Aftermath of the War

The Battle of Yamashiro on the Land of Grass border came to an end amid smoke and fire.

In this battle, Konoha's Northwest Border Defense Force launched a Proactive Attack, striking Iwagakure before it had gained a firm foothold. With nearly twice the total manpower and almost ten times the Number of Jonin, they swiftly crushed the Iwagakure Vanguard, killing 207 and capturing 21. Konoha suffered only 11 deaths and 47 injuries. Of the wounded, only 9 sustained severe injuries such as lost limbs; after emergency treatment, the rest could return to combat duty following no more than three months of recuperation.

Konoha currently had two major conflict zones. The first lay in the Land of Rain direction, where they were locked in a stalemate against the Rain Ninja led by Hanzō of the Salamander, the leader of Amegakure, and the front line had proven difficult to advance. The second was the Northwest Border Defense Force led by Uchiha Tokimitsu, stationed in the Land of Grass. Not only had it wiped out the various underground organizations in the Land of Grass in a short time, it had also ridden the momentum to annihilate Iwagakure's regular ninja forces.

The achievements Uchiha Tokimitsu had won with his troops were, without question, Konoha's greatest gains since Year 30 of Konoha amid the bloody fighting and chaos along the Land of Fire's Border regions.

No matter how arrogant and domineering Uchiha Kamon and Uchiha Tokimitsu had been before, no matter what calculations lay behind the Hokage's Edict forbidding the unauthorized opening of border conflicts, and no matter what effect Uchiha Tokimitsu's annihilation of the Iwagakure Vanguard might have on Iwagakure's next move, victory was victory. Even in Konoha, which claimed to stand for justice, the victor still held the right to speak.

"The victor is not condemned."

Hokage's Office.

Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen looked over the lavishly embellished battle report compiled by Uchiha Tokimitsu and spoke helplessly to the two advisors, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu.

"But as a Konoha ninja, he openly defied the Hokage's orders and started a War between Konoha and Iwagakure on his own authority. This will cost thousands upon thousands of Konoha ninja their lives in the possible wars to come!"

Mitokado Homura frowned deeply and voiced a different opinion.

"Hiruzen, just as Danzo said, the Uchiha Clan cannot be trusted..." Utatane Koharu picked up the thread. "The village is already under enormous pressure from the war. Danzo's forces are unable to make progress in the Land of Rain. If we continue allowing the Uchiha clan members to clash with Iwagakure, I'm afraid the scale of the war will become impossible to control..."

The Third Hokage shook his head but said nothing.

"Then Uchiha Kamon and Uchiha Tokimitsu must be recalled to the village, and others sent to command the Northwest Border Defense Force. Otherwise, the ninja forces stationed outside will follow their example and develop a habit of acting on their own. The consequences would be unthinkable..."

Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen habitually took out his pipe and carefully packed it with tobacco.

The two advisors, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, knew this was Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen's habit before thinking, so they remained silent and waited quietly.

"Phew..."

A thick stream of smoke shot forth like an arrow, dispersing into wisps of cloud in the air.

"What was our original purpose in deploying the Uchiha to the Land of Grass?"

Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke faintly.

"Besides, if the village continues drawing ninja into battle, the forces left behind within the village will inevitably become depleted. And the Uchiha will be the greatest source of instability."

As he spoke, the Third Hokage turned his gaze toward the two advisors. "Now then, have we achieved our original objective...?"

"This..."

Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu looked at each other.

"Even so..." Utatane Koharu still felt it was inappropriate.

The Third Hokage waved his hand, cutting her off.

"Furthermore, the Land of Grass directly faces Iwagakure of the Land of Earth, while to the south lies the Land of Rain, a region that breeds war. Concentrating the Uchiha's Clan Ninja at this border was also meant to wear down the Uchiha's strength."

The Third Hokage stated it without reservation.

Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu both felt rather embarrassed. That was indeed the intention, but with it laid bare so bluntly, it was difficult for them to save face as advisors.

"By now, the original main force of the Northwest Border Defense Force was largely pulled back during the last rotation. Of the more than one thousand currently there, half are Uchiha and Clan Ninja from their subordinate families. Under such circumstances, what use would replacing the commander be? And who could command the Uchiha Clan's ninja?"

The Third Hokage picked up the battle report and flipped through it again before irritably tossing it back onto the desk.

"Take another look. Look at what the Uchiha wrote!"

"Just look at this line: 'Strike one punch to spare yourself a hundred.' It's already spread throughout the village!"

"So in this situation, are you going to take over command of the garrison, or am I?"

The two advisors, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, were left speechless.

The purpose behind using the rotation to withdraw the Northwest Border Defense Force's original core units was simple: to weaken the military strength under the Uchiha Clan's control, and to prevent those Uchiha madmen from using some pretext to send children of ninja clans to their deaths. Those who remained in the Northwest Border Defense Force were either discarded children of ninja clans or Civilian Ninja of mediocre ability who were not well regarded. Under such circumstances, finding a useful pawn was no easy matter.

"Then... maintain the status quo?" Utatane Koharu hesitated for a long while before speaking softly.

"Maintain the status quo." The Third Hokage emphasized. "And distribute rewards according to precedent, based on the battle report."

The two advisors faced each other in silence.

Danzo was absent. Without someone to butt heads with, the two advisors could not suppress the Hokage's authority.

"Bounties, Ninja tools, and medicine—issue everything in full according to the request." The Third Hokage flipped through the supply requests in the battle report again.

"This..." Mitokado Homura found it difficult. "The border defense force is requesting too many supplies. If we allocate everything in full, the village's reserves will suffer. If anything urgent happens, then I'm afraid..."

