Taking Command for the First Time / How to Win People Over with Virtue
The representatives of the four tribes present all nodded in agreement.
Sarutobi Hiruzen felt a pang of regret. If he could, he would like to fight alongside the First Hokage, Tobirama, and Wu Zu -sensei, just like in the past.
"Finally, there's the Eastern Theater. Considering there's no separation between the Land of Fire and the Land of Water, battles could break out anywhere along the coast, making infiltration capabilities crucial for both sides. So, the Second will be the overall commander for this route, and Kushina and I will also participate. After all, the enemy definitely has Jinchūriki to deploy. As for the Inuzuka Clan and Aburame Clan will be the core."
After the personnel selections for the three war zones were announced, Namikaze Minato made the final announcement regarding those who would remain.
Naturally, these were Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, the former Hokage, and Legendary Sannin, one of the Jiraiya.
As for Tsunade, Namikaze Minato dared not make any arrangements for her, and he couldn't figure out what Tsunade was thinking right now.
Jiraiya and Tsunade were also present, but they remained silent throughout.
"I'll stay too," Tsunade suddenly said. "I'll help if there's anything I can do."
"That's wonderful!" Namikaze Minato with delight.
Tsunade nodded and said no more.
She didn't have any objections to Namikaze Minato; he was Jiraiya's student, and she had practically watched him grow up.
"If anyone has any further comments, please feel free to voice them," Namikaze Minato said.
Apart from Jiraiya and Tsunade, all the military leaders present, big and small, began to ponder.
To be honest, most people didn't have any major objections.
It's fine to follow either the First or the second generation.
In the north, there are the Uchiha Clan and Hyuga Clan, but without the Jonin Council, they have considerable autonomy, which is satisfactory for the two clans that cooperate so well.
Although I can't travel with the First Lord, to be fair, the Senju Muzoku One is over there too. He messed with so many people back then, and everyone still feels a bit scared when they see him.
The thing they just pulled out... it's solid proof; this guy definitely won't be up to anything good this time either.
Walking with him will definitely arouse hatred.
This kind of vicious person should go and mess with the Sarutobi Clan.
After a while, everyone said they had no objections.
"Alright, then we will set off tonight," Namikaze Minato said. "In the meantime, everyone should take care of their family matters. This time is different from the past; there will be no surprise attacks. As our army marches out, we need to send the nobles of various countries back to their respective countries. If we encounter Iwagakure, Cloud Village, or Hidden Mist Village, we will hand them over to the nobles belonging to their respective countries."
Everyone wore that "know-it-all" smile.
In this way, there will indeed be no surprise attack.
Even if there were any, it would have been after the transfer of the nobility.
The Konoha Ninja army could arrive at their designated location without any trouble.
However, the garrison troops stationed at the border beforehand will have a tough time, as the enemy will try to inflict casualties on them before the nobles arrive.
In fact, there are many more ordinary people from outside the village. Hidden Leaf Village will hand these people over to the Daimyo's Court, which will be responsible for sending them back to their place of origin.
Although it is a world of nobles and ninjas, there is still some humanitarianism. After all, those who can afford to go to Hidden Leaf Village to watch the matches are not from poor families, and they are an important pillar of the healthy functioning of any country's society.
The meeting has now come to an end.
As Namikaze Minato announced the end of the meeting, the group began to leave in twos and threes.
Although everyone thinks Leaf Village will win this time, the battlefield is where luck is most important, and the necessary procedures still need to be followed.
Uchiha Shingen then prepared to leave with Uchiha Fugaku.
He also wants to go back and have a good meal with his family to put their minds at ease.
Also, contact your parents, who have been having a great time in the association all these years and have practically experienced a second spring in their lives, and ask them to return to Leaf Village for a while.
Ninjas from enemy countries may uphold principles in normal times, but they will lose them in times of war.
"Shingen." Suddenly, Senju Tobirama's voice came from behind.
Uchiha Shingen turned around and saw his second brother from his previous life staring at him with that chilling gaze.
Suddenly, the cold-faced king actually smiled.
"Shingen, you don't mind if I call you that, do you?"
"Of course, Second." Uchiha Shingen began to speculate wildly in his mind.
Has the second brother changed his ways? Has he finally stopped being prejudiced against the Uchiha Clan?
"You are an important fighting force for the village. Although it is regrettable to disturb your time with your family, we will have to trouble you to stay for a while," Senju Tobirama said. "There are some important matters that we need to discuss further."
