War? The Surging Undercurrents of Konoha

"Old hag, if you're old, go home and wait for death. Don't come here looking for attention."

Ensei Uchiha spoke with a direct, furious rebuke, showing not a shred of respect for the other party.

"The Third Shinobi World War just ended not long ago; which shinobi village didn't suffer losses?"

"You worry that the other four villages will unite to attack Konoha, but don't you think they are equally worried that Konoha might strike first?"

"Some wars can be avoided, but some wars must be fought! And they must be fought fast and fought hard!"

"Only by striking fear into someone and making them behave will others be too afraid to bully you..."

"If you blindly compromise—playing the coward with Kumogakure today, with Iwagakure tomorrow—then Kirigakure and Sunagakure will certainly come knocking the day after."

"In the entire Shinobi World, who doesn't know that the Land of Fire is a piece of fat meat? Everyone wants to take a bite if they get the chance."

"Do you think playing the grandson for a while will make things okay?"

"Dream on! They will only push for more, wanting more and more with every concession."

"..."

Ensei Uchiha stood on his chair, pointing at the high-ranking officials of Konoha present and berating them. Many times they wanted to retort, but they didn't know where to begin.

Although Ensei Uchiha's words were incredibly harsh, everyone present had to admit that he made a lot of sense.

While this logic seemed to transcend the typical scope of a shinobi, it was undeniable that Ensei Uchiha was right.

But... war is something no one wishes to see arrive.

Especially these shinobi who had already experienced several Shinobi World Wars; they were longing for peace at every waking moment.

"Remember! Seek peace through war, and peace shall survive. Seek peace through peace, and peace shall perish."

Ensei Uchiha said this with a fervor that made one's blood boil.

But unfortunately, the vast majority of the shinobi present did not understand it, let alone realize the truth contained within those words.

It couldn't be helped; the Ninja Academy only taught things like ninjutsu.

In the entire Shinobi World, the vast majority of shinobi could actually be considered illiterate; otherwise, there wouldn't be so many idiots.

But it didn't matter; whether they understood or not was irrelevant.

Ensei Uchiha could dictate their actions and guide their will.

In fact, starting from last night, Ensei Uchiha's behavior could already be considered a seizure of power.

Logically, Hiruzen Sarutobi would never allow such a thing to happen, yet he made no move to stop it. He not only tacitly approved of Ensei Uchiha's actions but even provided some help at certain times.

Otherwise, did one really think the shinobi of Konoha would be so obedient?

Regarding Hiruzen Sarutobi's behavior, Ensei Uchiha was also somewhat puzzled.

Could it be that this old thing really intended to let him serve as the next Hokage?

Ensei Uchiha never bothered himself with things he couldn't quite figure out. In any case, with his current power, self-preservation should be no issue.

As for the rest, he would just let fate take its course.

After the Jonin meeting ended, Konoha began various preparations for the wartime period.

Supplies, medical equipment, and the like had already begun to be transported to the front lines.

Of course, even more important were the personnel participating in the war. Originally, Hiruzen Sarutobi had prepared according to conventional war standards, but he was rejected by Ensei Uchiha.

This battle against Kumogakure was not going to be a war of attrition, but a blitzkrieg; the sooner this battle ended, the better.

Therefore, those Ensei Uchiha brought this time were almost all at the Jonin level.

Shinobi are beings with high attack and high agility but low defense.

Even a Jonin, if caught in an enemy's encirclement, could easily meet with an accident amidst the interweaving of various ninjutsu.

One must know that most Jonin can only dodge ninjutsu; they cannot tank it head-on.

Often, a ninjutsu cast by a Genin is just as lethal as one cast by a Jonin.

Therefore, wars in the Shinobi World are habitually dragged out over very long front lines.

Unless they are staking everything on one throw, it is rare for shinobi to engage in organized, joint operations.

"Ensei, I have handed nearly half of the village's Jonin into your hands. Do not let any accidents happen, otherwise..."

Before leaving, Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke with great concern.

Although he said it that way, the departing troops were composed almost half of Jonin from the Uchiha Clan and the Hyuga Clan.

Thus, Hiruzen Sarutobi had not actually sent out many of his own people.

Konoha's foundation was still very deep; otherwise, in the original plot, Shimura Danzō would not have dared to let the Uchiha Clan be wiped out.

"Stop nagging. This war will definitely be won."

"Even if the situation changes, I will use Izanagi to alter that reality."

Ensei Uchiha brushed him off with a few casual words, then immediately led the team to begin their journey.

For this outing, Ensei Uchiha was in his true body; after all, this was war, and in such an extremely complex environment, the utility of a Shadow Clone was very limited.

Of course, the reason Ensei Uchiha chose to lead this war was to test a few things.

Ever since he realized that the ocular power in Shisui Uchiha's left eye had been completely exhausted, a sense of crisis had been lingering in Ensei Uchiha's heart.

This feeling of knowing something was wrong but being unable to pinpoint it was truly unpleasant.

Konoha was too quiet, and quiet places easily lead to carelessness.

Thus, after waiting for a period of time, Ensei Uchiha decided to leave the village for a while.

Although doing so might invite danger, visible threats were far easier to deal with than those lurking in the shadows.

Coincidentally, recent matters regarding Itachi Uchiha had kept Shisui Uchiha occupied, and Ensei Uchiha wanted to take this opportunity to see if he could acquire a portion of the Chakra from the Eight-Tails and the Two-Tails.

Cloning Byakugan or Sharingan were merely stopgap measures; Ensei Uchiha's ultimate goal was certainly to rival Kaguya Otsutsuki, or even surpass her.

In that case, there were many things he required, and he would need to collect them bit by bit.

The journey was peaceful; a force composed of over two hundred Jonin was something no short-sighted person dared to provoke.

Only after advancing to the vicinity of the border of the Land of Lightning did Ensei Uchiha arrange for the troops to set up camp, waiting for the time he had stipulated to arrive.

With a force of several hundred Jonin arriving at the border, any unit with sensory ninjas would be able to detect such a disturbance.

Consequently, Kumogakure learned the news very quickly.

At this time, the Kumogakure delegation had only just returned to their village, and they hadn't even finished reporting the intelligence from within Konoha.

A force composed entirely of Jonin naturally traveled at high speed.

The Fourth Raikage was known for his reckless image, but with hundreds of Jonin massing at the border, he managed to restrain his anger for once.

At the same time, the Kumogakure think tank began intense deliberations, and many Kumogakure spies within Konoha were activated and mobilized.

A few days later, on the night before the deadline set by Ensei Uchiha was about to expire, the Fourth Raikage, accompanied by Killer B and Yugito Nii, arrived at the border of the Land of Lightning.

Deploying two Tailed Beasts at once, along with the Raikage himself.

It seemed that Kumogakure was also feeling the pressure and did not wish to prolong the war.

Meanwhile, a large number of Kumogakure ninjas naturally rushed to the front lines, ready to engage in battle at any moment.

At this moment, Ensei Uchiha, who was preparing to command the battle from the front, had shifted his attention back to Konoha, focusing on the situation of the Uchiha clan after his departure.

Sure enough, his premonition had not been wrong.

On the second night after he left Konoha, several Anbu ninjas had quietly infiltrated his Laboratory.

After those Anbu left, some strange things paid a visit as well.

Perhaps, they were White Zetsu?

It was a pity that, aside from the equipment, everything else had long been relocated by Ensei Uchiha; no matter who came, they would not gain anything.

It was also fortunate that those people were only scouting and did not cause any destruction.

Otherwise, Ensei Uchiha would have had to test the power of his Third Generation Self-Destruct Fly.