"Taking the lead without hesitation" was a rare quality indeed. Minato laughed heartily, drawing sidelong glances from the ninjas resting around the nearby campfire. They couldn't help wondering, "What's Senior Minato talking about with Lord Kin? He's laughing so happily!"
One of them said, "We drove back the Rock Ninja. Isn't that worth celebrating? And... this is unbelievable. We lost fewer than forty people!
"The Rock Ninja lost nearly four thousand... I've never fought a battle this surreal in my life!" His voice was full of emotion.
The ninja wasn't young. He had a scraggly beard and wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. He was fifty-two this year, one of the "old hands from the village's founding" who had watched the village being established in his teens and fought in both the First and Second Ninja World Wars.
He had taken part in countless battles. That only made today's battle seem all the more unbelievable!
His own strength, and that of the wounded around him, was plain for all to see.
The Rock Ninja had always been poor in quality, after all. Their approach was basically "get in first, learn later": once you joined Iwagakure, you were a Genin. Only after becoming a Genin did you start learning ninjutsu... Many were so poor in quality that all they could do was throw shuriken and kunai. As long as they could hit a fixed target, they were considered "qualified."
But the Rock Ninja had an awful lot of people...
Their enormous number of "Genin" was enough to make up for their individual shortcomings through sheer numbers.
The Land of Earth was a country short on resources, with barely enough farmland to go around, let alone any thriving commerce. You couldn't make a meal without ingredients. Lying in the northwest with no grain to spare, the country had only one option left: export its labor force.
Iwagakure was essentially the outlet for this "export." By stirring up local conflicts, they hired out their vast numbers of Genin at low prices.
After going through battles and bloodshed, some of them emerged tempered into elite Genin of the Rock Ninja. These were also the main force on the battlefield during the Ninja War. Their quality was still the worst among the Five Great Ninja Villages, and a Hidden Leaf Genin could take on ten of them—but large-scale battles didn't work that way.
The Rock Ninja had developed a style of large-scale warfare to compensate for their own weaknesses, allowing them to keep their casualty ratio to three Rock Ninja for every Hidden Leaf Genin!
Don't think that a three-to-one ratio meant the Hidden Leaf had "the advantage." That wasn't how it worked.
The Rock Ninja... were simply too numerous.
In this war, the Rock Ninja had committed twenty thousand troops to the western front alone. The Hidden Leaf had only twelve hundred ninjas there.
And Uchiha Kin had taken the more than three hundred wounded who hadn't been withdrawn from those twelve hundred, and, despite their vastly inferior combat strength, achieved a record of thirty-seven Konoha dead and 3,677 enemy dead. This was pure proof of his battlefield command, coordination, and medical abilities at their absolute best. Calling him a "god of command" wouldn't be an exaggeration.
"That's right. It's unbelievable. A bunch of us wounded..." someone agreed.
Several Uchiha, however, sat in silence, not saying a word.
Their feelings were far more complicated than everyone else's... As they listened to the praise for Uchiha Kin all around them, they felt both proud and ashamed. Their faces were flushed, though they couldn't tell whether it was from the heat of the fire or embarrassment.
Uchiha Kin got to his feet and called out loudly, "Nonō, Dai, Qingshan Yi, come over here."
The three flashed over in an instant. Uchiha Kin pointed at the ground. "Sit. We have some things to discuss."
"Yes." The three formed a one-handed seal and gave the customary salute from a ninja to a superior, then sat down.
"In this battle at Kannagi Bridge, our unit defeated the Rock Ninja vanguard with fewer than three hundred troops, forcing them to retreat. The Cloud Ninja have probably received the news too, and should make a move behind the Rock Ninja. The Rock Ninja will be eager to return to their own lines.
"Peace talks and an agreement with our unit are now inevitable. But there's a lot to consider in how that peace agreement is signed. Until then, we can't let our guard down—"
Minato said, "Kin, go ahead."
"Kin, what do you want to do?" Yakushi Nonō asked.
Dai and Qingshan Yi also spoke up. "Kin, whatever you say, we'll do."
"First, let everyone rest for now. Once daybreak comes, each unit will get together and review today's battle. We'll analyze what went wrong and what needs improvement. Only by analyzing it can we improve...
"You'll do your reviews, and I'll do mine. We'll pool our ideas. I'll give you an hour. Once everyone's finished, we'll eat. Afterward, we'll compile everything.
"Then we'll hold a meeting to discuss the reviews.
"Second, every unit must stay alert. The war isn't over yet. The period during negotiations is the most dangerous. We could clash with the Rock Ninja at any moment—whether the Rock Ninja want to seize the initiative in negotiations or I do, you are the bargaining chips.
"There's a simple truth: if you can't get something on the battlefield, don't expect to get it at the negotiating table!"
Uchiha Kin pulled a map from a nearby bag and spread it out. He pointed to a circle in the Land of Earth!
Qingshi Town.
Everyone, Minato included, looked at Uchiha Kin in confusion, unable to make sense of it.
"This is the target we're going to secure in these negotiations. Northwest of Qingshi Town, there's a crater blasted by Dust Release. There's also a lake shaped like a cat's eye, and a stretch of salt flats..."
Minato Namikaze, Yakushi Nonō, Dai, and Qingshan Yi still couldn't follow. They didn't understand why Uchiha Kin was bringing these things up.
Seeing their expressions, Uchiha Kin drew a deep breath and spoke plainly. "This place could be developed into a tourist destination, offering attractions to nobles and wealthy merchants. As for Qingshi Town, here's what I have in mind: I'll have control over the town. Ten percent of the earnings will go to the Hidden Leaf; the rest will be divided proportionally among everyone in my unit, including those who died in battle.
"The fallen will likely receive a larger share. I think you can understand that. Also, if their families are willing, I'll give them priority for some of the jobs here.
"This is the most I can do."
He made no attempt to hide his determination to secure the place, or his desire to control it.
He had researched this world's history beforehand. There was no record of any of this, so he was free to shape things as he pleased. And based on what he knew of the Hidden Leaf's history and finances, that ten percent would be enough to win their agreement.
"Letting things slide," "lacking ambition," and "being content with a simple life" could all be said to describe the Hidden Leaf.
Its geographical location was too good. Its natural conditions, the prosperity of the Land of Fire's agriculture and commerce, and the degree of technological development had made life so comfortable that no one in the Hidden Leaf, from top to bottom, had any desire to strive for more!
They only wanted to be ninjas in peace and carry out their missions one after another!
When they had money, they spent it; when they ran out, they took on another mission. They were the very definition of "living paycheck to paycheck."
As for expanding abroad, they had not the slightest interest.
Before you continue