Uchiha's personal opinion

Uchiha Tokumitsu was also uninterested. To him, these background characters who had nothing to do with him were all considered NPCs, and he could appoint, dismiss, reward, or punish them at his own discretion. So, since he led the ninja army out into the world, without the buffer of family affection in this life, Uchiha Tokumitsu's temperament has become colder and colder, and less and less 'human'. In the eyes of other Uchiha clan members, especially the radicals, Lord Uchiha Tokumitsu was becoming more and more 'Uchiha', practically a reincarnation of the ninja world's Asura, and their sense of awe towards him was growing stronger and stronger.

"Lord Deguang... has made a new discovery!"

The Uchiha who had run to the side to dissect the body ran over. "Sir, please look!"

Uchiha Tokumitsu took a sticky piece of paper and a small bottle from his hand.

"What is this thing?"

"This paper must have been used to write coded messages, and it was found inside the corpse's abdomen. Only the character '泷' was deciphered from the text..."

Uchiha Tokumitsu glared at him, realizing that the sticky stuff was actually the filth inside his stomach.

"Check it carefully again, then make a copy and send it back to the village!"

"Yes!"

"What about this?" Uchiha Tokumitsu shook the small bottle carved from stone. It made a rustling sound inside, indicating that it was some kind of powder.

"This bottle was found in the palm of a hand. A corpse's finger was modified into a hollow mechanism, and this bottle was hidden inside. Preliminary composition testing has just been conducted, and it should be a poison from Sunagakure..."

"Human modification...poison..." Uchiha Tokumitsu was also somewhat bewildered. "Isn't this the Sand Village's puppet army?"

"Lord Deguang is wise, but no mechanical puppets were found on the corpse, nor were there any scrolls to seal the puppets."

"The person who looks like a puppeteer from Sunagakure's elite unit is wearing an Iwagakure ANBU uniform... and is carrying a secret letter with the character 'Taki' on it." Uchiha Tokumitsu clicked his tongue in amazement.

'Isn't this supposed to be the mindless, action-packed world of Naruto? Why are they starting to add this kind of brain-teasing spy thriller?'

"Asuka-kun, you compile the report," Uchiha Tokumitsu instructed the accompanying Uchiha ninja. "Report the contents to the village verbatim, let the monkeys rack their brains!"

"Yes!" a bespectacled Uchiha ninja answered solemnly.

"Clean up the battlefield! Retreat back to camp!"

"promise!"

……

After returning to the border defense force camp, Uchiha Tokumitsu found Uchiha Himon, who was staying behind at the camp, and then summoned his advisor Nara Yukihira, telling them what he had discovered.

With so few clues and no members of the mountain clan in the camp, it was impossible to conduct a mental intelligence search. Even Nara Yukihira, known for his sharp mind, was unable to piece together a clue based on the limited known information.

"Forget it, I've already had Asuka-kun compile the mission report anyway, let the village's cipher team worry about it." Uchiha Tokumitsu was also ready to pack up and go back to rest.

"...Lord Tokuko, regarding the poison you mentioned, we could actually have some of it examined by Lady Tsunade..." Nara Yukihira hesitated for a moment, "Lady Tsunade is the village's best medical ninja. Having her analyze it should be able to determine the specific composition of the poison and thus identify which faction the corpse belonged to..."

"Tsunade-hime!" Uchiha Tokumitsu thought for a moment, "Alright, I'll leave this to you! I'm not familiar with Tsunade!"

After saying that, he took out a scroll from his pocket and tossed it to Nara Yukihira, "Here's the poison. Take some and give it to Tsunade!"

"I obey your command!" Nara Yukihira replied, bowing his head.

Chapter 29 Iwagakure Deploys Troops

Besides the usual evil deeds like selling information to both sides and selling off bloodline descendants, the ninjas of Kusagakure are most skilled at researching, using, and deciphering the ninjutsu of other countries. Although there is no ninjutsu patent law in the ninja world, Kusagakure is the only ninja village to engage in large-scale theft and learning of other ninjutsu.

