Combat Plan

During the first contact between the two sides, Date Kamaya of Kikyo Castle temporarily suppressed his initial displeasure, but suppressing it did not mean forgetting it.

As they left the "Ashes" camp and returned to Kikyo Castle, Date Kamaya sat comfortably in his palanquin. After traveling for a while, he suddenly opened a small window on one side and asked the black-robed man:

"What do you think of that group of shinobi? I mean in terms of combat ability."

"Two or three of them are probably usable. The rest are nothing more than cannon fodder, no different from the shinobi we recruited before," the black-robed man said.

To be honest, this man's judgment was fairly accurate. Among the two or three shinobi he considered "usable," Uchiha Nanami, who had performed the Fire Release demonstration, was certainly included.

But aside from his insight, the man's condescending attitude showed that he was either extremely arrogant or genuinely capable.

"Then do you think they're capable of taking down a medium-sized Ninja Village? The one they've chosen as their target, I mean..."

"The Tsugawa Clan."

"Right. Can they deal with the Tsugawa Clan?"

"Not likely. When the basic qualities of the mid- and lower-ranking shinobi are roughly equal, the side with the numerical advantage will win. It's the simplest logic in the world."

The black-robed man made this judgment based on common sense.

That made Date Kamaya fall silent for a moment. Then, as if he had suddenly remembered something pleasant, he couldn't help letting out a low chuckle.

"Once their operation fails and most of the dead weight is eliminated, Lord Daimyo can extend an olive branch to the few elite shinobi who remain... By recruiting only those with value and abandoning useless trash, the Kikyo faction can develop and grow stronger."

The black-robed man did not know what Date Kamaya was laughing about. He simply continued speaking out of a sense of duty.

He believed that the so-called "Fuma Clan" would inevitably fail in its reckless assault. Most of its people would die on the battlefield, and if a few capable individuals remained, they would make the perfect pawns.

Date Kamaya listened carefully, then nodded.

"Let's go. Report what happened here to Lord Daimyo."

Compared with the complicated thoughts in Kikyo Castle, Yuzhen was satisfied with Date Kamaya's performance. That did not mean he trusted the man. Rather...

Put it this way: although the other party's attitude during their meeting had carried a faintly condescending arrogance, at least he had acted like a normally intelligent primate instead of a fat, big-eared even-toed ungulate... Yuzhen's expectations for the so-called aristocratic class were simply that low.

At the very least, the man had not acted as if to say, "You filthy beggar. Now that you're here, you should kneel first." That alone was already quite good.

Yuzhen believed that the average quality of the ruling aristocrats in this chaotic era was probably a little higher than that of the later Ninja Village era. After all, to survive for long in a war-torn environment, one's brain could not be too stupid.

Many shinobi died during the Warring States period, and plenty of daimyo died as well. But later, although the shinobi world fought many wars, the ruling powers of each country were no longer in mortal danger.

In any case, Yuzhen was very satisfied with a negotiator whose intelligence reached the average level of a normal primate. Especially after the man promptly delivered the supplies the camp needed, Yuzhen raised his evaluation of him once again... At the very least, he could now treat him as a Homo sapiens.

Back at the camp, another discussion was needed.

The Fuma Clan shinobi were completely baffled by Yuzhen's decision to deal with the so-called Tsugawa Clan.

Yet apart from them, the shinobi from all sorts of backgrounds showed one hundred percent support for Yuzhen in the face of this inexplicable order to go to war. Some of those whose acting skills were lacking even displayed unusually fervent emotions.

Under these circumstances, although the Fuma Clan's stance was unanimous, if the matter were decided by vote, they could only count as a single vote. Only the unified opinion held by the shinobi from all sorts of backgrounds could represent the organization's will.

Fūma Kotarō was deeply puzzled. Why was everyone's opinion so unified? Did they all have some grudge against the Tsugawa Clan?

He could vaguely guess that Yuzhen must have had a reason for choosing the Tsugawa Clan as their target, but why was everyone supporting him so strongly?

It could only be said that Yuzhen's decision to have everyone conceal their surnames was still muddying the waters. The Hagane shinobi from all sorts of backgrounds would never show any attitude other than support when Yuzhen proposed taking revenge on the Tsugawa Clan.

However, Yuzhen was not going to drag the newly joined Fuma Clan into his own private affair. To avoid discord, he explained his attack plan before the Fuma Clan could state its opinion.

He intended to break apart the Tsugawa Clan through infiltration, assassination, and sabotage carried out by a small elite squad—not have everyone charge forward blindly in a suicidal human-wave attack.

The so-called elite squad consisted of only three people: Yuzhen, Uchiha Nanami, and Fūma Kotarō.

