Arrival at the Front Lines

As for Jonin squads, they barely encountered any after that. Even if they did, Uchiha Lan said that facing three alone was no problem. And if it really came down to it, they could just mark the location and run.

Staying alive came first. Nothing embarrassing about that!

So the journey remained peaceful, and Uchiha Daosui even complained that Captain Lan had practically harvested all the battle merits.

As for Uchiha Lan, he said, "They're just a bunch of thrown-together Chunin and a few Special Jonin. Is that supposed to be difficult?"

The three Uchiha did not dare respond. They merely grumbled inwardly that the Uchiha Clan was indeed somewhat proud, but they had never seen anyone whose pride came as naturally as his.

Uchiha Lan: Caution and pride could coexist too~ (dog head for protection)

The team only stopped to rest twice along the way before hurriedly resuming their journey.

When the first ray of morning light broke over the horizon, they entered the plains of the Land of Rivers.

This once-prosperous little plain now presented a desolate sight.

As they passed villages in the Land of Rivers, vast stretches of farmland had been abandoned halfway through cultivation, overgrown with weeds and cracked by drought.

Livestock wandered through the fields with vacant eyes. Starving, they gnawed at sparse wild grass, yet could hardly fill their bellies.

The civilians here had fled their homes with practiced ease the moment they heard war had broken out, hiding in the deep mountains in an attempt to avoid the flames of war.

Many residents had not even had time to take their livestock with them when fleeing, and could only leave them to fend for themselves on the barren plains.

This was the helplessness and sorrow of small countries in the ninja world when faced with war.

Of course, war was cruel to civilians and the poor, but that was not necessarily the case for those at the top.

Those wealthy merchants and nobles would not flee into the mountains to eat dirt. More often than not, they would slip away to safe places like the Land of Fire and continue enjoying life as though they were on vacation.

And while they were at it, they would drive up prices and resell military supplies and wartime materials.

Once the war ended, they would return and continue playing country tycoons, colluding with the daimyo and his ministers to claim all the ownerless land under their own names, then hire refugees who had lost their homes in the war to reclaim and cultivate it.

After going back and forth like that, not only did they not lose money, they actually made a profit.

That was quite something.

Even Jesus would not have understood the economic logic behind it.

All one could say was that it truly was one absurd feudal society.

When the Uchiha squad relayed the intelligence and battle merits they had gathered along the way to the following main force and the village, the four of them also safely arrived at Konoha's main camp in the Land of Rivers.

Afterward, the mighty vanguard force of five thousand marched onward and likewise arrived safely at Konoha's ninja outpost in the Land of Rivers.

Thanks to Uchiha Lan's clearing operation and intelligence, no major accidents occurred along the way.

And no idiot would dare attack a Konoha force five thousand strong.

Those five thousand alone were enough to wipe out every force in the ninja world other than the Five Great Ninja Villages.

Of course, that did not include a certain cheat-enabled organization hiding the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.

They had all heard that the Uchiha squad personally named by the Third Hokage had distinguished itself in battle, killing Hidden Sand ninja as easily as eating and drinking. Several Hidden Sand Jonin squads had been wiped out.

Who would have thought that the first great merit in the Konoha–Sand War would be claimed by the Uchiha? They wanted to learn foreign languages too... no, charge into battle, kill enemies, and win glory for their wives and children!

Land of Rivers outpost.

The outpost camp consisted of dozens of tents, several of which were temporary hospitals for the wounded.

There was also a somewhat larger tent that served as both the combat conference room and command center.

Though the camp was surrounded only by simple fences and appeared poorly defended, its security was in fact extremely tight.

There was a guard every three steps and a sentry every five, with patrol teams seamlessly rotating through the area. Hyuga and Uchiha Clan ninja watched from elevated positions using their dojutsu.

Forget someone trying to enter—getting even a fly inside would not be easy.

Fly: Buzz buzz buzz. (I'm in~)

Smack!

Inside the tall and spacious central command tent, Orochimaru sat at the head. After casually swatting a fly to death, he frowned as he examined the intelligence Shikaku Nara had organized.

More than forty Jonin from the western border defense force who had remained at camp sat around the tent.

The Ino-Shika-Cho Faction, the Hyuga Faction, the civilian ninja faction, and the various other ninja clans each formed their own distinct groups.

And Uchiha Lan, standing at the very back, was the only ninja present who was just fourteen years old yet attended the meeting as a Jonin.

Uchiha Lan: At eighteen, standing there like some lackey~

Orochimaru's gaze lingered over the intelligence for a long time, his brow furrowing ever deeper.

He raised his head, his sharp gaze sweeping across the ninja present as his voice emerged low and forceful.

"Shikaku, explain the situation."

Shikaku Nara: Huh? I'm working an eight a.m. shift! Why do you think I organized the intelligence for you? Don't you have any idea? Sigh, what a pain!

Shikaku Nara rose to his feet, a trace of exhaustion in his voice.

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru. The three armies of the Land of Wind have already reached our borders. The daimyo has fled, the samurai forces have disbanded, and worse still, the ronin force previously assembled by the Land of Rivers' daimyo has been completely taken over by Hidden Sand!"

"According to our intelligence, the Land of Wind's forces are advancing toward our outpost. However, they seem to have some reservations, and their advance has not been fast."

Orochimaru gave a cold laugh.

"Heh. Over a hundred wandering ninja surrendered without putting up any resistance at all. This Land of Rivers daimyo is rather interesting."

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru. I also suspect that Hidden Sand and the Land of Rivers are colluding behind this. We probably suppressed them too harshly before, so now they're causing us some trouble."

"Vermin will always be vermin. Before the strong, the weak have no place. Warn them after the war."

"Yes!"

"With three routes of attack, there must be a main force and secondary forces. As long as we locate the main force and focus our superior troops on attacking it, the other two routes will pose no threat!"

Orochimaru stood and walked to the map, lightly tapping a crucial location with his finger: Mount Kikyo!

"Whether it is the direction of the Land of Rain or this outpost, I am not worried. In fact, I would even welcome their main force attacking here on its own initiative."

"In the direction of Hidden Rain, that idiot Jiraiya and the border forces of the Land of Grass are enough to hold them back."

"But this place has too few troops stationed there. Once Hidden Sand breaks through its defenses, they can drive straight into the Land of Fire. And it is already too late for us to rush there now!"

Mount Kikyo lay in the northern part of the Land of Rivers and was a vital trade route linking the Land of Fire, the Land of Rivers, and the Land of Wind. Nearby Kikyo City was also the daimyo's most important source of tax revenue.

During the First and Second Wars, pressured by the opposition of the daimyo of the Land of Fire, the Land of Wind, and the Land of Rivers, Konoha and Hidden Sand had not dared recklessly destroy this place by turning it into a battlefield.

But with the Land of Rivers' daimyo fleeing and the Land of Wind's daimyo unwilling to provide funding, relations between him and Hidden Sand had become more strained than ever before.

Hidden Sand, led by Rasa, ignored even the Land of Fire daimyo's "warning" (nagging) and charged forward at full speed, slaughtering their way through and ruthlessly harvesting a wave of wealth from nobles and rich merchants.