"That's right, Shingen," Namikaze Minato said. "The Northern Theater Command will be temporarily separated from the Western and Eastern Theater Commands, which puts us at a disadvantage in terms of troop deployment. The duration of the war is currently unpredictable. We need to discuss whether we can find a way to link the two sides by sea from the Eastern Theater Command to reduce unforeseen circumstances."
Namikaze Minato spoke these words sincerely. He remembered clearly how Iwagakure had managed to throw Leaf Village's western front into chaos with only a thousand ninja, forcing Leaf Village, which had no troops to deploy for the time being, to resort to risky tactics.
This was even after Iwagakure had just wiped out 10,000 of their ninja troops on Cloud Village's side.
This accident also gave birth to two heroes with Sharingan, and twisted the mind of one of them.
Although Namikaze Minato said so, and Uchiha Shingen believed he was telling the truth, he felt that Senju Tobirama definitely didn't think that way.
Because he saw the Senju Muzoku One avoiding his gaze.
That Impure World Shadow Clone must have said something it shouldn't have to that rich dog!
Hopefully, he hasn't completely given himself away...
Volume 11
Chapter One: First Time Leading the Army
On the road from Hidden Leaf Village to Hidden Hot Water Village, a long convoy of cars from the northern nobles stretched out.
These nobles, both high and low, came from the four kingdoms of Tian, Tang, Shuang, and Lei.
This Joint Chunin Exams, which brought together the five major villages and all their allies, also attracted guests from all the countries surrounding Leaf Village.
They are both the people the ninjas must protect and the pawns the Hidden Leaf Village uses as leverage.
Neutral countries are much better in this regard.
The people of the Iron and Water Kingdoms did not need Konoha Ninja to "escort" them. The Daimyo's Court would make direct arrangements, with the Fire Daimyo's Court Takigakure and samurai army cooperating with the Daimyo's government to escort them back to their country. No one attacked them.
The various ninja villages, already in a state of war, wouldn't overstep their bounds in this regard. As for those independent organizations, they wouldn't dare offend the Fire, Waterfall, and Iron Kingdoms at this time; they'd be utterly crushed.
Moreover, this Ninja World War was extremely bizarre. The Edo Impure World Reincarnation, which had not appeared in the Ninja World for a long time, reappeared, and four Hokage suddenly appeared from the Leaf Village side.
Therefore, the various ninja organizations that rose to prominence during the Third Shinobi World War and have since become major players in the Ninja World are all being cautious this time and have not dared to casually take sides.
At this stage, the tasks they are willing to undertake do not include direct confrontation with the ninjas of major powers.
These organizations are active in small countries between large countries, and they take on many of the functions that originally belonged to ninja villages in those small countries that do not have ninja villages.
For small countries with strong ninja villages, such organizations have little fertile ground, but for those small countries without ninja villages, or whose ninja villages have severely degenerated, they are a paradise for ninja organizations.
The Land of Hot Water is in the same situation today.
A Leaf Village ninja army was already stationed here.
At the start of the Joint Chunin Exams, Hidden Leaf Village had secretly dispatched three forces to the Land of Rivers, the Land of Hot Water, and the Land of Grass.
The largest force was sent to the Land of Rivers, while the smallest force was sent to the Land of Grass.
The force stationed in the Land of Hot Water was of medium size, but consisted entirely of elite troops, numbering around four thousand.
However, this unit has very few Jonin, and this gap will be filled by Jonin from the Uchiha Clan and Hyuga Clan clans once they arrive.
Prior to this, Leaf Village leveraged its financial resources to extensively hire ninja organizations active in the Land of Hot Water to bolster its forces. Since Leaf Village hadn't yet directly engaged in combat with the Cloud Ninja, these ninja organizations in the Land of Land of Hot Water were quite willing to earn money for such security-related missions.
Until the Cloud Ninja Army began to assemble at the pass.
When Uchiha Shingen led his army to the Land of Hot Water, these ninja organizations had already informed the Leaf Village garrison that they wanted to withdraw.
The Cloud Ninja Legion has amassed nearly 8,000 troops in the repaired South Gate City, and various war resources are being continuously transported into the city through the coastal passage, with reinforcements still gathering.
The Cloud Ninja Army's performance on the battlefield has not been very good since the Third Shinobi World War, but that is relative to Leaf Village, Iwagakure, and Sand Village.
The area where Leaf Village's troops are stationed is still Hidden Hot Water Village).
Since the sudden attack by rogue ninja, Hidden Hot Water Village has practically ceased to be a ninja army capable of fighting.
The Yu-nin have become a low-intensity armed force; they can no longer be called ninjas, but rather the security personnel of Hidden Hot Water Village).
