Fucheng's sudden outburst darkened Utatane Koharu's face.
She and Mitokado Homura glared furiously at Uchiha Fucheng.
"Clan Head Uchiha Fucheng, watch your words. This is a decision made by the village's High Command."
Fucheng looked at her calmly and applauded softly.
"Oh? It's the village's decision? Then I have a few things to say."
Before she could respond, Uchiha Fucheng activated his Mangekyō Sharingan.
With an icy expression, he stared at Sarutobi Hiruzen and the two Konoha elders seated at the center.
Fucheng looked displeased. "During the last Sand Ninja campaign, the Uchiha Clan was supposed to send 192 ninja, including at least 25 Jonin.
"Our clan actually sent 310 ninja, with more than 37 Jonin.
"Even Uchiha Fugaku, our acting clan head, and I, the current clan head, fought on the front lines.
"Did the village ever compensate us for that extra draft?"
Utatane Koharu muttered, "The other clans suffered greatly, too," but Fucheng glared her into silence with his Sharingan.
Fucheng calmly continued, citing even more precise figures.
"When the Sand Ninja finally surrendered, 116 of the 310 Uchiha ninja had died. During that battle, Fugaku, our acting clan head, nearly died, and I, the current clan head, nearly lost my life twice. The death rate among the ordinary Uchiha Genin drafted above our quota exceeded 50 percent."
Snap!
Fucheng briskly closed a folding fan and pointed its tip at Utatane Koharu. "May I ask, Elder Koharu, what was your Utatane Clan's casualty rate during the Sand Ninja war?"
"Me? I—!" Utatane Koharu stammered, sweating profusely.
Uchiha Fucheng's outburst had made the Konoha clans' meeting atmosphere decidedly strange.
But in the face of Fucheng's forceful stance, Sarutobi Hiruzen eventually gave ground.
The entire draft quota would be based on the previous standard of 190, with a 70 percent reduction.
And since Uchiha ninja had killed the most Jonin in the last Sand Ninja campaign, their quota would be reduced by an additional 30 ninja.
The final number was set at 103, and the village also agreed to Uchiha Fucheng's principle of keeping his forces together.
They approved the establishment of a Uchiha unit under Fucheng's direct command.
Naturally, the other clans had no objections.
Any clan with a little insight knew that Uchiha Fucheng alone was probably worth dozens of ordinary Jonin.
Having him personally lead the unit meant fewer Uchiha ninja had to be sent, which was no great loss.
Meanwhile, Uchiha Fucheng had secured a rare chance for the Uchiha Clan to recuperate.
A force of 103 ninja was far smaller than the 310 they had sent last time.
That meant far fewer sacrifices.
With the draft reduced, Uchiha Fucheng had room to make a few arrangements.
First, he removed Uchiha Obito's father from the roster. To protect Obito's healthy state of mind, he'd let both of Obito's parents "hang on for a while."
Second, Kagami Uchiha's son, Uchiha Shinji—the father of Shisui Uchiha—was also left off the list of those deploying this time.
After all, Shisui would be born in three or four years. His father had a fairly pure bloodline, so Fucheng would let him "hang on for a while," too.
Third, there were the Uchiha Genin who were too weak and inexperienced.
Fucheng decided to take as few Genin as possible this time, to avoid a repeat of the horrific scene in which half the Uchiha Genin had been wiped out.
As for the final number, it would be slightly below the 103 requested by Konoha High Command. Fucheng had a way to manage that.
He simply counted all the Misaka Sisters who had completed their transformation toward the quota.
The Misaka Sisters who had gained the Electro Master's lightning-based powers were fairly capable in battle.
They were at least Elite Chunin level.
And with their special ability to burrow underground and hide, every sister in the Misaka Network could qualify as a Special Jōnin specializing in reconnaissance.
Even so, Fucheng wasn't satisfied.
The day before the deployment, he took Mikoto and the Misaka Sisters on another thorough sweep around Konoha, capturing White Zetsu.
The sweep drove Black Zetsu into a corner!
Aside from the White Zetsu fused with him, the three reconnaissance White Zetsu still under his command had all been caught in Fucheng's sweep and turned into members of the Misaka Network.
Black Zetsu cursed at the sky. "Who did this? I'm gonna puke! What the hell, you're screwing me over!"
When Black Zetsu realized all three White Zetsu had gone silent, he was furious enough to explode.
He smashed everything he could get his hands on.
Misaka Sisters 0001 through 0013—thirteen "Mikotos" with identical faces.
Even Fucheng was amazed as he looked at them.
Fortunately, Mikoto was no longer as embarrassed as she'd been at first. Otherwise, living with the Misaka Sisters every day would have made her feel awkward.
A secluded town in the Land of Rain.
Nearly four hundred Rain ninja had just set up camp there.
They had no idea.
In the hills not far away, the vanguard of the Konoha Ninja forces was hidden.
Orochimaru and Jiraiya had both returned from the Land of Rain's capital to their camp.
They had been keeping a close watch on the enemy forces near the Land of Rain for two weeks.
From what they could tell, the Land of Rain's forces really did consider Konoha their main opponent.
On the Land of Wind's side, the Sand Ninja had only a small elite force, backed by the threat posed by the Rain ninja's strongest fighters.
Orochimaru and Jiraiya had learned that Salamander Hanzo was likely hiding on the Sand Ninja's side.
He planned to launch a surprise attack, use his elite fighters to defeat the Sand Ninja, then lead his troops back to strike at Konoha.
Orochimaru and Shimura Danzō had come up with similar plans: while the Land of Rain's strongest fighters were away, they would strike directly at its capital.
Once they had destroyed the city from within, even if Hanzo defeated the Sand Ninja, he would have neither supplies nor funds to wage a prolonged war against Konoha.
Unfortunately, their teacher, Sarutobi Hiruzen, had rejected the plan.
Sarutobi Hiruzen worried that excessive destruction in the Land of Rain would strip it of its role as a buffer between the great nations.
Rain ninja who had lost their homes and wealth might be driven to desperate measures and become locked in a fight to the death with Konoha.
Jiraiya agreed with this reasoning. After all, Konoha was the one wearing shoes here.
Driving the Land of Rain into having nothing left to lose would do Konoha no good.
For one thing, Hanzo without anything to protect or fear would be far more destructive—and much harder to deal with—than Hanzo fighting to protect the Land of Rain.
Konoha didn't want Hatake Sakumo to earn any more merit.
More honors from the war would turn the Konoha White Fang into Konoha's most celebrated hero.
So this time, Tsunade became the commander of the force attacking the Land of Rain!
And the Land of Rain, the final battlefield, would become the place where Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade made their names!
Before you continue