies."

Uchiha Tokumitsu spoke to Nara Yukihira, who was serving as his strategist.

The Nara clan, one of the three major clans of Ino-Shika-Cho, is known for its brilliant minds and ingenious strategies, and therefore often serves as a staff officer in various military units.

“This…” Nara Yukihira looked troubled.

"Is there a problem?" Uchiha Tokumitsu glanced at him.

“The village has a fixed allocation of all kinds of supplies, and the replenishment is also on a regular basis... If you make a request rashly and exceed the quantity…” Nara Yukihira’s words were somewhat tactful.

"This is the time for war!" Uchiha Tokumitsu reprimanded. "It's one thing for the village's mediocre people to be idle and incompetent in normal times, but now that the situation is tense and war is about to break out, if they are still so incompetent and inflexible, I will throw their clansmen to the front line to fill the trenches!"

Nara Yukihira was stunned when he heard this. He knew that the Uchiha clan was always arrogant and domineering, but he did not know that they were so arrogant.

"Quickly issue the order! Ask the village to allocate more supplies!"

Nara Yukihira had no choice but to return to his tent, rubbing his pen and racking his brains for a reason to ask the village for supplies.

Currently, Konoha and even the entire ninja world are largely neglecting medical care, and the number of medical ninjas is naturally extremely scarce. Basically, when ninjas are injured, they are rescued by the rear troops and given simple medical treatment. If the injury is serious, it takes manpower to send them back to the village for treatment.

The entire northwestern border defense force consisted of only 5 medical ninjas and 21 genin serving as caregivers. As for the skill level of the medical ninjas, opinions vary, but they certainly weren't going to kill anyone.

For this situation to improve, it would take until Tsunade proposed a medical ninja training program after the war. Only after Konoha witnessed the huge boost that timely recovery of wounded soldiers brought to the village's sustained combat capability did Konoha begin to attach great importance to the training of medical ninjas, and other ninja villages began to follow suit.

Since the current situation couldn't be resolved, the focus shifted to addressing the shortcomings. Uchiha Tokumitsu then visited the medical team and spoke with the medical ninjas to understand their work and insights into medical matters. After some discussion, Uchiha Tokumitsu agreed with the medical team leader's suggestion to increase the distribution of trauma medications to frontline combat ninja units. He also indicated that the medical team leader would organize various basic first aid training programs for all active-duty ninjas to minimize secondary injuries. Furthermore, he proposed establishing the position of battlefield medic, specifically responsible for rescuing wounded ninjas from the battlefield, bandaging those with minor injuries so they could remain on the front lines, and evacuating the seriously wounded to the rear for further treatment.

Relying on his knowledge and experience from his previous life, Uchiha Tokumitsu spoke eloquently for a long time, and the medical team leader also nodded in agreement.

After blowing until his throat was dry, Uchiha Tokumitsu reluctantly stopped.

He found it quite enjoyable to guide experts, which explains why the Hokage always liked to give speeches.

After visiting the medical department, the general affairs of the garrison camp were basically finished.

……

Uchiha Himon had just seen off Mokumo Kōdō, with whom he had been having a long talk, when Uchiha Tokumitsu hurried up to him and reported on all the matters.

When Uchiha Himon learned that all the routine tasks, such as personnel rotation, inventory of supplies, and logistical support, had been completed, he was quite surprised.

The Uchiha clan has always been known for its many talented and powerful members, but it has been extremely lacking in personnel specializing in internal affairs. Elder Setsuna's training did not cover such detailed internal affairs, so Uchiha Tokumitsu's political skills are not just "extraordinary talent," they are practically "born with knowledge"—a monstrous level of genius.

Uchiha Himon was full of praise. He had originally planned to spend a day slowly sorting out the administrative affairs, but he didn't expect that Uchiha Tokumitsu would do all of this work, which greatly reduced his workload.

