The Wisdom of the Ancestors

In other words, his main task was to take down the three fortified passes along the coastal route.

But Uchiha Shingen felt that there was no need to be so conservative.

As the Jonin in Leaf Village who dislikes Kumogakure the most, and the number one Cloud Village scumbag in the Ninja World, Uchiha Shingen in this cycle can confidently say that no one understands Cloud Village better than him.

He did indeed mess up the original plot, but to be fair, the talents in each village were largely the same as in the original timeline.

Over the years, Uchiha Shingen has been tirelessly reducing the talent pool of Cloud Village, using both official and private channels. It was only because the Fifth Raikage Darui from the original timeline was a cautious person that he was able to eliminate him long ago.

Uchiha Shingen wasn't disappointed, after all, Darui only appeared lazy on the surface, but his intelligence and strength were quite impressive.

The Six Paths Tools are not something just anyone can use.

I hope he will join the war.

With his troops, Uchiha Shingen entered Hidden Hot Water Village.

Compared to my last visit, this village...

It really does feel more like everyday life now...

I'd heard that Hidden Hot Water Village was now using the guise of a ninja village to freely develop tourism, but now it seems that's hardly what I'm talking about.

It's clearly something that's done while flying.

All the military facilities here are temporary structures; Hidden Hot Water Village stopped spending money on them a long time ago, and they're too lazy to even maintain them.

Uchiha Shingen didn't bother asking who paid for it; there was no need.

As the commander-in-chief of the war zone during the Ninja World War, Uchiha Shingen wielded immense power. Within the war zone, he could make all decisions in the name of Leaf Village, and in principle, he only needed to report to the village afterward.

In short, with the Hokage absent, he's the one in charge.

Aside from combat operations and related matters, he also made the final decisions on all military expenditures and the allocation of supplies.

Power comes from strength.

In the Ninja World, a ninja's power comes from their own strength.

Just like the Five Kage, setting aside all political requirements, the most basic quality is that they must be one of the strongest ninjas of their generation in the village.

Of course, this "one of" refers to Leaf Village; in other villages, it would simply mean the strongest.

The Kumogakure, which places extreme emphasis on power, has made this even more explicit.

Uchiha Shingen felt that he and Kumogakure) were a perfect match.

The Kumogakure reveres strength, and bravery is considered a virtue.

He, Uchiha Shingen, loved to win people over with virtue.

This is absolutely not a lie; he has many friends who can vouch for him.

The headquarters of the Leaf Village Ninja Army was the best hot spring hotel in Hidden Hot Water Village, which had been requisitioned.

Meanwhile, this hotel, with its large floor area, also served as the dormitory for the Jonin.

The Yu Ninjas didn't intend to ask the Konoha Ninja for rent; they knew very well that helping Leaf Village was helping themselves.

If Leaf Village loses, not one of them will have a good life.

Therefore, adhering to the principle of contributing money and materials if they couldn't provide manpower, Hidden Hot Water Village did its utmost within its capabilities.

Uchiha Shingen entered the hotel. This building, which was usually used to entertain tourists, had now been used as a temporary residence by the Konoha Ninja. Ninjas could be seen moving around everywhere. With this place as the central hub, all personnel and material deployments of Leaf Village in the northern war zone were issued from here.

The two clans 'Jonin who accompanied them settled in and joined the ranks of the local residents.

The other ninjas were temporarily accommodated at a nearby guesthouse to rest.

They have all been reorganized and can be assigned to specific classes, so there's not much need to worry about organization.

Guided by his former commander, Uchiha Shingen arrived at the office prepared for him.

"Lord Shingen, is there anything else that needs to be adjusted?"

"No need, we have everything we need. Is there a place here where we can hold meetings?"

"Yes, there is a large conference room in the middle of this floor."

"Alright, we're all on the same side, so let's skip the formalities and start a meeting now. Invite all the department heads to the conference room, and notify all the Jonin as well. This time, besides how to fight, we also need to finalize the handover of the nobles from Frost and Lightning Kingdoms."

"Understood." The former commander nodded and quickly went out to call for reinforcements.

Uchiha Shingen then walked out of the office and found the large conference room the other party had mentioned.

