War? Undercurrents Surge Through Konoha

"Old hag, when you get old, go home and wait to die. Stop desperately seeking attention here."

Uchiha Yansheng snapped at her outright, showing no respect whatsoever.

"The Third Shinobi World War ended not long ago. Which ninja village didn't suffer heavy losses?"

"You're worried that the other four ninja villages will join forces to attack Konoha, but aren't they also worried that Konoha will strike first?"

"Some wars can be avoided, but some must be fought! And they must be fought swiftly and fiercely!"

"Only when you beat someone into fear and submission will the others not dare to bully you..."

"If we keep compromising, bowing to Cloud Village today and Stone Village tomorrow, then Mist Village and Sand Village will surely come knocking the day after."

"The entire Ninja World knows that the Land of Fire is a juicy piece of meat. Given the chance, everyone wants a bite."

"You think acting submissive for a while will make everything okay?"

"Dream on! They'll only push their luck and demand more and more."

"..."

Standing on his chair, Uchiha Yansheng pointed at Konoha Village's higher-ups and berated them relentlessly. Many of them wanted to refute him, but they did not know where to begin.

Although Uchiha Yansheng's words were extremely unpleasant, everyone present had to admit that he made sense.

Though this reasoning seemed somewhat beyond the scope of ninja affairs, there was no denying that Uchiha Yansheng was right.

But... no one wanted war to come.

Especially not these ninja who had already lived through several Shinobi World Wars. They longed for peace at every moment.

"Remember this! Seek peace through war, and peace survives. Seek peace through peace, and peace perishes."

Uchiha Yansheng spoke those words with blazing passion.

Unfortunately, most of the ninja present did not understand them, much less grasp the truth contained within.

It could not be helped. The Ninja Academy only taught things like ninjutsu.

In truth, most ninja in the Ninja World could be considered illiterate. Otherwise, there would not be so many idiots.

But it did not matter whether they understood or not.

Uchiha Yansheng could direct their actions and guide their will.

In fact, ever since last night, Uchiha Yansheng's actions could already be considered a seizure of power.

Logically speaking, Hiruzen Sarutobi should never have allowed such a thing to happen. Yet he had made no move at all. Not only had he tacitly approved of Uchiha Yansheng's actions, but at times he had even actively offered assistance.

Otherwise, did anyone really think Konoha Village's ninja would be so obedient?

Uchiha Yansheng was also somewhat puzzled by Hiruzen Sarutobi's behavior.

Could that old man truly be planning to make him the next Hokage?

Uchiha Yansheng never bothered himself over things he could not figure out. With his current strength, protecting himself should not be a problem.

As for everything else, he would leave it to fate.

After the Jonin meeting ended, Konoha Village began making all kinds of wartime preparations.

Supplies, medical equipment, and the like were already being transported to the front lines.

Of course, the personnel participating in the war were even more important. Hiruzen Sarutobi had originally intended to prepare according to standard wartime procedures, but Uchiha Yansheng rejected that plan.

This battle against Cloud Village would not be a war of attrition. It would be a lightning war, and the sooner it ended, the better.

Therefore, nearly everyone Uchiha Yansheng brought this time was Jonin-level.

Ninja were all high-attack, high-agility, low-defense fighters.

Even a Jonin could easily meet with disaster amid intersecting ninjutsu if trapped in an enemy encirclement.

After all, most Jonin could only evade ninjutsu, not withstand it head-on.

Many times, a Genin's ninjutsu was just as deadly as a Jonin's.

Thus, wars in the Ninja World habitually stretched their battle lines very long.

Unless they were making an all-or-nothing gamble, ninja rarely acted in coordinated formations.

"Yansheng, I've entrusted nearly half the village's Jonin to you. Nothing must go wrong, or else..."

Before their departure, Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke with deep concern.

Though that was what he said, Jonin from the Uchiha Clan and the Hyuga Clan alone made up nearly half of the departing force.

So in reality, Hiruzen Sarutobi had not sent many of his own people.

Konoha Village's foundations were still quite deep. Otherwise, Danzo Shimura would not have dared to sit back and allow the Uchiha Clan to be exterminated in the original story.

"Stop nagging. We'll definitely win this war."

"Even if something changes, I'll use Izanagi to alter that reality."

Uchiha Yansheng casually brushed him off, then led the troops out.

This time, Uchiha Yansheng had come in person. It was war, after all, and in such an extremely complicated environment, the Shadow Clone Technique had limited use.

Of course, the reason Uchiha Yansheng wanted to lead this war was to test some things.

Ever since he discovered that the ocular power in Shisui Uchiha's left eye had been completely depleted, he had felt a lingering sense of crisis.

Knowing something was wrong but being unable to find it was an unpleasant feeling.

Konoha Village was too quiet, and quiet places made people careless.

So after waiting for some time, Uchiha Yansheng decided to leave the village for a while.

Though doing so might expose him to danger, visible danger was far easier to deal with than things lurking in the shadows.

It so happened that recent events involving Itachi Uchiha had left Shisui Uchiha unable to spare a clone, while Uchiha Yansheng also wanted to use this opportunity to see whether he could obtain some of the Eight-Tails' and Two-Tails' chakra.

Cloning Byakugan and Sharingan was only a temporary measure. Uchiha Yansheng's ultimate goal was to match Kaguya Otsutsuki—or even surpass her.

That being the case, there were many things he needed, and he would have to gather them bit by bit.

The journey was peaceful. A force of more than two hundred Jonin drew virtually no fools bold enough to provoke them.

Only after advancing near the border of the Land of Lightning did Uchiha Yansheng order the troops to set up camp and wait for the deadline he had set.

Any unit with sensory ninja would be able to detect the commotion caused by several hundred Jonin arriving at the border.

Thus, Cloud Village learned of the news very quickly.

At that time, Cloud Village's envoy delegation had only just returned, and they had not even finished reporting the intelligence gathered in Konoha Village.

A force made entirely of Jonin naturally traveled quickly.

The Fourth Raikage was known for his brutish image, but with several hundred Jonin massed at the border, even he managed to restrain his anger for once.

At the same time, Cloud Village's think tank began intense deliberations, while many Cloud Village spies in Konoha Village were activated and deployed.

Several days later, on the eve of Uchiha Yansheng's deadline, the Fourth Raikage arrived at the Land of Lightning's border together with Killer B and Yugito Nii.

They had deployed two Tailed Beasts in one go, along with the Raikage himself.

It seemed Cloud Village was not having an easy time internally either, and did not wish to prolong the war.

At the same time, large numbers of Cloud Village ninja rushed to the front lines, prepared to begin fighting at any moment.

Yet Uchiha Yansheng, who was preparing to command the battle at the front, had turned his attention toward Konoha Village, focusing on the Uchiha Clan after his departure.

Sure enough, his premonition had been correct.

On the second night after he left Konoha Village, several ANBU ninja quietly infiltrated his laboratory.

After those ANBU left, some strange things paid the laboratory a visit as well.

Probably White Zetsu?

Unfortunately, apart from the equipment, Uchiha Yansheng had long since moved everything else out of the laboratory. No matter who came, they would find nothing.

Fortunately, those people had only investigated and caused no damage.

Otherwise, Uchiha Yansheng would have had to test the power of the Third-Generation Exploding Fly.