The Trail Is Clear / Marching Toward Hell

In short, he's either chopping people up or running; when he's not doing either of those, he's sleeping and eating, and his schedule is very tight.

The ANBU slept while being carried by Impure World Reincarnation, and the team never stopped running.

So one by one, the ANBU eventually became numb, because they realized that the Senju Muzoku didn't actually need them at all.

Need intelligence? Find two enemies, kill one, then Impure World Reincarnation on the other.

In battle, is there anything more convenient than Impure World Reincarnation? And the margin for error is virtually Infinite.

To be honest, it was they who slowed down the movement efficiency of the Senju Muzoku.

The crowd followed the Senju Muzoku toward the great city ahead.

However, after taking only a few steps, they discovered that the Impure World Reincarnation that had flooded into the city were retreating.

Everyone: "???"

This was unprecedented. Even though he was only a Genin in life, and his strength was already reduced, they had clearly seen how terrifying this mass-produced Impure World Reincarnation would be once it reached a certain scale.

Moreover, some of them were Jonin life, so no matter how crudely made they were, their foundation was still there.

It's a complete disaster. If it weren't for the fact that these Impure World Reincarnation have an expiration date and automatically collapse when they expire, requiring constant replenishment, the ANBU's worldviews would be shattered.

So Leaf Village has been getting worse and worse over the years.

"Lord Wu Zu, is there a powerful enemy in the city?" Yamanaka Fū asked first.

"Don't be ridiculous. With things like this, how could we possibly have a powerful enemy?" said the Senju Muzoku. "Rejoice! The people in this region are all our allies now."

Everyone collectively raised a question mark again.

They burned their houses and fields, chopped off so many people, not to mention the indirect civilian casualties—and this is what they call friendly forces?

Yamanaka Fū and Aburame Torune have done a lot of shady work, so it's Senju Muzoku was planning to harm them to the extreme before bestowing favors upon them.

Due to the pacing of events, Senju Muzoku did not promptly inform these ANBU of all the information, so the ANBU were unaware of the plan that the Land of Earth and Iwagakure had begun to implement.

They were already considered one of the more ruthless groups in Hidden Leaf Village, but they had never thought of it in this way.

The Senju Muzoku knew they wouldn't think that way.

Compared to the times he lived in, this was indeed a good era.

But... Boss, you really should have listened to Madara!

Hey, you better hurry up, or I'll take the first blood in this battle!

Chapter Fifteen: Clues Have Been Revealed

Heading west from the port city where the Senju Muzoku resides, across the ocean to the other side, lies a vast expanse of mountains.

Unlike the Land of Earth, which was engaged in a vigorous military campaign, the Land of Hot Water Springs, where Leaf Village was the first to launch a large-scale military operation, appeared to be becoming increasingly peaceful.

The Leaf Village ninja army, which had initially been full of murderous intent, fell silent after arriving at South Gate City. It seemed that Leaf Village was temporarily content with simply blocking the Cloud Ninja in this direction.

For Hyuga Hizashi, who was temporarily in command, these were Hizashi Hyuga, as they had not yet received any notification from Uchiha Shingen.

At this moment, the Leaf Village ninja camp was like a monster suppressing its ferocity; all the Cloud Ninja's probing attacks would vanish upon approaching it.

In the eyes of the Cloud Ninja and various forces, Uchiha Shingen had not appeared for a long time.

Several days had passed since Uchiha Shingen led the foreign troops into the mountains.

Deep in the dark, desolate mountains, in this world, it does not belong to humankind.

The mountain waves and peaks rise and fall in layers, without end, with cliffs as sharp as if carved by a knife and axe, reaching to the sky and standing tall.

As dawn breaks, the undulating hills appear and disappear in the distance; as the sun sets, the remaining light casts a chilling stillness.

Here, driven by the wealth of Cloud Village and the power of Uchiha Shingen, the four thousand foreign soldiers are like hungry wolves—greedy, alert, and bloodthirsty.

The Poison Insect Road is not easy to find.