Pushing open the door and going inside, one could see that the area was quite large. The Tang ninjas were no match for fighting, but as the saying goes, when one door closes, another opens. The Tang ninjas were very skilled in house design, especially in interior decoration.

This meeting room is fantastic.

After the Jonin he brought arrived, together with the existing troops stationed here, Leaf Village had about forty Jonin in the northern war zone, which Jonin was no less than in other war zones.

Considering the battlefield effectiveness of the Uchiha and Hyuga ninja, Konoha actually has a higher number of jonin in the Northern Theater.

Although the number of Chunin is not as large as in other war zones, the number of Special Jōnin is superior, thus the middle ranks are also stable.

The main difference lies in the size of the Genin.

This is precisely the part that needs to be compensated for with high-end military force.

It's clear that Leaf Village is very confident in defeating the current Cloud Village.

However, Uchiha Shingen still wanted to avoid a large-scale battle between the two sides, since in the Genin to Chunin rank, having more people meant having a significant advantage.

Uchiha Shingen was perfectly capable of charging into the Cloud Ninja Army's main camp alone, but when two villages go to war, the score isn't settled that way.

When ninja villages fight, the fundamental purpose of winning the war is not to destroy the enemy village or to seize anyone's territory; those things are meaningless to the ninjas.

What ninjas crave is power and wealth.

Power is authority, and wealth can bring a comfortable life. They are not loyal to any country, nor do they care whether the world can be unified. They are only loyal to themselves. A world that is not unified but orderly is a good world for ninjas.

All the battles in the Ninja World are fought for the purpose of redistribution after the war.

In a direct confrontation, Uchiha Shingen wouldn't find killing several thousand Cloud Ninja difficult; as long as they refused to retreat, he could wear them down. However, he couldn't replace the role of several thousand Konoha Ninja in the post-battle period, not even several thousand Genin.

One person can be worth a thousand, but only if the other side obediently bands together.

Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara, when they went into battle, honestly employed various tactics, all aimed at grouping up the enemy so they could unleash their full power.

Uchiha Shingen was certain that the Cloud Ninja Army wouldn't just stand around and let him fight.

He might attack the fortress, and the main force of the Cloud Ninja Army might reach the foot of Hidden Hot Water Village shortly afterward.

To take it even further, they might as well resort to guerrilla tactics.

The Cloud Ninja Army had already shown signs of this when they were fighting against Iwagakure, and they made significant tactical adjustments.

Uchiha Shingen found a seat and sat down.

Although he had a general idea, he still wanted to hear about the situation in the Land of Hot Water first.

Chapter Three: The Wisdom of Our Ancestors

Uchiha Shingen didn't have to wait long.

The first to enter were the Jonin the two clans who had entered the village with him.

Subsequently, the various leaders of the garrison also arrived.

"Thank you all for your hard work." Uchiha Shingen looked at everyone. "Please sit down."

Since the leader had spoken, everyone naturally didn't stand on ceremony and quickly found seats.

"Who's in charge of reconnaissance?" Uchiha Shingen asked.

"Lord Shingen, it's me."

"What's your name, sir?"

"No, Lord Shingen, you can just call me 'Amber'."

"Then, Mr. Ko, could you please give me a brief overview of the current situation in the Land of Hot Water?"

The Konoha Ninja named "Amber" nodded and began to explain the situation in the Land of Hot Water.

He spoke very logically, without any unnecessary words or ambiguity; you could tell he was someone who got things done.

After taking a series of insightful photos, Uchiha Shingen had a clearer understanding of the situation in the war zone.

Firstly, due to the limited size of the Leaf Village Ninja Army, it was unable to conduct large-scale reconnaissance. Therefore, the area monitored and controlled by the Konoha Ninja themselves and the ninja organizations they hired only accounted for less than one-third of the territory of the Land of Hot Water, and only the eastern region. The area directly controlled by the Konoha Ninja was mainly the eastern coastal area, and the territory of the Hidden Hot Water Village was equivalent to the front-line defense.

This is also necessary to ensure the smooth flow of maritime routes, as it is the fastest route for joint operations between the Northern Theater Command and the Eastern Theater Command.

However, regardless of the authenticity of the ninja organizations that were hired, the Leaf Village Ninja Army did not dare to completely trust their technical capabilities.

Then came the enemy.

The main force of the Cloud Ninja is ostensibly gathered at the fortress.

