Uchiha's personal opinion

Akimichi Tokifuki sighed inwardly.

As one of the six disciples of the Second Hokage and the representative of the Ino-Shika-Cho triad, he did not hold any important position in the village. There are many reasons for this, one of which is the Hokage's suppression of the influence of the ninja clans. Now, seeing an eight-year-old child promoted to Jonin and serving as a commander, he can't help but feel conflicted.

“Our three clans of pig, deer, and butterfly also have some talented young people. Although they are not as young and promising as Commander Deguang, they are still quite capable. If possible, I would like them to come and train under the command of the Northwest Border Defense Force. What do you think, Commander Deguang?”

When Akimichi Torifu said this, everyone present was taken aback.

It's worth noting that the Ino-Shika-Cho clans have always been staunch supporters of the Hokage lineage. The fact that they are now willing to send clan members to join a force led by the Uchiha clan is bound to raise suspicions.

Even Nara Yukihira, a self-aware outcast of his family, found it hard to believe. He opened his mouth several times, but then stopped himself from speaking.

The accompanying secret agents couldn't help but glance at them, but they didn't say anything.

"The renowned Ino-Shika-Cho trio is famous throughout the ninja world. If talents from all three clans were to join, it would undoubtedly be a blessing for our headquarters!" Uchiha Tokumitsu readily agreed.

The northwestern border defense forces are now completely under the control of a large number of Uchiha ninjas. No matter who the village sends, they cannot stir up any trouble. This is the source of Uchiha Tokumitsu's confidence.

The conversation ended abruptly, and after the distribution of rewards and supplies, Akimichi Torifu did not linger and immediately led his men away.

Uchiha Tokumitsu made no attempt to stop them, and after seeing everyone off, he began to formulate a new battle plan.

Iwagakure did not continue south, so the war could not escalate.

However, Uchiha Tokumitsu did not want to remain idle. In his eyes, a war with Iwagakure was bound to break out sooner or later. Rather than waiting for the enemy to attack, he would rather take the initiative and weaken the enemy's ninja army as much as possible.

The next day, Uchiha Tokumitsu wrote to the leader of Kusagakure, Mang, requesting that he dispatch more than 500 Kusagakure ninja to cooperate with the five detachments of the Northwest Border Defense Force to jointly sweep through the Land of Grass.

At the same time, he also wrote to the Daimyo of the Land of Grass, first expressing his concern about the current crisis and predicament of the Land of Grass, and then changing his tone to say that the Konoha border defense forces have always supported the Land of Grass and will naturally not allow underground forces to cause trouble. He also asked the Daimyo to support the crackdown on illegal forces in the Land of Grass, thus putting double pressure on the Grass Ninja.

The Daimyo of the Land of Grass naturally accepted all of Uchiha Tokumitsu's requests and issued an edict to the Grass Village, ordering the mobilization of ninja troops to cooperate with the Konoha ninja army's operations.

Under the combined pressure from Uchiha Tokumitsu and the Daimyo of the Land of Grass, the leader of the Grass Village, Mang, had no choice but to conscript 600 Grass Ninja in accordance with the imperial edict and place them under the command of Uchiha Tokumitsu.

Now, the grass ninjas who are used to sitting on the fence will have to be forcibly pulled into the camp.

After three days of intensive training at the Konoha garrison, the Grass Ninja who accepted the conscription began a massive sweeping campaign from south to north. Along the way, the remaining underground forces within the Land of Grass suffered devastating blows and were uprooted.

Meanwhile, the Allied Shinobi Forces' advance was aimed directly at the northern border of the Land of Grass, with the intention of targeting the Shinobi Forces on the border of Iwagakure!

Chapter 35 Outnumbered Bullying

In war, courage is paramount!

The famous essay "Cao Gui Discusses War" from the Zuo Zhuan contains a few words that encapsulate the essential principles of military victory.

Courage is the foundation of combat.

Whether it was the dynasties of ancient China, the states of the West, or the nomadic peoples of the grasslands, courage in war was always the foundation of their rise.

This also applies to the ninja world, whether it's samurai or ninjas.

The Battle of the Mountain Castle in the northern border of the Land of Grass, led by Uchiha Tokumitsu, was achieved by gathering a large number of core troops under the advantage of intelligence, despite being outnumbered in total forces. He mobilized his ninja army to annihilate the vanguard of the Iwagakure ninja army in a short period of time, thus forcing the Iwagakure ninja army to stop outside the borders of the Land of Grass and thus perfectly achieving his strategic objectives.

Do it all at once, second time tired, third time exhausted.

At present, Iwagakure is in a "decline" phase. More than 200 vanguard ninjas were wiped out, which shocked the entire village. The ninja forces that had not yet entered the village stopped outside the northern border, while requesting "tactical guidance" from Iwagakure and building fortifications, as if they intended to hold out for a long time.

