Uchiha's personal opinion

With such inferior ninja tools, how did the Rain Village manage to withstand the successive attacks of the three great nations?

"Speaking of which, Danzo is truly incompetent! He suffered such heavy losses and could only deal with such a weak enemy!" Uchiha Tokumitsu casually tossed away the broken Rain Ninja kunai and complained to Hatake Sakumo.

Sakumo Hatake gave a bitter laugh. "Rain Shinobu... has nothing but courage."

He also disliked this kind of fighting.

"What a boring battle..." Uchiha Tokumitsu muttered under his breath.

This was the first time he had felt disgusted by war and killing.

Chapter 89: Meeting Danzo! A head-on clash of attacks and weapons.

In the time that followed, Uchiha Tokumitsu and Hatake Sakumo wandered around the southern part of the Land of Rain in a very casual manner, no longer taking the so-called harassment mission seriously.

The war against Amegakure was different from the conflict between Konoha and Iwagakure, which were evenly matched, and it was also different from the righteous fight to save Uzumaki Country, which was for the survival of Uzumaki.

The war between the three great nations and Amegakure was purely for self-interest, aimed at containing the rising power of Amegakure under the leadership of Hanzo the Salamander.

Although as a Konoha ninja he had a right to fight for Konoha, he still couldn't muster the enthusiasm for battle.

Uchiha Tokumitsu and Hatake Sakumo were enjoying a relaxing soak in the only hot spring inn in the southern part of the Land of Rain.

During this time, they were too lazy to continue leading the entire mobile force of Jonin to aimlessly wander around the Land of Rain. They only led three Jonin with them, leaving the others to stay in the northern border of the Land of Rivers to guard the area and wipe out the endless underground forces, which would also be a contribution to the civilians of the Land of Rivers.

The two led their troops to roam freely within the Land of Rain, as if they were in an uninhabited place.

Although there were many battles with the Rain Ninja during this process, the Rain Ninja usually attacked first, and there was no unnecessary killing after the battle.

After one or two times, the reputations of Uchiha Tokumitsu and Hatake Sakumo spread among the lower-ranking ninjas stationed in the southern Rain Village.

The Rain Ninja unanimously believed that these powerful Konoha ninjas were only forced to participate in the war by those unscrupulous high-ranking officials of major powers, and that they had no ill intentions towards the Rain Ninjas, so there was no need to interfere unnecessarily.

Therefore, Uchiha Tokumitsu and Hatake Sakumo acted even more recklessly and without concealment in the southern part of the Land of Rain. Even when they encountered Rain Ninja, the Rain Ninja would simply bow silently and retreat.

Some of the bolder Rain Ninja even secretly approached Uchiha Tokumitsu, intending to do some business with him, exchange goods and services, and make a little money together.

After discussing with Hatake Sakumo, the two agreed that they could sell some food supplies to Amegakure in exchange for rare materials such as chakra metal.

After a series of transactions, both Uchiha Tokumitsu, the head of border trade, and Hatake Sakumo received enough chakra metal to forge a short blade, and both were very satisfied with the result.

"Sakumo-kun, what kind of weapon are you planning to forge?"

Across the hot spring pool, Uchiha Tokumitsu asked.

"I plan to forge another short sword," Sakumo Hatake said lazily.

"Didn't you already have one? Why do you want to play another one?" Uchiha Tokumitsu asked, somewhat puzzled.

"This sword is not bad, but it only contains 40% chakra metal, so it's not good enough."

"Could it be... that a ninja specializing in swordsmanship like you doesn't pursue the unity of man and sword or cultivate a tacit understanding with your weapon?"

Uchiha Tokumitsu became even more curious.

"...A weapon is a weapon. It wears out with every use. How can you develop a tacit understanding?" Hatake Sakumo was somewhat speechless. "Tokumitsu-kun, those samurai novels that talk about using only one weapon in one's life to achieve oneness with the sword are just excuses made by poor ronin who write these novels because they can't afford to buy new weapons."

“Okay…” Uchiha Tokumitsu touched his nose somewhat awkwardly and didn’t bring it up again.

After a while, a noisy fight broke out outside the hot spring inn.

Judging from the sounds, it was clear that the Uchiha Jonin from the Mobile Force were also involved.

Uchiha Tokumitsu and Hatake Sakumo exchanged a strange glance.

In the southern part of the Land of Rain, no force is willing to clash with the semi-neutral Mobile Force.

However, judging from the sounds of the fighting, the Jonin of the Mobile Force had not suffered any losses, so Uchiha Tokumitsu and Hatake Sakumo were not in a hurry to go out and see what was going on. They simply got up and changed their clothes at a leisurely pace.

"Young Master Deguang, Commander Shuomao."

A Jonin from the Uchiha clan walked in and bowed to the two of them.

What happened?

"I asked Hatake Sakumo."

“...They are messenger ninjas from the dispatched army stationed in the eastern region,” the Uchiha Jonin replied. “They are looking for the two commanders, but their behavior was rather rude. In order to avoid offending the two commanders, we have detained them without authorization.”

"You didn't lose out, did you?"

