Uchiha's personal opinion

Then, several more ninjas leaped onto the castle tower, swung their swords to cut the flagpole in half, and took out a sealing scroll from the scroll case, unsealing a flag bearing the Uchiha fan emblem, which they then planted fiercely on the top of the castle tower.

"...So that's how it works!"

Shiranui Nagayasu was stunned.

……

As the Uchiha flag was raised above the castle tower of the Daimyo's capital, the shogunate's ninja army erupted in high cheers.

This is the first time since Hashirama Senju established the one village, one country system that a ninja has launched a war entirely on their own terms and captured the capital of a major country!

"Lord Tokumitsu!"

The attendant ninja, Uzumaki Kaori, rushed back from the front lines and knelt on one knee before Uchiha Tokumitsu to report: "The allied ninja forces have captured the Daimyo's residence in the Land of Water!"

"Victory!"

The Jonin around him cheered loudly, celebrating this historic moment together!

Although the battle details of the siege of Daming Prefecture were generally unremarkable, its significance was indeed extraordinary.

This means that the ninja clan has the will and the ability to independently launch a war against a major power and win the war! Although they chose to let the daimyo go due to various concerns, it does not affect the significance of this war.

This also signifies that ninjas are beginning to break free from the constraints of nationality and ninja village, and are starting to fight for their own class interests.

"Gentlemen, this is a historic moment for us!"

Looking around, all I saw was an atmosphere of intense excitement.

Uchiha Tokumitsu slowly drew his katana from his waist, made a feinting slash towards the Daimyo's residence, and then gave a deep command:

"Go to Luo!"

Chapter 198 Intervention by the Three Great Powers

Conquering the Daimyo's residence in the Land of Water is only the first step in the Hidden Mist strategy.

Uchiha Tokumitsu then used the Daimyo's mansion as his main base and quickly dispatched his ninja army to attack the southern islands, joining forces with Kaguya's column, which was originally responsible for the feint attack, and the Amegakure mercenaries to attack the Kirigakure defenders.

Under the devastating news of the annihilation of the ninja garrison in the Kinki region and the fall of the daimyo's capital, the Kirigakure garrison, which had been fighting the feint attack force to a standstill, only offered a token resistance before quickly retreating and fleeing.

With the ninja army no longer stationed there, the fertile southern islands fell completely under the control of the shogunate.

After the daimyo led his nobles in a flight, they first fled to the ninja army of Yagura, Kamatachi.

Upon learning this information, Hozuki Masahiko and Minazuki Chino immediately volunteered to fight Uchiha Tokumitsu and vowed to fight to the death against Yagura Karatachi, who had betrayed their alliance.

……

Inside the Daimyo's palace, Uchiha Tokumitsu looked on with a headache as Hozuki Masahiko and Minazuki Chino pleaded for permission to fight.

"...Take your time."

Uchiha Tokumitsu understood their thoughts, but still patiently tried to persuade them.

“I understand your thoughts, but the campaign against the Hidden Mist is a long-term war. We must not raise troops out of anger and disrupt the overall situation.”

The reason why the three Kirigakure clans, who had submitted to the shogunate, harbored such great resentment and murderous intent towards Yagura Karatachi was because Yagura Karatachi, who was originally someone the Kirigakure Ninja Alliance had tried to win over and support, not only failed to support the three clans' ninjas who were being slaughtered during the massacre, but also assisted the Third Mizukage's forces in attacking the Kirigakure Ninja Alliance's smuggling bases outside the ninja villages and plundering an extremely large amount of wealth from them.

It can be said that the reason why the Kirigakure Ninja Alliance suffered such heavy casualties was all due to this person.

"Lord Tokumitsu!"

Hozuki Masahiko and Minazuki Chino knelt on the ground, pleading repeatedly.

Uchiha Tokumitsu was unwilling to allow the two Sei-i Columns to launch an attack.

Attacking a ninja army with Jinchuriki so rashly will only result in a pointless death.

Therefore, although Uchiha Tokumitsu understood their feelings, his reason still could not allow them to die in such a pointless way.

"How about this... I'll ask Sakumo-kun for the longsword 'Sewing Needle' he has, and I'll also give you the explosive sword 'Flying Drop' I have..."

"Uchiha Tokumitsu said with a bit of a headache."

Soothing people is really not his forte.

"Lord Deguang, we are not..."

Hozuki Masahiko and Minazuki Chino quickly tried to explain.

"I know!"

Uchiha Tokumitsu interrupted their argument, "But revenge doesn't mean suicide! Only after you've trained your own ninja swordsmen will you have the strength to take revenge on them, right?"

Although the Seven Ninja Swords of Kirigakure are the signature weapons of Kirigakure, three of them are now in the hands of Konoha.

Uchiha Tokumitsu wielded the great sword Samehada and the explosive sword Hibuki, while Hatake Sakumo possessed the long sword Sewing Needle. Now that Uchiha Tokumitsu is willing to bestow these two ninja swords upon the two clans, it is a truly great favor.

Having said all that, the two naturally understood that Uchiha Tokumitsu would never allow them to fight in private, so they had no choice but to give up.

After the two left, Hanzo the Salamander slowly strolled out from the back room.

"Aren't you planning to continue the offensive northward?"

Hanzo, the salamander, was somewhat puzzled.

Uchiha Tokumitsu paid a high price to hire him, but he only had one chance to fight, and that was when he summoned the salamander Ibuki to spray a bunch of poison gas and that was the end of it.

To be honest, the sheer volume of combat was far beyond Hanzo the Salamander's expectations.

He thought that participating in the war meant fighting to the death the whole time.

"There's been a problem..."

Uchiha Tokumitsu rubbed his temples with a headache, then picked up a letter stamped with the "Top Secret" mark from the table and tossed it to Hanzo of the Salamander without a second thought.

