The State of the War

Fugaku had not expected a single mission to bring such sweeping changes.

It seemed their first joint mission had angered the Land of Wind, the Land of Earth, and the Land of Rain. Konoha had fewer troops than the other three nations on the battlefield in the Land of Rain. Once they targeted Konoha together, heavy losses were inevitable.

Uchiha En was one of the few steady-tempered members of the clan. The Clan Head had clearly thought carefully before putting him in command.

"I'll submit the mission report first," Fugaku said. "I'll come to your tent in a little while, and we can talk properly then."

Uchiha En nodded and turned back to familiarizing himself with the camp. Fugaku led his team toward Hatake Sakumo's tent.

They pulled back the flap and went inside. Unlike the bare tent Fugaku had seen on his first visit, it had become an operations room.

A sand table showing the terrain of the Land of Rain stood at its center, dotted with numbered markers.

Fugaku glanced around. Quite a few ninja from the Nara and Yamanaka clans were present, along with several members of the Intelligence Department.

"Fugaku Uchiha, reporting the completion of our mission," Fugaku said. "The Sand Shinobi outpost's supplies have been completely destroyed."

Hatake Sakumo was surprised that all eight members of Fugaku's team had returned without a single casualty, but his expression settled again in an instant.

"Well done. You've lived up to your reputation as a prodigy of the Uchiha," Sakumo said. "Konoha suffered considerable losses on the earlier missions, and another group of ninja has arrived from the village. We'll be reorganizing the current teams. A few members may be added to yours. Go back and wait for word."

"Yes."

The eight of them turned and left Hatake Sakumo's tent.

"Captain Hatake is terrifying," Qiuze Danye said. "Just standing in there to report our mission gave me a cold sweat."

"I felt the same," Kodamaru said. "Like I was facing a blade that could be drawn at any moment."

Fugaku, too, wondered how strong Hatake Sakumo was. The Sakumo before him and the Sakumo who would spend more than a decade sitting at the edge of the Pure Land seemed like two different men: one all sharp edges, the other honed to a quiet simplicity.

Here was a man on the verge of reaching his peak, yet he would later die because of Konoha's internal strife.

Fugaku's feelings about Sakumo were conflicted. He regretted that a warrior at his peak had not died on the battlefield, yet part of him was secretly pleased that Konoha had lost such a powerful figure.

"The report is in," Fugaku said. "This mission was difficult, but it went smoothly enough. None of us had an easy time. Go get some rest. I'll let you know when we assemble for the next mission."

The eight parted ways. Fugaku took Aburame Nozawa and Satomaru back to their tent.

"The bunks at the base were so much better," Satomaru said. "Sleeping in caves every night out there was a nightmare."

"This mission was only the beginning," Fugaku said. "You'll get used to carrying out missions in the rain and resting in caves."

Ignoring Satomaru's groans, Fugaku rose and left the tent to find the one Uchiha En had told him about.

"Fugaku." Uchiha Jin called out from behind him. "You finally made it back. The Land of Wind, the Land of Rain, and the Land of Earth have been deliberately targeting Konoha. I was afraid you wouldn't return either."

Fugaku caught Jin's meaning. Members of the Uchiha had already died. He felt a pang of regret.

"How many casualties has the Uchiha suffered?" Fugaku asked.

Jin shook his head. "It's not looking good. Of the seven Uchiha deployed, three died. We recovered only two bodies. The Stone shinobi have the third, so we'll have to wait for a chance to exchange bodies."

Fugaku nodded. The Uchiha were different from the Hyuga clan. Without Uchiha blood, a transplanted Sharingan caused severe rejection, possibly even sudden death.

The Uchiha had fought in countless wars and lost more Sharingan than anyone could count. Yet since the Warring States period, only two ninja without Uchiha blood had successfully received one.

One was Shimura Danzō, who had used the power of First-Generation Cells to create an unstable balance within his body and barely gain control of the Sharingan.

The other was Kakashi, who would later receive Obito's Sharingan. He could never turn it off, and it constantly drained his Chakra.

"What a loss," Fugaku said. "They were all elite clan members. When will their bodies be sent back to Konoha?"

"They were sent this morning," Uchiha Jin said. "Some supplies arrived with the reinforcements from Konoha yesterday. The ninja transporting the supplies are heading back today, so they took the bodies for burial."

"Uchiha En is leading the Uchiha among this group of reinforcements," Fugaku said. "I assume you've met him."

Uchiha Jin nodded. "We talked yesterday."

"Come with me to see Uchiha En," Fugaku said. "Things in Konoha are delicate right now. I want to know what's happening in the village."

Rumor in Konoha had it that the Security Force's strict patrols had forced the assassins hiding in the village to lie low. The villagers' opinion of the Uchiha had improved considerably.

That had also disrupted the plan to isolate the Uchiha, a plan in place since the Second Hokage's time. Fugaku doubted the Konoha leadership would simply let things continue this way.

The Uchiha in this group had all been drawn from the Security Force. They had not yet been assigned to teams, and for now, three shared each tent.

"Fugaku, Jin. You're here," Uchiha En said. "Qiuming, Shui, go wait in another tent for a while. The three of us need to talk."

Uchiha Qiuming and Uchiha Shui had come to the Land of Rain with Uchiha En. Both were Chunin who had awakened the Two Tomoe Sharingan.

The larger the clan, the stricter its hierarchy. The two greeted Fugaku and Jin, then left the tent.

"How are things in Konoha?" Fugaku asked. "Since I left, has the leadership done anything to restrict the Uchiha?"

"Things are calm for now," En said. "The Clan Head assigns large numbers of ninja to night patrols every day, leaving the leadership nothing to complain about. But before I left, he told me to warn you to be careful.

"The Konoha leadership won't stand by while the Uchiha's reputation improves and one or two of us become war heroes. That could completely reverse the clan's long decline."

Fugaku nodded. He had underestimated his father. The fact that he had anticipated this showed that the Uchiha's clan heads were no fools. They had simply been constrained by the times they lived in.

"Maybe it's because the fighting has intensified," Uchiha Jin said. "Konoha's Vanguard Force has suffered heavy losses over the last two days. The leadership doesn't have time to deal with the Uchiha right now."

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(The end.)