On the front lines, at the Uzumaki camp.
"Outrageous!" Uzumaki Ashina slammed the table and sprang to his feet, his eyes bloodshot. Anyone who didn't know better might have thought he had Uchiha blood.
Beside him, Mito didn't even lift her eyelids. She knew perfectly well what the intelligence report contained.
Launching a surprise attack deep behind their lines to force the Uzumaki, who were fighting a protracted war, to withdraw-the Uchiha had come up with a good plan.
Their execution had been excellent, too.
In truth, Mito had opposed getting close to the Senju from the start. In her eyes, becoming embroiled in the Land of Fire's conflicts was terribly unwise.
Now that they needed the Uzumaki, they were naturally all brotherly affection and promises of solidarity. But if things changed in the future, the Land of Whirlpools could very well find itself hated by both sides.
The Uchiha had stood firm in the Land of Fire for a thousand years. They weren't an enemy that could simply be wiped out on command.
The war wasn't even over yet, and the Uzumaki had already tasted retaliation.
With that brat's Space-Time Ninjutsu, the clansmen left behind could do nothing to stop him.
"Father, withdraw our troops," Mito suggested.
"Ah..." Uzumaki Ashina sighed deeply. With only father and daughter present, he finally spoke his mind honestly.
"Do you think I don't want to withdraw? But we can't."
"If our very first war abroad ends in defeat, the Shinobi World will see us as weak and easy prey. We'll never hear the end of it."
There was something else Uzumaki Ashina left unsaid. He believed the Senju Clan could be trusted and would surely become a steadfast ally of the Land of Whirlpools.
Everything they sacrificed now was for the future generations