"What's going on in this city? Why are there so few people? I hardly see anyone on the streets. Is the Sarutobi Clan planning an ambush here?"
"Do you know how many troops the Sarutobi Clan has stationed inside the castle, and where they set up their ambush?"
How do they plan to ambush the Uchiha Clan?
Several Uchiha clan members, talking amongst themselves, tried to extract all the military intelligence from a waiter at a restaurant.
The waiter, under the Genjutsu's spell, simply stood there dumbfounded, answering only the questions he knew the answers to.
"The city was already sparsely populated, but recently, because of the war tax, the samurai lord has been randomly arresting people and collecting taxes on the streets all day long. Now, no one dares to go out, which is why it appears so desolate."
I don't know the rest... I know nothing at all...
"War tax? What war tax?" the leading Uchiha clan member pressed. "What is a war tax?"
The waiter replied blankly, "It's a new tax levied in the capital. They say it's because there's going to be a war with the Uchiha, so they need to collect money from us to support the war effort. Everyone has to pay five thousand taels."
"Five thousand taels?" the leading Uchiha clan member asked doubtfully. "What can you do with five thousand taels? That's hardly any money."
Waiter: "Five thousand taels is a lot. The restaurant's annual income is only 20,000..."
"How much? 20,000? You're way too poor!" A member of the Uchiha clan immediately retorted upon hearing the number. "20,000? My monthly salary is 18,000!"
The leading Uchiha clan member nodded in agreement. "That's right, how could such a big restaurant only earn 20,000 a year? My monthly salary is 30,000."
Note that the Uchiha clansman who led the conversation had a Mitsudomoe, while the one who mentioned 18,000 had a Futatsudomoe. Both of them are mid-to-high-ranking members of the Uchiha Clan, earning top-tier salaries.
The Uchiha Clan already treats the military well, let alone these two who are mid-to-high-ranking members of the military.
However, although the salary is high, the expenses are also high, so it's normal that some people don't understand.
The group then asked several more questions, but the waiter couldn't answer any of them. So, they sighed and dispelled the Genjutsu.
It seems we won't be able to extract any deeper information from an ordinary waiter at a restaurant; we'll have to capture a few of the city's garrison soldiers first.
Just as the group was making these calculations in their minds, several samurai strode in with an air of arrogance, followed by a ninja dressed in the attire of the Sarutobi Clan.
"Suck..." One of the Uchiha clan members tried to make a strange sound to prompt the Uchiha, but it sounded more like he was teasing a Uchiha.
"I've searched high and low without finding it, but it's right here in my doorstep!" thought the leader of the Uchiha clan. He was just about to grab a few prisoners to question them when someone delivered the information to his doorstep.
At the signal from the leading Uchiha clansman, several Uchiha clansmen stood up discreetly and slowly approached the samurai and ninjas.
At this moment, the samurai and Sarutobi Clan ninja were completely unaware of the seriousness of the situation. The samurai at the front had one foot on the table and was shouting inside, "Hey, who's the manager here? I'm here to collect taxes!"
As soon as the words were spoken, a middle-aged man scrambled out of the room, his voice trembling as he looked at the warriors and said, "Didn't you gentlemen just pay once a few days ago? Why are you collecting again?"
Upon hearing this, the samurai's expression immediately shifted from disdain to anger. "I said I'd take it, and that's it! Enough with the nonsense! Pay up, five thousand taels, not a penny less!" With that, the samurai patted the katana at his waist.
The shopkeeper, seeing the long katana at the samurai's waist, nearly collapsed to his knees, bowing and scraping, and said, "Yes, yes, I'll go get the money right away."
Seeing that the innkeeper was so sensible, the man immediately beamed, greeted his companions behind him, and then, with a fawning smile, walked up to the Sarutobi Clan ninja and said...
"Sir Ninja, now that the matter is settled, shall we rest here for a while before we go?"
The Sarutobi Clan ninja arrogantly tilted his head back and glanced at the fawning samurai, then gave a soft "hmm."
The samurai who had won over the Sarutobi Clan ninja was overjoyed, as if he had found a treasure, and immediately began to dance with delight.
But just as he jumped up, he felt someone tap him on the shoulder, and at the same time, a voice rang in his ear. "Dude, stop jumping, it's a bit too much for your eyes."
Upon seeing that someone dared to insult him, the samurai immediately turned around angrily, muttering as he did so, "Who's the blind fool...?"
The Genjutsu had barely turned around when he met the Two-Tomoe Sharingan with tomoe eyes. The Uchiha clan member immediately activated the Genjutsu, immobilizing him.
As for the other samurai, before they could react, they were subdued by several Uchiha clan members who had secretly surrounded them.
The Sarutobi Clan ninja, surrounded by these samurai, was initially stunned, but the moment he saw his Sharingan being controlled, he knew what had happened.
The last thought that crossed his mind before he was controlled was, "Damn it, how did the Uchiha get here?"
Once the situation was under control, the normal interrogation process began.
Under the "harsh" interrogation of several Uchiha, the group finally understood the specifics of the situation.
There was actually no ambush inside the city, and very few soldiers; the garrison had long been transferred to the capital. Aside from him and a few Sarutobi Clan ninjas, there were no other ninjas in the city.
The reason it appeared so deserted was due to the imposition of war taxes.
After learning the whole story, the Uchiha clan members didn't believe it; nobody would believe it if they were in that situation.
However, after investigation, the group discovered that it was actually true! There really was no ambush or garrison in the city.
The group was so shocked that they didn't even eat the food they had ordered. They immediately took the message and left the city to inform Yukimichi Uchiha.
Waiter: Where are they? They disappeared as soon as I stepped outside!
Yukimichi Uchiha, upon hearing the news, reacted the same way they did—incredulous—until the information was directly presented to him, forcing him to believe it.
Then he realized he was outsmarting thin air again, which left him feeling somewhat isolated. This was nothing like what he'd learned at military academy!
The series of actions left Yukimichi Uchiha completely baffled as to what the Sarutobi Clan was trying to do.
First they abandoned easily defensible passes, and now they've left the capital area undefended. What kind of bizarre move is this?
He'd never seen them do this before when they fought against the Sarutobi Clan. Surely they can't be stupid; Sarutobi's military skills have always been quite impressive... right?
Just then, Yukimichi Uchiha suddenly realized that the Sarutobi Clan had always attacked together with the Senju Clan, and the Sarutobi Clan had always obeyed the Senju Clan's commands. Therefore, it was actually the Senju Clan that had higher military skills.
Now, it's just the Uchiha beating up on Sarutobi alone, so the Sarutobi Clan was exposed after taking a couple of kicks?