Yuzhen would be the main force in the assassination operations, so he had to take part. Over the past few days, he had completely mastered two types of ninjutsu. Combined with his proficiency in the "White Zetsu Three Techniques," his combat ability was now worlds apart from before.

It was precisely because his strength had grown that he dared to propose this revenge plan.

Uchiha Nanami had stayed at the camp for so long, and Yuzhen had saved her. Besides, her body and strength had recovered to roughly seventy or eighty percent, so she would not refuse to help.

The only unfortunate one was Fūma Kotarō. His hand was still injured, yet he had to take part in the battle. Regardless of his strength or physical condition, he had to participate in this operation... As they say, those who understood would understand, and those who did not simply could not be helped.

If Yuzhen had been a little more sinister, he could have used this operation to get the Clan Leader killed. Fortunately, he was not the kind of person whose mind was filled with a politician's calculations.

Overall, Yuzhen's plan was absolutely feasible. He was not overestimating himself; he had rationally judged that his current abilities were enough to throw the order of an ordinary shinobi clan into chaos.

That was because battles between shinobi possessed certain characteristics and objective patterns. Namely, at equal levels of strength, the attacking side held a far greater advantage than the defending side.

Shinobi battles did not favor frontal combat. Rather, finding the enemy's weaknesses and unleashing one's own advantages in a concentrated assault was the norm. Anything was fair game, and any tactic that could secure victory was a good tactic.

With the White Zetsu's abilities, Yuzhen was highly skilled at infiltration. As long as he entered the enemy's lair, he could make them understand what it meant for the center to blossom.

After all, even the later Konoha had performed terribly when powerful enemies infiltrated its home. The Ninja Village's overall combat strength had not been brought into play at all.

Yuzhen wanted to stab the Tsugawa Clan straight through the heart. As for whether that blade was a one-meter-long tachi or a ten-centimeter sewing needle, the result would actually be about the same.

He began briefly explaining his battle plan:

"We'll infiltrate as a three-man squad. With such a small force, even if each of us is individually powerful, taking down a medium-sized village will basically be impossible. We can't drag the battle out for too long, so all we need to do is eliminate the upper ranks of this shinobi clan."

"The infiltration and assassination mission can be left to me. It's what I'm good at."

By that logic, Yuzhen was taking on the most dangerous task. With that attitude, no one could criticize him.

He was not seeking to wipe them all out in one sweep, because that was unrealistic. He simply did not have the ability.

"Once we eliminate their organizational network, the remaining shinobi of that clan will become scattered sand. At that point, we'll create panic, break through their village, and drive them away."

"As for what happens afterward... The current shinobi world will help us draw an eternal full stop at the end of all our grievances."

As he spoke, he glanced at Fūma Kotarō. The latter was somewhat confused by the look and wondered, Why is he looking at me now?

Trying to dismantle an entire shinobi clan with only three people seemed recklessly overconfident no matter how one looked at it. Yet Uchiha Nanami did not even furrow her brow.

To her, this level of combat intensity truly was nothing.

Although she had nearly died in battle before and had looked utterly miserable, one had to consider whom she had been fighting... Her opponent at the time had been the sinister Tobirama Senju.

Fūma Kotarō clearly did not share her state of mind. He looked worried and asked:

"This plan is theoretically feasible, but the problem is, how are we supposed to locate the so-called upper ranks of the Tsugawa Clan?"

Yuzhen glanced at Uchiha Nanami beside him.

"Leave it to you?"

"No problem." Uchiha Nanami agreed.

When it came to obtaining information from unfamiliar shinobi, the Uchiha Clan could be called the strongest. They were practically at the level where whoever they stared at would suffer projectile vomiting.

Under the Sharingan, extracting information was far too easy.

Fūma Kotarō still did not know Uchiha Nanami's identity. He wondered if the two of them were putting on a double act. Could they really obtain the enemy's core intelligence just by closing their upper and lower lips?

It could only be said that closing one's upper and lower lips really would not work—but opening one's upper and lower eyelids would.

As for the remaining people, if the three-man squad's operation achieved the desired results, Yuzhen would arrange for them to make their appearance at the end as the cheering section.

If the Tsugawa Clan saw a large number of enemy reinforcements at the final moment, there was a good chance their psychological defenses would collapse completely.

To be honest, whether the "cheering section" appeared or not did not really matter. But quite a few of the shinobi from all sorts of backgrounds needed to feel that they had participated in this operation.

After hearing this plan, the Fuma Clan shinobi basically had no further objections.

The Clan Leader and the Alliance Leader would charge ahead, while they could decide whether to enter the battle depending on the situation. What was there not to accept?