Uchiha's personal opinion

Uchiha Tokumitsu raised his chin and asked the other person who had stood up.

"I am Sarutobi Rihei, the commander of the 5th Detachment of the Border Defense Force."

"What suggestions do you have?" Uchiha Tokumitsu's tone was somewhat unfriendly.

"Lord Tokuko, we are willing to be the vanguard of the ninja army and set off first!" Sarutobi Ribei said loudly, his head held high.

Uchiha Tokumitsu raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised.

He never expected it would be about stealing a mission.

"Nobuhiko Jounin..."

Uchiha Tokumitsu sought the opinion of Uchiha Nobuhiko, the originally designated vanguard mission executor.

As a clan ninja who came from Uchiha Tokumitsu's guard squad, Uchiha Nobuhiko has now been assigned as the captain of a Uchiha ninja army branch. Naturally, he grants all of Uchiha Tokumitsu's requests.

Uchiha Nobuhiko shrugged, indicating that he didn't care.

"Alright! The vanguard mission will then be carried out by the Fifth Border Defense Detachment! Detachment Commander Sarutobi Rikibei will immediately lead the troops north, with Staff Officer Nara Rikutoki accompanying the army for planning!"

"As for the rest of you, if there are no problems, then proceed according to the military strategy!"

"promise!"

The Jonin responded enthusiastically and then quickly left.

Inside the tent, only Uchiha Tokumitsu, Hatake Sakumo, Uchiha Himon (commander of the northwestern border defense forces), and the pitiful leader of Kusagakure, Akira, remained.

"Chief Mang, do you have any objections regarding military spending?" Uchiha Tokumitsu didn't want to beat around the bush and cut straight to the point.

“Lord Deguang… the main issues are the number of people to be conscripted and the military expenses…” Mang stammered, “…we need to increase the amount of money.”

"How much more do you want to add?" Uchiha Tokumitsu's furrowed brows relaxed immediately. "I've budgeted this expenditure according to the Kusagakure military expenditure standards!"

"Lord Deguang..." When the topic of money came up, Mang gradually calmed down. "Kusa-gakure is just a small ninja village, so the mobilization speed may need to be slowed down a bit..."

"There's no room for discussion! Two thousand five hundred Grass Ninja must be assembled at the Northern Mountain Castle within fifteen days!"

Uchiha Tokumitsu firmly rejected Mang's request.

"Besides this matter, what other problems are there!" Uchiha Tokumitsu also felt that the tone of the rejection was too harsh, and then his voice softened slightly.

"Regarding compensation and spoils... I hope the compensation standard can be doubled, and if we obtain any Iwagakure ninjutsu scrolls, please allow our village to make a copy..." As Mang spoke, he observed Uchiha Tokumitsu's expression, and seeing no sign of it turning negative, he continued, "Furthermore, if we obtain any spoils, I hope we can be allowed to purchase them at fair prices..."

"I'll increase your compensation by 1.5 times, but the conscription document will only show the amount after doubling it. You can arrange the rest yourself!" Uchiha Tokumitsu thought for a moment and then replied, "I can agree to both the captured ninjutsu scrolls and supplies!"

"Thank you, Your Excellency Deguang!" Mang was overjoyed and immediately bowed deeply to show his respect.

"Go back and make arrangements immediately!"

After defeating the leader of the Grass Ninja, only Uchiha Tokumitsu, Hatake Sakumo, and Uchiha Himon remained in the central command tent.

"Tokumitsu-kun's leadership skills are as extraordinary as his ninjutsu," Hatake Sakumo couldn't help but praise.

"It's just a small trick, Sakumo-kun, you flatter me." Uchiha Tokumitsu smiled smugly. "The ninja army will begin its march to the northern mountain castle today. I wonder what the Iwagakure people think of it?"

"I bet they never expected this," Uchiha Himon laughed heartily. "Once they find out, they'll probably be furious and curse the Uchiha's warmongering madmen for stirring up trouble on the border again."