After taking the letter, Hanzo the Salamander first examined the "Top Secret" label on the envelope for a while before taking out the document and reading it.

"Intervention by the three major powers?"

Even Hanzo the Salamander was somewhat surprised after reading it.

"Yes……"

This is also the reason why Uchiha Tokumitsu has a headache.

The contents of the letter were obtained through reconnaissance by the Ninja Cat Clan and transmitted through the Uchiha Clan's intelligence channels, so their credibility should be fine.

In response to Uchiha Tokumitsu's invasion of Kirigakure, the daimyo of the three great nations of the Ninja World—Lightning, Earth, and Wind—issued a joint statement condemning Uchiha Tokumitsu as the culprit who destroyed the one-country-one-village system and an enemy of peace in the Ninja World. They demanded that the Shogunate immediately withdraw its troops from the Land of Water and hand over the war criminals, including the three Kirigakure clans, who caused the war.

What are you going to do?

Hanzo the Salamander was also very unhappy after reading the letter.

He was someone who was not tolerated by major powers, and seeing such an arrogant statement from the three major powers naturally made him furious.

"The established operational objective of continuing the sweep of the southern islands remains unchanged, but continuing the northern expedition is probably not feasible, since it's impossible to launch a full-scale attack under these circumstances..."

Uchiha Tokumitsu sighed.

"The one to the north must be a Jinchūriki from Kirigakure!"

Hanzo the Salamander snorted coldly, clearly unconvinced. "A mere irrational tailed beast can make you so timid?"

"Mr. Hanzo, do not underestimate your opponent. Yagura Karatachi is probably close to the level of a perfect Jinchuriki, and his strength is indeed formidable."

Uchiha Tokumitsu replied with a very serious expression, "During the Second Shinobi World War, Sakumo-kun, Orochimaru, and I ganged up on him alone, and we only managed a draw. This shows that his strength should not be underestimated..."

"so what……"

Hanzo the Salamander snorted again, "I'd like to see just how powerful a Jinchūriki really is!"

"...Mr. Hanzo is preparing to make a move?"

Uchiha Tokumitsu looked surprised.

"Although the Hidden Mist also uses poison, their tricks are no match for my Salamander Poison. It's a good opportunity for me to practice my skills!"

After Hanzo the Salamander finished speaking, he got up and led the Kusarigama outside.

"Then I'll dispatch the Red Guard to support you!"

Uchiha Tokumitsu also quickly got up.

"Need not!"

Hanzo the Salamander refused without even turning his head, saying, "I will lead the Rain Ninja Headquarters into battle. You just sit here and wait for news!"

"...Mr. Hanzo, please be careful!"

Uchiha Tokumitsu shouted at Hanzo's retreating figure.

He then summoned his attendant ninjas and gave them a few instructions, telling them to give the Rain Ninjas going into battle the green light and provide them with all the supplies they needed.

Once inside the Revolving Hall and finding no one around, Uchiha Tokumitsu whistled happily.

The method of persuasion is not as effective as the method of provocation.

It was very effective to pour out one's grievances to Hanzo the Salamander. A seasoned powerhouse like him, who was always concerned about his reputation, was never willing to show weakness to others, and naturally would not back down in the face of such a situation.

The intervention of the three great powers was something Hanzo of the Salamander could not change. In addition, the tearful plea for war from Masahiko Hozuki and Chino Minazuki was quite touching. So, naturally, Hanzo of the Salamander stepped forward.

However, this so-called joint statement on the intervention of the three major powers still needs to be handled seriously, otherwise the impact on public opinion will be really bad.

Moreover, the letter that Uchiha Tokumitsu handed to Hanzo of the Salamander contained only part of the content; there was another letter concerning the reactions of the ninja villages belonging to the three major nations.

This was not handed to Hanzo the Salamander to see.

According to another top-secret intelligence report, the Third Kazekage of Sunagakure was not concerned about the call to action from the Daimyo of the Land of Wind, and was focused solely on panning for gold in the desert. Moreover, the internal struggle between the ninja clans and the elders was intensifying.

As for Iwagakure, since the Land of Earth's daimyo unilaterally signed a peace treaty with warring nations such as the Land of Fire, the Tsuchikage Onoki ignored the daimyo's statement and made no response. Instead, he publicly praised Uchiha Tokumitsu for leading his troops to fiercely attack Kirigakure, and even claimed that if Iwagakure had the opportunity, they could accept Tokumitsu's shogunate's offer to give Kirigakure a good beating for hiding in the water and emitting a foul stench.

Although Iwagakure and Kirigakure are separated by the Land of Lightning, they had a deep-seated grudge as early as the First Shinobi World War, and even their second Hokage perished together in the war.

As for Kumogakure, things are interesting. The Raikage is quite proactive, but his proactivity is in getting money—he took the opportunity to extract a large sum of money from the Daimyo under the pretext of strengthening Kumogakure's military. As for gathering ninja forces to try to interfere, the Raikage said he has no such plans for the time being.

In general, the ninja world was in a state of moral decay, and the ninja villages no longer paid any attention to the daimyo.

The ninja villages of the three great nations all resisted the daimyo's statement in different ways, which shows that the daimyo's joint statement was just a self-indulgent act by secular nobles.

Therefore, if we combine the two intelligence reports from the three major nations and the three major ninja villages for analysis, we will find that it is not a big deal. Uchiha Tokumitsu only told half the truth.

After pondering for a moment, Uchiha Tokumitsu picked up a pen and paper and wrote a letter to his clan, Hatake Sakumo, and Uchiha Himon, who was stationed in the Land of Grass.

He then summoned a servant ninja and gave him a few instructions, then ordered him to send the letter out quickly.