Its other end connects to the plains of the Land of Lightning, but on the Land of Hot Water side, the entrance is hidden deep in the mountains. As it was abandoned and all things grew, the mountain paths and the signs that used to identify it were long gone.

Fortunately, most of the ninjas were good at finding their way, and with the efforts of thousands of professional military contractors, things started to look promising.

The best evidence is that they started encountering Cloud Ninja.

The fact that the Cloud Ninja didn't come from the Seaside Road proves that Uchiha Shingen's analysis was correct; the Cloud Ninja did indeed take the Poison Insect Road.

As the only Konoha Ninja present, Uchiha Shingen didn't feel like a stranger in a foreign land. On the contrary, since his subordinates were all seeking wealth and he didn't care about their lives, he felt a long-lost sense of freedom.

Let me make this clear: he's not a psychopath who needs to kill a few people before he can sleep.

Without responsibility, there is no pressure.

He's a normal person now, not a ghost anymore.

He had absolutely no intention of breaking his promise. Whether or not he would get a share depended on the fate of these people. He would keep Orochimaru's share, but he had no obligation to make any promises regarding the Sound Ninja here. He would provide the money, Orochimaru would provide the people—a very fair deal.

However, the money wasn't in his possession; the Sound Ninja had to retrieve it himself.

"Shingen, there's a situation ahead." A Sound Ninja emerged from the forest.

These foreign ninjas have had a tough time these past few days. The environment here is just too good, a paradise for all kinds of life. It's only because they have Chakra that they can enjoy this paradise.

A mosquito bite can cause a swelling as big as a fist, turning bright red.

But Uchiha Shingen had already warned them to bring enough insect repellent, so the unlucky ones who got bitten couldn't blame him.

"Have we encountered enemies?" Uchiha Shingen asked.

"Yes, and we may have found that ancient path," the Sound Ninja said. "We've discovered the Cloud Village's stronghold."

"Didn't you notice?" Uchiha Shingen looked at him, his gaze deep.

The Sound Ninja still had lingering excitement on his face, but when he met Uchiha Shingen's gaze, the cold, seemingly malevolent look in his eyes jolted him back to his senses.

He regained his composure.

"Everyone is being very careful..." The Sound Ninja lowered their heads.

Uchiha Shingen stared at the other man for a while before deciding to use his Sharingan to check if he had been bribed.

Even if it's a trap, he's not afraid.

The caution I showed before was out of necessity; I had a large group of fellow Leaf Village natives under my command, and too many acquaintances. I couldn't afford to act recklessly, especially with so many of my own relatives alone.

Commander-in-Chief? No, he's the nanny.

Things are different now; he's even being cautious about del!

If that stupid old black guy surrounds him again, he'll beat those guys to a pulp.

With strong hard power, one can handle things with ease.

"How large is the Cloud Village's base? Can you tell how long it took to build it?"

"It looks like it's only been built a few days ago, probably around the same time we set off."

"Hmm." Uchiha Shingen waved his hand, indicating that the other party could get lost.

Judging from this, it wasn't easy for the Cloud Ninja to get through the Poison Insect Road; they probably repaired it as they went.

They really went to great lengths for him, even helping him repair the road.

Uchiha Shingen only thought for a second or so before a large crowd had gathered around him.

Those were the foreign legion leaders who followed him in search of the great treasure... Sorry, wrong story, they were the foreign legion leaders who came with him to make a fortune.

But no one dared to urge Uchiha Shingen to say things like, "Don't overthink it, there are so many of us, let's just get to work."

They just stared longingly at this wealthy patron.

Seeing the looks in everyone's eyes, Uchiha Shingen couldn't help but chuckle.

A group of ruthless villains, who lived on the edge of life and death, were acting all cute and innocent in front of him.

However, he could understand to some extent. After all, they had been in the forest for several days, dealing with birds, Tenten, and mosquitoes every day. The few Cloud Ninja they encountered were hardly enough to go around. Now that they had discovered the stronghold, if it weren't for him being there, they would probably be howling like wolves with their eyes gleaming green.

