Uchiha's personal opinion

At the critical moment, Uchiha Tokumitsu hurriedly used an Earth Release ninjutsu to barely block the blade's attack.

Before he could catch his breath, Sakumo Hatake appeared five meters behind him like a ghost.

Uchiha Tokumitsu flicked his fingers slightly, and the fireballs floating around his body shot towards Hatake Sakumo behind him like arrows.

Although the fireball is small, it is also composed of fire-style chakra and has a certain tracking function, similar to the Two-Tails' Tailed Beast Secret Technique: Fire Rat Ball.

Hatake Sakumo was about to capture Uchiha Tokumitsu with a swift attack, but the fierce fireballs from the Flame Release forced him to stop slightly and slash them out one by one.

He had no interest in forcing himself into close combat while enduring ninjutsu attacks.

Uchiha Tokumitsu released his hands and lowered them slightly. Strands of Uchiha-style steel wire shot out in a crisscross pattern, forming a huge steel wire net in front of him and to the left and right of Hatake Sakumo.

"Sharingan, Windmill Technique, Third Sword!"

With a wave of his hands, countless steel wires simultaneously tightened inwards, enveloping Sakumo Hatake, who was swinging a fireball.

At the same time, the Flame Release chakra spread along the steel wire, igniting it to form a fire net that surrounded Sakumo Hatake.

"Instant Cut - Eight-Stage Strike!"

Sakumo Hatake, moving nimbly within the wire mesh, continuously wielded his short sword, slashing left and right, cutting the wire mesh that surrounded him from three sides into pieces.

Uchiha Tokumitsu didn't expect to be able to trap Hatake Sakumo through this ninja tool manipulation technique. He twisted his hands and deliberately severed the connection of the steel wires, shooting out explosive tags from his sleeves that floated around his body.

This is a flying talisman array that he developed by combining the forbidden technique of the Book of Seals, the Mutual Multiplication Explosive Talisman Technique, and the Uchiha Miyabi Ninja Tool Technique.

"Alright, alright, Tokumitsu-kun," Hatake Sakumo shouted, "Let's stop here, we'll call it a draw."

Uchiha Tokumitsu secretly breathed a sigh of relief and stopped.

With a wave of his hands, the explosive tags that had been floating in the air flew back into his sleeves one by one.

If they keep fighting, they'll probably just be holding out a little longer.

Even with ninjutsu and ninja tools all used, it only barely halted Hatake Sakumo's offensive steps, making it impossible to launch an effective combined attack.

Judging from his demeanor, although he was much more serious than the Jonin who had defeated other challenges before, he probably didn't use his true skills.

Of course, Uchiha Tokumitsu did not use his ultimate technique.

"Tokuko-kun truly deserves to be called an unparalleled genius of the Uchiha clan!" Hatake Sakumo praised sincerely. "His power and timing in both his ninjutsu and ninja tool techniques are simply perfect."

“But… if we keep fighting, the training ground will probably be completely ruined…” Hatake Sakumo pointed to the surrounding environment.

In just two or three minutes, the training ground, which was originally intact, was blasted into a pitted mess, and the aftershocks of the Great Fire Dragon Technique burned the vegetation everywhere without restraint.

"Compared to Sakumo's command, I'm still far behind." Uchiha Tokumitsu put away all the explosive tags, dissatisfied with his performance in the battle just now.

“But, Tokumitsu-kun,” Hatake Sakumo blinked, “you have already surpassed all your peers. Your future is limitless. Remember not to underestimate yourself.”

Uchiha Tokumitsu was taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter.

The Jonin watching the battle were also impressed. Hatake Sakumo's strength was indeed well-deserved, but the young Uchiha Tokumitsu was equally formidable.

Chapter 58 Breaking News! Urgent Report from the Land of Whirlpools

After all the combat personnel in the mobile unit were in place, they conducted multiple joint combat training exercises under the command of Uchiha Tokumitsu and Hatake Sakumo.

In Konoha's official parlance, "The entire training process is based on continuous high-intensity real combat, laying a solid foundation through rigorous and challenging methods; ensuring that the tactical coordination of various combat units, such as reconnaissance and intelligence, command and control, ninjutsu strikes, and close combat, is more precise and tacit, and comprehensively improving the coordinated combat capabilities of the mobile forces."