So, the next and most important issue is the training of the entire border defense force, which is crucial to its combat effectiveness.

Chapter 27 Joining Forces

The integration of the ninja army and the original border defense forces is crucial to the overall combat effectiveness of the ninja army.

The reorganization was not difficult. After the former commander of the Northwest Border Defense Force, Koto Momo, handed over his post very readily, both Uchiha Hamon and Koto Momo breathed a sigh of relief.

Although Uchiha Himon was a veteran Jonin, this was the first time he had led an army independently—in the past, Uchiha clan members had basically never been able to obtain any power outside of the police department; Koto Mokumo was finally able to relieve himself of his burden on the northwestern border and go to the border of Takigawa to keep his good friend Hatake Sakumo company.

Both sides were satisfied with the result, and naturally everything went smoothly and the guests had a good time.

The reorganization and integration of the ninja army was carried out by Uchiha Himon, because he was the proper commander. To outsiders, Uchiha Tokumitsu was just an eight-year-old boy with a laughable Special Jonin rank. In terms of strength alone, the border defense forces might be more convinced, after all, the Uchiha clan is known as the number one clan in the ninja world, and in this era of the Senju clan's seclusion, they are undoubtedly worthy of the title. But if he were to preside over the reorganization of the border defense forces, then a different kind of "a young man with no experience is unreliable" would be used.

Uchiha Himon didn't innovate much; he simply reorganized the border defense forces in the same way as before. He mainly dispersed the reinforcement ninja personnel into the border army's various units using sand infiltration, and also drew some personnel from Uchiha Tokumitsu's clan ninja army to serve as captains of various junior companies.

The Northwest Border Defense Force originally had about a thousand ninjas on staff. However, a month ago, 200 of them were transferred to the Land of Rivers to support the Western Border Defense Force led by Jonin Hayami Shirakumo. In addition, more than 200 people were rotated. Therefore, the original border troops left behind numbered about 600. With the addition of the 486 ninjas who came to reinforce this time, the force is only about a thousand people, which is more than a hundred short of full strength.

"Honestly, Sarutobi is clearly a hypocrite who abuses his power for personal gain, yet he talks such sweet nothings..."

After taking stock, the border defense forces, which were still understaffed even after being incorporated into the support ninja army, left Uchiha Himon full of complaints.

Some of the company commanders under his command were newly promoted Uchiha Jonin, so they naturally ignored such nonsense and strange talk; the company commanders who remained in their original positions were already considered unwanted by their parents in the village, otherwise they would not have been sent to the border army to guard the forest, so they could only lower their heads and pretend not to hear what Uchiha Himon, their "current superior," was saying.

After reorganization, Uchiha Himon had a total of 10 detachments, each with about 100 ninjas. There were 6 combat detachments, 2 reserve detachments, 1 logistics support detachment, and 1 strategic support detachment. The so-called strategic support detachment was the clan ninja army led by Uchiha Tokumitsu.

After reorganizing the border troops, Uchiha Himon began to send out various ninja units on patrol every day, entrusting the defense of the main camp and the training of the ninja units to Uchiha Tokumitsu. He also entrusted all the general affairs of the camp to Tokumitsu, and led the various units on patrol and extermination every day.

Uchiha Tokumitsu was quite content with this. Managing over a thousand people wasn't difficult for him; he just needed to focus on the big picture and delegate the small tasks. He only needed to keep the decision-making power over key matters such as merit records, personnel promotions, and logistics. He could leave all the other miscellaneous tasks to his advisor Nara Yukihei and the various branch captains. After all, in this world where power belonged to oneself, strength was the key. All schemes and tricks were useless in the face of overwhelming strength. As long as the Uchiha ninja army was in his hands, no one could cause any trouble.

Just as Uchiha Tokumitsu was firmly established in his camp and Uchiha Himon was sweeping away enemies from all sides, war broke out again in the neighboring Land of Rain.