It's said that businessmen are daring; they're fearless as long as there's money to be made.

The name of Cloud Village is now of no use to these people either.

"Alright, don't look at me. We'll definitely take the stronghold, but I need to confirm whether it's the Poison Insect Road or just a decoy set up by the Cloud Ninja." Uchiha Shingen looked at these mercenaries whose minds were completely focused on Mane. "Don't forget, although we didn't kill many Cloud Ninja along the way, it was enough for them to know that there are more than just them in this mountain."

He didn't pity these people's lives.

However, wasting resources is shameful.

"Shingen, rest assured, we understand. You don't need to worry. Although we are not very strong, we can still handle mid-to-low-level ninjas from Cloud Village without any problem."

Am I worried about you? Am I worried that you're too good-looking?

Looking at the other person's round face, Uchiha Shingen said, "Well, it's fate that we've all come together on this journey. I also hope that everyone can make a fortune safely."

Alright, let them go and scout ahead.

The Cloud Ninja are very cunning; they surely wouldn't overlook the possibility that the Leaf Village is also using the Poison Insect Road. What if it's a trap?

The 4,000-strong force had already lost dozens of men by this point; losing a few dozen more would be considered normal battle casualties.

After all this time, he should have made some money by now. The fighting in the Land of Earth is probably already underway.

Surely I can't be worse than my former self, right?

Chapter Sixteen: Heading to Hell

News of the discovery of the Cloud Village base quickly spread throughout the Foreign Legion.

The foreign ninjas, who had chosen the lesser of two evils, were suddenly highly motivated. Their dejected state of mind, which had been dampened by days of fruitless work in the forest, vanished, and their morale soared.

If circumstances allowed, the leaders wouldn't have decided who would do it by rolling dice; they would have fought.

In this regard, Uchiha Shingen didn't care about them.

The cannon fodder are getting motivated, and there's absolutely no reason for him, the beneficiary, to suppress them.

The selection results will be revealed soon.

The Sound Village has the most members, but its Sound Village's dice-rolling skills are on par with Tsunade's, though he lacks Tsunade's prophetic abilities.

Technically, however, they do live up to the fact that their leader is one of the Legendary Sannin.

The winners were the leaders of several small organizations.

This also aligns with Uchiha Shingen's expectations.

The Sound Village has the most members, and they are all ninjas from the same system, so there's no need to waste time here.

For small-scale operations, small organizations should be allowed to take the lead.

But others didn't think so, because everyone saw it that night.

The nearly 100-meter-tall Susanoo strolled around South Gate City as if on a spring outing.

If Uchiha Shingen knew what these people were thinking, he would definitely say, "This is nothing."

The height of Susanoo has never been consistent.

In the original timeline Uchiha Itachi's Susanoo less than fifty meters tall.

Uchiha Madara's Susanoo exceeded two hundred meters.

After absorbing the Chakra of eight and a half Tailed Beasts, Uchiha Sasuke Susanoo its peak height in the original timeline, becoming twenty or thirty meters taller than Uchiha Madara's.

Uchiha Shingen has never truly unleashed Susanoo, since a height of several tens of meters is sufficient for him.

However, there are very few people in this world who have this understanding of Susanoo. For these foreign ninjas, Susanoo that is tens of meters tall is already invincible.

Money was like dirt, and people were like weeds – that's how they saw Uchiha Shingen.

Therefore, everyone accepted the high-risk mission arranged by Uchiha Shingen. When faced with two evils, they would rather gamble on "mud and sand" than "grass and chaff".

Having witnessed Uchiha Shingen's godlike power, everyone believed that as long as they stuck with Uchiha Shingen, they would surely win.

Killing the Cloud Ninja Cloud Village is nothing to be afraid of.

More than two hundred foreign ninjas, led by their respective leaders, broke away from the main force and made their way towards the Cloud Ninja stronghold discovered by the Sound Ninja.

Uchiha Shingen then ordered the entire army to halt and disperse to maintain vigilance.

He needs patience for both runs.