"They might even send a few letters to the Daimyo and Hokage of the Land of Fire as a form of protest."

Uchiha Tokumitsu licked his lips, as if he could already smell the sweet scent of blood.

Chapter 78 Pressing In! The Uchiha's Konoha Ninja Army is About to Launch an Attack

Earlier, if you had asked Explosion Release Hunter, an elite Jonin of Iwagakure who led the village's most elite explosives unit, whether he was afraid of Uchiha clan ninjas, he would have scoffed and thought the questioner was insulting him, and would have even thrown a human firework at him.

But at this moment, as Explosion Release Hunter looked at the Konoha ninja army that had gathered in the northern mountain city of the Land of Grass within three days, as well as the most arrogant and domineering Uchiha ninjas among them, he felt somewhat heavy-hearted.

For any nation, village, or faction in the ninja world, war is always a serious matter, not something to be taken lightly.

Unless absolutely necessary, any leader of a power will think twice before launching a war and will try to plan the course of the war and the countermeasures before and after it.

However, the Konoha ninja forces opposite Explosion Release: Gari were clearly different; they even displayed an aggressive posture. As the various ninja units continued to assemble, each Konoha unit launched highly proactive probing attacks, which were all thwarted by the defensively minded Iwagakure ninja. The aggressiveness displayed by the Konoha ninja forces deeply worried Explosion Release: Gari, the commander-in-chief of the Iwagakure forces.

The Konoha and Kusagakure allied forces assembled in the northern mountain city consisted of more than 1,100 members from Konoha's northwestern border defense forces, more than 300 members from the Uchiha clan's Tokuko Red Guard, 45 members from Konoha's mobile forces, and 2,500 members from Kusagakure, mainly to make up the numbers and fill the gaps in the battle lines.

Judging solely from the number of personnel deployed by both sides, the difference is not significant. In terms of specific combat strength, Konoha clearly has an advantage in high-level combat power at the Jonin level and above. Although the Grass Ninja, who constitute the largest number of the Allied Forces, have questionable combat strength, the Konoha ninjas remain extremely confident.

Whether they were from the Uchiha clan, affiliated ninja clans, neutral ninja clans like the Hyuga, Inuzuka, and Aburame, or even ninjas from clans with many conflicts and grievances with the Uchiha, such as Sarutobi and Shimura, they all looked confident and eager to try.

No one mentioned anything like "we must not provoke border conflicts," and no one worried about what would happen if we provoked a full-scale war between the two great powers.

The ubiquitous presence of groups of Uchiha ninjas filled the Konoha and Kusanagi ninjas with immense confidence; the mobile force that had defeated the combined forces of the three great nations in the Battle of Uzushiogakure with a smaller force made everyone feel certain of victory; there was also "Konoha's White Fang," Hatake Sakumo, a powerful ninja known to every household in Konoha and even the entire ninja world, as well as rising stars like Uchiha Tokumitsu...

The difference in numbers was no longer a concern for the Konoha and Kusagakure allied forces.

Furthermore, the fervor of war and the imagined rich rewards of victory have already made the Konoha ninjas and Kusanagi ninjas envious.

Uchiha Tokumitsu also ordered the Konoha emblem and the Uchiha clan crest to be erected on the castle tower of Yamashiro. The ninja clans in the ninja army followed suit and also erected their own clan crests on the castle walls.

Uchiha, Hyuga, Sarutobi, Shimura, Inuzuka, Shiranui, Nohara, Gekko, Takachiku, Aburame... The banners of Konoha ninja clans and ninja sects, big and small, covered the mountain city. Overnight, those famous Konoha ninja clans had gathered in the northern border, intending to fight and wipe out Iwagakure.

The pressure on Baku-no-Kari is also immense.

At the same time, they dared not act rashly.

