Uchiha's personal opinion

In September of the 37th year of Konoha, Uchiha Tokumitsu officially launched the Kirigakure Expedition. Within a day, the Land of Water was filled with constant fighting and fires. It was rumored that Tokumitsu's shogunate ninja army, which had taken in Kirigakure traitors, also instructed Amegakure mercenaries to carry out a horrific massacre of nobles!

The Daimyo of the Land of Water strongly condemns this!

Chapter 189 The Smoke of War Doesn't Hinder Internal Strife in the Hidden Mist Village

During the first invasion of the Land of Water, Uchiha Tokumitsu deployed nearly 700 ninja to the front lines, and he was very satisfied with the results achieved.

Led by the experienced Kirigakure ninja, the wolf pack offensive was a complete success.

The best proof is the spoils piled up at Midway.

The golden little cuties, piled together, shone brilliantly in the sunlight, a sight that was truly breathtaking.

"very good!"

Uchiha Tokumitsu was grinning from ear to ear.

The first batch of spoils alone was more than enough to offset the costs of waging war.

In addition to the large amounts of spoils that followed, even after distributing rewards to the participating ninjas, Uchiha Tokumitsu still had a large amount of gold coins in his account.

Although he didn't particularly pursue wealth, it still flowed steadily into Uchiha Tokumitsu's secret stash.

"What a wonderful world..."

Uchiha Tokumitsu grabbed a handful of gold coins and let them fall through his fingers.

It fell back onto the pile of gold coins, creating a clear and melodious sound.

This pile of gold coins is more profitable than smuggling!

"Nobles...are so rich!"

Even the servant ninjas from the Uzumaki clan were deeply shocked when they looked at the impressive little mountain of gold before them.

The wealth hidden in the private cellars of the nobles had nowhere to hide from the Byakugan ninjas of the Hyuga clan. Whether the nobles were willing to reveal the location of their treasures or not, their fate was to be ruined.

"Let's register them!"

Uchiha Tokumitsu instructed, "First, take back the shogunate's public treasury, then find a few photographers to take some pictures and send them to those wealthy merchants who bought our Eastern Development Special Bonds!"

"As ordered!"

The attendant ninja immediately obeyed and carried out the order.

"Send the order to Kaguya's column, instructing them to recall their assault squads and concentrate their forces to prepare for intercepting Kirigakure reinforcements!"

Then Uchiha Tokumitsu gave another order.

The shogunate ninja army, with Kaguya's clan serving as captains, was the largest in number.

Uchiha Tokumitsu also assigned several Uchiha ninjas and Hyuga Byakugan ninjas to this ninja army.

Their operational area is located on the main route from the main island of the Land of Water to the eastern archipelago, making it an excellent location for ambushes and reinforcements.

Uchiha Tokumitsu wasn't ambitious; he would be very satisfied if he could annihilate three to five hundred Kirigakure ninja in this battle.

"As ordered!"

One of the attendant ninjas immediately stepped forward, received the order, quickly wrote a secret letter, and released a communication ninja hawk.

"The first and second detachments of the eastern border defense forces should also be ready."

Uchiha Tokumitsu spoke again.

Uchiha Tokumitsu was still not entirely at ease relying solely on the Shogunate's ninja army to intercept and suppress reinforcements.

So they reassembled two detachments of the border troops as reserves and transferred them to Midway Island as well.

"The ninja forces at headquarters are all ready."

The attendant ninja answered respectfully.

"That's good……"

Uchiha Tokumitsu nodded.

……

At this time, the Land of Water was engulfed in war and chaos.

The mere seven hundred or so Tokugawa Shogunate ninja soldiers who participated in the battle turned the waterways and the eastern islands upside down.

This is also because Kirigakure, due to their ingrained thinking, mistakenly judged that Uchiha Tokumitsu's subordinates would launch an attack from the nearby southern or western sea areas, so their defensive forces in the eastern islands were relatively small.

Moreover, the few ninjas deployed there were drawn from the nobles' territories under various pretexts to serve as guards, which meant that when the shogunate's ninja army attacked, they were unable to organize a decent counterattack.

Moreover, there were many others like the Kirigakure Jonin, who, after a slight struggle when facing acquaintances, would slash a mark on their headbands, put on a mask, and then join the Shogunate's ninja army in their burning, killing, and looting without any psychological barriers.

The Hidden Mist Ninja have long been nobles of the Land of Bitter Water!

Faced with battle reports coming from all directions, even the Kirigakure elders, who were in charge of ninja army deployment, were at a loss.

After the Third Mizukage launched the massacre of his clan, the elders immediately initiated an impeachment proceedings on the grounds of "slaughtering fellow village ninjas," and seized control of a portion of the ninja army from the Third Mizukage.

After receiving intelligence that Uchiha Tokumitsu had taken in the remnants of the three clans and was preparing to launch a counterattack against the Land of Water, the elders of Kirigakure responded enthusiastically to the invitation of the Daimyo of the Land of Water. They dispatched all the ninja armies under their control to various parts of the Land of Water for defense, and also received a large sum of money from the Daimyo.

They originally thought that, in accordance with the traditional ninja army's combat methods, Uchiha Tokumitsu would slowly build ships and form a fleet, then train in naval warfare, and finally send a large force north to have a fair and square battle with the Kirigakure ninja army.

According to intelligence, Uchiha Tokumitsu has built a shipyard in the former territory of the Land of Whirlpools, and several new warships are undergoing sea trials, which further confirms their idea.

