Shisui Returns to the Village

Early autumn, Year 52 of Konoha.

The Ninja World was no longer particularly concerned with the war between Konoha and Kumogakure. The biggest spectacle now was the war between Kumogakure and Iwagakure.

This war, started by Konoha, had turned Iwagakure into the main attacker, something none of the other ninja villages had expected.

Sunagakure was the first to mobilize its shinobi forces toward Iwagakure.

If Iwagakure truly defeated Kumogakure, Sunagakure would not get anything at all.

During the war between Kumogakure and Konoha, the envoy sent by the Kazekage had failed to gain any benefits from Sarutobi Hiruzen. Hiruzen had even mobilized a thousand shinobi to the Land of Rain border.

Iwagakure had originally been one of the parties condemning Kumogakure, but now it had become the main attacking force. If Kumogakure surrendered, the benefits Iwagakure gained would be immense. If they did not intervene before Iwagakure got those benefits, would that not be a loss?

Unfortunately, Tsuchikage Ōnoki was just as unwilling to compromise as Sarutobi Hiruzen and sent two thousand shinobi to the Land of Rain border.

Kazekage Rasa was helpless as well.

(?ó﹏ò?)

What kind of move was this, mobilizing troops whenever they disagreed?

If he did not mobilize troops, would that not make him look easy to bully?

But he had already mobilized forces before. Mobilizing more troops would put no small amount of pressure on him.

The Land of Rain was the least worried of all.

Although all three great nations had gathered shinobi forces along its borders, the Rain Ninja were now under Deva Path Pain's control, so they were not worried at all.

The most peaceful-looking place was Kirigakure in the Land of Water.

However, the Land of Water had once again implemented the Bloody Mist Policy.

Its cruelty had escalated once more.

Some Kekkei Genkai Ninja found it increasingly difficult to survive in the Land of Water.

The Land of Lightning suffered heavy losses due to attacks by Iwagakure shinobi.

These losses were no trivial matter. The economic damage alone equaled the income of several towns.

There was no need to even mention the population. Small villages near Kumogakure had suffered devastating blows.

Fortunately, Raikage A returned in time and joined forces with the ninja clans within the Cloud Ninja Village to launch an all-out war. The thousand elite Iwagakure shinobi were routed. Otherwise, the Land of Lightning's losses would have been even greater.

Five-Tails Jinchuriki Han led the subsequent Iwagakure shinobi forces as their vanguard. After severely injuring Yugito, he encountered the Kumogakure forces led by Dodai.

After a fierce battle, Kumogakure lost 2,200 shinobi, Dodai was killed, and Han was severely wounded. The Iwagakure shinobi army lost 2,000 shinobi. Though Iwagakure had won, both sides had suffered excessive casualties, so they temporarily ceased fighting.

The two sides continued clashing in small units.

The Iwagakure shinobi had gone to reinforce the routed survivors of those thousand shinobi, while the Kumogakure shinobi were hunting them down.

Both sides escalated their small-unit warfare once more.

More and more battles broke out within the Land of Lightning, leaving the Land of Lightning Daimyo deeply dissatisfied.

Raikage A was reprimanded by the Land of Lightning Daimyo.

After all, Raikage A had failed to stop the Iwagakure shinobi in time, resulting in massive losses for the Land of Lightning. He had to take the blame for that.

As the war shifted, Konoha's Command Center in the Land of the Moon grew increasingly tense.

That was because Kushina proposed that Uchiha Shisui return to Konoha.

At the same time, Uchiha Shisui himself requested to return to Konoha.

This caused the Uchiha, who had originally intended to earn even greater merit, to calm down and approve Shisui's return.

The most awkward person, however, was none other than Nara Shikaku.

It was not that he did not want Shisui to return to Konoha. It was that Danzo's Root Ninja had been preventing Shisui from returning to the village.

Their reason was that the front line needed Uchiha Shisui.

But that reason simply did not hold up before Kushina.

Thus, Nara Shikaku found himself in a difficult position.

If he kept Shisui behind, he would offend the Uchiha and Kushina. If he let Shisui return, he would offend the Hokage Faction.

Whenever they tried attacking Kumogakure's main force, the Kumogakure shinobi avoided them. After being tricked by traps several times, they could only keep sending small teams deeper in to force Kumogakure into defense. At the same time, they had to move the Command Center forward and dispatch various teams to protect the supply lines.

Although the supply lines had not been attacked by Kumogakure shinobi, Nara Shikaku divided supplies into small batches. In his view, Kumogakure's failure to attack these small transport teams was unusual.

In truth, the Kumogakure shinobi genuinely had not split their forces to attack Konoha's supply lines.

The war in their rear had already consumed most of Kumogakure's energy. They simply had no spare capacity to focus on the war with Konoha.

Especially as Konoha grew more and more sluggish, repeatedly retreating to avoid battle, it seemed Konoha intended to sit back and watch Kumogakure and Iwagakure fight.

Sarutobi Hiruzen of Konoha truly did intend to watch the two tigers fight first. He did not want the Uchiha to gain more merit, and Shisui's sudden rise this time had already left him unable to sit still.

"Hiruzen! Uchiha Shisui has requested to return to the village. You absolutely cannot agree to it. It would be best if he died on the battlefield!" Danzo pushed open the door to the Hokage Office without knocking.

Then he saw his old companion looking at the Crystal Ball again. He had no idea what Hiruzen was watching, but that did not matter. He could not allow Uchiha Shisui to return to the village, or the Uchiha would become even more united.

"Danzo, can't you knock before entering?" Sarutobi Hiruzen put away the Crystal Ball and looked sternly at Shimura Danzō. "As for Shisui returning to the village, I have decided to allow him to return."

"Hiruzen, that Shisui should die on the front line..." Danzo had been excited at first, but gradually fell silent.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression also softened from sternness. He took a puff from his pipe. "Danzo, you must understand that letting Uchiha Shisui return to the village now can reduce Uchiha losses and stabilize the Uchiha within the village."

"Yes, yes, Uchiha Shisui should return. That is what I think too." Danzo turned around.

"By the way, does Root have enough manpower? Do you need me to increase your funding?"

"Rest assured, once this is over, I will make my request to you. As for now, let us wait a little longer."

Danzo gently closed the door to the Hokage Office, appearing much more polite.

"Danzo, do not disappoint me."

After Danzo left, Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed as well. "Anbu needs more manpower. I hope the other clans can be understanding."

At Konoha's front-line Command Center.

Nara Shikaku also received a new order from the Hokage.

Uchiha Shisui was to lead two hundred shinobi and be responsible for escorting all shinobi injured in this war back to the rear.

The following order was written in a different hand.

The two hundred shinobi could not include members of ninja clans. Chunin could not be mobilized, lest front-line combat power be reduced. No jonin besides Uchiha Shisui could be mobilized. Kushina in particular could not leave the front line. The route back to the village was to avoid the supply lines as much as possible, to prevent the supply lines from being exposed.

Nara Shikaku understood perfectly what this order represented.

But understanding was one thing; he would not object to it.

The Uchiha were also very happy upon learning that Uchiha Shisui could return to the village.

Because by returning to the village, Shisui could avoid the possibility of dying in an accident.

However, the fact that the shinobi Shisui was taking were all genin left the Uchiha Clan shinobi extremely dissatisfied.

That was because most Uchiha Clan members on the battlefield were chunin or higher-ranked shinobi and could not return to Konoha with Shisui.