The current ninjas of the Land of Hot Springs are no match for the ninja organizations of the Land of Hot Water.
The Hidden Hot Water Village can still maintain its status as a ninja village is truly thanks to Leaf Village's support.
After entering the Land of Hot Water, Uchiha Shingen's army marched straight in without any pause, reaching the Hidden Hot Water Village.
This force, composed of the Uchiha Clan and Hyuga Clan ninjas, numbered only a thousand, but its combat capability far surpassed the original four thousand Leaf Village ninja. The two clans had not compromised on this expedition; all those sent were their elites, Special Jōnin and above, who comprised more than a third of the force's total strength.
Not to mention the Jonin of the Uchiha Clan and Hyuga Clan, who already possessed considerable overflowing abilities.
The arrival of the White Ghost from Leaf Village swept away the previously restless atmosphere in Hidden Hot Water Village.
The ninja organizations that were previously hired have all become obedient.
After all, there are two Kage Level ninjas, over thirty Jonin, and more than two hundred Special Jōnin.
There are no Chunin level.
Adding to the Konoha Ninja army already stationed in the city, these 5,000 ninja soldiers could easily defeat the enemy's 10,000 without relying on logistics.
The White Ghost of Leaf Village accomplished the feat of destroying South Gate City single-handedly more than a decade ago. It is said that he used the legacy of the Ghost Senju to summon an Impure World Reincarnation Army.
But... maintaining skepticism about everything is the way these ninja organizations survive.
Who knows if that's an inheritance!
If the White Ghost feels their attitude is bad, he might simply kill them all and then Impure World Reincarnation them using Edo Tensei; that's not entirely impossible.
Otherwise, the legacy of the Ghost Senju? You saw it? You were there?
You say everyone says that, but what if they're all lying to you?
Anyway, these ninja organization envoys who originally came to Hidden Hot Water Village to see if they could negotiate some terms have all become obedient.
Unlike the ninja organizations of countries like Amane, Ishigaki, Kawaki, and Uzushiogakure, these organizations in the Land of Land of Hot Water believed that Leaf Village would definitely win. They were all prepared to side with Leaf Village, but they thought that Leaf Village was generally easy to talk to its allies and generous with money, so they wanted to make more money.
In short, they have a super nice attitude and are very blunt, usually starting with something like, "The market is bad lately, everyone is struggling."
They were very familiar with the style of the Konoha Ninja, which is why the previous commanders had a headache dealing with them.
They are very conscientious in their work and fulfill all the client's requirements, but the settlement process is particularly tedious.
The commander was happier than anyone when Uchiha Shingen arrived.
So, after the reinforcements from the two major clans arrived, he couldn't wait and was already waiting at the village entrance. When he saw Uchiha Shingen in the distance, he hurriedly went to greet him.
"Shingen, you must be tired from your journey. We have prepared your command post and invite you to inspect it!"
This commander was a family ninja and a Jonin.
In Leaf Village, nine out of ten commoner ninjas who can become Jonin are actually fake commoners, all coming from ninja families. These ninja families were formed after the disintegration of the former ninja clans.
Both the Senju of the Forest and the Shimura Clan were in this situation, but the Shimura Clan has now completely assimilated into the common people.
After the collapse of the Senju of the Forest, many of them left the ninja world, while others became part of the common people. The ninja families formed in this way greatly enriched the size and quality of the common people ninja community.
In fact, most of these ninja families lived more comfortably than when they were still ninja clans.
"You're too kind. By the way, was there anything wrong here before we came?"
On the other side was a warm and enthusiastic person, Uchiha Shingen was also all smiles. As he shook hands with the other person, he asked, "I heard that someone is causing trouble?"
The commander hesitated for a moment before deciding not to speak ill of those people.
Although it was tedious, the missions were all completed very well and did not affect the Leaf Village Ninja Army's deployment here.
"No, it's just that the Cloud Ninja Army is gathering at the pass, and their strength far exceeds ours, so everyone is a bit nervous."
"That's good." Uchiha Shingen nodded. "But everyone, don't be nervous. If having more people was useful, Iwagakure would have unified the Ninja World long ago. Although this is my first time leading an army, I know this principle."
Chapter Two: How to Win People Over with Virtue
Before setting off, Uchiha Shingen had already planned his battle objectives.
Namikaze Minato's mission for him was to destroy the three coastal passes and disable the supply chain's ability to circulate military resources along the coast. This would increase the cost of Cloud Village's land warfare and make it difficult to sustain in the long term. In this way, Leaf Village would only need a small number of troops to contain Cloud Ninja's land offensive in this mountainous region.