Even the Uchiha ninjas, who were skilled at copying other people's ninjutsu with their Sharingan, had no goodwill towards the Grass Village.

Therefore, when the Uchiha used mission rewards as bait to motivate the Grass Ninja, the Konoha ninja were puzzled: When did they start paying Grass Ninja to do work?

In the past, both Konoha and Iwagakure had a very consistent approach to controlling the Grass Ninja: they made them do all the dirty and hard work and occasionally dragged them to fill trenches. The despicable Grass Ninja would kill and rob any wounded or lone ninja they caught, regardless of which faction they belonged to.

The Land of Grass, a small country sandwiched between major powers like a sandwich, originally existed to serve as a buffer zone for these powers. Whenever the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth went to war, this small country would be turned into a battlefield by the two major ninja villages, and their troops could freely move in and out of their territory.

At this time, Konoha's border defense forces directly entered the Land of Grass and began to carry out large-scale purges of spies, agents, and intelligence agencies from various countries within its borders. The Grass Ninja could only tremble and hide on the sidelines, watching the two big shots wreak havoc and kill each other on their land, letting the flames of war destroy their homes...

Then they prayed that the war would end as soon as possible.

……

'Lord Uchiha Tokumitsu is truly merciful.'

Uchiha Tokumitsu treated the Grass Ninja equally and rewarded those who had made contributions. So when the news spread, the Grass Ninjas roamed the territory like hyenas, hoping to find some clues to exchange for bounties with the Uchiha.

Driven by self-interest, over a thousand Grass Ninja spontaneously launched a full-scale search, uncovering one underground hideout after another. Konoha's border defense forces then dispatched corresponding combat units to carry out the cleanup based on intelligence. In just one month, Konoha's camp in the Land of Grass issued a total of 73 A-rank missions, 87 B-rank missions, and 220 C-rank missions. Most of the B-rank and C-rank missions were obtained by the Grass Ninja through intelligence gathering.

Although Uchiha Tokumitsu settled accounts with the Grass Ninja at the lowest standard of the mission level, such as a minimum reward of 50,000 ryo for a B-rank mission, and included various ninja tools captured as part of the reward under the name of "rebate", the B-rank mission bounties reported to the village were all between 100,000 and 150,000 ryo. By openly profiting from the ninjas' blood and taking kickbacks, Uchiha Tokumitsu, Uchiha Himon, and Nara Yukihira all made a fortune, and the subordinate ninjas, whether they were Uchiha clan ninjas or border ninjas, also took a considerable cut.

"Lord Deguang is truly a first-rate good person in the ninja world."

Both Konoha ninjas and Kusagakure ninjas spoke highly of Uchiha Tokumitsu.

As for Uchiha Tokumitsu, since the bounty is settled by the village anyway, everything is fine as long as it's within the standard amount. Besides, the Grass Ninja wouldn't go to the Hokage Building in Konoha to seek justice.

After leisurely raking in money for a month, the Uchiha clan truly understood the meaning of "a great deal of wealth comes with great rewards." Everyone actively devoted themselves to the cause of increasing revenue and efficiency. All sorts of monsters and demons in the Land of Grass were wiped out. Under the secret instruction of Uchiha Tokumitsu, the leader of the Grass Village persuaded the Daimyo of the Land of Grass to reward the Konoha camp in the Land of Grass for his good deeds. In this way, he and everyone else made a fortune.

The Grass Country, surviving in the narrow gaps between great powers, lives as tenaciously as wild grass!

The ninja villages, lacking ninjutsu, resorted to stealing and plagiarism; without missions, they took on dirty and tiring jobs subcontracted by the five great ninja villages. They earned meager bounties by reselling information between the three nations of fire, earth, and wind, enduring various deductions. Although the Grass Country, skilled in diplomacy, was considered 'shameless' by the major powers, this was the helplessness of a small country under the system of the five great powers. The Grass Country could only play both sides, using information from various countries to exchange for survival opportunities and development resources.

