I Have a Bunch of Relatives Who Want to Be Hokage Chapter 5

Uchiha Shingen Was Actually Super Strong

Setting out from the north gate of the Hidden Leaf Village along the existing yellow-dirt road, Uchiha Shingen joined the High Plateau lord's convoy on its journey to the Land of Hot Water.

High Plateau was not this lord's name. The title "High Plateau lord" simply meant that he was the lord of a place called High Plateau.

The journey through the Land of Fire was safe and peaceful.

Transportation in this world had originally been terrible. Under the feudal lord system, only roads between major cities were funded and maintained by local lords. Everywhere else, roads were simply paths trampled into existence by enough people walking over them.

After the one-country, one-village system was established and ninja became concentrated in ninja villages, the villages began voluntarily guiding public travel within their territories so people from all over could conveniently visit the ninja villages to place commissions. They even repaired roads along the way. But the daimyo and lords soon realized the benefits, and after some discussion, what had originally been self-funded traffic guidance became state-employed wilderness security. Everyone was happy.

But that happiness was limited to the Five Great Nations.

At this time, the Land of Fire was enjoying a golden age of public security, with the Hidden Leaf Village aggressively taking on missions and thousands upon thousands of Leaf ninja scattered across the land. The High Plateau lord's convoy traveled very smoothly.

Until they crossed the border and entered the Land of Hot Water.

Once they entered the Land of Hot Water, the situation changed abruptly.

Leaf ninja would not provide wilderness security for the Land of Hot Water for free. Less than a day after crossing the border, the convoy ran into a band of bandits.

However, no conflict broke out. Uchiha Shingen's shadow clone casually spat out a Great Fireball, and they scattered like frightened birds and beasts.

Throughout the incident, the guards followed Uchiha Shingen's instructions and tightly surrounded the carriage carrying the High Plateau lord and his son, while Shingen himself held a hand seal and coldly watched the surroundings with his Sharingan.

Only after the bandits had fled for quite some time, and not a single person could be seen anywhere nearby, did Uchiha Shingen allow the convoy to continue.

At first, the High Plateau lord did not understand, so Uchiha Shingen patiently explained.

During the Third Shinobi World War, Mist Ninja had often driven nearby bandits or even refugees into enemy formations, then attacked after the enemy lowered their guard. The Hidden Leaf Village had learned to do the same.

The High Plateau lord also realized that he had become too accustomed to the peace of the Land of Fire. For the rest of the journey, he asked no unnecessary questions and cooperated fully.

The terrain of the Land of Hot Water rose steadily from south to north. The High Plateau region lay in the northeastern part of the Land of Hot Water, not far from the Land of Frost.

According to the information he had received, one of his rivals had hired Hot Water ninja to disguise themselves as Frost ninja and take his life along the road, allowing that rival to seize his territory.

Shinobi wars were never fought to eliminate or occupy enemy villages, but the rules of conflict among lords were exactly the opposite.

Yet Uchiha Shingen still reserved judgment. If they even knew that the enemy planned to disguise themselves as Frost ninja, then either the other side's intelligence network was riddled with holes, or they had deliberately leaked it.

By comparison, the Uchiha Clan's intelligence was obviously more reliable.

The ones hired would be Cloud Ninja.

Judging by the Cloud Ninja's style, they would most likely not disguise themselves as anyone at all, using that as proof that they had "disguised" themselves as Cloud Ninja.

Several days passed. Though there were occasional minor disturbances, Uchiha Shingen still had not encountered a single ninja attack.

He did not let his guard down because of it.

If this was the enemy's plan, then all he could say was that it was truly boring.

If he lacked even this much patience, what kind of ninja would he be?

As the sun was about to set on the fifth day, the convoy reached a river. On the other side stood a dense forest, dark and silent in the distance.

Once they went around those woods, they would reach the destination of this mission.

The convoy did not cross the bridge. Instead, they made camp there, lit bonfires, pitched tents, and arranged the carriages in a circle around the perimeter as a defensive barrier.

