Uchiha's personal opinion

The ninja army commander disregarded the Hokage's orders and even took the Jonin's right to object as a matter of course, expanding it in an attempt to usurp the Hokage's authority. This was something that had never happened in Konoha before.

This also means that the powerful clans have begun to openly collude with smaller ninja clans or commoner ninjas, and have clearly developed their own power ambitions.

Especially at this crucial juncture, if the internal forces of Konoha were to openly split and begin to fight each other, the consequences would be truly unimaginable!

This is a major issue concerning whether the Konoha F4 can maintain control of the village for a long time!

After leaving the central command tent, Mitokado Homura felt increasingly uneasy and fearful.

"Back to the village!"

Mitokado said firmly.

"Yes!"

Although the accompanying ANBU were surprised, they showed no objection to the instructions from their superiors. They immediately arranged for people to go to the garrison camp to pack their belongings, and then the group left the camp and headed back towards Konoha.

As the de facto commanders of the garrison camp, Uchiha Tokumitsu and his two companions naturally learned of Mitokado Homura's movements immediately.

Sakumo Hatake sighed, waved for the subordinate who came to report to leave, and then went to bed fully clothed, but he couldn't fall asleep no matter what he did, his eyes remained open.

Upon hearing this, Uchiha Tokumitsu clicked his tongue, it was unclear whether he was praising Mitokado Homura's decisive action or mocking the advisor elder for being so cowardly and incompetent.

However, since this was done by all three of them, there will inevitably be some aftereffects, and we need to make some preparations.

Uchiha Tokumitsu thought for a moment, picked up a piece of paper, wrote something down quickly, put it in a confidential envelope, and handed it to the Uchiha ninja who came to deliver the message.

"Please deliver this document to the fire control commander on my behalf."

After the Uchiha ninja took it, Uchiha Tokumitsu didn't think about it anymore. He quickly washed up and went to sleep.

When Uchiha Himon received the letter, he was somewhat surprised. Since they were all in the same camp, why couldn't they just say what was on their minds instead of going through all that trouble and having someone else deliver the document?

Tearing open the confidential envelope, the contents were surprisingly simple and straightforward.

The Fifth Detachment of the Northwest Border Defense Force was transferred to the Northern Shattered Stone City for a rotation, while the original Uchiha First Detachment, which was stationed there, was withdrawn to the Daimyo's Mansion in the Land of Grass to perform its guard duties.

The Fifth Division was a ninja army reorganized from the rotation of ninjas after Uchiha Tokumitsu was transferred to the Mobile Force as deputy commander. Uchiha Himon also stuffed all the ninjas he had dismissed from the border troops into this newly formed ninja army division. Its division commander was Sarutobi Rihei, who came from the Sarutobi clan. In addition to a large number of Sarutobi clan members, the ninjas under his command also included many ninjas from smaller ninja clans or commoners who had some connection with the Sarutobi clan.

"Withdraw the Uchiha Division... and replace it with the annoying Fifth Division..."

Uchiha Himon rested his chin on his hand, trying to figure out Uchiha Tokumitsu's intentions.

After thinking for a while, Uchiha Himon suddenly had an idea.

He immediately ordered the bell to summon the Uchiha ninja in charge of intelligence gathering.

"Has there been any movement from Iwagakure in the North these past few days?"

"Nothing at the moment...and the frontline patrols have not reported any anomalies..."

The intelligence ninja was also somewhat disgruntled. They had just utterly defeated Iwagakure at the border; how could Iwagakure possibly react so quickly...?

Suddenly, his heart tightened.

He looked up and found Uchiha Himon staring intently at him.

"This……"

The intelligence ninja's forehead and back were covered in sweat, but he dared not raise his hand to wipe it away.

“Onoki may be a little indecisive, but he has never been a coward…” Uchiha Himon’s tone was somewhat sinister, making the intelligence ninja’s heart beat even faster.

"I will immediately arrange for cross-border reconnaissance!"

"Ok?"

Uchiha Himon's nasal tone seemed to carry a hint of doubt and dissatisfaction.

"What I mean is... I'll lead a team to the northern border for reconnaissance right away!"

The intelligence ninja, based on his superior's tone, changed his tune without hesitation.

"Ok!"

Uchiha Himon waved his hand, signaling the intelligence ninja to leave.

"Be careful, don't let anyone know."

"Yes!"

The intelligence ninja hurriedly retreated.

Uchiha Himon then summoned Nara Yukihira and said bluntly, "Chief of Staff Yukihira, draft a transfer order immediately!"

"Yes!"

Before Uchiha Himon could even finish reciting the transfer order, Nara Yukihira immediately straightened his back.

"The Fifth Detachment of the Northwest Border Defense Force is hereby ordered to immediately be transferred to Shattered Stone City in the Northern Territory to replace the original Uchiha First Detachment stationed there!"

"Yes!"

Although he found the word "immediately" used in the transfer order strange, Nara Yukihira did not dare to ask and immediately lowered his head to write furiously.

"The Uchiha First Squad, which has been rotated out, has been transferred to the Daimyo's residence in the Land of Grass to carry out a protection mission!"

"Swish, swish, swish~"

Nara Yukihira, an expert in documents, quickly drafted the emergency transfer order and handed it to Uchiha Himon for review before immediately issuing it.

A short while later, a commotion broke out in the camp as a group of ninjas headed towards the northern border.

