Uchiha's personal opinion

Ashura immediately retorted.

"But it's definitely not the worst."

Uchiha Tokumitsu calmly replied, "Just as you said, this is a world where everyone is trying to be the worst. The Shogunate hasn't rotted yet, so it's the best choice for the ninja world."

"Even if the ninjas eat and use a lot, given the population size of the ninja world, as long as productivity increases, it won't have a significant impact on ordinary people."

Uchiha Tokumitsu said, "The problem that the Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth are facing now is that the ninjas from the ninja villages have started to compete with the common people for food."

"Hashirama Senju's idea was to confine ninjas to ninja villages in order to provide a better living environment for commoners; but he forgot that besides ninjas, there were even more greedy nobles!"

"So... what will become of the Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth..."

Ashura muttered to himself.

"It's all a dead end!"

Uchiha Tokumitsu said with absolute certainty, "He's hopeless, he's doomed!"

"I haven't even started to exert my strength yet, and they've already thrown themselves into disarray. If I were to deploy several thousand more ninja troops to the border, their Kage would probably be restless and unable to eat or sleep."

"Then, in your eyes, what kind of existence is Mount Myōboku?"

Ashura asked in a low voice.

"A bunch of troublemakers who only dare to hide in the shadows, clowns who would rather be used to make a dry pot than to stir up trouble."

Uchiha Tokumitsu bluntly retorted, "If they think they can escape the righteous attacks of the ninja world by hiding in the wilderness, then they have completely miscalculated this time!"

"So how exactly do you plan to attack Mount Myōboku?"

Ashura immediately said.

"roll!"

"Okay!"

……

In the palace of the Great Sage of Mount Myoboku, ever since the last time the Shogunate ninjas appeared outside the protective mist of Mount Myoboku, the Great Sage of Toads has neither eaten nor drunk nor slept.

Gamabunta, Gamahiro, and other key figures from Mount Myōboku gathered outside the hall, awaiting instructions from the Great Toad Sage, but they all looked somewhat flustered.

After the failed pursuit of the shogunate's exploration team, Mount Myōboku fell into panic; and Gamabunta and Gamahiro, who were in charge of the pursuit, were even more uneasy.

The appearance of ninjas, especially the sudden appearance of hostile shogunate ninjas on the outskirts of Mount Myōboku, and their apparent preparation, indicates that Uchiha Tokumitsu not only knew the exact location of Mount Myōboku, but also had the intention to wage war.

This is a bombshell shock to the Greninja of Mount Myōboku, which has enjoyed peace for thousands of years.

In the past, even if Mount Myōboku failed to intervene in the ninja world, they could have retreated to their sacred land far away in the wilderness to continue recuperating without worrying about attacks from the ninja world's forces. Even if the ninja world's forces attacked them to the point of extinction, it wouldn't affect the peaceful and prosperous life of Mount Myōboku.

However, after several direct confrontations with the shogunate, apart from the Pyrrhic victory in the battle where Mount Myōboku ambushed the conservative faction of the Uchiha clan in the Land of Rain, all other battles ended in crushing defeats.

Moreover, during the battles in the ninja world, due to the Shogunate's battlefield-level sealing array, even if the ninja frogs were defeated, they could not escape back to Mount Myōboku by dispelling the summoning jutsu. As a result, the ninja frogs' fighting spirit gradually declined. Although they were not war-weary, they no longer had the passion to "whip the ninja world" they had at the beginning.

"...Continuing like this is destined to be a dead end."

Inside the palace, after a long silence, the Toad Immortal sighed, and Shuangxi struggled to her feet, supporting herself on the armrests of the chair, and walked out of the palace.

It seems that the situation is changing much faster than initially pessimistically predicted.

The ninja frogs waiting outside were thrown into turmoil when they heard footsteps inside the hall.

The Great Toad Immortal has actually started walking!

This is an extremely rare thing!

"I need to go to Ryuchi Cave..."

The Great Toad Sage spoke to the group of Greninja frogs.

"Gunta...you must urge Greninja to set up a proper defense, so we don't make the fool of him being unaware of the enemy's imminent arrival again!"

"I obey your command!"

Gamabunta immediately bowed.

Chapter 447: Respecting the Curtain and Fighting the Barbarians

"What should we do..."

Hattori Heiji, the former commander of the guards of the daimyo of the Land of Fire and the current military commander of the Imperial Guard of the daimyo's residence in the Land of Fire, arrived at the designated intelligence exchange location based on a secret report from an informant of the shogunate.

But at this moment, he was still uneasy.

After being recruited by Hyuga Hizashi to become a spy for the shogunate, Hattori Heiji first followed the daimyo's dismissal order and stayed at home to "devote himself to Buddhism." Later, he was slandered by his rival daimyo and demoted to the position of Director of the Fire Temple. During this period, Hattori Heiji showed no resentment. This was mainly because after being dismissed, he did not want to continue to be involved in the affairs of the ninja army, so as not to make things difficult for the shogunate's contact person when they came to ask for information. Therefore, he simply became a "rich and idle person."

But it seemed that the shogunate had abandoned him after his second demotion. No one came to take over, and no one urged Hattori Heiji to probe and obtain information. Thus, Hattori Heiji was able to stay obediently in the Fire Temple for half a year.