The training revealed that although the mobile force initiated by Sakumo Hatake was not large in number and far smaller than the various border troops stationed by Konoha, its combat strength was in no way inferior to that of the traditional large-scale ninja army composed of overlapping three-person squads, and even surpassed it in tactical flexibility and combat mobility, because the selected personnel were all elite Konoha ninjas.

It can be said that this mobile unit, from its very inception, was the pinnacle of Konoha's standing ninja forces. The key figures within it were its initiator, Hatake Sakumo, and Uchiha Tokumitsu, who led the Uchiha Jonin.

After carrying out several small-scale training missions, such as capturing spies and eliminating infiltrating ninjas, the situation in the Land of Rain and the Land of Rivers in the ninja world deteriorated further.

After the Rain Village, led by Hanzo of the Salamander, repelled another attack by the Sand Village, they eagerly turned their attention to the Konoha ninja forces stationed in the Land of Rain, which had occupied several border cities. Shimura Danzo, who had returned to the village to rest, rushed to take command of the operation. Meanwhile, after the Sand Village's attempt to conquer the Land of Rain was thwarted, they dispatched all their withdrawn personnel to the Land of River, the front line against Konoha. Various traditional ninja squad operations, including infiltration, reconnaissance, and flanking attacks, were rampant. The Konoha ninja forces stationed in the Land of River were overwhelmed, and Mimura Yoru, who had just been transferred to command the stationed ninja forces, repeatedly sent out requests for reinforcements to the village.

Just when everyone in the Mobile Force thought their first operation would be to either the Land of Rain or the Land of Rivers, an urgent message from the Hokage Building requesting assistance from their ally, the Land of Whirlpools, disrupted their original deployment plan.

A large number of Kirigakure ninja and a considerable number of elite Kumogakure and Iwagakure ninja were discovered in the waters bordering the Land of Whirlpools. The garrison of Uzushiogakure village suffered repeated defeats and had no choice but to request assistance from its allies in Konoha.

The Land of Whirlpools is a unique existence in the ninja world.

Formed around the Uzumaki clan, the clan simultaneously held power over both national affairs and the ninja village, achieving a unified nation and family. Although the Uzumaki clan itself had a small population and a relatively limited territory, the clan, skilled in sealing techniques and possessing an immense amount of chakra, had always been a thorn in the side of major powers in the ninja world. There was a long-held belief in the ninja world that "to defeat Konoha, one must first destroy Uzumaki."

With the situation in the ninja world becoming increasingly tense, the Second Shinobi World War is about to begin. As an ally of Konoha, Uzushiogakure of the Land of Whirlpools is the first to bear the brunt of the attacks and harassment from various major powers.

But that's the problem.

According to the distress call from the Uzumaki clan, the forces attacking the Land of Whirlpools are not only the ninja army of Kirigakure (Hidden Mist Village) in the Land of Water, but also elite troops from Kumogakure (Hidden Cloud Village) and Iwagakure (Hidden Stone Village).

This reminded Hatake Sakumo and Uchiha Tokumitsu of the high-ranking officials from the two villages, Kumogakure and Iwagakure, who had held a secret meeting and alliance that had been destroyed in Takigakure.

It now appears that even though the secret alliance that destroyed the two villages was broken, the mortal enemies, Kumogakure and Iwagakure, still colluded under the lure of mutual benefit.

Uchiha Tokumitsu didn't know how many reinforcements Konoha sent when the Land of Whirlpools was destroyed in the original history, but since Konoha only rescued Kushina Uzumaki, it's likely that they didn't send many people.

Therefore, when the Hokage summoned each other to discuss reinforcements and defense, Uchiha Tokumitsu did not know where to begin.

The current situation in Konoha is indeed not good.

The village's regular ninja forces have been almost entirely depleted. Most of the civilian ninjas, who constitute the largest number of Konoha ninjas, have been transferred to various border garrisons for defense. The ninjas remaining in the village are busy with an ever-increasing number of missions. Therefore, judging from the current situation, apart from the ninjas of the main clans of the major ninja clans, Konoha's most combat-effective ninja forces consist only of the Anbu, the police garrison, and the newly formed mobile force.