"Issue them in full." The Third Hokage stared at Mitokado Homura. "Then transfer the available stock in batches."

Mitokado Homura understood.

So the goal was still to restrain the Northwest Border Defense Force's movements. And the excuse of "transferring supplies in batches" was both sufficient and ingenious.

"Additionally, according to Danzo's intelligence, while Iwagakure is reinforcing the Land of Grass border, it is also massing heavy forces in the northern Land of Rain. Their vanguard Reconnaissance Ninja have already entered the interior of the Land of Rain. Their specific intentions remain unclear."

The Third Hokage took an intelligence file from a drawer and handed it to the two advisors.

"At present, Iwagakure has deployed three thousand people along the Land of Grass border. In the Land of Rain direction, Iwagakure has also mobilized roughly four thousand people and encamped them along the Land of Rain border..."

"Seven thousand ninja troops..." Mitokado Homura pondered.

Konoha currently had nearly four thousand ninja troops deployed in the Land of Rain direction, while the Land of Rivers and Land of Grass directions each had over one thousand. Although they were at a numerical disadvantage, Konoha still held a slight edge in ninja quality and combat ability.

"Additionally, Sand has begun moving a ninja force toward the Land of Rain. Their exact numbers and personnel composition are still unknown. Anbu currently estimates around three thousand people, including Sand's ace puppet force."

"This was shaping up to be a Four Nations War in the Land of Rain," Utatane Koharu remarked.

"Hanzo had gone too far. The daimyos could no longer tolerate him..." the Third Hokage said as he puffed on his pipe.

During Amegakure's outward expansion, they had not only plundered the resources of other small countries, but also extorted and abducted the daimyos and lords of those nations. Such actions were a direct challenge to the secular ruling status of the daimyos and nobility.

"Enough, let's not talk about something so distant." The Third Hokage tapped his pipe and knocked out the burned tobacco.

"Are there any issues left with the rewards for the Northwest Border Defense Force?"

Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu exchanged a look. Neither had any objections.

"Then issue them as written!"

Garrison Camp in the Land of Grass.

Uchiha Tokimitsu had won his first battle and returned from the campaign in triumph. Afterward, he vigorously drilled the shinobi forces, honing the coordination and mutual understanding between their various units in hopes of strengthening their combat capabilities in the shortest possible time.

As for Northern Mountain City in the Land of Grass, only a small number of Reconnaissance Troops had been covertly stationed outside the city to maintain the flow of intelligence along the northern border.

After news of the Vanguard's annihilation reached the main Rock Village force advancing south, perhaps because they could not yet discern Konoha's intentions, they set up camp along the border of the Land of Earth and laid out fortifications and traps, looking as though Rock Village intended to hold the border defensively.

Battle achievements were the strongest source of authority.

Uchiha Tokimitsu's commanding the shinobi forces to a resounding victory further elevated his prestige within the army.

Now, in the eyes of the Civilian Ninja in the border defense force, the proud Uchiha clan members had become powerful and dependable companions. Though these companions had rather awkward personalities, they were unexpectedly reliable on the battlefield.

Since returning to camp, Uchiha Tokimitsu had handed over the miscellaneous affairs to Uchiha Kamon and Nara Kohei. He himself was responsible only for organizing and training the shinobi forces. As for the captured Rock Ninja prisoners, after being hypnotized with the Sharingan, the intelligence in their minds was easily extracted, after which their Chakra was sealed and they were thrown into a temporary prison.

Besides training, Uchiha Tokimitsu had not forgotten to win over the Kusagakure shinobi. From time to time, he released special missions for them to carry out. His purpose was nothing more than to spend money to create a blood feud between the Kusagakure shinobi and Rock Village, doing his best to curb Kusagakure's fence-sitting, two-faced behavior and bind Kusagakure to the Uchiha war chariot.

As for Rock Village, after remaining quiet for roughly half a month following the Battle of Yamashiro, they began dispatching combat squads into the Land of Grass for intelligence gathering and sabotage.

Uchiha Tokimitsu's response was to issue missions to Kusagakure to eliminate Rock Village's infiltrating squads.

"These Kusagakure shinobi are really far too weak..."

Nara Kohei was reviewing documents in the Main Command Tent, where all intelligence concerning the Kusagakure shinobi had been compiled and submitted.

According to the statistics, while carrying out missions issued by Konoha's garrison camp, shinobi of the same rank from the Land of Grass were clearly weaker than Rock Village Ninja. Battle reports often showed that it took six to nine Kusagakure shinobi of the same rank surrounding a single Rock Ninja to defeat them. Even if the Rock Village shinobi dispatched into the Land of Grass for covert reconnaissance were all elites, that level of combat strength was still truly pathetic.

"There really is a vast difference between Great Nation Ninja and Rogue Ninja from Small Countries." Uchiha Tokimitsu entered the Main Command Tent after returning from training.

"Commander Tokimitsu~"

The staff within the Main Command Tent all greeted Uchiha Tokimitsu.

"Mhm." Uchiha Tokimitsu nodded in response.

"If the Kusagakure shinobi possessed the strength of the Amegakure shinobi, then the War between the Fire, Earth, and Wind Great Nations would likely be fought in the Land of Grass."

Although the Five Great Nations and Five Great Shinobi Villages had many conflicts among themselves, they shared an unspoken understanding when it came to suppressing small countries.

"Commander Tokimitsu, the village's Envoy is expected to arrive this afternoon. I hope you can spare some time then..." Nara Kohei said softly.

"I know. I've already read the message delivered by the Ninja Hawk." Uchiha Tokimitsu paused. "I'll be at the camp this afternoon as well."