"Lord Fire Gate, Lord Deguang, thank you for your support and assistance to the Land of Grass. We, the ninjas of this small country, are truly grateful..." In the central tent of the garrison camp, a banquet was being held where guests enjoyed themselves immensely.

As the leader of the ninja village, Mang, the leader of the Grass Village, naturally spoke much better words than ordinary Grass Ninjas. He constantly showered the Uchiha with flattery, and even the arrogant Uchiha who had a strong prejudice against the Land of Grass couldn't help but be intoxicated by it.

"Chief Mang, you're too kind. As a responsible major power, the Land of Fire naturally has the obligation and the ability to maintain peace in the ninja world..." Uchiha Tokumitsu rattled off a string of official platitudes, "...As the founding family of Konoha, the Uchiha clan takes maintaining 'one country, one village' as its highest standard of action, and has always insisted on taking concrete actions to effectively safeguard the stability and peace of all nations; and as the number one clan in the ninja world, supporting and promoting the friendly allies of the Uchiha clan is also our bounden duty..."

Uchiha Tokumitsu's words constantly implied the presence of the Land of Fire and the Uchiha clan, but he remained silent about Konoha and the Hokage. Nara Yukihira, who was at the banquet, felt extremely uncomfortable, but since he had already been dragged into the conversation by Uchiha Tokumitsu, he had no choice and dared not say anything more.

The other Uchiha also deeply agreed with Uchiha Tokumitsu's statement, believing that as the successor of the radical Uchiha faction, Uchiha Tokumitsu truly deserved to be called an unparalleled genius of the Uchiha clan. Not only was he incredibly strong, but he could also spout eloquent political rhetoric, which showed that the revival of the Uchiha clan was just around the corner.

Just as they were chatting happily, an Uchiha ninja entered the inner tent and gave Uchiha Himon a wink. The leader of Kusagakure was a sensible man, and upon seeing this, he took the opportunity to take his leave.

"What is it?" Uchiha Himon asked.

"Lord Himon, Young Master Tokuko." The Uchiha ninja stepped forward and handed a scroll to Uchiha Himon, then greeted the two men. "According to the intelligence team, Iwagakure has assembled about three thousand ninja soldiers and is marching towards the Land of Grass. They are expected to arrive at the border area tomorrow afternoon."

"Is the intelligence reliable?" Uchiha Himon frowned.

"This information has been verified as true by the Ninja Cat Clan."

"Where did the intelligence come from first?" Uchiha Tokumitsu interjected.

"The intelligence about Iwagakure was first obtained and sent out by the headquarters' reconnaissance units."

"Tsk!" Uchiha Tokumitsu said with disdain, "It seems that the village's ANBU are a bunch of useless people. They couldn't even get advance information about the mobilization of enemy ninja forces. I really don't know what the point of maintaining the ANBU is."

"Advisor Yukihira," Uchiha Tokumitsu said, turning to Nara Yukihira, "you should also report this information to the village so that the village can prepare accordingly."

"Hai!" Nara Yukihira didn't dare say anything more and quickly agreed.

"Furthermore, due to the needs of the war, headquarters urgently needs Byakugan ninjas from the Hyuga clan to join the reconnaissance force in order to grasp the war situation and progress more quickly. Let the village mobilize personnel to provide support." Uchiha Tokumitsu thought for a moment and then added. "The bureaucrats of the Anbu are incompetent and useless. We need to rely more on ourselves! Let's also collect and transport all kinds of supplies at three times the base amount."

"Hai!"

Uchiha Tokumitsu turned his gaze to Uchiha Himon, and seeing that he shook his head to indicate that he had no other instructions, he waved for Nara Yukihira to leave.

"Tokuko-kun." Uchiha Himon's expression gradually turned fierce and bloodthirsty. "It seems the Grass Country holiday is coming to an end. Are you... ready?"

"I have been looking forward to this war for a long time..." Uchiha Tokumitsu's face remained as cold as ever, but the ferocity in his eyes was undisguised and fully revealed.

