Bullying the Many with the Few

In war, courage is everything!

In the famous passage "Cao Gui Discusses War" from the Zuo Zhuan, just a few sentences captured the essential principles of military victory.

Courage was the foundation of combat.

Whether among the ancient Huaxia dynasties, the Western European states, or the nomadic peoples of the steppes through their rises and falls, courage in war had always been the foundation of their ascent.

The Ninja World was no exception, whether for samurai or ninja.

The battle for the Northern Mountain City in the Land of Grass, led by Uchiha Tokimitsu, had taken place while his total force was at a disadvantage. Using superior intelligence, he had assembled a large number of core troops and concentrated his ninja army to wipe out Iwagakure's Vanguard in a short time, bringing Iwagakure's Southern Expeditionary Force to a halt outside the Land of Grass and perfectly achieving his strategic objective.

The first drumbeat stirred the troops' spirits; the second weakened them; by the third, they were exhausted.

Iwagakure was currently in the stage of "weakened by the second effort." Over two hundred vanguard ninjas had suffered Annihilation of the Entire Army, shocking Iwagakure from top to bottom. The ninja army that had yet to enter the country had also stopped beyond the northern border, requesting "tactical guidance" from Iwagakure while building fortifications, as though they intended to hold out forever.

Meanwhile, every member of the ninja army commanded by Uchiha Tokimitsu was high-spirited and full of fighting spirit. Even the Grass Ninja, who had once groveled before Great Nation Ninja, had changed after following the Uchiha clan members to destroy several underground forces. Much of the cunning venom in their bearing had faded, replaced by a greater fierce and combative spirit.

Uchiha Tokimitsu led this allied force of Konoha Uchiha elites and Grass ninja rabble, deploying a thousand men along the northern border of the Land of Grass in a standoff against Iwagakure's over 2800 ninja.

The nature of ninja combat meant that large-scale head-on battles rarely erupted.

Unceasing squad probes, infiltration, raids, assassinations, and annihilation... that was the main rhythm of ninja warfare.

After all, ninja combat methods centered mostly on individual raid operations. Even Iwagakure, united by the Will of Stone and armed with Large-scale Earth Style combination Ninjutsu, still preferred squad-based melee.

Uchiha Tokimitsu's strategy was as simple and direct as ever. He built fortifications and laid traps at the main camp, first creating a hard camp for a long-term confrontation with Iwagakure. Then he selected Jonin to form elite squads, infiltrating Iwagakure's defensive zone in the Land of Earth for assault and annihilation operations, wearing down the effective strength of Iwagakure's ninja army.

The basis of this Combat Strategy was that among the over one thousand ninja under Uchiha Tokimitsu's command, there were as many as fifty-one Jonin, clearly more than Iwagakure's thirty-nine. Furthermore, Grass ninjas generally have poor quality; their loose and ineffective methods would inevitably fail against Great Nation Ninja. Therefore, the main camp was defended by them and some Konoha ninja, to deal with Iwagakure's possible counterattack.

The effects of behind-the-lines annihilation were fairly obvious.

Within seven days, Uchiha Tokimitsu had dispatched seventeen squads in total. They infiltrated the vicinity of the Land of Earth's camps or its supply lines for disruptive combat, achieving the impressive result of beheading eighty-nine Chunin-ranked or higher ninja.

Even Lord Tsuchijo, an Old generation Rock ninja and the commander of the Iwagakure Ninja Army who had received constant instruction from the Earth Shadow to hold and control the border, could no longer sit still.

He knew his own troops best. Tsuchijo naturally knew what the Southern Expeditionary Force under his command was made of. If even the Vanguard could be easily annihilated by the ninja army led by Uchiha Tokimitsu, then this force was clearly nothing special.

But there was No Choice. Under the Daiymo of the Land of Earth's instructions, Iwagakure's main force had been dispatched by Earth Shadow Ōnoki to infiltrate toward the Land of Rain, intending to encircle and annihilate the Rain Ninja led by Hanzō of the Salamander. Though the Ninja army dispatched towards the Land of Grass numbered over three thousand, it was inherently a smokescreen to deceive people, so the ninja assigned to it were naturally relatively mediocre. Under his command, there was not even an Iwagakure trump card like the Explosive Unit, let alone many proper famous Jonin. Most of the commanding Chunin in the grassroots squads were mediocre individuals as well. Under such circumstances, facing the renowned Uchiha Clan, he was really unsure.

"Damn Uchiha! Are they going all out because they want to start a Ninja World War?!"

Clutching the latest battle damage report, Lord Tsuchijo, the leader of Iwagakure's ninja army on the Land of Rain front, trembled with anger.

Angry and trembling! Why is he always the one getting hurt!

As an old fossil who had survived from the Warring States period to the present, Lord Tsuchijo was naturally not weak. But he was already advanced in age, and his strength had considerably declined compared to his prime. Moreover, he had grown accustomed to the spoiled lifestyle within the ninja village, and his will to fight to the death had considerably faded as well.

"Fifty Jonin, nearly thirty of them Uchiha Three-Tomoe Jonin..."

Looking over the intelligence compiled by Rock Ninja Anbu, Tsuchijo let out a doomsday wail.

Among ordinary ninja group, although Iwagakure had not deployed any elites, Tsuchijo was confident that he could exchange blows with Konoha. But the proportion of ninja clan ninja in the enemy force was simply too high, and they were from a prominent ninja clan as famous as the Uchiha Clan.

He truly could not muster the courage for a large-scale counterattack. He feared that his subordinates' true strength would be exposed in battle, prompting Uchiha Tokimitsu to devise a wicked plan and launch a large-scale attack. At that point, there would be no recourse.

