Reorganization

Uchiha Jin had a point. At present, the people with the most internal power in Konoha were several disciples of the Second Hokage who were still alive back then.

Aside from the Third Hokage, there were also Mitokado Homura, Koharu Utatane, and Shimura Danzō, who assisted the Hokage in handling affairs under the name of advisors.

In addition to the ANBU, the Third Hokage also authorized Danzo to form another assassination squad, the Root, which took orders only from Danzo.

Beneath the Advisory Council was the Konoha Council of Elders, a group of veterans who had followed the First and Second Hokages back in the day and made great contributions to the founding of Konoha.

Although the Elders Council did not hold massive executive power, they commanded immense prestige in the village. Once they put forward a suggestion, the Third Hokage would take it seriously.

The only ones capable of keeping the Uchiha in check were the Hokage and the various advisors. The Elders Council commanded no troops or generals, rendering them largely ineffective in that regard. Moreover, the isolation and suppression of the Uchiha were all carried out behind the scenes; it was impossible to propose them openly, especially since the Uchiha remained an important clan in Konoha.

Fugaku estimated that the Third Hokage, Koharu, and Homura were busy formulating operational plans targeting the various nations, as well as handling logistical dispatch.

As for Shimura Danzō, who held the strongest animosity toward the Uchiha, he should be busy cultivating spies. Danzo possessed towering ambition, and in times of war, people were cast adrift, making it the prime moment to dispatch spies for infiltration.

Fugaku remembered that it was during the Second Shinobi World War, while responsible for protecting Danzo as he dispatched spies to various nations, that Orochimaru became thoroughly colluded with Danzo.

Glancing at his two fellow clansmen, Fugaku noted that the Third Hokage's brainwashing capability regarding the Will of Fire was exceptionally strong. Uchiha Jin wondered if his two clansmen had secretly defected to the Third, so certain words had to be hidden in his heart. Furthermore, he was not yet the Uchiha Clan Leader, meaning his words carried little weight with his clansmen.

"Jin, En," Fugaku deliberated and said, "The Uchiha's reputation in the village wasn't good in the past. Now that there is a glimmer of a turning point, why not have Father send more clansmen to the Land of Rain? Not only can this establish military merit for Konoha, but it can also bolster a bit of prestige for the Uchiha clan."

Fugaku knew very well in his heart that the Konoha leadership would never grant the Uchiha this opportunity to shine, but as long as his father made his stance known to the Konoha leadership, it didn't matter whether the Konoha leadership agreed or not.

There were no impenetrable walls in this world, and it wouldn't take long before rumors of the Uchiha clan requesting to fight spread among the Konoha citizenry. At the very least, it could salvage a fraction of the Uchiha's ruined reputation.

The two nodded, largely agreeing with Fugaku's opinion.

"The matter of sending word to the Clan Head will have to trouble En," Fugaku said.

As a genius of the Uchiha clan, Fugaku had no shortage of people watching him. It was unlikely he could make it back to Konoha to deliver a message himself, but Uchiha En was different.

En's Summoning Beast belonged to the Ninja Cat Clan, which had enjoyed good generations-long relations with the Uchiha clan, allowing him to send information back through the Summoning Beast.

Uchiha En chuckled twice and said, "You geniuses simply have eyes set too high, unwilling to sign a Summoning Contract with the Ninja Cat Clan. The late Kagami-senpai was like that, and so are you now.

Don't worry, I'll send word to the Clan Head shortly."

Fugaku and Uchiha Jin went on to brief En in detail on the current situation in the Land of Rain so he wouldn't suffer losses when carrying out missions later.

Sometimes, even the intelligence provided by the village could be false, and the spy providing the intelligence might have been turned, or internal village strife could be at play. Only by experiencing it firsthand could one understand the specific circumstances.

Fugaku and Jin did not linger long in En's tent. In such sensitive times, the Konoha leadership already paid extra attention to the Uchiha; three Uchiha Jonin gathering together for too long was bound to arouse suspicion.

Returning to the tent, only Satomaru was resting inside; Nozawa was absent.

The instant he stepped into the tent, Fugaku caught a fleeting flash of surprise in Satomaru's eyes before they returned to normal.

"Just you alone," Uchiha Uchiha Fugaku said. "Don't you go see your old friends when you return from a mission?"

Satomaru smiled and said, "My old friends aren't in the Forward Camp; only I was chosen. I don't know whether to call that lucky or unlucky."

Fugaku nodded. It seemed that investigating Satomaru's identity would require a bit more effort. Although Konoha was a village, the villagers were numerous.

Satomaru was merely an ordinary Chunin, and very few people paid him genuine attention. Starting the investigation from his friends and classmates to determine his identity ran a high risk of exposure.

Starting the investigation from the ANBU side was even more out of the question; the ANBU answered directly to the Hokage, and the Uchiha identity was far too sensitive, making exposure even easier.

However, having a suspected ANBU ninja by his side wasn't entirely a bad thing—at the very least, it served as a constant reminder to watch his words and actions.

For three consecutive days, the winds remained calm and the seas quiet, yet the slaughter within the Land of Rain grew even more tragic. The reorganization of the squads had already been conducted on a small scale, and all those sent out on missions over the past three days were squads that had already completed their reorganization.

Just yesterday, Uchiha En was sent out on a mission as the captain of a nine-man squad.

In the morning, a ninja notified Fugaku to gather in front of Hatake Sakumo's tent at nine o'clock.

Fugaku figured large-scale team reorganization was about to begin, though he didn't know how many people would be assigned to his own squad.

The rain in the sky continued to drizzle, alternating between heavy and light. Having spent so many days in the Land of Rain, Fugaku had grown somewhat accustomed to it.

At nine o'clock in the morning, Hatake Sakumo walked out of his tent, followed by an administrative officer holding a notebook.

Sweeping his sharp eyes across the crowd, Hatake Sakumo finally spoke, "Now that I've summoned you all here, I expect you've all mentally prepared yourselves.

Previously, the Vanguard Force suffered heavy losses in the Land of Rain, leaving the Konoha leadership somewhat disappointed. You are all elites handpicked from various Konoha shinobi, and the village holds high hopes for you.

It's just that your performance has been somewhat subpar. A few days ago, Konoha reinforced our numbers once more. Following studies by myself and the General Staff, the existing squads have been regrouped."

Sakumo gestured to the recording clerk, and a plump clerk stepped forward, pulled out a notebook, and began reading out the rosters.

"Squad 001, Captain Nara Fukada, Deputy Captain, Yamanaka Imura, Akimichi Okada, members Nagasawa Maru, Matsubara Nakamura~~~~~~~

Squad 009, Captain Fugaku Uchiha, Deputy Captain, Hyuga Ning, Inuzuka Maru, members, Yamada Shinji, Koda Maru, Aburame Nozawa, Qiuze Danye, Satomaru, Haranoki, Yamamoto Isuke, Aida Maki, Harada Tongze.

Squad 010, ~~~~~~"

Squad Nine had one captain and two deputy captains, while the members remained the same as before—one Jonin paired with three Chunin.

From this reorganized lineup, it could be seen that basically every squad consisted of one Jonin paired with three Chunin, completely different from the previous standard squad structure of one Jonin and two Chunin.

It wasn't that Jonin had become scarce; rather, among this batch of reinforcing forces from Konoha, a group of Chunin had been temporarily promoted following only brief evaluations.

Several promising Genin whom even Uchiha Fugaku could recognize were present at the scene.

Using war to temper these ninja meant that those who survived would become qualified Chunin, while the unqualified would all be buried in this conflict.

This was in preparation for a prolonged war, meant to prevent any future shortages of military personnel.