Uchiha's personal opinion

The plan to find the main force of Kirigakure for a decisive battle has not been successful. All the reconnaissance ninja teams sent by Kumogakure to the vast sea have never returned. To this day, they still have no idea where the main force of Kirigakure's expeditionary force is hiding, so the matter of a decisive battle is out of the question.

Even if some personnel were managed to be transferred south, the Cloud Village headquarters would be essentially empty. If it were attacked by enemy ninja forces, it would be a catastrophic disaster.

With the Jinchuriki having fled and disappeared, and Raikage's successor A seriously injured and bedridden, the vast Hidden Cloud Village couldn't find any other high-ranking commanders capable of taking on the important task of leading the army into battle.

Moreover, the defeat of the southward-bound ninja army led to the spread of war-weariness among ordinary Kumogakure ninja. Even though, due to long-term ideological suppression, the war-weary sentiment had not yet begun to ferment on a large scale and form a trend of thought, the perceptive Kumogakure leadership had already noticed that something was seriously wrong.

Once the ideals were shattered, the consequences of the militarists' aggressive and reckless approach to warfare immediately began to backfire with this round of defeats.

"I'm old now, so I'll say the unpleasant things myself..."

Seeing that no one spoke, the Cloud Village elder tapped his cane again and said, "Cloud Village is not Konoha after all, and it cannot withstand the siege of the three great ninja villages."

"Strive for a dignified ending, sacrifice the interests of the south, send Konoha away, hold off Iwagakure, and then go all out to deal with Kirigakure. This is the right thing to do!"

"...Has the village's path to dominating the ninja world been cut short just like that?"

A high-ranking official from the Cloud Recesses said with a sorrowful expression.

Although their strength was inferior to that of Konoha, Kumogakure always had a strange sense of superiority. They felt that there was one thing they were always better at than Konoha: unity of purpose, unparalleled loyalty in the ninja world, and a level of solidarity that was no less than that of Iwagakure.

Furthermore, the Cloud Village ninjas generally believe that the fact that they were able to suddenly kill Tobirama Senju, the Second Hokage of Konoha, at the alliance meeting during the First Shinobi World War, while Konoha still reluctantly continued to sign a peace treaty with the Cloud Village, also proves the Cloud Village's strength from another perspective.

But this time, Uchiha Tokumitsu used the most brutal and direct force to tell them: You Kumogakure barbarians, you are still far from being good enough!

"To conquer the ninja world, one must first conquer Konoha; to conquer Konoha, one must first defeat the Uchiha clan!"

"The village's foreign policy needs to be changed! Kumogakure is not the strongest ninja in the world, so we need allies!"

The Grand Elder of Cloud Village sighed, "Lord Raikage, what do you think?"

"...What do you think?"

The Third Raikage remained silent for a long time before asking a question in return.

All the high-ranking members of Yunyin remained silent.

"Lord Raikage, the Grand Elder is right!"

With no one able to break the deadlock, Raikage's close advisor Tsuchidai had no choice but to step forward and agree, saying, "The score with Konoha can be settled slowly, but the most urgent task is to defeat Kirigakure, who is imminent and slightly weaker!"

The harassment by the Hidden Mist has thrown the maritime borders of the Land of Lightning into turmoil, with almost all ports in the eastern and northern seas under a state of maritime ban and closure, causing great losses to the nobles of the Land of Lightning.

Although the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning had always supported the military expansion of the Hidden Cloud Village, he still repeatedly sent secret letters in the face of huge losses and the complaints of the nobles, demanding that the Hidden Cloud Village defeat the invading enemy as soon as possible and wipe out the harassing Hidden Mist Village.

"...So, who will go to Konoha?"

Although unwilling, the Third Raikage was still able to distinguish right from wrong, and thus accepted the Elder's "advice".

"Lord Raikage, I'll go..."

The Cloud Village's high-ranking officials fell silent once again, leaving Tsuchita with no choice but to volunteer.

This is also a drawback of being a close advisor.

Unlike other high-ranking officials who formed their own factions, Tsuchikage was the one who had already been chosen to assist the Raikage. There were some things that others didn't want to be labeled as surrenderers, so Tsuchikage was the most suitable.

"The ceasefire and peace talks will only be conducted with one person!"