Until the beginning of last month, his online friend Hyuga Hizashi contacted him and told him to prepare to return to Daimyo Prefecture, and then he left again.

The bewildered Hattori Heiji only realized what was going on the next day when he received an imperial eunuch from the daimyo's inner court, ordering him to return to the daimyo's capital to assume the position of commander of the Imperial Guard. Afterward, a chill ran down his spine.

The shogunate's intelligence network... really is ubiquitous!

But just after Hattori Heiji returned to the daimyo prefecture and was entrusted with the command of the capital's army, the official order to make contact finally arrived!

Moreover, when he woke up, he suddenly discovered that a secret letter announcing a rendezvous had been placed in a conspicuous position on the desk in his study!

Although the secret letter wasn't as terrifying as finding it by his pillow, it was enough to make Hattori Heiji obediently suppress all his ulterior motives and follow the instructions in the letter to come to his prepared safe house—although Hattori Heiji had never mentioned the existence of this safe house to anyone, the shogunate's contact person still used his safe house as the rendezvous point!

The biggest problem they face now is that Hattori Heiji is unaware of the recent activities of the daimyo's retainer ninja army!

Aside from knowing the common knowledge that the head priest of the Fire Temple had taken over the teaching authority of the ninja army, he had completely lost influence over the daimyo's retainer ninja army! If the contact asked him about it later, Hattori Heiji really didn't know how to answer.

"Fine, I'll just tell the truth..."

After struggling for a long time, Hattori Heiji finally sighed and muttered to himself that he should risk being abandoned or even eliminated as a worthless person in order to tell his embarrassing story, rather than having to tell one lie and then have to tell countless others to cover it up.

What truth are you going to tell me?

Suddenly, a young voice rang out from behind Hattori Heiji.

Hattori Heiji's hair stood on end.

Then, a chakra surge appeared out of thin air. Just as Hattori Heiji turned around abruptly and drew his kunai to assume a defensive stance, a blond youth appeared before him with an orange-haired boy and a blue-haired girl.

"You are……"

Hattori Heiji noticed the shuriken and fan emblem on the blond Jonin's vest: it was the symbol of the Konoha Police Department!

"Minato Namikaze, Deputy Chief of the Konoha New District Police Station!"

After the initial panic subsided, Hattori Heiji quickly recalled the name of the newcomer.

"...It's me!"

Minato Namikaze, with his blond hair, frowned and replied somewhat displeased.

Using job titles outside of work hours is incredibly insensitive!

"then you……"

Hattori Heiji awkwardly put away his kunai.

"I was the one who sent you the message..."

Minato Namikaze took out a seal from his pocket and showed it to Heiji Hattori.

"As expected of the legendary fastest man in Konoha..."

Hattori Heiji chuckled twice, took out the secret letter and seal from his pocket to compare them, and then relaxed.

"...I've come to you on Lord Deguang's orders to ask you some questions, so please don't spout nonsense!"

Minato Namikaze frowned even more deeply.

He didn't know where the title of "fastest man" came from, but in any case, as a male Jonin of Konoha, he disliked the title of "fastest" very much!

Moreover, this is the first time he has used the Flying Thunder God Technique in front of outsiders since he mastered it! Therefore, this may involve the issue of information leakage, so we cannot be careless!

Minato Namikaze secretly resolved that after returning to the village, he would definitely advise Lord Tokumitsu to thoroughly investigate the 'spies' who were spreading rumors in the village!

"Yes, Deputy Director Shuimen!"

Hattori Heiji immediately responded with a serious expression.

Don't be angry!

Minato Namikaze took a breath, trying to calm his anger: "Has the Daimyo's retainer ninja army made any unusual moves recently?"

"Never heard of it..."

Hattori Heiji replied, "However, I have already been transferred to the Fujun (府军), so I don't know if there are any special operations going on behind the scenes."

"Are there any special individuals among the ninja guards that we need to be wary of?"

Minato Namikaze casually asked, gesturing to the orange-haired boy beside him to take notes.

"Kazuma, the former head of the ninja guards of the daimyo!"

Hattori Heiji immediately said, "After Lord Tokumitsu ordered the Daimyo to disband the Guardian Ninja, this man changed his name to Furuto and stayed by the Daimyo's side, handling some shady matters! Moreover, it was he who kept encouraging His Highness to expand the ninja army, and he is one of the most hostile people to Konoha!"

Moreover, it was he who instigated the daimyo to dismiss Hattori Heiji from his position as chief attendant of Shinobu!

“We are well aware of the original guardian ninja's situation, and the file analysis is ongoing…”

Minato Namikaze said calmly, "Besides Kazuma, there are also the so-called Lightning Release Four. We already have information about them."

"So, let's talk about something else..."

He appeared calm and collected, with everything under control.

Hattori Heiji was clearly getting anxious, and fine beads of sweat began to appear on his forehead.

"That's right! The Temple of Fire!"

Hattori Heiji racked his brains trying to connect the pieces of information he hadn't paid attention to before: "It's the monks of the Fire Temple training the daimyo's ninjas, and the one in charge of this isn't the head priest!"

So who is this person?

Minato Namikaze seemed to have taken a liking to it.

"His name should be..."

Hattori Heiji felt like his brain was about to explode.