Meanwhile, Uchiha Tokimitsu continued dispatching elite Jonin squads to strike Iwagakure's rear, striving to cut off Iwagakure's supply line and inflict effective strike against the effective strength of Iwagakure's ninja army.

Although the elite squads of Jonin from Konoha frequently succeeded, Uchiha Tokimitsu felt both rather proud and deeply suspicious. There must be something fishy; perhaps Iwagakure was brewing some poisonous scheme, intending to crush the Konoha ninja.

Just like this, the border battle situation in the northern Land of Grass gradually heated up as both sides hesitated to act for fear of damaging something, engaging in mutual probing and killing based on squad formations.

"Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation!"

Forming the Tiger Hand Seal, Uchiha Tokimitsu puffed out his cheeks and spewed forth a Sea of Fire that flooded toward the caught-off-guard Iwagakure patrol unit.

The roaring Sea of Fire engulfed five Iwagakure ninja in one stroke. They only had time to let out a doomsday wail before they returned to pure land, while the remaining eight Iwagakure ninja died quickly under the joint annihilation of the Uchiha Jonin Corps.

"Not normal..."

Uchiha Tokimitsu frowned deeply as he looked at the Iwagakure patrol unit that his team had easily annihilated. More than a dozen Iwagakure corpses lay haphazardly, scattered on the ground. His heart was in turmoil, and he always felt something was wrong, as if some conspiracy were enveloping him.

"It really isn't normal..."

Hyuga Toshiki, who had accompanied him, felt the same.

Too easy.

Though it was only a patrol unit, annihilating this Iwagakure force had been far too easy. Moreover, Iwagakure showed no intention at all of dispatching a large force in retaliation.

Although the behind-the-lines reconnaissance operation personally led by Uchiha Tokimitsu consisted of an elite team of eight Jonin, it should not have been possible for them to wipe out several Iwagakure units in a row while Iwagakure's garrison camp still showed no movement.

"If Iwagakure's combat strength is really this poor, what virtue or ability do they have to stand tall alongside Konoha as one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages?"

Uchiha Tokimitsu was somewhat irritated.

"Toshiki-kun, can you observe the situation of Iwagakure's Camp yet?"

"Not yet. We're still too far away..."

At that moment, an Uchiha Jonin took out a map from his ninja tool bag. After comparing it for a while, he found their current location.

"Lord Tokimitsu, our current location should still be around five kilometers from Iwagakure's Camp..."

Five kilometers was not far for ninja. With such a huge disturbance from Ninjutsu, there was no reason for Iwagakure not to know about the attack intelligence here.

Uchiha Tokimitsu took the map and examined it, frowning even more tightly.

"...Then should we continue advancing and scouting?" Hyuga Toshiki asked somewhat timidly.

"Forget it..." Uchiha Tokimitsu thought for a moment. "There is no need to risk walking into Iwagakure's trap."

Uchiha Tokimitsu looked toward Iwagakure's Camp. He could clearly sense that a Sensor Ninja was using a secret technique to spy on the situation here, but he had no means of countering Sensory Ninjutsu.

Perhaps... Iwagakure had deliberately thrown out cannon fodder to probe the Uchiha clan members' intelligence.

Uchiha Tokimitsu felt as though he had found a little clue.

"That works too..."

Even the carefree, hot-blooded Uchiha clan members found it somewhat strange at this moment, deeply bewildered by Iwagakure's methods.

"When will the Ino-Shika-Cho ninja Lord Torifu mentioned arrive?"

Uchiha Tokimitsu placed his hopes on the "Ino" of the Ino-Shika-Cho combination—the ninja of the Yamanaka Clan.

He hoped they could use secret techniques on the Iwagakure corpses in the morgue to peer into the dead men's memories and obtain intelligence.

"They should arrive around noon the day after tomorrow," the Uchiha Jonin responsible for communications and paperwork said.

"Fine. Preserve the bodies. Once they arrive, hand them over to the Yamanaka Clan ninja to examine their memories. We will decide what to do after obtaining Iwagakure's strategic deployment."

Meanwhile, in Iwagakure's camp, Lord Tsuchijo stared in Uchiha Tokimitsu's direction through gritted teeth.

As an externally deployed ninja army, they naturally did not lack Sensor Ninja. Uchiha had led his troops straight to within five kilometers of the main camp and repeatedly hunted patrol units, yet as commander, he was powerless to respond and calm the situation.

Ultimately, it was still a matter of ninja combat strength.

The ninja army under his command was indeed made up of the village's mediocre ninja, and their combat strength was indeed average. But he absolutely could not let Uchiha Tokimitsu learn the truth. Otherwise, if the Konoha Ninja Army suddenly became fired up and commanded their troops to charge over by force, the outcome for the Iwagakure Ninja Army under his command would be grim.

"Lord Tsuchijo, the Uchiha have withdrawn..."

The Sensor Ninja reported his findings in a trembling voice.

Though he was a Sensor Ninja with average strength but sharp five senses, he had felt that the young man with the strongest Chakra reaction in the distance had clearly noticed his surveillance and had stared in his direction for quite some time. It had frightened him so badly that his heart would not stop shuddering.

"Dispatch personnel to clean up the battlefield..."

As a veteran Jonin who had survived from the Warring States period until now, Tsuchijo suddenly realized that he truly had grown old.

A junior had actually come knocking at his door, yet he could do nothing but stand by and watch his subordinates be killed.

How humiliating!

"Wait until they have gone farther away before going..."

Tsuchijo's back bent even more.