The Grand Elder of Kumogakure interjected, "The southward-bound ninja army was defeated by Uchiha Tokumitsu's ninja army, so Tsuchidai, you only need to go and talk to him!"

"This……"

The earthen platform seemed somewhat confused.

"Konoha is divided, and the Uchiha clan is at odds with the Third Hokage; therefore, the only way to proceed with a ceasefire negotiation is to talk with the leaders of the ninja forces at the front lines..."

"The Grand Elder is right..."

The Third Raikage said in a deep voice, "The unity of Kumogakure is the foundation upon which we stand in the ninja world, while the discord within Konoha is the opportunity for us to rise!"

"A mere temporary setback cannot defeat the unyielding citizens of Thunder!"

The Grand Elder of Yunyin also offered words of encouragement.

Tu Tai's mood also calmed down a bit.

"What about Iwagakure? Are we going to negotiate peace with them too?"

Another high-ranking member of the Cloud Hidden Sect, who was not involved in the negotiations, interjected and asked.

"...Iwagakure ignores them; as long as they don't head north, there's no need to worry about them."

After hesitating for a moment, the Third Raikage shook his head and said, "Once Konoha leaves and Kirigakure is defeated and flees, Iwagakure will naturally run away with its tail between its legs like a rabbit whose hole has been dug out!"

"Your subordinate understands..."

Tu Tai bowed his head and prepared himself to be bullied by the victors.

……

While the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi was anxious about the news that his old friend Homura Mitokado was seriously injured, news of his eldest son Shinnosuke Sarutobi's failure to capture a tailed beast and his subsequent serious injury and coma was once again delivered to the Hokage Building.

After reading the battle report, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, spent the entire night in his office.

Even when another friend, Xiaochun, who had moved to another dormitory, came to visit, he refused to receive her.

With the serious injuries of two key figures, all the strategies and plans of the Hokage lineage before the war were completely wasted.

Even though Sarutobi Shinnosuke successfully sealed the tail of the Eight-Tails Gyūki within his own body, it still couldn't compare to the heavy price he paid during the capture process.

The most troublesome aspect is the negative impact this incident has had on the minds of the other ninja clans involved in the war...

Fortunately, the support troops sent by Uchiha Tokumitsu were quite effective, carrying a large amount of medical equipment to carry out battlefield first aid. While obtaining a lot of physical data on the bizarre "half-Jinchūriki" Sarutobi Shinnosuke, they also managed to save his life.

"It's completely out of control..."

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, sighed deeply and picked up a document to read.

Uchiha Tokumitsu issued a proclamation under the name of the Military Command, dispatching the Uchiha Himon ninja army to take over the Sarutobi Shogunate's ninja army, and then dismantling and annexing the northern border defense forces.

Meanwhile, the Hokage's direct line of ninja clans, such as Sarutobi, Shimura, and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, were all expelled from the northern border defense forces by Uchiha Himon, citing their defeat in battle and poor command.

This was a bloodless power grab.

It was also a reaping frenzy for the victors who had completely overwhelmed their opponents in terms of strength and battle achievements.

Even Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Hokage, was powerless to help.

"war……"

Since things have come to this point, peace is no longer meaningful!

It's better to fight a large-scale war than a small one; it would be best if the war were fought to the point of annihilating the Uchiha clan, the Hidden Cloud Village!

Gritting his teeth, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, issued the order.

"...I hereby appoint Sakumo Hatake as Chief Military Advisor to the Northern Army, and Tokumitsu Uchiha and Hamon Uchiha as Assistant Commanders, to oversee all war affairs against Kumogakure!"

After drafting the appointment document, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, forcefully stamped the document with his Hokage seal.

His fierce, forceful movements made it seem as if he wanted to use the seal to squeeze out the brains of Uchiha Tokumitsu and the Hidden Cloud Village.

Chapter 234 The Will of the People

When the appointment edict from Konoha arrived, Uchiha Hamon had also completed the relevant affairs of the northern border defense forces.

Under the "polite" care of a group of Uchiha ninjas, Sarutobi Shinnosuke's influence in the northern border defense forces was completely purged. All personnel involved in the tailed beast capture operation were transferred from their original positions and sent back to the Sarutobi Shogunate.

From then on, the Sarutobi Shogunate was effectively stripped of its military power.