"However, the granite heads of Iwagakure have only officially transferred 37 Jonin, while the rest of the ninja army consists mainly of Chunin and Genin, so their overall strength is average."

Uchiha Himon handed the intelligence scroll to Uchiha Tokumitsu.

Uchiha Tokumitsu took the intelligence report and began to read it.

"They even have the number of troops deployed by Iwagakure and the specific list of Jonin mobilized?" Uchiha Tokumitsu was somewhat surprised. "The Ninja Cat Clan is actually quite capable!"

"We have been allies with the Ninja Cat Clan since the Warring States period. Although the Ninja Cats are relatively weak, their intelligence gathering ability is probably the best among all the summoning beast clans. Moreover, our family's arms business is also sold through the Ninja Cat Clan."

"Then... Uncle Fire Gate, is your summoning beast also a ninja cat?" Uchiha Tokumitsu became interested.

"Uh...yes." Seeing that Uchiha Tokumitsu had become interested, Uchiha Hamon asked, "Want to see?"

Uchiha Tokumitsu nodded repeatedly.

Although the ninja cats' strength is relatively average, they are still cats after all, cute and adorable, which Uchiha wouldn't like them?

"……All right."

Uchiha Himon slowly formed the hand seals with a hint of reluctance.

"...Spiritual communication!"

With a 'bang', a cloud of smoke rose up, accompanied by a spirited 'meow', and a white cat pounced on Uchiha Himon.

"Lord Hōmon, you finally remembered me!" The white cat rubbed against Uchiha Hōmon incessantly. "I want dried fish and catnip..."

Uchiha Tokumitsu was somewhat petrified as he watched the ninja cat acting cute.

"Hey! There are still people here, stop messing around!" Uchiha Himon awkwardly pulled away the ninja cat that was sticking to him.

"Um... Tokuko-kun, this is Hanamaki..." Uchiha Himon introduced his contracted ninja cat with a slight hesitation.

A white cat named Huajuan?

Uchiha Tokumitsu found it somewhat amusing, and his hands began to itch to touch it; his cat-petting instincts seemed to be awakening.

"Young Master Deguang, I have long admired your name." The ninja cat Hanamaki, who had jumped off Uchiha Himon, now appeared dignified, unlike her clingy self just now.

“Hello... Hanamaki,” Uchiha Tokumitsu replied.

"I am one of the twelve servant cats of the Ninja Cat Clan, and I am subordinate to Lord Himon. I hope to receive your guidance in the future." The gentle and refined Ninja Cat Hanamaki nodded to Uchiha Tokumitsu.

"...You're too kind. Allies should naturally watch out for and help each other."

This was the first time Uchiha Tokumitsu had ever encountered a talking animal. Although the ninja world was full of wonders, he had never encountered a high-level summoning beast that could talk while he was in the village, so he couldn't help but be curious.

"Tokumitsu-kun hasn't contracted a summoning beast yet, has he?" Seeing Tokumitsu's keen interest, Uchiha Himon asked, "Are you planning to sign a summoning contract with the ninja cat clan?"

"Great!" This was exactly what Uchiha Tokumitsu wanted to hear.

"Hana-juan, go back and tell Granny Cat to prepare the summoning scroll." Uchiha Himon scratched the ninja cat's head.

"Meow~" The ninja cat Hanamaki meowed contentedly, then turned into a wisp of smoke and left.

"The ninja cat clan has always been very well-informed, and as Hanamaki just said, Iwagakure did not conceal its deployment of troops this time, and the number of Jonin it sent was also announced publicly within the village."

"When did Huajuan say that?" Uchiha Tokumitsu asked, somewhat surprised.

"Hmm... At close range, Hanamaki can transmit sound over a distance, which is very effective at concealment. Ninja cats often have different special abilities as well."

"Oh... but since it's an open military operation, how come the village didn't receive this intelligence beforehand? Instead, we were the ones who found out first..."

"It's nothing but dirty stuff. That's all the Hokage lineage is capable of." Uchiha Himon scoffed.