Uchiha's personal opinion

Considering the current "mission" system in the ninja village, Ashura felt even more desperate.

"So, even if we let them starve to death, we can't let the savages accept Konoha's aid?"

Ashura asked in a calm tone.

"Of course!"

The messenger ninja stated matter-of-factly, "It's precisely because of the existence of these insatiable insects that mining in the south has been consistently affected, preventing the village from ever surpassing Konoha!"

"Then why did your Jonin, who is in charge of the position, submit a petition requesting Konoha's aid?"

Ashura asked, puzzled.

"After those rich, idiot guys in Konoha finish distributing the resources, we can just go and take them back, right?"

The previously somewhat reserved messenger ninja now revealed a bloodthirsty smile: "Besides, searching for these guys all over the mountains is quite troublesome. When they gather together to collect relief, we can just go along..."

Then, the messenger ninja made a downward slashing gesture.

Upon seeing this, Asura felt a chill run down his spine.

Is this something a human being would do?!

Even those evil Uchiha wouldn't go this far!

Ashura's hard-won ninja way is once again on the verge of collapse.

The messenger ninja was unaware of Ashura's thoughts and feelings, and instead regarded him as a high-ranking but naive "Anbu leader." So, he boasted about his "great achievements" in his words, not knowing that this would only further shatter Ashura's mental state.

Perhaps sensing that Ashura had no interest in hearing about this kind of thing anymore, the messenger ninja shut up and focused on continuing on his way.

Otherwise, Asura would probably have turned evil on the spot.

"This is a world of despair..."

Ashura raised his head and looked at the gray sky where a light rain was falling.

Two streaks of water dripped down from below the eyes of the mask...

……

"Has Iwagakure not decided yet?"

In the temporary operations center of the charity association in the western part of the Land of Rain, Hyuga Hizashi asked the businessman from the joint company in charge of liaison.

"They claimed they would report this to higher authorities."

The businessman shook his head.

"Then let's ignore him!"

Hyuga Hizashi, displaying a responsible attitude, waved his hand and decided to ignore Iwagakure's reaction: "Notify the local Hidden Gate Shogunate garrison ninja and Amegakure ninja, and have them enter the Land of Birds with us!"

"As ordered!"

The communications ninja immediately obeyed and left.

"Also... Kisame-kun."

Hyuga Hizashi turned his gaze to Kisame Hoshigaki to the side, "This relief operation is very likely to be obstructed by Iwagakure, so you'll have to put in a lot of effort; also, I'm entrusting the ninja forces mobilized from various departments to your unified command!"

"Chief of Staff Hizashi, don't worry!"

Kisame Hoshigaki patted his chest and said.

One wanted political achievements, and the other wanted meritorious service; they were a perfect match and could be considered a chosen one.

……

Konoha Governor's Office.

After receiving Hyuga Hizashi's report on his actions, Uchiha Tokumitsu hesitated for a moment before sending a separate message to Uchiha Fugaku, who was stationed in the Land of Rivers, instructing him to assemble the western border defense forces and prepare for action.

Although the expansion of Konoha's standing ninja army is not yet complete, Uchiha Tokumitsu still has no intention of backing down even a step on the road of pushing his luck.

Moreover, having finally found a banner that embodies justice, Uchiha Tokumitsu was unwilling to give it up so easily.

In an instant, all sorts of outrageous actions from his past life memories came rushing out.

Chapter 412 Ordinary People Are Like Leeks

"Commander, Hiruzen! The Shogunate's ninja army has entered the Land of Birds. The border defense forces led by Jonin Bunga have failed in their mission to intercept them!"

At the Iwagakure garrison camp on the southern border of the Land of Earth, Iwagakure messenger ninjas, hurrying about, kept bringing back all sorts of bad news.

"That bastard Wenya!"

Upon hearing this, the demon leech immediately flew into a rage and shouted, "He has three companies of ninja! And they still can't stop those shogunate bastards! This is dereliction of duty! I'm ordering the interrogation department to arrest him!"

"Among the Shogunate's charity corps, there are more than a hundred combat ninjas on the surface..."

The messenger ninja whispered.

"I see……"

The demon leech waved its hand weakly, signaling its subordinates to leave.

The three squadrons of Iwagakure ninja numbered only about thirty, and they were facing off against more than a hundred Shogunate combat ninja. Even if Hiruzen himself led the team, he wouldn't have the confidence.

Akatsuchi, who was remotely controlling the situation from the city, put it very nicely, demanding that they not clash with the so-called charity team that had come with ill intentions, but also not allow them to enter the Land of Earth...

