The Sarutobi Clan acted swiftly. Although they all repeatedly proclaimed that they did not want to surrender and would resist to the end, in reality, once they decided to surrender, they were faster than anyone else.
As that civil official said, how can a country be governed well while surrounded by these insects? It would be an injustice if the Land of Gold were not destroyed!
However, this meant nothing to the Uchiha. After waiting for some time, the Uchiha army marched into the capital of the Land of Gold.
Yukimichi Uchiha personally accepted the surrender document from the Sarutobi Clan leader. From that moment on, the Land of Gold, established just a few years prior, officially ceased to exist, and the Land of Light, founded by the Uchiha, formally took over all of Land of Gold territory.
When they first saw the Uchiha army advancing into the capital, all the officials wore expressions of grief and sorrow.
Of course, this has to do with the Uchiha. The expression on Uchiha's face was one of pure smugness, just like the poem. "Riding a swift horse in the spring breeze, one can see all the flowers of Chang'an in a single day."
Although this kid didn't do well on the exam, his smug and triumphant mood at the time was quite similar to what this poem describes.
"How exhilarating! Yukimichi Uchiha!" Yukimichi Uchiha thought to himself with a smirk, glancing at the scene on the street, and said smugly, "I can finally get my medal!"
However, just as Yukimichi Uchiha was dreaming of returning to receive his medals, he didn't receive the order to be transferred back. Instead, he received an order from Uchiha Takashi to transfer him directly to the southeastern border.
Where is the southeastern border? It's right next to the Uzumaki Clan. This means Uchiha Takashi is going to transfer him to the Uzumaki Clan Uzumaki Clan's front lines to fight them.
Meanwhile, Dai Uchiha, the original commander of the Uzumaki Clan, was transferred here to participate in the plan to encircle the Senju Clan.
"What? Where's my medal? Where's my medal?" Yukimichi Uchiha tossed the letter aside, turning the envelope inside out repeatedly, searching high and low, but he still couldn't find his prized medal.
He had no choice but to take the letter back, and discovered that there were words on the back as well. It read:
"The matter with the Senju Clan hasn't been resolved yet. We'll assess everyone's contributions once that's settled. For now, remember these achievements; don't worry, you'll get your medals."
Yukimichi Uchiha stared at the words for a long time, then angrily threw the letter on the ground and stomped on it twice. "Damn it, clan leader, are you treating me like an ox or a donkey?!"
"Archi..." Uchiha Takashi twitched his nose, smacked his lips, and said, "Who insulted me?"
The surrender of the Land of Gold is good news. It means that the threat to the Uchiha in the southwest has been completely eliminated. Not only has it been eliminated, but the territory of the Land of Light will also expand significantly.
However, according to this prediction, the Land of Land of Gold's territory cannot be entirely conquered. This is not because these territories do not belong to the Land of Light, but rather because the Uchiha's core control over these territories is limited.
Territory is a double-edged sword; securing your core territory is of paramount importance.
No matter what, the Uchiha clan was simply too small to conquer such a large territory. The border towns had to be abandoned; they couldn't even form Guard Force, let alone gather enough government officials.
The main problem is that putting all that money on the border would be wasteful, and the Uchiha's current strength doesn't allow for that; it's too wasteful. The Uchiha doesn't lack money; their main problem is manpower.
Although the Uchiha clan experienced an explosive population growth in the past two years, this was primarily due to peacetime, and the Uchiha population began to increase significantly.
However, the Uchiha's population base was ultimately insufficient. After two years, their population of 20,000 had only increased by a few hundred. This might seem like a lot to the Uchiha, but on a national scale, it was pitifully small.
However, these problems will gradually be resolved over time. Currently, the Uchiha's strategic plan is basically complete.
The Senju Clan now faces the same problems as the Uchiha did back then.
With no successors and a lack of capable leaders, and facing encirclement from the outside, the Uchiha territory has essentially created a semi-encirclement of the Senju Clan.
Apart from Land of Harmony, which is neutral and backed by the Senju Clan, all other areas belong to the Uchiha.
Internally, after being purged, Oto Senju seized control of the entire Senju Clan, and the daimyo of the Land of Fire still needed to rely on the Senju Clan's military strength.
Therefore, there were no internal problems within the Senju Clan, a situation quite similar to that of the Uchiha Clan at that time.
However, the Senju Clan's resilience isn't as strong as the Uchiha's. The reason they were able to avoid collapse even when suppressed by the Uchiha was because they had the Uzumaki Clan as their ally.
Unfortunately, the Uzumaki Clan left their homeland, the Land of Fire, and established their own country. While this helped the Senju Clan enable the Uchiha to fight on two fronts, it also resulted in the Senju Clan's power being less concentrated.
The Senju Clan's resilience dropped significantly in an instant. How long could they withstand the relentless pressure from the Uchiha Senju Clan?
"How long can we hold out?" Oto Senju asked, squinting her eyes.
The newly appointed elders looked at each other, then shook their heads. "We don't know, Clan Chief. The strategic pressure exerted by the Uchiha is terrifying."
"We simply don't have enough fighting power right now. The Uchiha have already surrounded us, and we don't have enough strength to break through their encirclement. For the next period of time, we will face strategic pressure from the Uchiha."
Of course, maintaining such high-pressure tactics like this is incredibly expensive... but we have absolutely no idea how much money the Uchiha Uchiha!
Everyone present fell silent. They all remembered the incident where the Uchiha robbed the Senju Clan of their money.
Initially, they only had their eyes on the Fujiwara Clan's inheritance, but the Uchiha went all in, not only seizing the Fujiwara Clan's inheritance but also taking over the assets of the three most powerful clans in the Land of Fire.
The Land of Fire is the wealthiest country in the entire Shinobi World, and it has a history spanning over a thousand years. Its three top noble families have also been part of this Land of Fire.
Over the past millennium, no one knows exactly how much wealth these three noble families have accumulated. However, judging from the Uchiha's current seemingly extravagant lifestyle, the wealth they have amassed over these millennia is certainly not a small sum.
Oto Senju gets furious every time she thinks about this; it's utterly ridiculous. It's one thing for the Senju Clan to rob people, but they ended up absorbing the Uchiha!
Not only did they absorb the Uchiha, but the Uchiha also turned around and took all the money the Senju Clan wanted. In the end, the whole plan benefited the Uchiha!
" Fū Senju is an amateur!"