Uchiha Tokumitsu, having re-donned his armor, turned around and asked.

"No……"

The Uchiha Jonin said somewhat embarrassedly, "It's just that we might be used to battlefield tactics, and we might have been a bit too heavy-handed. They only have some superficial wounds..."

"That's alright..."

Sakumo Hatake breathed a sigh of relief.

Uchiha Tokumitsu glanced at him, wondering when Hatake Sakumo's bottom line had become so low.

What is the identity of a messenger ninja?

As Uchiha Tokumitsu walked out, he casually asked.

"Judging from their attire, they seem to be members of the village's secret service, but their demeanor doesn't match..."

"Oh?"

Uchiha Tokumitsu looked at the Uchiha Jonin beside him with some confusion, "Danzo's pet rat?"

"It should be..."

The Uchiha Jonin nodded silently.

"How interesting..."

Uchiha Tokumitsu chuckled coldly and strode towards the door.

In the lobby of the hot spring inn, three ninjas lay on the floor, tightly bound. They were indeed dressed as Konoha's Anbu, but judging from the deathly pale face revealed after one of them had his mask shattered, he did not seem to be an Anbu directly under the Hokage.

“Look at their tongues.”

Uchiha Tokumitsu gave the order.

Three Uchiha Jonin stepped forward and roughly pressed their knees against the necks of the three messenger ninjas, forcing them to stop struggling. They then forcibly pried open their mouths and pulled out their tongues.

Their tongues were covered with strangely patterned black curse marks.

"As expected, he's Danzo's rat..." Uchiha Tokumitsu sneered repeatedly.

Even the Hokage's direct ANBU knew to give him some face, otherwise they would definitely suffer losses if they fought; only Danzo's Root unit, which was full of malice towards the Uchiha clan, dared to be so rude to the Uchiha.

"That is……"

Sakumo Hatake stared at the curse mark on the Root ninja's tongue, his brows furrowed.

"The Seal of Severing the Root of Tongue Calamity," Uchiha Tokumitsu replied. "It is said that if the person affected by this spell says anything about Danzo, they will become completely paralyzed, unable to speak or move."

Sakumo Hatake's brows furrowed even more.

"Danzo uses such underhanded tactics to bind his subordinates and prevent them from revealing his secrets. Just how insecure is he?" Uchiha Tokumitsu scoffed. "But it's no wonder that they haven't made any progress in the Land of Rain after fighting for so long. With such poor management skills, it's a miracle that the ninja army hasn't rebelled."

"Is there anything I can help you with, Danzo?"

Sakumo Hatake witnessed the tragic state of Root under control, but he did not make things difficult for him.

"Lord Danzo requests to see Hatake Sakumo and Uchiha Tokumitsu." Root paused. "The conscription order is in the scroll case on my chest."

"A mobilization order? Danzo actually has the authority to issue mobilization orders?"

Sakumo Hatake's tone began to harden.

The Root ninjas remained silent.

“There’s no need to talk to this mindless puppet.” Uchiha Tokumitsu said to Hatake Sakumo, “They have been brainwashed by Danzo and then controlled by the cursed seal. As long as Danzo is alive, the cursed seal on these people cannot be lifted.”

Then, Uchiha Tokumitsu signaled to the Jonin of the Mobile Force to take out the documents from inside the armor of the Root unit.

The content did indeed summon Uchiha Tokumitsu and Hatake Sakumo to the Rain Country Expeditionary Force Command in Konoha to discuss military affairs. The content criticized the two for their wandering behavior on the southern border of the Rain Country, and the wording and tone were too arrogant and conceited, completely placing themselves in a superior position to issue orders.

Even Sakumo Hatake, known for his good temper, turned pale with anger.

He then handed the letter to Uchiha Tokumitsu.

Uchiha Tokumitsu glanced at it briefly and commented, "The handwriting is quite good."

Sakumo Hatake was particularly surprised to hear this.

That's it?

Uchiha Tokumitsu, who harbored the greatest animosity towards Danzo, actually had this kind of attitude?

"Let them go!"

"Uchiha Tokumitsu gave the order."

"Yes!"

Three Uchiha Jonin released the Root ninja from their restraints.

"Throw it outside."

Uchiha Tokumitsu gave another instruction.

"As ordered!"

Six Jonin stepped forward together, two by two, each grabbing a Root member's arm, dragged him outside the inn, and threw him out.

"Does Sakumo-kun think it's strange that I'm not angry?"

Uchiha Tokumitsu asked with a smile.

"Yes, a little."

Honest Sakumo Hatake replied.

"There's no need to get angry with a dead futures trader~" Uchiha Tokumitsu said with a bright smile. "It's not worth getting yourself upset."

“Tokuko-kun… Although Danzo wasn’t exactly a good person, he was, after all, an advisor and elder of the village, and he had made considerable contributions in intelligence gathering. We can’t just kill him openly and rashly.”

Sakumo Hatake hurriedly said.

"No, no, we would never kill anyone in public." Uchiha Tokumitsu waved his hands repeatedly in denial. "However, since Danzo's documents have been delivered, it wouldn't make sense for our mobile force not to go to the dispatch army camp."