Schemes on the battlefield

Two days passed in the blink of an eye.

With their remaining cart of supplies, the three finally found a boat and reached Frontline Camp at dusk on the third day.

Jin Uchiha and Kazama Nara were shoved into whatever tent happened to be available.

The two first asked for a stretcher and carried Itsuki Ishikawa all the way to the medical camp. Only after getting him settled did they return to their own quarters.

"Will that story of yours really get us off the hook?"

After looking around to make sure no one else was there, Jin Uchiha lowered his voice.

"We lost two whole carts of supplies, after all. Won't the higher-ups come after us for that?"

"Relax. This won't cause any trouble."

Kazama Nara chuckled.

"This sort of thing isn't unusual. Everyone does it."

"Nothing's gone wrong so far. Even if you can't find someone to take the fall, the worst you get is a scolding and a bit of a setback to your future promotions."

"Besides, in wartime like this, they just make you redeem yourself through service. Even that little effect on your promotions goes away."

"We've already got someone lined up to take the fall this time. There's no need to worry about this crap."

"Trust me. Nothing will happen."

"We might not even get yelled at!"

"It's only two carts of supplies. Compared to an entire war, how the hell does that count as a big deal?"

"The really ruthless ones will clean out Frontline Camp's warehouses, then smash the warehouses themselves when the enemy comes knocking and report that the enemy did it."

"On the books, that's called war losses!"

"When have the supplies in those Frontline Camp warehouses ever been worth less than five billion ryo?"

Jin Uchiha listened until his mind went numb.

He had thought he had already put their sense of shame at rock bottom. Apparently, he had still given them too much credit.

He knew this routine all too well.

But there was one thing he couldn't understand. After all this time since transmigrating, why had he never heard about any of this filthy business?

Unable to hold it in, he asked.

"That doesn't add up!"

"I'm an Uchiha, at least. That counts as coming from a prestigious Lineage in the Hidden Leaf."

"How come I never heard so much as a whisper about this before?"

Kazama Nara glanced at him, his expression suddenly growing complicated.

His brow knotted.

For a moment, he genuinely couldn't figure out how to spell it out for this young master.

Seeing his expression, Jin Uchiha decided to lay things out plainly.

"We've killed people together, and now we're working on the same squad."

"Whatever you have to say, there's no need to hide it."

Kazama Nara looked rather helpless.

After a brief silence, he sighed and told him the truth.

"You already said the reason yourself. It's because you're an Uchiha."

That was enough. There was no need to spell out the rest.

Everything suddenly clicked in Jin Uchiha's head.

This time, he truly understood.

He knew better than anyone what the Uchiha were like.

Stubborn, guileless, and so full of themselves they had their noses in the clouds.

All this filthy battlefield business had long since become an unspoken rule among the Hidden Leaf's ruling circles.

Everyone took their cut.

It wasn't just the major Lineages. Even Sarutobi's own had dipped their hands into the pot plenty of times.

And they went straight for the fattest pickings.

The reasoning behind it couldn't have been simpler.

These supplies were public property, paid for with the funds the Daimyō allocated each year.

Gone?

What was the big deal?

They could just turn around and ask the Daimyō for more.

That was probably exactly why the Uchiha were constantly at odds with the village.

If the Uchiha learned about these shady dealings, they would surely refuse to dirty themselves in the same muddy waters. Instead, they would blow the whole thing wide open to show off their Lineage's honor.

Pride ran deep in the Uchiha's bones.

And that very pride made it impossible for them to get along with the Hidden Leaf's other Lineages.

In his previous life, he had never been able to figure it out.

Sure, some Uchiha weren't very bright, but did Hiruzen Sarutobi really need to wipe out the entire clan?

Even if a few hotheaded Uchiha wanted to stir up trouble, could those dimwits really topple the Third Hokage?

That was complete bullshit.

Never mind all the shinobi clans watching from the sidelines. The Ino–Shika–Cho were definitely the Hokage's people.

The moment the Uchiha raised the banner of rebellion, Tsunade and her two comrades would surely side with Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Add the Hokage's ANBU and Danzo's Root, and perhaps even the Uchiha who disliked trouble—even Fugaku, their Clan Head—would ultimately choose Hiruzen Sarutobi's side.

With all that, what was the point of exterminating them?

Wouldn't keeping the Uchiha around be better?

Even if another war broke out, they could always be sent to the Front Lines as cannon fodder.

Back then, he had thought Hiruzen Sarutobi must have had his head caught in a door. The man was simply out of his mind.

Now, he finally understood.

The fundamental problem was that they lived by different rules.

All the other assorted reasons were nothing but surface-level excuses.

No wonder the Uchiha would never get their hands on the Hokage's seat.

If an Uchiha really took that position, how would everyone else keep freely lining their pockets with public property?

Once he understood that, a self-mocking smile tugged at his lips.

"All right. No need to say any more."

"I finally get it. Why the Uchiha can't become Hokage, and why everyone's against us."

"Tobirama Senju wasn't wrong. We really are a bunch of Uchiha with twisted hearts."

Kazama Nara looked thoroughly uncomfortable.

It was the first time he had heard an Uchiha describe his own clan as "twisted."

That really was a rare sight.

He had only offered a loose thread, yet Jin Uchiha had followed it all the way to the truth. Honestly, he was rather shocked.

Since when had an Uchiha ever thought like this?

More importantly.

Even with all the dirty secrets laid bare, Jin Uchiha didn't look angry at all.

That last remark had sounded more like a sigh.

Even with a Nara's quick mind, Kazama couldn't make sense of it right away.

In the end, he could only reassure himself that his squadmate really wasn't like an Uchiha at all.

"Ahem. You came up with all that yourself."

"It has absolutely nothing to do with me. You can't let anyone else hear about this."

"Otherwise, I'll lose my head."

Kazama Nara's whole face had practically crumpled into a bitter grimace.

He truly hadn't expected Jin Uchiha to be this sharp.

If he had known it would turn out like this, he would never have lifted the veil, even under threat of death.

He bitterly regretted it now.

If those few extra words of his really led that stubborn bunch of Uchiha to understand why the Hokage's position never went to them, and why nobody had ever been willing to rally behind them...

The hairs on Kazama Nara's back stood on end.

But there was nothing he could do.

The words were already out. What could he do now?

All he could do was pray that Jin Uchiha wasn't a colossal blabbermouth.

"Relax. I won't tell anyone."

Jin Uchiha smiled and patted him.

"I haven't got time to go gossiping. This won't come back on you, so just take it easy."

Even after those assurances, Kazama Nara's brows remained knotted as he stood there heaving one sigh after another.

Clearly, Jin Uchiha's promises hadn't put his mind at ease.

Elsewhere.

Led by another ninja, Shin Kudo headed straight into the command tent.

Looking up at Yukie Miyamoto in the seat of honor, he immediately dropped to one knee.

"My apologies, Jonin."

"Our squad ran into two elite assault teams from the Hidden Mist. Our teammate Itsuki Ishikawa refused to follow orders, and the mission ended in failure. We barely managed to save one cart of supplies."

"I'm sorry for the trouble, Jonin, but please personally review the detailed account of what happened, along with the bodies of several Hidden Mist ninja."