Four-Sided Rain, Songs of War

Uchiha Kiyoshi came racing all the way over, wind at his heels, as if demons were chasing him. He didn't dare stop or delay for even a moment.

He was panting heavily, drenched in sweat. His clothes were torn by branches, and his hair was a mess. He looked utterly disheveled—if anything, even more so than the warriors fighting desperately on the front lines.

Seeing him, Tsunade furrowed her brow slightly, wondering to herself what had happened.

She lightly waved a hand, signaling an aide beside her to bring over a jug of water, then said gently, "Drink slowly, or you'll choke." Seeing how rushed and flustered Uchiha Kiyoshi looked only deepened Tsunade's confusion.

Had some urgent order come down? But why had Uchiha Kiyoshi come in person to deliver the message, instead of the usual scouts? And judging by how disheveled he was, the news he brought had to be significant.

Still, seeing how flustered Uchiha Kiyoshi was, Tsunade didn't feel she could ask him directly what had happened just yet.

Uchiha Kiyoshi took the jug and gulped down the water as if he'd been dying of thirst. The sound of "glug, glug" rang out as he drank several mouthfuls of the cool water.

Once his thirst had eased a little, he finally raised his head and looked at Tsunade. Panting, he stammered, "Uchiha... Kō, Lord Kō, said, said..." But then it was as if his words had suddenly caught in his throat, and he couldn't get the rest out.

What did he say? Hurry up and tell us! Tsunade urged him anxiously, fine beads of sweat even appearing on her forehead. She wasn't the only one growing anxious. The ninjas Long Yi and Long Er, along with the other Uchiha clan members present, were all on edge. But seeing Uchiha Kiyoshi's grave expression and how he kept hesitating, they didn't want to pressure him too much.

At last, Uchiha Kiyoshi took a deep breath and slowly began, "Sieging a city is the lesser strategy; winning hearts is the superior one. The enemy army has run out of provisions, so their morale must be wavering.

"At this point, all we need to do is send ninjas to learn local folk songs from the people in the surrounding towns, then have them sing loudly in front of the enemy army.

"That will surely unsettle Salamander Hanzō and his men, breaking their will to fight and allowing us to win this battle without shedding blood!"

As it turned out, Uchiha Kiyoshi had spent the journey here carefully turning the words over in his mind and arranging them into a speech.

After hearing him out, Tsunade looked puzzled at first. After all, could a powerful enemy like Salamander Hanzō really be persuaded to surrender with just a few songs?

She fell into deep thought and murmured, "What if Salamander Hanzō doesn't surrender? How should we respond then?"

Then she raised her head and looked straight at Uchiha Kiyoshi, waiting for a convincing answer.

Just then, a deep, authoritative voice rang out. "If they refuse to surrender, then we keep them surrounded. When the city runs out of food and they can no longer feed themselves, they'll naturally fall into chaos." As the words fell, the tall, imposing figure of Uchiha Kō slowly appeared.

Everyone turned toward the voice. Uchiha Kō stood with the wind stirring his black cloak, like an immovable mountain. His eyes were sharp as a hawk's, and his presence was intimidating.

At the sight of Uchiha Kō, the Senju unit's ninjas, who had been looking somewhat weary, immediately perked up, their faces lighting with delight. Over the past while, Uchiha Kō had displayed such astonishing ingenuity and mastery of strategy that he had won everyone's admiration.

His arrival was like a shot of adrenaline, immediately stirring the crowd. But after her initial delight, Tsunade's expression quickly turned stern. She strode over to Uchiha Kō, brows drawn together, and scolded him, "Lord Kō, how could you come to the front lines in person? As the commander of our army, don't you even know the basic principle that a gentleman should not stand beneath a crumbling wall?"

Faced with Tsunade's reproach, the smile at the corner of Uchiha Kō's mouth faded slightly. He scratched his head sheepishly and explained, "Heh, Lady Tsunade, don't be angry. I was terribly bored sitting in the command post in the rear. Watching everyone fight so bravely, how could I sit quietly in my tent? So I couldn't help coming over to see what was going on."

Uchiha Kō's gaze shifted uneasily, as if he didn't dare meet anyone's eyes.

The reason he had sneaked over was entirely because he was worried about Tsunade's safety.

Not long ago, he had just put his carefully planned psychological attack into action. But afterward, an inexplicable sense of unease had lingered in his heart, making him feel that something bad was about to happen.

Under the weight of this strong premonition, Uchiha Kō had struggled with himself for a while before finally deciding to rush to the front lines.

After all, if something really did go wrong, being there in person would let him respond as quickly as possible and prevent the situation from becoming even worse.

Tsunade kept her eyes fixed on Uchiha Kō, whose expression seemed a little flustered. After a long pause, she sighed helplessly. "Forget it. There's no point worrying about it. It's not as if I can figure anything out anyway." Tsunade had never been fond of thinking through complicated problems. It took too much effort.

Then Tsunade looked at Uchiha Kō with a serious expression and said solemnly, "Still, Lord Kō, I want to make one thing clear.

"Now that you've come to the front lines and joined my unit, you must follow my orders and arrangements. You are absolutely not to act on your own!"

Though her words sounded like a stern warning, Tsunade was really only trying to protect Uchiha Kō's safety.

Uchiha Kō was an intelligent man. How could he fail to understand what Tsunade really meant?

He gave a slight nod to show that he understood, then said firmly, "I will obey Lady Tsunade's orders without fail. Even if the road ahead is a mountain of blades or a sea of flames, I'll charge forward without hesitation and never take a single step back!"

After saying this, he raised his head sharply, a confident, composed smile blossoming across his face.

Seeing this, Tsunade raised an eyebrow and nodded to herself.

Then she began making arrangements for the next steps in an orderly fashion.

First, she instructed her subordinates to learn the local folk songs diligently. Then she sent her scouts off at once to inform Jiraiya and Orochimaru of the matter.