Konoha's Army Arrives

Half a month later, Konoha's army finally arrived. Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi had dispatched his personal disciples—the future "Three Legendary Sannin." With Orochimaru as commander, they led the ninja forces in an attack on the Land of Rain.

Rain Village had already made its preparations. Hanzo ordered Kaiyu Rui to lead his trusted ninja as the first line of defense against Konoha.

Kaiyu Rui naturally did not dare disobey. The clashes over the past few days had mostly been interception battles involving small units, so the losses were not severe. However, Konoha had advanced fifty kilometers. The Land of Rain was not large to begin with; the entire country was only four hundred kilometers deep.

During their advance, something happened. Due to the difficulty of logistical resupply, a group of Konoha ninja ignored the Third Hokage's order not to plunder the local civilians. They entered Nagato's home and mistakenly killed his parents, believing them to be ninja. At the same time, they helped Nagato awaken the Rinnegan!

Land of Rain, Konoha camp, command room.

An intelligence ninja reported, "We have clashed with Rain Village thirty-six times. They were all small-scale battles, and we held the advantage in most of them. However, the resistance we encountered has not been particularly fierce, and Hanzo has yet to appear."

"Also, some of our supplies are running short. Some ninja heading out to fight have been obtaining food locally."

"Mm, understood."

Orochimaru stared at the map and pondered to himself. We have encountered almost no obstruction so far. We have already advanced fifty kilometers into the Land of Rain, and our supplies are running low. Are they trying to exhaust our supplies, or lure us deeper in?

Unable to reach a conclusion, Orochimaru looked at his two teammates and asked, "Jiraiya, what do you think?"

A tall young man with long white hair and a Konoha forehead protector looked over. He casually said, "Well, don't ask me. Sensei put you in command, so figure it out yourself."

He turned his head, pretending to casually look at the beauty beside him, his eyes lecherous.

"Jiraiya, do you want to die?" Tsunade, with her light blond hair, smashed the table before her with one punch and snarled.

Jiraiya hurriedly waved his hands, embarrassed. "I didn't do anything!"

"Keep your eyes to yourself, or I'll gouge them out!" Tsunade kicked the chair behind her flying and strode viciously out of the tent.

Everyone inside the tent was already used to it. After spending many days together, they had learned that the Third Hokage's disciples each had their own peculiarities.

Orochimaru knew he could not count on either of them, so he ordered, "Rest for one week. Replenish the supply shortages as quickly as possible."

"Yes!"

"Tsunade, don't be angry. I stole these compressed biscuits from logistics. Try them—they're really good." Jiraiya placed a packet of stolen biscuits on Tsunade's table.

"Get lost. I'm going to sleep. Don't disturb me!"

Tsunade sent Jiraiya flying with one punch, then returned to bed to catch up on sleep.

Jiraiya did not mind. He had pursued Tsunade for many years and had never given up. He believed that one day, she would understand his feelings.

Outside Konoha's camp, a figure hid in a tree and observed the ninja coming and going.

"Great, there are at least fifty members of the Uchiha Clan."

Su Zheng carefully counted with his Sharingan for a long time. This Konoha army had roughly five hundred people, and around fifty of them bore the Uchiha Clan's fan crest. He had struck it rich!

"I wonder how many of them have Three Tomoe. It would be great if there were any Mangekyo!" Su Zheng thought silently.

Of course, that was impossible. If there were a Mangekyo, why would things be this troublesome? They could simply crush everything head-on.

Uchiha En was one of the candidates for clan head. He was nineteen years old, and his Sharingan had already developed to Three Tomoe.

He was extremely disdainful of the commander of this war. In order to elevate his three disciples, the Third Hokage had used only ninja from the younger generation, calling it "training the next generation of ninja."

Everyone knew it was merely preparing the way for his disciples. If not for replacing them with younger people, who would accept those three disciples as commanders in their twenties?

Including him, there were five candidates on the battlefield this time.

