Chapter 34: Indeed, the Treacherous Konoha

"Jun, I heard Kiri has launched the war?" The elder asked with a worried expression as he walked over.

"Do you need us old folks to step in?"

How did it suddenly come to a decisive battle? It's only been three days. Doesn't Kiri need to investigate Uzushiogakure's details anymore? How can they give up halfway? Weren't we cooperating well the past few days? Can't they keep it up for a few more days?

If they kept it up a few more days, Uzushiogakure wouldn't have to fear anymore!

"What a shame," the elder said regretfully.

Uzumaki Jun looked at the elder with a mix of amusement and exasperation. What kind of logic was this? Did they think the enemy would foolishly keep sending people to their deaths? If Kiri was that stupid, the Daimyo of the Land of Water would have long replaced them with a new ninja village.

"There is one thing I need your help with,"

Uzumaki Jun said after some thought. Since Kiri's main forces had set out again, now was the perfect time to raid their rear camp. Why wait?

Even if their rear camp had many people, so what?

They weren't planning to fight head-on. As long as the supplies were there, that was enough. You could run, but the camp couldn't. They just needed to destroy everything.

"What's the mission?" The clan elders eagerly rolled up their sleeves.

"Who are we blowing up this time?"

"Their camp," Uzumaki Jun said, blinking.

"While they're away, we'll destroy their food and supplies. Let them sleep in the wild and starve. That way, they won't have the energy to fight."

Even if they had soldier pills, with so many people, they wouldn't last more than a few days.

Since they were running low on gasoline bombs and explosive tags, they might as well use them on the enemy camp.

These items were too scarce to make a big difference in large-scale battles anyway.

"I see!" The elder's eyes lit up with excitement.

"Good, great idea. Don't worry, we won't leave them even a scrap of cloth."

Uzumaki Jun shook his head.

"No need to go that far. Do what you can, but retreat immediately if there's danger."

The Uzumaki Clan was prone to excitement and charging in without thinking. Tactics? Strategy? None of that. They just hurled jutsu head-on. He was worried the elders would get carried away and charge recklessly, leading to heavy losses.

These strong fighters were precious!

They had to minimize casualties. Even after the war, having a few powerful ninjas in Uzushiogakure would bring peace of mind. Otherwise, he'd always feel like some shameless people were eyeing them, and without strong defenders, he'd feel uneasy.

"No problem," the elder said, grinning and narrowing his eyes.

"We'll remember your orders."

But that expression made him very uneasy.

Uzumaki Jun sighed internally. But since the elder had already left to prepare, he didn't say anything more. He glanced at Uzumaki Kai, who had walked up beside him with a strange look. "Well? Did you arrange everything?"

Uzumaki Kai leaned in and whispered, "It's done. The Senju Clan doesn't know."

Uzumaki Jun nodded in understanding. "Keep the Senju Clan on the other side, away from them."

Since he planned to recruit the Senju Clan into Uzushiogakure, tricking them a little was fine. Consider it their contribution to the nation. Besides, if he didn't intervene, the Senju Clan would probably be sold out by Konoha anyway.

Hashirama and Tobirama would probably thank him.

"Prepare to move out. Use shadow clones. Kill if you can, but don't force it if you can't," Uzumaki Jun said.

"Yes!"

...

"Remember, our mission is to charge forward," Hōzuki Gengetsu said, looking at the assembled ninjas with satisfaction. With such forces, how could Uzushiogakure not fall?

"Destroy everything in front of you. Ignore Uzushiogakure's schemes."

This wasn't the Land of Water. Destroying things here didn't matter. If not for the fear of being mocked by the ninja world for bullying a small nation, he would have already unleashed the Tailed Beasts. Unless absolutely necessary, he wouldn't use them. Re-sealing them was too troublesome.

Who knew if the Tailed Beasts would fire a Tailed Beast Bomb at their own side? Killing a thousand enemies at the cost of eight hundred allies was too stupid.

"Yes!"

Hōzuki Gengetsu turned to Hoshigaki Fuguki, the first wielder of Samehada. "You guard the right flank. Don't let Uzushiogakure's strong fighters ambush us."

He was nervous. Even if Uzushiogakure didn't have many strong fighters left, accidents could happen. Having a quasi-Kage-level ninja like Kisame guarding the flank was perfect.

"Ameyuri Ringo, you guard the left flank!"

"Yes!" x2

"This time, we will wipe out Uzushiogakure in one strike," Hōzuki Gengetsu declared. They had dragged this out too long. Kiri was becoming a laughingstock.

"Destroy Uzushiogakure!"

...

"Remember your mission?" Uzumaki Kai whispered to the few remaining strong Uzumaki youths. "Your real bodies will disguise yourselves as Konoha ninjas. Use shadow clones to harass the enemy."

"Understood."

The Uzumaki ninjas shouted, but one raised his hand in confusion. "But is this really okay? Konoha is..."

No matter what, they were supposed to be Uzushiogakure's allies.

Uzumaki Kai, however, just smiled. "We're doing this for Konoha's sake. Otherwise, if they don't come to help, it'd be hard to explain."

Ohhh!

The Uzumaki ninjas nodded in realization. In that case, they'd just boost Konoha's reputation. It wasn't like they were framing them... Wait, no! Konoha was their ally. Of course they'd come to help!

This was just to strengthen the bond between Konoha and Uzushiogakure!

Seeing that everyone understood, Uzumaki Kai nodded in satisfaction. "In that case..."

"Move out!"

"Yes!"

...

"Aniki, most of Kiri's forces have set out. Should we act?" the second elder asked.

"Not yet," the elder shook his head. "We'll wait until the battle starts."

"Remember what our mission is!"

"Understood!" The elders nodded. Kill and burn, they knew how to do that! Especially those who had participated in the fleet destruction mission. They were even more excited. "Aniki, what about those bottles..."

The elder smiled. "Don't worry, Jun has prepared them." Then his tone turned serious. "Our main goal is to destroy the camp. Remember, retreat immediately if there's danger. Don't forget Jun's orders."

He had to remind his brothers. He knew how they were. If he didn't say anything, who knew what might happen? Dying wasn't the issue, but ruining Jun's plans would be disastrous.

The elders' expressions turned solemn. They nodded firmly. "Yes!"