Uchiha's personal opinion

Uchiha Tokumitsu stood on a hill three kilometers away from the Iwagakure camp, gazing at the Iwagakure camp ahead.

Although the distance was far, the vision boost from activating the Sharingan, while not as good as the Byakugan, still allowed him to make out the general outline of the distant, shadowy figures of the Iwagakure ninja.

Akimichi Torifu did not fail to deliver the message. Just yesterday, nine members of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio arrived at the Northwest Border Defense Force with Konoha's transfer order and were immediately assigned by Uchiha Himon to the frontline ninja army where Uchiha Tokumitsu was stationed.

The Yamanaka clan ninjas were also very efficient. Following Uchiha Tokumitsu's instructions, they forcibly used mental intrusion into the minds of the prisoners. After creating three patients with cerebral palsy and dementia, they successfully obtained the information they needed.

—This Iwagakure unit is merely a cover for their true intentions as a second-line force!

The truly elite Iwagakure forces were divided into two groups: one, confronting Kumogakure in the western border of the Land of Earth; and two, secretly infiltrating the Land of Rain to prepare for an attack on Amegakure.

Therefore, under these circumstances, whether to continue the attack on the Iwagakure army has become a tricky decision.

The reason is simple: the Iwagakure ninja army's main camp is still within the Land of Earth.

Large-scale cross-border operations by ninja armies are different from raids by elite squads.

As long as no survivors are left or no personnel are captured, a raid is a normal conflict between ninja villages. However, if hundreds or thousands of Konoha ninjas are led into the Land of Earth to attack its ninja army camp, then regardless of the success or failure of the attack, the Land of Earth and Iwagakure must regard it as a war of aggression and fight back with all their might; this is an inviolable red line.

For ninjas, starting a war is the prerogative of the Kage and Daimyo; arbitrarily provoking a war is not simply a matter of disrespecting the Hokage's authority.

Among the three newly transferred squads of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, Nara Shikahei, a special Jonin of the Nara clan who was regarded as the strategist by the members of the three clans' squads, analyzed it this way.

Uchiha Tokumitsu also felt quite helpless about this.

In ordinary matters, he might not take the Hokage seriously, but when it comes to national wars, he has to be cautious.

After all, he only had a thousand ninja under his command, and most of them were Uchiha clansmen. Although the intelligence indicated that defeating the Iwagakure force in front of him was not a big problem, a large-scale raid was a legitimate national war operation, which was beyond the authority of a border troop commander.

Uchiha Tokumitsu still felt unwilling.

Based on the probing and raiding operations of the past few days, and with comprehensive intelligence analysis, the Iwagakure ninja army in front of us is indeed a weak and insignificant force.

A delicious piece of fish belly is placed in front of it, but it still has to look at people's expressions before deciding whether to take a bite. This is really too uncomfortable for a hungry cat.

The same applies to the Uchiha clan, whose members are all cat lovers.

The Uchiha ninjas who went to war with the army repeatedly approached Uchiha Tokumitsu, patting their chests and requesting to fight, willing to be the first to charge into the enemy ranks and teach Iwagakure a profound lesson with their swords, ninjutsu, and Sharingan.

Uchiha Tokumitsu rejected them all.

Ordinary Uchiha might lack political acumen, but he, as the radical faction's designated successor, could not.

Ninja conflicts on the border and ninja invasion operations are two completely different concepts.

However, although he did not approve the direct order for the ninja army to attack the Iwagakure camp within the Land of Earth, it did not prevent him from continuing to launch raids to eliminate Iwagakure's sentries and communications ninjas.

He himself went directly to the front of the Hidden Rock Formation, intending to lure the enemy into pursuit.

However, Iwagakure simply retreated into its shell, using Earth Release to create layers of high walls. Whenever Uchiha Tokumitsu showed any signs of approaching, they would use low- to mid-level ninjutsu such as Earth Bullets and Earth Spikes to interfere, and use Earth Wall Technique to destroy the terrain and obstruct and surround him. Moreover, large groups of ninjas would defend together, preventing Uchiha Tokumitsu and his fellow Uchiha Jonin from seizing any opportunity to launch an attack.