Meanwhile, the ninja army led by Uchiha Tokumitsu was full of vigor and fighting spirit. Even the grass ninjas, who used to be obsequious to the ninjas of the great powers, had lost much of their cunning and malice after successfully wiping out several underground forces under the leadership of the Uchiha. They had become more fierce and daring.

Uchiha Tokumitsu led this allied force, composed of Konoha's elite Uchiha warriors and a motley crew of Kusagakure ninja, to set up a thousand-strong force on the northern border of the Land of Grass, confronting more than two thousand eight hundred Iwagakure ninja.

The ninja's fighting style meant that they rarely engaged in large-scale direct battles.

The constant squad probing, infiltration, raids, assassinations, and strangulation... this is the main theme of ninja warfare.

After all, ninjas mainly rely on individual raids to fight enemies. Even the Iwagakure ninjas, who are united by the Will of Stone and use large-scale earth-style combination ninjutsu, still prefer small-team melee battles.

Uchiha Tokumitsu's strategy was as simple and direct as ever: build fortifications and set traps in the main camp to create a stronghold for a long-term standoff with Iwagakure. Then, he would select Jonin to form an elite squad to infiltrate Iwagakure's defense zone in the Land of Earth and carry out a surprise attack to deplete Iwagakure's manpower.

The basis of this battle strategy is that among the more than 1,000 ninja led by Uchiha Tokumitsu, there are as many as 51 Jonin, which is significantly more than the 39 Iwagakure ninja. Moreover, the Grass Ninja are generally of poor quality, and their loose and weak skills will inevitably fail against the ninja of a great power. Therefore, the main force consists of them and some Konoha ninja to serve as the defensive force to deal with the possible counterattack from Iwagakure.

The strangulation behind enemy lines was quite effective.

Within seven days, Uchiha Tokumitsu dispatched a total of 17 small teams to infiltrate the vicinity of the Land of Earth's main camp or supply lines to carry out commerce raiding operations, achieving a total of 89 kills of Chunin and above-level ninjas.

Even the Iwagakure ninja commander, Tsuchijo Jonin, who had received the Tsuchikage's direct orders to hold firm and control the border, was starting to get restless.

Those within the family know their own situation best, and Dojo naturally knew the true worth of his southward-bound ninja army. Even the vanguard could be easily wiped out by the ninja army led by Uchiha Tokumitsu, demonstrating that this ninja army was truly mediocre.

However, there was no other way. The main force of Iwagakure had already been mobilized by the Tsuchikage Onoki under the orders of the Daimyo of the Land of Earth to infiltrate the direction of the Land of Rain, intending to encircle and annihilate the Rain Ninja led by Hanzo of the Salamander. The ninja army sent towards the direction of the Land of Grass, although numbering over three thousand, was just a smokescreen. Naturally, the strength of the ninjas assigned to them was relatively average. Not to mention Iwagakure's elite demolition squad, there were not many well-known Jonin under their command. Moreover, the Chunin commanders in the lower-level squads were mostly mediocre. Under such circumstances, he really had no confidence in fighting against the famous Uchiha clan.

"Damn the Uchiha! Are they trying to start a ninja world war by going all out like this?!"

Holding the latest battle damage report in his hand, Jonin Tojo, the leader of the Iwagakure (Hidden Stone Village) ninja army in the Land of Rain, trembled with rage.

I'm so angry and cold! Why is it always him who gets hurt?!

As an old relic who has survived since the Warring States period, Jonin Dojo is naturally not weak, but he is old and his strength has declined considerably compared to his prime. Moreover, he has become accustomed to the pampered lifestyle in the ninja village, and his desire to fight to the death has faded a lot.

"Fifty Jonin, nearly thirty of whom were Uchiha Jonin with three tomoe..."

Looking at the intelligence compiled by the Iwagakure Anbu, Dojo couldn't help but let out a wail.

Among the ordinary ninja, although the Iwagakure scouts were not elites, Dojo was confident that he could fight Konoha to a standstill. However, the proportion of clan ninja in the opposing ninja army was too high, and they were from the famous and powerful Uchiha clan.

He simply couldn't muster the courage for a large-scale counterattack, fearing that the true strength of his subordinates would be revealed during the battle, which would provoke Uchiha Tokumitsu to devise a wicked plan and launch a full-scale attack, at which point it would be too late to turn the tide.

On the other hand, Uchiha Tokumitsu continued to send elite Jonin squads to attack the rear of Iwagakure, trying to cut off Iwagakure's supply lines and effectively strike at the manpower of the Iwagakure ninja army.

Although Konoha's elite team of Jonin was frequently successful, Uchiha Tokumitsu was both quite proud and suspicious, feeling that there must be something fishy going on. Perhaps Iwagakure was brewing some wicked scheme to defeat the Konoha ninja.