With home so close, the High Plateau lord relaxed considerably. He had thick carpets spread beside the bonfire, brought out wine and food, and sat there with his child enjoying the meal as they discussed life after returning home.

Uchiha Shingen, meanwhile, patrolled the area.

The journey had been far too easy. He did not think it was some conspiracy, instead attributing it to the vastly different combat styles of Cloud Ninja and Mist Ninja.

Ninjutsu best represented a village's character.

The representative techniques of the Mist Ninja were the Hiding in Mist Technique and the Silent Killing Technique.

The Cloud Ninja's representative ninjutsu was the Lightning Release Chakra Mode.

Compared to open battlefields, most Mist Ninja were better at indirect combat, while Cloud Ninja were the exact opposite.

As the night wind blew, Uchiha Shingen licked his lips. He was a little excited.

His life after transmigrating had still affected his personality. He was becoming more and more like an Uchiha.

Scarlet Sharingan emerged from the darkness. He tightened his grip on the sword hilt, using its coldness to remind himself to be patient.

This was an escort mission.

The scarlet faded, and his eyes returned to their original color.

After watching the forest across the river for a while longer, he turned and returned to camp.

As time passed, the voices in the camp gradually dwindled until silence returned.

The weary moon hid behind the clouds, leaving only a dim glow upon the river's surface. Amid the stillness, the faint sound of water flowing over the riverbank could be heard.

A slender figure abruptly appeared atop the river.

She was a blonde woman with icy eyes.

She took a light step forward. As she vanished from her original position, several figures behind where she had stood stepped onto the river's surface as well.

They were all ninja.

Even with the night concealing their forehead protectors, their brown skin and single-shoulder vests that left one arm completely bare gave away their identities.

Only Cloud Ninja, who revered offense above all else, designed their combat uniforms like this.

Even if others tried to imitate them, they could never quite pull it off.

The woman who had been walking at the front came to a stop.

A young Konoha ninja emerged from the darkness ahead.

The Cloud Ninja looked at him coldly.

It was an unfamiliar face, proving that the Cloud Ninja had no record of ever fighting this Konoha ninja.

No records meant no intelligence, but staring a little longer never hurt.

"So, you people really don't know how to harass anyone properly, do you?" the young Konoha ninja said.

"You weren't asleep." The woman's voice was colder than the night air.

It was not a question, but a statement.

"Of course. When I'm away from home, whether it's food or water, I only use what I brought myself." The Konoha ninja smiled without the slightest tension.

There was no warmth in that smile, either. It was obviously fake.

"Fool. It would've been better if you were asleep. You Konoha ninja were our targets from the beginning."

The Cloud Ninja slowly surrounded their enemy, anticipation filling their eyes.

However, the woman made a gesture that stopped them.

"I'll give you a chance. How did you discover us?"

"Want to know whether I have a bloodline limit? Sure. After all, you're pretty big."

The apricot-yellow full moon slipped out from behind the clouds, allowing the Cloud Ninja to see even more clearly.

The Konoha ninja before them had crimson eyes now, with three tomoe emerging within them.

Their eyes widened, and their mouths went dry.

"Sharingan!" The woman was no longer cold and detached. She took an excited breath, her chest trembling spectacularly. "My luck is incredible."

Her smile turned somewhat cruel.

"Little brother, can you surrender quietly? I don't want to damage you."

"That won't do." Uchiha Shingen shook his head. With one glance, he had already seen through them. "Such pretty chakra colors. Three jonin and five chunin—not bad, I guess."

He drew his short sword.

"I'll give you one more piece of intelligence: I'm ridiculously strong."

When Uchiha Shingen drew his short sword, the Cloud Ninja could no longer hold back.

They had never been the sort of people who could have a proper conversation in the first place.

This assassination squad, composed of three jonin and five special jonin, was utterly confident in its ability to complete the mission.