"Let's go back……"

Uchiha Tokumitsu turned around and spoke to the Jonin accompanying him.

Faced with the Iwagakure, which is as tough as an iron-shelled tortoise, and unable to find an opportunity to break through and crush them, there's no point in waiting any longer.

The Uchiha ninjas had no other choice. After all, they were facing the ninja army of the Five Great Nations. Even if it was just a weak force, it was not something that a few Jonin could shake them without a large-scale combined ninjutsu attack.

"Has the village not replied yet?" Hinata Toshiki asked, still unwilling to give up.

With such a great achievement before them, yet unable to take it, even the Hyuga ninja, known for his aristocratic demeanor and detached nature, felt a stirring of desire.

"not yet……"

"Hmph! The village bureaucrats are ridiculous. They've been slow to make a decision on such important intelligence!" Uchiha Kensuke, a Jonin from the guard squad who was accompanying the group, complained angrily.

The others pretended not to hear, as criticizing the Hokage's faction was just a daily occurrence for the Uchiha, and there was no need to hide it from others.

"I just don't know if Iwagakure will send reinforcements. If the intelligence is timely, we can still try to besiege the camp and attack the reinforcements." Uchiha Tokumitsu also felt frustrated, but there was nothing he could do. Forcibly attacking the Iwagakure camp was never an option for him. Every Uchiha ninja in the ninja army was his precious darling, and he couldn't bear to waste lives on a strong attack on a heavily guarded camp.

"Iwagakure is known for its strongholds..." Nara Yukihira carefully chose his words, "Generally speaking, based on past experience, it's not worthwhile to launch a direct assault on Iwagakure's positions without a numerical advantage of more than double..."

Uchiha Tokumitsu naturally knew that Iwagakure was good at defense, and that its ninja discipline was the best among the five great ninja villages. In the future, they would overwhelm the Third Raikage with sheer numbers.

“Of course I know that…” Uchiha Tokumitsu was not going to act rashly. “It’s just a pity that I didn’t have the chance to fight Iwagakure.”

"If we can lure out Iwagakure, that would make things much easier..."

The Uchiha ninjas wholeheartedly agreed. In the past few days, there had been plenty of stubborn fools who, seeing that Iwagakure was not coming out, tried to sneak into the Iwagakure camp to create chaos. However, before they even got close to the camp area, they were bombarded with a bunch of earth-style ninjutsu and had no choice but to retreat.

"Forget it, let's not dwell on it. After all, the lives of Konoha ninjas are far more valuable than those of Iwagakure ninjas. It's not worth wasting them like this." Uchiha Tokumitsu knew that things were hopeless, so he spoke up to comfort everyone.

All the Jonin nodded in agreement.

……

Just as Uchiha Tokumitsu was having a headache over the Iwagakure turtle shell, the Hokage Building in Konoha was already in an uproar over the battle reports sent back from the front lines.

"Arrogant! The Uchiha are too reckless!" Mitokado Homura was furious. "How dare they disregard the imperial edict and cross the border to attack Iwagakure? Aren't they afraid of starting a war between the two countries?"

Mitokado Homura's authority extended to diplomacy with other ninja villages, and in his eyes, Uchiha Tokumitsu's actions were an act of premeditatedly provoking war.

"Yes, Hiruzen, you must punish this brat this time!" Koharu Utatane said. "The Uchiha clan are all incomprehensible war maniacs. The consequences of their instigation of war are extremely dire!"

"How should we punish him? Punish him for defeating Iwagakure?" The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, asked without looking up. "Or should we punish him for purging the entire underground forces of the Land of Grass after obtaining permission from the Daimyo of the Land of Grass?"

"Hiruzen, you can't take his side!" Mitokado Homura said angrily. "Uchiha Tokumitsu sent ninjas to ambush and kill Iwagakure ninjas in the Land of Earth. If Onoki causes trouble and the two great ninja villages declare war, who knows how many ninjas the village will lose!"