The Konoha ninja, deployed along the border and led by the familiar Grass Ninja, blocked all routes for cross-border reconnaissance. Meanwhile, under the watchful eyes of the Hyuga ninja accompanying the troops, any attempts to ambush and capture prisoners never succeeded.

On the contrary, the Konoha ninjas' probing attacks and short offensives across the border became more and more frequent. The Iwagakure troops deployed along the line were the southern border troops of Iwagakure, and were known as the weakest ninja army in Iwagakure. They were unable to cope with them for a while.

Faced with Konoha's increasingly frequent small-scale attacks, Explosion Release Hunter began to feel somewhat helpless. His subordinate ninjas, who did not understand his predicament, also began to feel dissatisfied with him, believing that Explosion Release Hunter "feared Konoha like a tailed beast," and that he was cowardly and did not move forward, watching as the garrisoned ninja army was wiped out one by one by Konoha, which was suspected of being treason.

Explosion Hunter, however, had no way of expressing his suffering.

Before he led his troops to the southern border of the Land of Earth, the instructions he received were clearly to "observe the Land of Grass and wait for a good opportunity to enter the Land of Rain." However, it was obvious that the current situation was not something that could be resolved by simply acting according to circumstances. But before receiving further authorization from the Tsuchikage, Explosion Release: Hunting did not dare to launch a full-scale confrontation as recklessly as Uchiha Tokumitsu.

The series of small-scale offensives that Konoha is currently carrying out are also the result of a plan discussed by Uchiha Tokumitsu, Hatake Sakumo, and Uchiha Himon.

The combined forces of Konoha and Kusagakure are at a disadvantage in terms of both the total number of personnel and the quality of their lower-ranking genin. Their only advantage lies in their elite jonin-level combat power. If a large-scale ninja battle is launched right from the start, especially if it is an attack on Iwagakure's stronghold, which is known for its defensive prowess, Konoha will be at a great disadvantage.

Therefore, after joint discussion among the three, based on the fact that Konoha had a stronger combat capability in terms of small team size, they decided to adopt a small-scale, frequent, continuous raiding tactic in order to wear down and restrain the Iwagakure ninja army.

Clearly, in war, which is a game for the brave, the Uchiha Tokumitsu faction, with its purer, more resolute, and more unscrupulous strategic objectives, has gained a significant initial advantage.

On the fifth day of the raid, Uchiha Tokumitsu and Hatake Sakumo summoned the commanders of the various ninja armies to make arrangements for the next phase of expanding the scale of the military conflict.

After five days of continuous raids and attacks, the Konoha ninja forces killed and captured more than 140 Iwagakure ninja, and seized almost all the high ground and transportation routes along the border between the two countries. Unexpectedly, the Iwagakure forces adopted a defensive posture, abandoning their border posts one after another, and almost retreated to only their main ninja camp.

As the planner of the raid, Uchiha Tokumitsu read out the recent battle results and then handed them over to Uchiha Himon for the distribution of rewards.

The one who made the greatest contribution in this operation was not a ninja from the Uchiha clan, but the Fifth Detachment of the Border Defense Force led by Sarutobi Ribei.

As for the reason, Uchiha Tokumitsu privately inquired with the Uchiha ninjas who participated in the raid. What was most ridiculous was that Iwagakure, facing the attack of the Uchiha ninja army, did not pursue a defensive position. As soon as they realized that the time was not right, they immediately abandoned their positions and used the Earth Release ninjutsu, Earth Reflection Fish Technique, to escape.

The reason why Sarutobi Ribei and Nara Rikutoki achieved so many victories was mainly because Iwagakure discovered that the attacking ninja army did not have any Uchiha ninjas with red eyes, and mostly adopted a defensive or even offensive posture. After engaging in battle, it was naturally easier to achieve more victories.

This can be considered a kind of trouble for the powerful.

Uchiha Tokumitsu felt happy about this kind of trouble.

