Intelligence and the Situation

The underground cafeteria was brightly lit.

With the entire main force having returned,

the cafeteria felt extremely crowded.

But the more crowded it was, the better the news. It meant Konoha had suffered negligible losses in this sortie. And indeed, while eating and listening to Homura and Ichijō, Shōji learned that the main force's frontal offensive and defensive operations had likewise not lost many men. After all, Suzaku's objective had merely been to suppress the main Kumo Ninja force at Kumogakure's frontline outpost, not to engage them in a decisive battle to the death.

The appropriate assignments and pace of operations had been arranged in advance before the battle.

Therefore,

the casualty count remained entirely within controllable limits.

Judging purely from the numbers, Konoha had won a sweeping victory in this operation. Preliminary estimates put the number of Kumo Ninja killed at over a hundred, while Konoha's casualties were less than half of the enemy's. As the attacking side, achieving a casualty ratio of one to two was unquestionably a major victory.

Moreover, the overwhelming majority of those killed were Genin.

There were very few Chūnin or higher among the casualties. Only two Jōnin had been killed, while four had been severely wounded.

This was thanks to Konoha's advantage in both numbers and quality, as well as Nara Suzaku's choice of an exceptionally opportune moment, allowing Konoha to achieve such an impressive result.

They had to remember that they were not facing some minor shinobi village, nor Sunagakure, the weakest of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, but Kumogakure, which had held the position of second only to Konoha for decades.

Such a stark contrast in results

was enough to reveal many things.

As for the Uchiha Clan members who had participated,

not a single one had died.

As had been said before, as long as a clan member had awakened the Sharingan,

against opponents of the same level, unless the enemy possessed some exceptionally powerful special bloodline ability, it generally took at least two or three people to resist or even kill an Uchiha ninja. This was why the Uchiha Clan had been hailed as the number one ninja clan in the shinobi world throughout the more than forty years since the village era began.

Their individual combat prowess was simply too strong.

Of course, where there was good news, there was bad news as well.

That was the reinforcements Kumogakure had dispatched.

The news had arrived practically at the same time Konoha withdrew and returned to the Hot Springs Mountain Outpost. This was also why Suzaku made slight adjustments to his main force's formation. The odds were not high, but there was always the fear that the Kumo Ninja commander might copy their tactic and launch a counterattack.

If that happened, the advantage they had fought so hard to gain would be spat out in one go.

That was an outcome Konoha had to avoid at all costs, and one Suzaku was even less willing to see.

"What? Kumogakure's reinforcements arrived almost right after us? That fast?"

When Shōji learned of it, he froze for a moment.

It seemed

the enemy's spies stationed within the Land of Fire, perhaps even inside Konohagakure itself, were quite capable. Their methods of communication were also highly sophisticated. Otherwise, there was no way Kumogakure could have dispatched reinforcements almost simultaneously with Konoha. The gap between the two sides was not large. To put it bluntly, if Suzaku's timing had been even slightly later,

or if the Kumo Ninja at Kumogakure's Southern Fortress had managed to delay the frontal force under Suzaku's command a little longer,

then the Kumo Ninja reinforcements arriving afterward could very well have surrounded and wiped out their main force.

If they lost such a batch of elites,

the Hot Springs Mountain Outpost would be in grave danger.

However, from this, one could also tell that Fourth Raikage A harbored his own doubts and reservations. Otherwise, he would not have deployed reinforcements this way. He could have simply pressed forward with overwhelming force and broken through Konoha's border defenses. But that would mean Kumogakure and Konohagakure were starting a full-scale war.

It might even directly trigger the Fourth Shinobi World War.

Fourth Raikage A had to weigh that possibility carefully as well.

"Yeah. When Senior Kogen told us, we were shocked too. The timing was far too delicate. We nearly ran straight into them."

Uchiha Homura nodded lightly and replied.

"Hmph, so what if we had? At worst, we'd just face them head-on. We Uchiha have never been afraid of anyone!"

The younger and more hot-blooded Uchiha Ichijō snorted dismissively.

That was typical Uchiha behavior.

It should be said that over seventy percent of the Uchiha Clan members who were ninja were like this. Of course, that referred to the men. For some reason, the difference in temperament between Uchiha men and women was remarkably pronounced. Setting aside ordinary clan members who were not ninja, even female Uchiha ninja generally leaned toward gentler dispositions. Fugaku's wife, Mikoto Uchiha, was the clearest example.

What Ichijō had just said was exactly the sort of thing a male Uchiha ninja would say.

In the eyes of these clan members, the Uchiha Clan was the greatest under heaven.

The pride ingrained deep in their bones often made them look down on everyone else, and it also easily created conflicts with others.

That's why there's still such a long road ahead...

Shōji could not help sighing inwardly.

"Still, we must remain careful. On the battlefield, anything can happen. No matter how strong someone is, didn't the Third Raikage still die after being surrounded by Iwagakure Ninja? Ichijō, courage is a good thing, but arrogance is not!"

Uchiha Homura looked at Ichijō with a stern expression and spoke in a deep voice.

As Ichijō's cousin, and someone who had grown up with him, Homura held considerable sway over him. Even though Ichijō had now surpassed Homura in strength, deep down he still instinctively listened to Homura's guidance.

He pursed his lips, then nodded. "Yes, Brother Homura. I know."

A one-on-one duel was one thing.

A battlefield clash was another matter entirely.

Even if Kumogakure and Konoha had not gone all out,

the combined number of ninja from both nations gathered on the Land of Hot Springs front had already exceeded four thousand. On such a battlefield,

as long as one was not strong enough to transcend everything,

death was always possible.

Take Shōji, for example.

With his Mangekyō Sharingan activated, a few Jōnin were naturally no challenge.

If he could successfully manifest Susanoo, he could likewise fight, or even defeat, dozens of Jōnin. But what if they were supported by formations of Elite Chūnin, with barriers, sealing techniques, and other traps prepared in advance?

Arrogance was the greatest harbinger of death in war.

Ever since coming to this world,

Shōji had constantly reminded himself of this.

Only the cautious were qualified to survive!