Uchiha Tokumitsu was a light sleeper and was awakened by the noisy commotion.

He got up, listened intently for a while, and then drifted off to sleep again, satisfied.

Hatake Sakumo also noticed the noise in the camp. After a while, he sighed and closed his eyes.

……

The next day at noon, a transfer order issued by the Hokage Building was urgently delivered to the garrison camp in the Land of Grass by the Anbu.

The message was straightforward: Uchiha Tokumitsu and Hatake Sakumo would lead the mobile forces back to Konoha for rest and preparation for their next mission.

Uchiha Tokumitsu and Uchiha Himon met briefly in private to discuss border countermeasures before returning with Hatake Sakumo and their troops.

In order to consolidate the Uchiha clan's sphere of influence in the Land of Grass, Uchiha Tokumitsu also left the Tokumitsu Red Guard, which he directly commanded, in the Land of Grass as an emergency reserve force.

“Lord Deguang…”

On the return journey, Hatake Sakumo, just like before, once again sidled up to Uchiha Tokumitsu.

“Shumo-kun, please speak freely.”

Uchiha Tokumitsu could tell from his tone that Hatake Sakumo definitely had something to ask him again.

"Was Rikibei's Fifth Detachment transferred north overnight for a troop rotation?"

"Yes, don't you know, Sakumo-kun?" Uchiha Tokumitsu raised an eyebrow and asked in return.

"Know……"

Honest man Sakumo was too embarrassed to lie, "But isn't such obvious suppression a bit inappropriate...?"

"Out of sight, out of mind, it's no big deal."

Uchiha Tokumitsu casually replied, "Since we've come to the border region, we should bear the responsibilities that headquarters should bear, right?"

"The Ninja World War is imminent..." Hatake Sakumo wanted to say something, but he only got to the beginning and then stopped.

"It's nothing. Let's hurry on our way, so that the Hokage doesn't get too anxious and lose sleep."

Uchiha Tokumitsu said with a slightly teasing tone.

"Too……"

Meanwhile, far away in the Hokage Building in Konoha, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, along with advisors Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, had been discussing for some time the open defiance of orders by the northwestern border defense forces and the mobile reinforcement units.

Although all three of them were furious with Uchiha Tokumitsu and Uchiha Himon's actions, they knew that a major battle was imminent and there was nothing they could do about it for the time being.

"The Uchiha... they must be deliberately using this crisis to pressure the village and seize power!" Koharu Utatane was furious when she saw her old friend Homura Mitokado looking so tired and haggard.

“I’m fine…” Mitokado Yan waved his hand dismissively, “Working for the village is my duty.”

"But... what are your plans for dealing with the Uchiha clan, especially that brat Uchiha Tokumitsu, Hiruzen?" Mitokado Homura tossed the burden to the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.

As a high-ranking advisor and elder, Mitokado Homura was always a distinguished guest of his master, whether in Konoha or in foreign ninja villages, and had never suffered such humiliation before.

"How about transferring him to Danzo's command?"

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, leaned back in his chair, half-closing his eyes and smoking his pipe.

"...That's not appropriate." After thinking for a while, Xiaochun, who was turning over to her dorm, shook her head.

Seeing that both of their gazes were fixed on her, Koharu Utatane sighed, "Danzo's direct subordinates are not enough to suppress the monolithic mobile force..."

In particular, most of the combat jonin were Uchiha clan members.

Although these words were not spoken aloud, everyone present understood the underlying meaning.

"Hiruzen, let Danzo's training department expand, otherwise he'll be in trouble too," Mitomon Homura advised.

The third generation head slowly nodded, then shook his head.

“Even if we expand now, Danzo simply won’t have enough time to replenish the personnel…” The Third Hokage sighed. “Time, there simply isn’t enough time right now.”

All the major powers in the ninja world knew that a great war was imminent, but no one knew where the full-scale outbreak of war would ignite, thus dragging the entire ninja world into the meat grinder of war.

The five great nations with deep-seated grudges, the smaller nations that are unwilling to remain silent, and various underground forces... there are simply too many "powder kegs" in the ninja world that could explode at any moment.

"But there's one more crucial issue," Mitokado Homura's face darkened, "We must never again rely on powerful families!"

“One Uchiha is enough of a headache,” Koharu Utatane nodded in agreement.

"No need... what else can we do?" The Third Hokage chuckled self-deprecatingly. "Does our clan even have any civilian ninjas left?"

"At the very least, we can't let any more powerful families gain military power!" Mitokado Homura's face was extremely gloomy. "Those powerful families... only care about their own interests and don't care about the greater good of the village at all!"

“If we don’t use the Uchiha, it will be even harder to control them after the war weakens the other clans.” The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, took a deep drag on his pipe. “If we don’t use the Hyuga, we will have no advantage in battlefield intelligence.”

"The remaining members of the Senju clan have confirmed their decision to retire." Puffs of smoke billowed out, casting a gray haze over the office, much like the three people's current mood.

Conscripting clan ninjas for battle comes at a price.

Perhaps ordinary small and medium-sized ninja clans are easier to persuade, as they can use rhetoric such as the Will of Fire to influence their lower-ranking members and elders; but those powerful clans are all people who won't act until they see a clear benefit. Without sufficient profit, they won't hand over their power to the village.

"And... Lady Mito... probably doesn't have much time left..."