If the Kirigakure elders had planned a decisive battle, Kirigakure would actually have a very good chance of winning.

After all, apart from the three Hidden Mist clans and the hired, half-baked Rain Ninja who were good at naval warfare, the elite ninja army under Uchiha Tokumitsu's command, especially the Uchiha ninja army that he relied on as a stronghold, was not actually well-suited for naval warfare.

Even if they were to force a battle, they might be surrounded and annihilated at sea by the Kirigakure army due to the Kirigakure's skilled naval warfare techniques and numerical superiority.

Therefore, some of the more optimistic Kirigakure elders have already discussed the ownership of Uchiha Tokumitsu's Mangekyou Sharingan at the elders' meeting.

Furthermore, the Third Mizukage's unusual silence recently, after being impeached, and his ignoring of the elders' various underhanded actions, has only emboldened them.

However, when faced with Uchiha Tokumitsu's ruthless attacks, they were all rendered helpless.

The war intelligence coming from all directions made it impossible for them to discern exactly how many ninja troops the shogunate had dispatched to attack.

Not to mention finding the main force of the Shogunate's ninja army for a decisive battle. At this time, not only were a large number of merchant ships and cargo ships sunk by the small Shogunate forces that attacked various islands, but even the eastern islands had lost contact with the Kirigakure headquarters!

What's most infuriating is that they also tried to wipe out the Shogunate ninja army that attacked merchant ships in the waterways, but no matter how many ninja army they dispatched, they were easily evaded by the Shogunate ninja army, which was as slippery as an eel, and they didn't even have a chance to fight a single battle.

"The Tokugawa Shogunate's ninja army should all be equipped with Byakugan ninjas..."

Elder Wuyin was, after all, quite knowledgeable. Based on the recent report of the failed suppression, he deduced the personnel allocation of the Tokugawa Shogunate.

"Eye roll..."

The elders of the Mist Shadow Sect gritted their teeth.

In the face of Bai Yan, no amount of traps or ambushes will work. The only chance to catch them is to rely on luck or sheer numbers to surround the entire sea area and conduct a sweep.

However, the ninja army under the Elder Council was insufficient to support such a massive extermination plan.

"Let's think about how to reclaim the eastern islands!"

An elder from Kirigakure tapped the table in frustration. "Otherwise, we won't be able to explain this to His Highness the Daimyo!"

"The East is probably all gone..."

Another elder from Kirigakure sighed, "None of the ninja troops we sent to garrison there have sent back any news. They were probably wiped out by Tokugawa's attack immediately..."

"So many feudal nobles have fallen under Uchiha Tokumitsu's blade..."

Another elder from the Hidden Mist sighed deeply, "From now on, we won't be able to find any more quest sources in the Eastern Islands..."

"Let's ask the Mizukage for help!"

An elder from Kirigakure, sitting in a corner, suggested, "Our ninja army alone might not be enough to deal with Tokukatsu's shogunate..."

"What discouraging words are you spouting! Are you still the dignified Elder of Wuyin?! You should know your shame!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than an elder jumped up from the other side and shouted, "Elder Fin! Do you really think our five thousand ninja soldiers can't handle those scattered Uchiha soldiers?!"

"We don't even know how many ninja troops the Tokugawa Shogunate dispatched to attack!"

Elder Kirigakure, Fin, could no longer contain himself and jumped up as well. "If we can't even wipe out the small groups of Shogunate ninja in the central and western waterways, how many more ninja can we send to fight in the east!"

"With fewer ninja forces deployed in various locations, the shogunate ninja forces lingering around the waterways immediately came ashore to attack! Without intelligence or main force, what can we possibly fight with!"

This is precisely the brilliance of Uchiha Tokumitsu's wolf pack offensive.

With the skilled ninjas of the three Hidden Mist clans and the assistance of Byakugan ninjas, they moved through the waterways of the Land of Water as if they were in an empty land, killing indiscriminately without any fear of being surrounded and annihilated by the Hidden Mist garrison.

Even the elders of Kirigakure still couldn't figure out exactly how many ninjas the attacking force had dispatched.

However, this did not prevent the elders of the Hidden Mist Village from escalating from a verbal conflict to a full-blown physical fight in a short period of time.

"enough!"

The Elder of Wuyin, whose face grew increasingly dark, could no longer hold back.

After Master Yuan died, he took over as the Grand Elder of the Elder Council.

However, his prestige and power were still not comparable to when Master Yuan was alive, and his control over the elders was much looser, making it impossible for him to have absolute authority.

Even if the elders mess things up, they cannot be reprimanded, otherwise they will surely be met with endless verbal attacks from their accomplices.

However, the various shortcomings of the Mist Elders, which were exposed during the elders' tactical discussions, gave him a huge headache.

Without intelligence, there can be no tactical planning.

With the ninja forces stationed there tied down, it became difficult to draw additional personnel to form a new ninja army. Without the ninja army, how could the recapture of the eastern islands even begin?

"We are discussing how to deal with a war crisis, don't go too far..."

Upon hearing this question again, the elders of Wuyin once again pretended to be deaf and dumb.

"Why don't we let the Mizukage's ANBU provide the intelligence..."

At this moment, another elder from the Hidden Mist Village interjected, "Otherwise, we wouldn't even know how many ninja troops to mobilize or which waterway to take."

"Let's agree to this for now..."

Elder Wuyin pressed his temples and sighed.

You don't know the cost of firewood and rice until you're in charge of the household.

One cannot know the difficulty of commanding an army without having commanded one.