After the rewards were distributed, the next phase of the operation was planned, and this part of the briefing and deployment was overseen by Sakumo Hatake.

"To my fellow Konoha and Kusagakure comrades."

Sakumo Hatake's loud voice echoed in the central command hall.

All the ninjas present, whether from the Uchiha clan of Konoha or other ninja clans such as Sarutobi, including the three centurions commanding the ninja army from Kusagakure, stood up straight and listened attentively to Sakumo Hatake's orders.

"In order to further expand the border advantage and suppress the activities of Iwagakure, after discussions and simulations with Himon-kun and Tokumitsu-kun, the command now plans to change the next phase of the operation from the sabotage of small strongholds to the capture operations between various Iwagakure outposts!"

"The objective of this operation is to destroy and capture the eight outer positions of the Iwagakure main camp in one fell swoop through a decisive strike! This will achieve the strategic goal of completely besieging the main camp of the Iwagakure garrison!"

"Snapped!"

Sakumo Hatake threw a shuriken that landed precisely on the location of the Iwagakure camp on the world map.

"promise!"

The Jonin in charge responded with a resounding roar.

"Do you all have any further questions regarding operational objectives and strategic goals?"

Sakumo Hatake, who looked down on everyone, asked loudly.

One hand was raised.

It's Nara Rikutoki again.

"What's your question?" It wasn't Sakumo Hatake who spoke, but Tokumitsu Uchiha.

Uchiha Tokumitsu was also getting a little angry at Nara Rikutoki, who had repeatedly acted particularly tactless as his advisor.

"Lord Sakumo, Lord Tokumitsu..." Nara Shikatoki's voice carried a hint of fear, "May I ask... this operation is presumably a large-scale ninja invasion across the border? How should we report this to the village?"

Uchiha Tokumitsu's expression turned even more grim.

"Lord Deguang... I didn't mean to inform on anyone. It's just that according to the village rules, any cross-border operation involving more than thirty people, or ten squads, must be reported to the Hokage and can only proceed after obtaining permission and authorization..."

"Yukihira!"

Instead of directly answering Nara Rikutoki's question, Uchiha Tokumitsu addressed Nara Yukihira, who was sitting respectfully below.

"Lord Tokuko!" Nara Yukihira quickly stood up and bowed respectfully.

"You draft the document. Write that a genin from headquarters went missing during an exercise. In order to find the missing comrade, headquarters, after failing to find him in the Land of Grass, attempted to cross the border to conduct a search and rescue operation..." Uchiha Tokumitsu paused, picked up his teacup and took a sip of water.

The audience was stunned.

"...At the same time, in order to protect the safety of the search and rescue team members, the size of the team may be slightly larger; however, our department will also take all necessary measures to ensure that the safety of the search and rescue personnel is not threatened by Yan Yin, so as to avoid causing a greater disaster."

“That’s it…” Uchiha Tokumitsu thought for a moment, then asked the other two, “Commander Himon, Commander Sakumo, do you have anything to add?”

Having witnessed and heard this scene of blatant distortion of the truth, the two were still in shock and instinctively shook their heads.

"That's settled then, Staff Officer Yukihira, issue the order immediately!" Uchiha Tokumitsu commanded. He then looked at Nara Rikutoki and asked, "Do you have any further questions?"

"No, no... I mean no, no." Nara Rikutoki shook his head repeatedly.

Uchiha Tokumitsu nodded. "Sakumo-kun, please continue to deploy the tasks for each department."

The restraint initiated by leveraging the Hokage's power was directly neutralized by Uchiha Tokumitsu in an absurd and brutal manner, and the central command hall returned to normal operations for mission deployment.

"In order to achieve the strategic objectives of this operation, all units are hereby ordered to carry out the following tasks—"

"The First Border Defense Detachment and the Fifth Patrol Detachment of the Border Defense Forces! The two units will launch a joint attack on the first and second eastern outposts of Iwagakure!"