"Moreover, he disregarded the imperial edict," Koharu Utatane added. "His act of instigating war was intended to drag the village into a quagmire of conflict. Such reckless behavior must be severely punished!"

The third generation was also somewhat speechless.

"Have you all forgotten? The first edict was rejected by the Fire Gate using its Jonin right of objection."

"Hmph! The entire Uchiha clan is full of arrogant fools!" Koharu Utatane was still seething with anger.

"...Alright! There's no need to get angry with the Uchiha!" The Third Hokage sighed helplessly. With Danzo not around, why had these two advisors become so radical?

"The key question is, will Iwagakure choose war or peace? We need to come up with a solution as soon as possible."

“Most of the village’s mobile forces have already been depleted. If we go to war with Iwagakure, we’ll have to regroup our ninja army.” Koharu Utatane frowned, looking worried. “Furthermore, we’ll have to conscript clan ninjas to participate in the war, which will be another huge expense…”

"Funding problem..." As the Hokage, the Third Hokage also worried about money.

As the saying goes, "When the cannons roar, gold pours in."

This applies to the ninja army as well.

The mobilization of ninja forces, the supply of ninja tools, the procurement of medicines and treatments all require a considerable financial investment.

"Yan, if you have time, could you go to the capital to meet the daimyo again and ask him to allocate more funds?" After thinking it over, he realized he still had to resort to spending a lot of gold coins.

“Okay.” Mitokado Yan nodded steadily.

"So... let's get back to the main topic." The Third Hokage looked at the two of them. "Iwagakure... war or peace?"

“Let the Uchiha withdraw.” Koharu Utatane, having calmed down, pondered for a while. “Even if we defeat the Iwagakure border troops, the village won’t be able to send more ninja to support and expand our gains. It’s better to withdraw them directly to avoid casualties among our existing ninja forces.”

The Third Generation and Mitokado Homura also felt that this was the only way.

"In addition, Homon also requested that the ninja army be allocated to carry out a so-called 'strategic counterattack' against Iwagakure, and sent back a list of required supplies." The Third Hokage handed the intelligence to Mitokado Homura.

"The Uchiha have so many demands?" Mitokado Homura looked at the list of required supplies and felt a headache coming on.

“We can’t send any more ninja troops. Just tell him to hold the Land of Grass.” Koharu Utatane continued, “At least regarding supplies, let’s talk about supplies after we get the daimyo’s funding.”

“Indeed, the situation in the Land of Rain is the most dangerous.” Mitokado Homura agreed with Utatane Koharu’s words. “The border troops of Iwagakure are just a smokescreen. Not only Iwagakure, but even Sunagakure’s ace puppet troops have appeared on a large scale in the Land of Rain. The war there is more important. We cannot lose sight of the bigger picture for the sake of small gains.”

"In that case, let's reply and order Uchiha Tokumitsu to withdraw his troops and return to the Land of Grass." After thinking for a moment, the Third Hokage also felt that the battlefield in the Land of Rain was more important.

"...Tokugaku, at such a young age, has already led the ninja army to defeat a part of Iwagakure. He is indeed not to be underestimated." Mitokado Homura said with some emotion.

"One clan overthrowing a nation..." The Third Hokage picked up the battle report from the northwestern border defense forces. "The Uchiha... they really have an ancient feel to them."

The two advisors remained silent.

Apart from the Warring States period, since the establishment of the five great ninja villages, there has never been an example of someone leading ninja armies in battle at such a young age.

"It's really similar to... Madara Uchiha's style when he was young."

Chapter 37 No Mercy in a Close Fight

The war against Iwagakure cannot continue.

At least, launching an offensive is no longer an option.

The cessation of war edict from the Hokage Building was transmitted via a summoning beast. The message was first sent to the front line of the Konoha Expeditionary Force stationed in the Land of Rain. Jiraiya, a disciple of the Hokage, rushed to the main camp of the defense force on the northwestern border of the Land of Grass, requesting that an edict be issued to recall Uchiha Tokumitsu and his subordinates who were preparing for a cross-border attack in the northern border of the Land of Grass.