The special jonin rank now existed in all five major villages. It referred to ninja who had reached jonin-level skill in a certain field but remained chunin-level in overall ability.

Thus, the five special jonin from the Cloud were rather displeased, because Uchiha Shingen had called them chunin. This group cared deeply about bearing the title of jonin while receiving chunin pay.

So they decided that the Uchiha really were as annoying as the rumors claimed.

The Cloud Ninja formation spread out. The three jonin did not move rashly. Of the five special jonin, three moved to surround Uchiha Shingen, while the other two headed for the camp.

"Making money while you're at it is a good habit." Uchiha Shingen nodded approvingly.

The next moment, a crimson "curtain" rose in the direction of the camp, enclosing it tightly in a square formation.

"There are others?" One of the jonin at the rear was puzzled. He was a sensory ninja, yet he truly had not detected any other ninja here.

There were several chakra signatures in the camp, but they belonged to a few guards. After observing them for several days, he was certain they were merely taijutsu users, and their chakra reserves were pitifully small. There was no way they could use a barrier like this.

No one answered his question. The three special jonin could no longer restrain themselves. Amid blossoming lightning, they unleashed the Lightning Release taijutsu that the Cloud Ninja relied upon and lunged at Uchiha Shingen. The Cloud Ninja who had been planning to attack the camp decisively turned around and joined the battle as well.

Against a three-tomoe Sharingan, the Cloud Ninja knew that substitution techniques and clone techniques were useless. Ninjutsu would only be handed over to the enemy, while genjutsu was simply asking for trouble. Thus, they chose to face him with the all-purpose Lightning Release taijutsu.

But what met them was the bite of a gale, nearly blowing apart their not-so-thick lightning armor.

Uchiha Shingen leaped lightly, vaulting into the air beneath the Cloud Ninja's puzzled gazes.

Under the cover of night, the Cloud Ninja could barely make out the hand seals Uchiha Shingen had formed.

Until searing flames unfurled above their heads.

Fire Release: Exploding Flame Dance!

Driven by the whirlwind, the flames rapidly swelled at a visible speed, forming an enormous vortex of fire that swept toward the Cloud Ninja.

This same-named ninjutsu that Uchiha Shingen had developed by drawing inspiration from Obito's future technique had its own advantages compared to the original.

Faced with the flaming vortex that spun at high speed while expanding wildly, the Cloud Ninja hurriedly retreated.

But they were too close.

The vortex stirred the surrounding air, generating a powerful suction force.

A special jōnin failed to break free and was sucked inside.

What he excelled at was useless in this sea of flames. His companions on the outskirts could clearly see him struggling wildly within the inferno before he finally went still, burned to nothing by the flames.

The fire continued to expand, forcing the Cloud Ninja to retreat once more. Water Release was even rarer than Storm Release in Cloud Hidden Village, and unfortunately, no one in their squad possessed it.

When the fiery vortex dissipated, nothing remained in its place but the astonishing heat lingering in the air.

Only a flash of blade light came from the darkness.

With a single slash, one Cloud Ninja was cut in half. The blade carried his blood as it plunged into another man's skull from the back, its tip piercing out through his mouth.

Even the three jōnin among them had only just realized what had happened.

The speed they took such pride in was shit compared to Uchiha Shingen.

In present-day Konoha, only two people matched Uchiha Shingen in mastery of the Body Flicker Technique.

In his previous life, it was precisely because he excelled at the Body Flicker Technique that he had been named Senju Muzoku.

No one was howling about fighting hand-to-hand anymore. The three jōnin no longer dared to stand back and watch either. The Cloud Ninja regrouped, their expressions ugly.

"Shisui of the Body Flicker?" The blonde woman felt like this job was going to fall through today.

"Shisui is thirteen. I'm seventeen."

"You're stronger than him?"

"Did all your brains grow in there? I'm saying he's thirteen and I'm seventeen."

"No, you're an asshole."

The blonde woman was a little annoyed.