The troops that originally invaded the border city of the Land of Grass were the border defense forces led by Jonin Mimura Yoru, as well as a thousand-strong ninja coalition led by the three disciples of the Third Hokage. Later, two thousand ninja soldiers led by Danzo also arrived. The force was the strongest among all the existing forces in Konoha.

The three thousand ninja from Amegakure, though not exactly weaklings against the Hidden Rain Country's army, were able to put up a fight thanks to their geographical advantage. However, in terms of high-level combat power, the Hidden Rain Village's Jonin were completely held back by Hanzo of the Salamander, the leader of Amegakure, and the battle reached a stalemate.

The fact that the Rain Country's dispatched army was unable to advance and end the war naturally made the Hokage's faction lose face. Not to mention the three Hokage's disciples, there were also veteran Jonin like Danzo and Mimura Yoru. With so many Hokage's direct descendants and so many strong individuals, they could even hold their own against other major powers. Now, they were held back by a mere leader of the Rain Village and unable to achieve a complete victory in one battle. They could basically be considered incompetent.

However, those involved know their own situation best, and even the leaders of the Rain Country Expeditionary Force had their own grievances that they couldn't express.

Ultimately, it's because 'demigod' Hanzo the Salamander's ninjutsu is too overpowered; he's practically a standard tool for wiping out weaklings—not to mention his water-style ninjutsu, which is perhaps second only to the Second Hokage, or his unparalleled swordsmanship, just his and his summoned beast Hanzo's wide-ranging poison gas alone can wipe out any numerical advantage; and this Rain Country expeditionary force is a direct line of ninjas composed of friendly clans and civilian ninjas from the Hokage's faction. If they launch a full-scale attack without being able to suppress Hanzo the Salamander, they will inevitably suffer heavy casualties, and then the families will start rioting, shaking the foundation of the Hokage.

Therefore, the Rain Country's dispatched forces could only adopt a small-team model of continuous infiltration and decapitation operations, bleeding each other dry with the Rain Village, and large-scale battles could never be organized. The Rain Ninja, on the other hand, had a geographical advantage and were adept at fighting in the rain. Although their skills were slightly inferior, they fought the Konoha ninja to a standstill and had a great time.

In contrast, although the northwestern border defense forces had fewer ninjas, their combat strength was overwhelming after being reinforced by the Uchiha clan. Under the command of Uchiha Himon, the Konoha northwestern border army wiped out all kinds of personnel who had infiltrated the Land of Grass, resulting in a large number of decapitations. Meanwhile, Iwagakure, which had suffered a loss, originally planned to organize several ambushes and counterattacks, but unfortunately, their strength was insufficient and they failed to launch any ambushes. Instead, they ended up fighting a positional war with Uchiha Himon. Then, they were outmaneuvered and surrounded by the strategic support squadron personally led by Uchiha Tokumitsu, and were annihilated in one fell swoop. In the end, the Iwagakure border troops fled in disarray, leaving behind more than two hundred corpses.

Military achievements are the source of power. The Uchiha clan, leading the ninja army for the first time, achieved results worthy of their reputation as the strongest clan in the ninja world, naturally filling them with pride and confidence. However, Danzo, the commander in the Land of Rain's direction, proved quite incompetent. In a fit of anger, he forcefully compelled the Konoha ninja army to launch a large-scale offensive against the Land of Rain's defense line. The result, with the Jonin tied down, was a crushing defeat—the outcome of the assault was essentially consistent with Nara's pre-battle calculations.

The two battles, though small in scale, had drastically different outcomes.

Although Konoha's propaganda claimed that "with the strong support and guidance of the Hokage, the Konoha Ninja Army was in high spirits and thwarted the wolfish ambitions of the Land of Rain and the Land of Earth," the results did not lie. One side swept across the four borders, while the other suffered heavy losses. Some established ninja clans knew the truth, and naturally, the major powers would also be aware of the inside story of the war.