As a result, they completely ignored the interception forces and had already entered the territory of the Bird Country!

The Bird Country has retreated, and then it will be the border of the Earth Country!

If we don't put on a show of being ready to tear off the mask and start a war at any moment, it would be a miracle if we could intimidate those warmongers in the shogunate!

So, how can we play under such restrictive conditions?

With its granite-like brain, the leech couldn't possibly come up with a useful plan.

But there are some things that you can't do even if you know they're impossible...

Thinking of this, Demon Leech glanced again at "Dairo," an ANBU ninja who seemed to be monitoring everyone from the corner of the central command tent.

Although he was one of the elite Jonin of Iwagakure, as a ninja commander stationed abroad for a long time, he did not know much about the village's secrets, so he naturally did not know Ashura's true identity and only thought that he was a "supervisor" sent by Akatsuchi.

"Damn it! Why are those bastards from the Shogunate so bored that they're delivering supplies to those savages?!"

The more the demon leech thought about it, the angrier it became. It couldn't help but grab a cup from the table and smash it wildly.

"Is the Bird Kingdom also a gathering place for savages?"

Ashura's heart stirred, and he couldn't help but ask.

Although the Akatsuki's former base was located in the Land of Birds, Ashura had not yet had the chance to "visit the ruins" and naturally knew little about the customs and culture of the Land of Birds.

"...Probably two-thirds of the people in the Bird Kingdom are savages!"

"That's what the leech said casually."

"so much?"

Ashura was somewhat surprised.

"Many of them were displaced to the wilderness by the war and gave up on themselves."

The demon leech was unwilling to answer such a childish question, so one of his confidants explained on his behalf: "Before and after the Fourth Shinobi World War, our main battlefields and those of Sunagakure were basically in the Land of Birds. As a result, many small counties were destroyed due to the war, and those who fled the country became savages."

"Moreover, the tasks that our mission camp in the Bird Kingdom can undertake are mainly things like collecting supplies from those savage tribes."

"Didn't the Daimyo of the Bird Country try to persuade these people to return?"

Ashura continued to ask.

"He has no money."

The confidant casually replied, "Without money, there's no way to rebuild, no way to increase rations, and we can't even maintain the government troops that collect taxes, so this is the only option."

"By the way, even those looting missions are split between us and the daimyo~"

If it weren't for the mask concealing his expression, the Iwagakure members inside the tent would have seen Ashura's eyes rolling to the sky.

However, after several rounds of moral baptism, Ashura's bottom line became slightly more flexible, and he was able to tolerate some degree of restraint. That's why he didn't take action to hang these shameless people on tree trunks to dry in the wind.

"Once the order of the ninja world is restored, we must strengthen the ideological education of ninjas..."

However, Ashura's inner suffering had not diminished, so he had no choice but to use his imagination to distract himself from his irritability.

"...I'll inform Lord Akatsuchi that our headquarters plans to move the ninja forces stationed at the main camp southward and establish a defensive line within the territory of the Land of Birds!"

After a long silence, the demon leech finally spoke.

He felt he couldn't let things go unchecked, otherwise he would never be able to get rid of this huge problem.

Therefore, the demon leech decided to be even bolder and try to get the village's "war-fearing faction" to transfer him away from the front lines because of his radical actions.

However, although the Demon Leech's plan was brilliant, Akatsuchi's reply immediately shattered his delusions.

"Your unit is a standing force directly under the command of the Tsuchikage, so you should make your own decision!"

Although Akatsuchi and Hiru had a fairly good relationship, he showed no intention of helping them out when faced with such a difficult situation!

This reply only put the leech in a more precarious position!

The root cause is that the Demon Leech never reported to the headquarters of Iwagakure about the so-called charity action team's plan to enter the vassal states such as the Land of Birds and even the disaster-stricken southern part of the Land of Earth!

At first, all he thought of was to steal some supplies! Who knew that after routinely reporting to Chitu, who was the "imperial envoy," things would take such a big turn!

"...Or perhaps we should stick to the original plan."

One of Iwagakure's trusted confidants whispered.

The original plan was to cooperate with the charity team to distribute relief supplies, and then take back the supplies after the group of troublesome shogunate ninjas left.

"but……"

The demon leech didn't know if the original plan was still sufficient at this point.

The reason he informed Chitu was actually to drag him into the mess.

But if we bring this kind of thing out into the open... putting everything else aside, it's really not a good look.

More importantly, if the "recycling" of relief supplies is transformed into an action by the ninja army representing the will of the ninja village, then he will receive very little of the profits!

"...Let's play it by ear!"