However, a large number of Cloud Ninja had already dispersed into the western mountains. Unlike the last war, this time the Cloud Ninja did not easily band together, but instead used their numerical advantage to cast a wide net.

The ninja named "Amber" also believed that this time, the fortress was likely a decoy, and the Cloud Ninja might have used the ancient road in conjunction with the coastal passage to carry out military supplies in order to prevent the predicament caused by the fall of the fortress.

This means that the Cloud Ninja actually deployed a larger force this time.

This is a reasonable guess.

But besides the Cloud Ninja, the Land of Hot Water now has other forces.

In the Hokage Continent, there is a famous "Empty Zone" where Cat Granny's weapon Empty Zone is located. This so-called "Empty Zone" is situated at the junction of the Land of Fire and the northern countries.

Thus, this place not only housed a black market but also provided an ideal secret base for various wild ninja organizations.

Only a small portion of them sided with Leaf Village; the majority remained on the sidelines, observing the situation.

Waiting and seeing is not harmless; for the Leaf Village Northern Area Army, which lacks sufficient troops, it is actually a high-risk and uncertain factor.

Finally, there's the Sound Village one.

In the examination hall riot jointly launched by Iwagakure, Cloud Village, and Hidden Mist Village, no ninja villages outside the Five Great Villages participated.

However, these ninja villages did not side with Leaf Village to fight against the ninjas of the three major ninja villages.

In short, it was at that time that they all "forgot" their alliance with these major ninja villages.

Excluding Orochimaru, the only non-Five Great Villages faction that took action was the Akatsuki.

But after the riot ended, Nagato of Amegakure found Namikaze Minato and Jiraiya, claiming that the Akatsuki had broken free of his control and betrayed him.

Whether it's true or not, Nagato certainly didn't make a move, nor did the Rain Ninja.

As for Orochimaru, his relationship with the Sound Village was not openly revealed, and the Sound Ninja were merely bystanders during that riot.

But things had escalated to the point of a full-scale Ninja World war, Jonin of Leaf Village now knew that Orochimaru was the true leader of Sound Village, and that the Leaf Village ninja army considered Sound Village an enemy.

Therefore, according to Amber, the Sound Ninja Army, which has a large-scale troop mobilization on the border of the Land of Hot Water, is an enemy that is going to fight Leaf Village, even though it has not yet directly entered the Land of Hot Water or marched south to the Land of Fire.

"As for Orochimaru, there's no need to worry about him for now," Uchiha Shingen waved his hand.

Uchiha Shingen dared to say that, of course, because he had the confidence to do so.

The system of one country and one village, created by Senju Hashirama, was a distribution method that would satisfy both ninjas and nobles.

Once the ninjas were brought together, their powerful force had a unified organization, preventing them from turning against the nation. Meanwhile, the nobles managed the country, developed society, and accumulated wealth. They then distributed the share belonging to the ninjas through the ninja villages by purchasing services.

With ordinary people withdrawing from the military, the production sector had more manpower, and the military field was taken over by a limited number of ninjas, which indirectly reduced the scope of the war.

During the Kunimura era, most of the mainland's population was no longer directly involved in the war, but similarly, the benefits of the military sphere were exclusively enjoyed by the Ninja World.

Therefore, normally, any ninja would have a positive attitude towards war.

But Orochimaru is not a normal ninja.

He was definitely the most passive ninja in the entire Ninja World when it came to war.

Unless it's absolutely necessary to fight.

But we're clearly not at that point yet.

Furthermore, Uchiha Shingen genuinely believed that this guy, after betraying Leaf Village, was specifically targeting Leaf Village's enemies.

"Understood, Lord Shingen. However... the Sound Ninja Army has been very active lately. Orochimaru is, after all, missing-nin of the village. Now that his identity has been exposed, it's not impossible that he's been recruited by the Cloud Ninja." Amber offered her opinion, "I suggest maintaining a basic reconnaissance force against the Sound Ninja."

"That's fine." Uchiha Shingen didn't want to dampen the other's enthusiasm. "Kou-kun, for reconnaissance, we should mainly rely on the Cloud Ninja. Reconnaissance in mountainous areas is not easy. You can request manpower from Hizashi."

"Understood." Hu nodded, indicating that he had finished his report.