The Uchiha Clan selected its clan head through assessments that continued until the age of twenty-five. During that time, the stronger one was and the more outstanding one's performance, the more support one would gain from the elders and the clan. That person would have the greatest chance of becoming the next clan head.

So although he was dissatisfied, he still came. He was a strong contender for the position of clan head. He could not give up this opportunity!

"Brother En, do you think we'll win this war?" Uchiha Kaze asked.

Uchiha Yoru rolled his eyes at him and answered, "Do you even need to ask? Of course we'll win."

"Then, Brother En, who do you think will be the next clan head?" Uchiha Kaze continued.

Uchiha Yoru glared at him, then carefully observed Uchiha En. Seeing that he was not angry, he scolded, "Why do you always ask such nonsensical questions? It's still too early. Who can say for sure?"

Uchiha En was the third elder's son. These two were his guards and the same age as him. Their Sharingan had also developed to Two Tomoe. Only those who developed Three Tomoe before the age of fifteen were qualified to become candidates for clan head.

In truth, the two of them had only become his guards because they had lost their qualifications to become candidates for clan head.

Ever since Madara Uchiha, that "legendary-level" ninja, had died, the Uchiha Clan had not produced another genius at the Mangekyo level. Thus, they had no choice but to lower the requirements and use Three Tomoe as the standard of judgment.

Who knew whether they regretted not following Madara Uchiha when he left Konoha? A peaceful environment had made them lose their intense desire—the desire for absolute power!

Uchiha En smiled and said, "Alright, let's check our patrol area. It's time."

During the rest period, every squad had an area to patrol. They were required to map the local roads and search for water, food, and other resources...

Their patrol area was ten kilometers from Konoha's camp. For ninja, that distance could be covered in six minutes. What squad could not endure such a short distance? Even if they could not endure it, could they not run? It was no problem at all!

Kiyokawa Village was located at the very front line. Uchiha En and the other two patrolled here while keeping watch for a possible attack by Rain Village's forces.

Ever since Konoha arrived, this place had become a battlefield. Most families had fled, so there was unlikely to be much danger.

Uchiha Kaze walked out of a house carrying several items and shouted excitedly, "Brother En, Yoru, I found some canned food! This family left it behind. We can finally have a good meal!"

"Great! Open it quickly!"

All three were delighted. They had been eating compressed rations in camp these past days, or else a mishmash boiled in water. It tasted terrible, and their mouths had been bland for so long they could hardly stand it. With delicious food before them, how could they not be happy?

Uchiha Kaze prepared the ingredients and put them into a pot to cook. Before long, the fragrance made all three men's eyes gleam green!

Whooo!

A low wind swept in, making the door creak.

Something was wrong with the wind. Uchiha En gave them a look, and the two took out kunai and headed outside, with Uchiha En following close behind.

Once outside, Uchiha En scanned the surroundings but found nothing strange.

"No, Kaze and Yoru are gone! Is this a genjutsu?"

Uchiha En's expression tightened, and three tomoe slowly revolved within his blood-red pupils.

"No, it's not a genjutsu. They just disappeared!"

"Hello!"

At some point, a young man had appeared on the rooftop across from him. Uchiha En had sensed nothing. It was as if he had appeared out of thin air.

"Who are you? And where did you take Kaze and Yoru?" Uchiha En demanded sternly.

The young man across from him rested his chin on his hand and replied, "Ah, I..."

But Uchiha En had no intention of giving him a chance to answer. He attacked immediately.

Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!

A massive fireball came rolling toward him, and Uchiha En leaped after it.

Whoosh!

It was too fast. He saw only a flash of white light before he instantly lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground.

"Ah, too weak!" The young man was Su Zheng. After studying under Hanzo for half a month, he had obtained Hanzo's most closely guarded techniques. Hanzo had once again been shocked by his talent.

With nothing better to do, he had come outside Konoha's camp, intending to capture a few Uchiha Clan members. He had not expected things to go so perfectly. What incredible luck!

The ninjutsu he had previously developed to deal with the Uchiha Clan was no longer needed. With Hanzo's combat techniques, those jutsu would never get a chance to be used!