The Great Canyon

Chapter 35: The Great Canyon

Seeing Uchiha Tajima standing at the assembly point with his arms crossed and a stern expression, Uchiha Shin hurried over with Uchiha Hana in tow.

"Father, good morning."

"Clan Head, good morning."

After Uchiha Shin offered a polite greeting to Uchiha Tajima, he pulled Uchiha Hana directly into the ranks.

Uchiha Tajima nodded in response to Uchiha Shin and Uchiha Hana.

Five minutes later, all sixty ninjas of the Uchiha Clan had finished assembling.

Uchiha Tajima turned his gaze toward the ninja contingents of the Hagoromo, Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka clans.

Once he confirmed that all the ninjas participating in this escort mission had gathered, Uchiha Tajima gave a wave of his hand and led the Uchiha Clan ninjas out of the station gates first.

The Hagoromo, Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka clans followed closely behind in that order.

Guided by Master Yamashita of the Fire Temple, this massive force of one hundred and seventy ninjas headed straight toward the armory in Pingjing City.

By the time Uchiha Tajima's group arrived at the armory gates, the batch of standard-issue weapons and equipment commissioned by the Daimyo of the Land of Fire to be sent to the Land of Iron had already been loaded onto carts by soldiers.

Uchiha Shin counted them secretly; there were a staggering one hundred large carts.

Uchiha Tajima turned his head and signaled to Uchiha Goichi, who was standing beside him.

Uchiha Goichi nodded in understanding, then stepped forward to begin a random inspection of the one hundred carts of standard-issue weaponry.

After all, if the goods did not match the manifest, there would be no way to rectify it once they had traveled the long distance to the Land of Iron.

Therefore, being careful and cautious was absolutely necessary.

Uchiha Goichi did not just inspect the weapons and equipment; he even checked the carts themselves.

After all, the night before, Clan Head Uchiha Tajima had warned him personally that he suspected a conspiracy behind this mission.

However, after the inspection, Uchiha Goichi found everything to be perfectly normal.

This was truly strange.

Uchiha Goichi felt a bit of doubt in his heart.

Nevertheless, he reported the findings truthfully to Uchiha Tajima.

Upon confirming that there were no issues with the cargo, Uchiha Tajima, despite his lingering suspicions, completed the handover with the representative of the Daimyo of the Land of Fire.

Deep down, Uchiha Tajima found it hard to believe that the Daimyo of the Land of Fire would be willing to pay such a high price just to deal with their ninja clans.

Once the handover was complete, Uchiha Tajima led the ninja force out, escorting the shipment of standard-issue equipment.

The soldiers of the Daimyo of the Land of Fire were responsible for the transport and driving of the carts.

Thus, the ninjas of the Uchiha, Hagoromo, Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka clans only needed to focus on their escort duties.

According to the results of the discussion between the clan heads the previous night...

The escort formation would have the Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka ninjas at the front, acting as the vanguard to build bridges over water and clear paths through mountains.

The Uchiha Clan ninjas would remain in the center to protect the entire formation.

The Hagoromo Clan ninjas would bring up the rear to deal with any enemies approaching from behind.

Based on Uchiha Tajima's judgment, if the enemy intended to ambush their force, the best location would be at the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Iron.

It was common knowledge that the Land of Iron was cold year-round, and most people found it difficult to adapt to the climate there.

Its violent institutions were composed entirely of samurai, and the country was the only neutral nation in this ninja world.

Geographically, apart from bordering the Land of Fire, the Land of Iron did not share borders with any of the other four great nations.

Therefore, if Uchiha Tajima's group wanted to reach the Land of Iron successfully, they either had to take a detour through the Land of Fields and enter the Land of Iron from there, or choose to pass directly through the long, narrow Great Canyon on the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Iron.

There was no third option.

Because aside from this long canyon, every other point of contact between the Land of Fire and the Land of Iron was blocked by towering, cloud-piercing mountains.

Taking a detour through the Land of Fields was too far, would take too long, and involved too many variables.

Thus, Uchiha Tajima decided it would be faster to take the Great Canyon on the border.

Better to be prepared than to be caught off guard.

In any case, Uchiha Tajima had already sensed the danger; no matter what conspiracy lay behind this, he would meet force with force and water with earth when the time came.

Because there were ordinary soldiers from the Land of Fire in the group, the marching speed of the entire force was very slow.

It was not until the afternoon of the second day that the transport force led by Uchiha Tajima finally reached the entrance of the Great Canyon.

"Halt!"

Looking at the canyon entrance right before his eyes...

Uchiha Tajima raised his hand to call a stop to the formation and sent men to summon the other clan heads for a meeting.

Before long, the patriarch of the Hagoromo Clan from the rear of the procession, along with the patriarchs of the Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka clans from the front, arrived with two subordinates each in tow.

"Why have we stopped, Patriarch Uchiha?"

The Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka patriarchs exchanged puzzled glances before the Nara patriarch spoke up to ask directly.

In truth, the ninjas from the Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka clans were nothing more than cannon fodder for this mission.

Because of this, Uchiha Tajima had never revealed the actual situation to these three patriarchs.

Consequently, the Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka patriarchs remained under the impression that this was merely a routine escort mission.

Even with the Hagoromo patriarch, Uchiha Tajima had been selective, sharing only a portion of the truth.

"The hour is growing late."

"At our current pace, there is no way we will clear this great canyon before nightfall."

"To guard against any unforeseen circumstances..."

"I have decided that we will make camp here for the night."

"We shall depart first thing tomorrow morning."

Uchiha Tajima stood with his arms crossed, his expression unreadable as he swept his gaze over the Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka patriarchs before speaking slowly.

The Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka clans had brought their ninjas along solely to earn the mission reward and alleviate the hardships facing their respective clans.

Therefore, they preferred not to waste any time...

After all, by bringing nearly half of their clan's combat strength out on this mission, their homes were undoubtedly left vulnerable.

They were terrified that something might happen back at their villages during this period!

As for acting out against the Uchiha Clan, a top-tier power in the Land of Fire, the three clans lacked the courage to do so.

Thus, the Nara patriarch turned his head to look at the Hagoromo patriarch, seeking his support.

Having already been briefed on part of the situation, the Hagoromo patriarch was certainly unwilling to take such a risk himself.

After all, this canyon was far too long, and the terrain on both sides was far too treacherous.

If they were to rashly enter and fall into an enemy ambush, especially under the cover of night, it would be disastrous.

Therefore, it was better to play it safe.

"Let us follow the Uchiha patriarch's lead."

"Entering this canyon blindly now would surely be dangerous."

"You all should know what it is we are escorting this time, right?"

"There are far too many people in the ninja world eyeing this cargo."

"We cannot afford to take risks."

The Hagoromo patriarch echoed Uchiha Tajima's sentiments, laying out the logic clearly for the others.

"Very well!"

Hearing the Hagoromo patriarch speak in such a manner, the Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka patriarchs had no choice but to agree helplessly.

Under Uchiha Tajima's command, the ninjas from the five clans—Hagoromo, Uchiha, Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka—circled the wagons and began setting up camp on the spot.