Uchiha Himon was also quite helpless. Faced with Jiraiya's legitimate Hokage decree and his status as a disciple of the Hokage, he had no way to use his underhanded tricks against the Anbu. He had no choice but to reluctantly send a messenger with Jiraiya to the northern front where Uchiha Tokumitsu was located.

……

"...Withdraw troops? Are you sure this isn't an edict from the Tsuchikage?"

Uchiha Tokumitsu raised an eyebrow, his three-tomoe Sharingan gleaming as he glared at the younger version of Jiraiya with some displeasure.

At this moment, Uchiha Tokumitsu was located on a hill about ten kilometers away from the Iwagakure camp in the Land of Earth. He had just set up his frontline command post there when he received this order. Naturally, he was furious, and when he was angry, he spoke rudely.

The Southern Army of Iwagakure remained steadfast and did not venture out. Without a formal declaration of war, the main force of the ninja army could not launch a large-scale offensive across the border. For days, he led his elite Jonin to challenge and provoke the enemy, but to no avail. Instead, he was severely hampered by Iwagakure's combined Earth Release techniques. Instead of issuing a declaration of war to organize a large army to crush Iwagakure in one fell swoop, he issued an emergency order for the frontline ninja army to retreat. Could it be that the Hokage's true identity is actually the Tsuchikage?

“Tokuko-sama… Commander Tokuko.” Jiraiya felt quite uncomfortable being stared at by the three-tomoe jade. “This is undoubtedly the Hokage’s decree. This order was transmitted directly from the Hokage Building to the border troops via a summoning beast. Its authenticity is beyond doubt.”

"Oh, so the border troops have summoning beasts that can directly receive orders from the Hokage Building," Uchiha Tokumitsu said casually. "I thought the village's communication with other departments was like our Northwest Border Defense Force, relying on the wings of ninja hawks and the legs of the Anbu messengers."

“…Every border unit has such personnel. If your unit is short of such personnel, you can directly apply to the Hokage for additional personnel.” Jiraiya was speechless, his face turning bright red.

"Forget it, I don't want to receive garbage orders all the time, like telling a certain genin on the front line to move forward fifty meters." Uchiha Tokumitsu made no attempt to hide his dissatisfaction. In any case, everyone knew that the Uchiha clan was dissatisfied with the Hokage lineage. As the heir of the radical Uchiha faction, he didn't need to be too polite to the Hokage's disciples.

“Commander Tokumitsu, the Hokage is the leader of Konoha. Please correct your attitude and maintain the necessary respect.” Jiraiya was quite dissatisfied with Tokumitsu’s attitude.

"Then, Jonin Jiraiya, do you think this decree is correct?" Not only Uchiha Tokumitsu, but also the surrounding Uchiha Jonin stared at Jiraiya with unfriendly expressions. Among the foreign ninja clans, the Uchiha affiliated ninjas were also quite dissatisfied. The Hyuga ninjas were expressionless, the commoner ninjas lowered their heads and remained silent, and the Ino-Shika-Cho ninjas had fear on their faces.

"With De Guang in command, the Hokage has his own intelligence sources to assess the situation. We ninjas, as members of Konoha, only need to follow orders." Jiraiya took a deep breath to calm himself. "You're still young; you can't handle a war between major powers. We should obey the Hokage's orders..."

Before he could finish speaking, Uchiha Tokumitsu suddenly drew his sword and slashed at Jiraiya with lightning speed.

The incident happened so suddenly that Jiraiya only had time to step back to avoid the blade, but his Jonin vest was still torn by the blade.

Jiraiya narrowly escaped being disemboweled.

"You...do you know what the crime of attacking a fellow villager is?" Jiraiya was both shocked and furious. "Are you going to disobey the village's orders!"

The surrounding Jonin were also in an uproar, but no one stepped forward to dissuade Uchiha Tokumitsu. Instead, the Uchiha Jonin used their left thumbs to deflect the hilts of their swords, preparing to draw their swords and slash.

“I’m speaking kindly to you, but I won’t let you off easy when we’re at each other’s mercy,” Uchiha Tokumitsu said with a smile. “Jiraiya, Jonin, tell me… can I control myself?”