Among them, the Anbu is the Hokage's direct subordinate force, shouldering numerous tasks and unable to spare many personnel; the Police Department's security force is the Uchiha clan's private domain, responsible for the village's last line of defense, and cannot be easily mobilized, nor is it realistic to send them to directly support the Land of Whirlpools; while the Mobile Force has the fewest personnel and is relatively streamlined and elite. Although most of its combat personnel are Jonin from the Uchiha clan, the commander is still Sakumo Hatake, the White Fang of Konoha, whom the village trusts, and is capable of leading this force.

"Lord Hokage, why is there no specific number of enemy troops or information about their commanders in the intelligence report for the Land of Whirlpools?"

In the Hokage's office, Hatake Sakumo showed an attitude of being duty-bound to reinforce the Land of Whirlpools, while Uchiha Tokumitsu still had some doubts after reading the intelligence.

According to intelligence from the Land of Whirlpools, the number of ninja forces attacking Kirigakure was as high as two thousand, with Kumogakure and Iwagakure each sending hundreds of elite troops. However, there was no information on the commanders of the ninja forces from each country.

After all, the mobile unit includes thirteen Jonin from the Uchiha clan, including Uchiha Tokumitsu. Throwing them into the battlefield of the Land of Whirlpools without knowing their own limitations, who knows how badly they will be killed by the meat grinder of the battlefield.

If five or six Jonin were lost, the entire Uchiha clan would be in great pain, and Uchiha Tokumitsu's prestige would certainly be severely damaged.

"The Uzushio Village hasn't yet obtained any specific intelligence on the enemy forces..." The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, sighed. "The borders of the Land of Whirlpools have basically fallen, and the Uzumaki clan ninjas had already begun retreating to Uzushio Village when they sent out their plea for help..."

This is difficult.

This is really difficult.

Thus, under the combined offensive of the three great powers, the Uzumaki clan was almost utterly defeated, failing to even obtain accurate intelligence on the enemy.

"Where are the ANBU intelligence personnel?" Uchiha Tokumitsu frowned and continued to ask, "Has the intelligence department not received any reliable intelligence?"

The third generation leader shook his head in silence.

After a moment, he slowly said, "The intelligence personnel of the Dark Division are mostly deployed in the Land of Rain and the Land of Rivers. The intelligence personnel stationed in the Land of Water did not receive any information beforehand."

Uchiha Tokumitsu and Hatake Sakumo exchanged a glance.

The mobile force currently has 21 Jonin in charge of combat missions, 18 Chunin and Special Jonin-level support ninjas in charge of special tasks such as sealing, medical treatment, sensory perception, and tracking, plus the two commanders, Hatake Sakumo and Uchiha Tokumitsu, for a total of only 41 ninjas.

Although they were all elite troops, if they were recklessly thrown into the midst of an enemy force of two or three thousand men to fight directly, they would probably be wiped out.

"So, what are the village's plans regarding the objectives of this reinforcement mission?" Uchiha Tokumitsu pondered for a moment, realizing that he could not refuse to reinforce the Land of Whirlpools, and asked about the specific targets of the reinforcement request.

This is also a major problem that has troubled the Hokage and his advisory group.

As an ally of Konoha, the Uzumaki clan of the Land of Whirlpools theoretically had no choice but to save them; otherwise, the moral failings alone would have dragged the Hokage faction into a media storm.

But how to set rescue targets is another issue.

If the goal is to protect the Land of Whirlpools, relying solely on an elite force will be insufficient without sending an equivalent ninja army to fight.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, silently puffed on his pipe, the thick smoke mirroring his heavy, melancholic mood.

The two advisors, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado, sat silently to the side like puppets throughout the entire process.

"Operational objective... to save lives is the top priority." After a moment's hesitation, the Third Hokage uttered the operational objective with difficulty.

As soon as he spoke, he seemed to age ten years in an instant. His slightly drooping head felt as if it were weighed down by a thousand stones, and his spirits and energy suddenly collapsed.

Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado also closed their eyes and sighed inwardly.

"Understood." Uchiha Tokumitsu had a general idea of ​​what was going on.

"There's another defense force on the eastern border, which can be fully deployed to support your reinforcements." The Third Hokage took a few more puffs of his pipe, regaining his composure.

“The eastern border troops are currently severely understaffed. After several rounds of transfers, there are only about three hundred people left, and their combat effectiveness is relatively weak. They can only be used as auxiliary troops,” Mitomon Homura said, taking over the conversation.

Seeing that Uchiha Tokumitsu seemed somewhat puzzled, Hatake Sakumo quietly explained it to him.

The eastern border defense force is tasked with defending the Land of Water across the coastline. Due to the long-term assistance of its ally, the Land of Whirlpools, the ninja forces stationed there are the weakest among Konoha's various border forces. Moreover, with the escalation of the war in the Land of Rain, the already weak forces have been repeatedly redeployed, leaving very few remaining. Furthermore, most of them are old and young, resulting in a severe gap in the quality of combat personnel. It is no exaggeration to say that they are easily defeated.

"At least they can take charge of part of the evacuation and protection mission... It's better than having no one at all." Uchiha Tokumitsu thought for a while and felt that it was better to have more manpower.

Even if they are weak, it's good to have more people throwing shuriken and explosive tags.

"Sakumo-kun, Tokumitsu-kun, I'm entrusting this reinforcement to you." The Third Hokage said solemnly.

"You can command the troops on the eastern border at will, and the village will also expedite the organization of ninja clan members to form a follow-up reinforcement force, but the first batch to depart... will only be the mobile force."

Uchiha Tokumitsu didn't have much hope for the reinforcements the Third Hokage had mentioned.

Who knows how long the Land of Whirlpools can hold out against the combined attacks of Kirigakure, Kumogakure, and Iwagakure?

The most pessimistic scenario is that the Uzumaki clan has already lost all its territory and retreated to the headquarters of Uzumaki Village.

"Understood, Hokage-sama." Sakumo Hatake replied solemnly, "I will do my utmost to complete the mission!"

Uchiha Tokumitsu glanced at his partner but said nothing more.

"Then let the entire mobile unit depart first thing tomorrow morning." The Third Hokage took a deep breath and made the final decision. "Gentlemen, I entrust this to you."

Uchiha Tokumitsu and Hatake Sakumo both rose to pay their respects, and then took their leave.

Before the ninja army set off, there were quite a few things to prepare. Fortunately, they were already prepared to be transferred to the Land of Rain or the Land of Rivers for combat, and the war reserves directly under the command of the Mobile Force Headquarters were almost ready, so there was no need to rush to draw supplies from various departments in the village.

Upon returning to the mobile unit's base, Hatake Sakumo urgently summoned his subordinates and announced the mission to reinforce the Land of Whirlpools. He then assigned personnel to carry out the mission. The Jonin left work early to prepare for the battle and helped the ninja pack various supplies. Although the event was sudden, it proceeded in an orderly manner.

Uchiha Tokumitsu requested an additional 50,000 explosive tags as a battle reserve for the Mutual Explosive Tags Technique.

While the technique of multiplying explosive tags is very satisfying to use, its drawback is that it consumes too many explosive tags.

The Mobile Force's warehouse only had eight thousand explosive tags in reserve, and these had to be distributed to the ninjas under its command, which was far from enough. Therefore, the internal affairs personnel submitted an emergency material request to the Hokage Building.

Upon seeing the application, the third-generation leader expressed his understanding and, with a wave of his hand, approved 33,000 applications.

The ANBU squad also urgently sent over a large scroll containing 33,000 explosive tags from Konoha's war depot.

The scroll was over a meter tall and nearly thirty centimeters in diameter, making it somewhat cumbersome to carry on Uchiha Tokumitsu's back.

Uchiha Tokumitsu then diverted funds from the Mobile Force to purchase 7,000 explosive tags from his own clan, bringing the total to 40,000 explosive tags as a reserve for the Mutual Explosive Tags Technique.