The Sorrow of a Small, Sparsely Populated Nation

Everyone in the ninja world knew the Uzumaki Clan was like this. After barely exchanging a few words, they would grow impatient and want to fight. Perhaps it was because of the Uzumaki Clan's constitution: immense Chakra, but no refined Chakra control, which affected their moods. Weren't the Tailed Beasts the same?

They put no points into intelligence and piled everything into Chakra, all while wearing an arrogant face. Yet when someone wanted to talk to them about life, they covered their ears, shook their heads, and said, "I won't listen, I won't listen."

Then, one Tailed Beast Ball would send you to meet the Grim Reaper.

Prince Naruto's Talk-no-Jutsu had not yet reached mastery, though. Sigh—when it did, he would still howl and charge right in.

"Attack—!" The Uzushio Village ninja shouted. The order from above was to injure them without killing them, and to let them escape by "accident." It did not say to let them escape uninjured.

Sigh—!

What a pain. They could not send too many people, but they could not send too few either. They also had to act weak, while making it look as though so many of them still could not defeat the Mist Ninja.

It was truly giving them a headache. They actually had to put on a fake battle.

The Uzumaki Clan was not made up of people like this!

They...

Feared no hardship.

"Damn it, I really hate war." Dayou frantically fended off the Uzushio Village ninja rushing at him. "So why did the Second Lord start a war?"

"Shut up." Hearing Dayou's words, the captain shouted furiously. At a time like this, he was still saying things that would undermine morale? Did he want to have tea with the Anbu, or have the Mizukage give him an ice-cold bath?

Fortunately, Uzushio Village's ninja were not particularly strong. Under Konoha's deliberate arrangements, most of Uzushio Village's powerful ninja had been left on the battlefield and could not return.

It was truly unimaginable that hypocritical Konoha had such loyal allies. But now?

Heh...

They would probably lose both their nation and clan.

The Uzushio Village ninja cautiously signaled to the teammates around them. Do not go overboard—especially some of them. Do not get so fired up fighting that they started going all out!

That was right. They were just fighting. Killing one or two people was enough. As Prince Xun had instructed, the rest needed to be allowed to leave.

Ninjutsu flew continuously from their hands, but no one used Sealing Jutsu. They were all techniques that looked powerful, yet the Mist Ninja always managed to dodge them by "accident."

"Keisuke!!" Seeing his teammate's arm sliced off by a Uzushio ninja's Wind Release and seeing him surrounded, Dayou shouted.

"Break through, Dayou." The captain also saw his teammate surrounded. There was no need to look—Keisuke was definitely finished. Seeing Dayou try to help, he quickly stopped him. "Leave this place. Don't let Keisuke's sacrifice be in vain."

"But, but..." With tears in his eyes, Dayou looked anxiously at the captain.

"Leave." The captain shouted sternly. "Break through now, or everyone will be finished."

Dayou took one deep look at Keisuke, wiped away his tears, and resolutely turned his head away. He gripped a Shuriken tightly in his right hand and followed the captains in breaking through. "I really hate war."

He silently repeated in his heart...

"Word came from the rear. Kirigakure lost two people, then they all retreated." The Second Elder said to Xun Uzumaki and the Clan Head, "They are asking what to do next."

"What about us? Did we suffer any casualties?" Xun Uzumaki asked. Their numbers were already small; they could not afford to lose too many people!

"No. We had more people, and most of them used Shadow Clones as you instructed, so there were no deaths. But many were injured—more than fifty, roughly."

Hearing the Second Elder's words, Xun Uzumaki immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Injuries were fine. Most Uzumaki had cockroach-like vitality; they would not die that easily. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Tell them to stay concealed. Do not let Kirigakure's ninja pass through. Make it look as if that place is our camp."

"At the same time, learn the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu and Mutual Multiplication Explosive Tags as quickly as possible." Xun Uzumaki looked at the fleeing Mist Ninja below and sighed. "War has arrived."

"From now on, focus on Shadow Clones. Remember the battle plan I arranged. Rather than seeking kills, prioritize your own safety. Slowly drag the Mist Ninja to death."

He refused to believe Kirigakure did not need to eat. Even if they had plenty of Ration Pills, he refused to believe they could keep eating them until the war ended.

"Yes!" After hearing Xun Uzumaki's arrangements, the Second Elder went to the rear to deploy the tactics.

Xun Uzumaki gazed sorrowfully in the direction of Kirigakure. Kirigakure was quite far from the Land of Whirlpools, but their main force was probably about to arrive. Could the Land of Whirlpools hold out until the war ended?

"We're still too weak." Xun Uzumaki muttered softly. A small country with few people was simply helpless!

To prevent Kirigakure from surrounding the Land of Whirlpools from all sides—and to guard against other ninja villages trying to fish in troubled waters—Xun Uzumaki had long arranged for the Land of Whirlpools to abandon all unimportant things within the country, hide away, and break up into scattered units. Uzushio Village's ninja would hide throughout the Land of Whirlpools and use the terrain to secure victory. As for Explosive Tags?

Shadow Clones would do. Human bombs, with an added rain of Explosive Tag arrows. As for the remaining Shadow Clones, they only needed to howl and charge forward. It suited their personalities perfectly. First, they would wear the enemy down, then overwhelm them with numbers. After all, the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu had the ability to lower one's intelligence.

After all, there were so many of them. Their strength might not be great, but their momentum was!

Even standing nearby and shouting "666" could lift morale. Let alone a crowd of identical people howling as they charged forward—this shit would scare people half to death.

Xun Uzumaki watched the Mist Ninja who had escaped below. They were still cautiously watching their surroundings. He sighed and muttered, "I'll let you escape this disaster for now!!"

"Why? Why?" Dayou grabbed the captain by the collar and cried loudly. "Why did we abandon Keisuke?"

"Why did we abandon Keisuke?"

The captain directly flung Dayou away and said coldly, "Because this is war."

Hearing the captain's cold voice, tears fell from Dayou's eyes. He wailed, "Keisuke... Keisuke was our teammate!"

"Shut up." The captain was already in a foul mood after being surrounded and losing someone. With Dayou making a scene, the mood around them began to turn sour. He immediately seized Dayou by the throat, his cold eyes fixed on him, and said icily, "Say another word, and I'll kill you."

Dayou struggled painfully in the captain's grip, his limbs flailing as he tried to break free, but he could not. His face gradually turned red, and his vision slowly blurred.

Seeing this, Ebisu hurriedly stopped him. "Captain, let go. Dayou will die if this continues."

Hearing Ebisu's words, the captain casually threw Dayou aside. With a cold snort, he led the team away to arrange sentries.

Dayou came back to his senses and gasped for air. Looking at the departing captain, especially his final words—"Say another word, and I'll kill you"—Dayou could tell the captain was not joking. That deep, icy killing intent made him feel as though he were suffocating in fear. The captain... he meant it. He lowered his head and muttered, "War really is hateful."

Ebisu patted Dayou's back beside him, helping him catch his breath. He looked at him worriedly and asked, "Are you all right?"

Dayou shook his head without saying anything.

Seeing this, Ebisu opened his mouth but did not know what to say. In the end, he merely sighed. "Don't blame the captain. He had no choice either. This is war."

Hearing Ebisu's words, Dayou raised his head and silently looked at him. Then he stood up and said in a low voice, "That's why I hate war."

"Why did they have to start a war?!"

"Everything was clearly about to end."

"It really is hateful."

"How much longer until we arrive?"