Thus, the border war in the northern part of the Grass Country gradually escalated as both sides, hesitant to act and based on small-team tactics, engaged in probing and fighting.

……

Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!

Uchiha Tokumitsu, who was holding the Tiger Seal, puffed out his cheeks and spat out a sea of ​​fire that engulfed the unsuspecting Iwagakure patrol.

The vast sea of ​​fire engulfed five Iwagakure members in one fell swoop, leaving them only enough time to let out a final wail before their souls returned to the Pure Land. The other eight Iwagakure members also perished swiftly under the combined attack of the Uchiha Jonin.

"Something's not right..."

Uchiha Tokumitsu frowned as he looked at the Iwagakure patrol that he had easily surrounded and annihilated. More than a dozen Iwagakure corpses lay scattered on the ground. At this moment, he felt uneasy, as if some conspiracy was lurking around him.

"That's really abnormal..."

Hyuga Toshiki, who was traveling with them, also felt the same way.

That was so easy.

Although it was just a patrol unit, annihilating this Iwagakure force was far too easy. Moreover, Iwagakure showed no intention of sending out a large force to retaliate.

Although Uchiha Tokumitsu personally led an elite team of eight Jonin to conduct reconnaissance operations behind enemy lines, it was not enough to wipe out several Iwagakure units in a row. The Iwagakure base camp remained completely silent.

"If Iwagakure only has this level of fighting strength, then what makes them worthy of standing alongside Konoha as one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages?"

Uchiha Tokumitsu was somewhat irritated.

"Toshiki-kun, can we observe the situation at the Iwagakure camp now?"

"Not yet, the distance is still too far..."

At this moment, an Uchiha Jonin took out a map from his ninja tool bag and, after comparing it, found the location.

"Lord Deguang, we are currently about five kilometers away from the Iwagakure camp..."

Five kilometers isn't far for a ninja. With such a large commotion from the ninjutsu, there's absolutely no reason why Iwagakure wouldn't have known about the attack.

Uchiha Tokumitsu took the map and looked at it, his brows furrowing even more.

"...Should we continue our reconnaissance?" Hinata Toshiki asked somewhat timidly.

“Never mind…” Uchiha Tokumitsu thought for a moment, “There’s no need to risk walking into Iwagakure’s trap.”

Uchiha Tokumitsu looked towards the direction of the Iwagakure camp. He could clearly sense that a sensory ninja was using a secret technique to spy on the situation there, but he had no means to counter the sensory ninja technique.

Perhaps... Iwagakure deliberately used these cannon fodder to probe the Uchiha clan's intelligence.

Uchiha Tokumitsu felt as if he had found a clue.

"Alright..."

Even the usually carefree and hot-blooded Uchiha felt something was off and were quite surprised by Iwagakure's actions.

"When will the Ino-Shika-Cho ninja that the Wind Jonin mentioned arrive?"

Uchiha Tokumitsu placed his hopes on the "ino" of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio—a ninja from the Yamanaka clan.

They hoped they could use secret techniques to peer into the memories of the deceased's mind from the corpses hidden in the cold storage.

"They should arrive around noon the day after tomorrow," said the Uchiha Jonin in charge of liaison documents.

"Alright then, preserve the bodies well. Once they arrive, hand them over to the Yamanaka clan ninjas to probe their memories. We'll then learn about Iwagakure's strategic plans."

……

Meanwhile, in the Iwagakure camp, Iwagakure ninja leader Tojo stared at the direction where Uchiha Tokumitsu was, gritting his teeth.

As a dispatched ninja army, they naturally had no shortage of sensory ninjas. The Uchiha led their troops straight into the camp and killed patrolling troops within five kilometers. However, the commander was unable to deal with the situation and quell the disturbance.

Ultimately, it comes down to the ninjas' combat strength.

The ninja army he led was indeed composed of mediocre ninjas from the village, and their combat strength was indeed average. However, it was crucial not to let Uchiha Tokumitsu find out the inside story, otherwise, if the Konoha ninja army suddenly got excited and ordered its ninja army to launch a forced attack, the fate of the Iwagakure ninja army under his command would be dire.

"Lord Dojo, the Uchiha have retreated..."

The sensory ninja reported the results of his perception with a trembling voice.

As a ninja with exceptionally sharp senses despite his average strength, he sensed that the boy with the strongest chakra reaction in the distance had clearly noticed his spying and had been staring in his direction for a long time. This terrified him, making his heart tremble uncontrollably.

"Send personnel to clean up the battlefield..."

As a veteran Jonin who has survived since the Warring States period, Dojo suddenly realized that he was really old.

He was actually attacked by a junior, but he was powerless to do anything and could only stand by and watch his subordinates be killed.

How humiliating!

"Let's go after they've gone far away..."

Tu Tiao's back became even more hunched.

Chapter 36 One Clan Overthrows One Nation