In the power structure of the shogunate system, the core foundation lay in the shogunate headquarters, the separatist territories, and the border defense forces. This solid iron triangle jointly safeguarded the shogun's prestige and power.

Since the Sarutobi Shogunate, which was stationed in the north, did not have any small countries to establish its own, it was nicknamed the "Landless Shogun". Now, with the border ninja army, which it relied on, being taken over by the Uchiha clan, it not only had no land but also no power. If it weren't for the remaining power of the Hokage lineage, the Sarutobi Shogunate would probably have scattered like birds and beasts by now.

Although Sarutobi Shinnosuke, who was bedridden and recovering from his injuries, was very dissatisfied, he was helpless.

The appointment letter from the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, forced him to accept his fate.

He, the instigator, has to swallow the consequences of the failed tailed beast capture operation.

The ninja clans who joined the Sarutobi Shogunate in the war were particularly dissatisfied.

Although capturing tailed beasts is a tough job, the risks are high, but the profits are also very high!

Putting everything else aside, the tailed beast chakra alone is enough for them to study!

Although they are not core members of the Hokage faction, they have always been supporters of the Hokage and belong to one of the village's "establishment" members.

But regardless of factional affiliation, no one wants to see that the person they are loyal to is actually so suspicious of them.

That's a tailed beast!

After learning the details of the tailed beast capture operation, the ninja clan members were filled with even more pent-up anger.

Although the tailed beasts are incredibly ferocious and devastating, if Sarutobi Shinnosuke hadn't harbored selfish motives and instead had mobilized all the ninja under the command of the Sarutobi Shogunate, there would still have been a chance to defeat the Eight-Tails.

This is no longer a problem that can be simply dismissed as "wanting to eat alone."

It's one thing if the tailed beasts weren't captured, but the problem is that the only harvest they got was completely sealed inside Sarutobi Shinnosuke's body. The others didn't even have a chance to exchange benefits and get a share. That's going too far!

The reason why the ninja clans that held a relatively neutral attitude were willing to join the Sarutobi Shogunate in the war was to share some of the benefits in the war. Now, not only are they not allowed to eat meat and drink soup, but they are not even given the chance to lick the plate clean. Who can tolerate this?

Ninjas aren't sycophants!

Thus, under the influence and promotion of Uchiha Himon, coupled with the double boost of the Military Command's proclamation and the Hokage appointment document, a large number of ninja clans immediately switched their allegiance to Uchiha Tokumitsu and Hatake Sakumo.

Most notably, the Byakugan ninja support force, led by Hyuga Hiashi, the future head of the Hyuga clan, also switched allegiance and joined the ranks of Hatake Sakumo.

Uchiha Tokumitsu and Hatake Sakumo naturally welcomed them with open arms.

Whether the participating ninjas chose to join the empty shogunate under Hatake Sakumo or the ninja army under Uchiha Tokumitsu, neither of them had any reservations.

After all, the two represent completely different factions and stances.

Due to his birth, Uchiha Tokumitsu possessed the inherent prestige of a prestigious ninja clan, coupled with his invincible record, which was enough to attract Konoha ninjas with a martial arts-oriented mindset to join him.

Hatake Sakumo, on the other hand, represented the interests of small ninja clans and commoner ninjas. Coupled with his reputation and personal charisma within Konoha, he naturally had an extraordinary appeal to lower-ranking ninjas who joined the Sarutobi Shogunate to fight, whether voluntarily or involuntarily.

Furthermore, although they defeated Kumogakure in the southern battle of the Land of Lightning, the main force of Kumogakure's headquarters still remained, and the Third Raikage himself was even more feared by Uchiha Tokumitsu.

Therefore, it's never a bad thing to have more ninjas participating in the battle as scapegoats.

As for the interests that the ninja clans were concerned about, Uchiha Tokumitsu was very willing to use other people's money to designate a large area in the southern part of the Land of Lightning as their garrison area, and promised that they only needed to obey military orders during wartime, and could do whatever they wanted at other times.

In any case, those areas had already been plundered by the Tokugawa Shogunate's ninja army. Although there was still a lot of profit to be made, it was too good to eat and too bad to throw away for the wealthy Tokugawa Shogunate. So it was better to give them away as a gift to the ninja clans that were eagerly coming to join them.