"Old hag, now that you're old, go home and wait to die quietly. Stop trying to make yourself relevant here."
Uchiha Ensei openly cursed at her, showing not the slightest bit of respect.
"The Third Shinobi World War only ended recently. Which ninja village didn't suffer heavy losses?"
"You're worried that the other four ninja villages will join forces to attack Konoha, but don't those four villages worry that Konoha will strike first?"
"Some wars can be avoided, but some must be fought! And they must be fought swiftly and ruthlessly!"
"Only when you beat someone until they fear you and behave themselves will others dare not bully you..."
"If you keep compromising, bowing your head to Kumogakure today, Iwagakure tomorrow, then Kirigakure and Sunagakure will definitely come knocking the day after."
"Who in the entire Ninja World doesn't know that the Land of Fire is a juicy piece of meat? Given the chance, everyone wants a bite."
"You think acting like a coward for a while will solve everything?"
"Dream on! They'll only push their luck and demand more and more."
"..."
Standing on a chair, Uchiha Ensei pointed at Konoha's higher-ups and berated them fiercely. Many of them wanted to refute him several times, yet none knew where to begin.
Although Uchiha Ensei's words were harsh, everyone present had to admit that he made sense.
This logic might have gone somewhat beyond the usual scope of ninjas, but there was no denying that Uchiha Ensei was right.
But... no one wanted war to come.
Especially these ninjas, who had already lived through several great wars in the Ninja World. They longed for peace every moment of every day.
"Remember this! Seek peace through war, and peace survives. Seek peace through peace, and peace perishes."
Uchiha Ensei spoke those words with fervent passion.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of the ninjas present did not understand them, much less realize the truth contained within.
There was nothing to be done about that. The Ninja Academy only taught things like ninjutsu.
In truth, most ninjas in the entire Ninja World could be considered illiterate. Otherwise, there would not be so many fools.
But that was fine. It did not matter whether they understood or not.
Uchiha Ensei could direct their actions and guide their wills.
In fact, ever since last night, Uchiha Ensei's actions could already be considered a seizure of power.
Ordinarily, Hiruzen Sarutobi would never have allowed such a thing to happen. Yet he made no move at all. Not only did he tacitly approve of Uchiha Ensei's actions, but at certain times, he even seemed to offer assistance proactively.
Otherwise, did they really think all the ninjas in Konoha would be so obedient?
Uchiha Ensei was also somewhat puzzled by Hiruzen Sarutobi's behavior.
Could that old man really be planning to let him become the next Hokage?
Uchiha Ensei never worried over things he could not figure out. With his current strength, he should have no trouble protecting himself.
As for everything else, he would leave it to fate.
After the Jonin meeting ended, Konoha began making all manner of wartime preparations.
Supplies, medical equipment, and the like were also being transported to the front lines.
More importantly, personnel were being mobilized for the war. Hiruzen Sarutobi had originally planned to prepare according to conventional warfare, but Uchiha Ensei rejected that plan.
This battle against Kumogakure would not be a war of attrition. It would be a lightning war, and the sooner it ended, the better.
Therefore, nearly everyone Uchiha Ensei brought this time was at Jonin level.
Ninjas possessed high attack power and agility but low defenses.
Even Jonin could easily meet with disaster amid the interwoven barrage of ninjutsu if they were trapped in an enemy encirclement.
After all, most Jonin could only dodge ninjutsu. They could not withstand it head-on.
Many times, ninjutsu cast by a Genin was just as deadly as ninjutsu cast by a Jonin.
Thus, wars in the Ninja World were habitually fought across very long battle lines.
Unless they were making a desperate all-in gamble, ninjas rarely carried out organized joint operations.
"Ensei, I'm placing nearly half the village's Jonin in your hands. Don't let anything go wrong, or else..."
Before they departed, Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke with deep concern.
Though he said that, the Jonin from the Uchiha Clan and Hyuga Clan alone made up nearly half of the departing force.
So in reality, Hiruzen Sarutobi had not sent very many of his own people.
Konoha's foundations were still deep. Otherwise, in the original story, Shimura Danzō would not have dared to let the Uchiha Clan be wiped out.
"Stop nagging. We'll definitely win this war."
"Even if something changes, I'll use Izanagi to alter that reality."
Uchiha Ensei casually brushed him off, then led the troops out.
This time, Uchiha Ensei himself had gone. It was a war, after all, and in such an extremely complicated environment, the Shadow Clone Technique would be of limited use.
Of course, the reason Uchiha Ensei wanted to lead this war was to test a few things.
Ever since discovering that the ocular power in Shisui Uchiha's left eye had been completely drained, Uchiha Ensei had constantly felt a sense of danger.
Knowing that something was wrong but being unable to find the problem was an awful feeling.
Konoha was too quiet, and quiet places easily made people let down their guard.
So, after waiting for a while, Uchiha Ensei decided to leave the village for some time.
This might expose him to danger, but visible dangers were far easier to handle than things lurking in the shadows.
It just so happened that Itachi Uchiha's recent affairs had left Shisui Uchiha unable to make a clone, and Uchiha Ensei also wanted to use this opportunity to see whether he could obtain part of the Eight-Tails' and Two-Tails' chakra.
Cloning Byakugan and Sharingan was only a temporary measure. Uchiha Ensei's ultimate goal was to measure himself against Kaguya Otsutsuki—and even surpass her.
In that case, he needed many things, which he would have to gather bit by bit.
The journey was peaceful. With a force of more than two hundred Jonin, virtually no fool dared provoke them.
Only when they reached the vicinity of the Land of Lightning's border did Uchiha Ensei order people to set up camp and wait for the deadline he had specified.
A force of several hundred Jonin arriving at the border was a disturbance any unit with sensory ninjas could detect.
Therefore, Kumogakure quickly learned of it.
At that time, Kumogakure's envoy delegation had only recently returned to Kumogakure and had not even finished reporting the intelligence from Konoha.
A force composed entirely of Jonin naturally traveled quickly.
The Fourth Raikage had always been known as a hotheaded brute, but with several hundred Jonin massed at the border, even he managed to restrain his anger for once.
At the same time, Kumogakure's think tank began intense discussions. Many Kumogakure spies within Konoha were also activated and deployed.
Several days later, on the night before Uchiha Ensei's deadline was due to arrive, the Fourth Raikage led Killer B and Yugito Nii to the border of the Land of Lightning.
They had deployed two Tailed Beasts in one go, along with the Raikage himself.
It seemed Kumogakure was not having an easy time internally either and did not want to prolong the war.
At the same time, large numbers of Kumogakure ninjas rushed to the front lines, prepared to begin fighting at any moment.
Meanwhile, Uchiha Ensei, who was preparing to command the battle at the front lines, had turned his attention toward Konoha, focusing especially on the Uchiha Clan after his departure.
Sure enough, his premonition had not been wrong.
On the second night after he left Konoha, several ANBU ninjas quietly infiltrated his laboratory.
After those ANBU left, some strange things paid it a visit as well.
Probably White Zetsu?
Unfortunately, aside from the equipment, Uchiha Ensei had already 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 Ensei would have tested the power of the Third-Generation Exploding Fly.
Before you continue