Chapter 162: War Preparations
Chapter 162: War Preparations
"It was Fū who earned my acknowledgment, so it's not what you call surrendering to humans," Chomei stated.
"Uh, is this big fox your comrade?" Fū then looked towards Naruto and asked.
"Teacher told me it's an important comrade of mine, but it won't even tell me its name!" Naruto glanced back at the Nine-Tails, then grumbled.
At this point, Chomei also noticed Naruto's pair of azure blue eyes. Subsequently, it said meaningfully, "Kid, earning the Nine-Tails' acknowledgment isn't that simple."
Just as the two were conversing within the seal space, the people outside also noticed the abnormality in both of them.
"All of you, get behind me! Sasuke, go to the village and call your father back," Mikoto, on high alert, called the children in the house behind her, then instructed Sasuke.
Just as Sasuke was preparing to go out and call for reinforcements, Naruto and Fū simultaneously returned to their senses.
"Huh? Auntie Mikoto, what are you all doing?" Naruto looked blankly at the group on high alert and asked, puzzled.
"Sorry, we caused you trouble," Fū, realizing at this moment that her earlier conversation with Naruto in the seal space might have been somewhat frightening for the others, immediately apologized.
"Sasuke, come back. It's alright now," Mikoto, seeing the situation, also breathed a sigh of relief and then said to Sasuke who was about to go out.
"Alright," Sasuke, seeing the situation, also returned to the living room.
"Uh, Miss, are you and Naruto the same kind of person?" Neji then spoke up and asked.
"Yes, he and I are both peo..." Fū admitted, but before she could finish her sentence, Mikoto interrupted.
"Alright, since there's nothing wrong, let's all sit down and have some snacks. Everyone should get along well," Mikoto said.
"Yes!" Seeing the situation, everyone responded in unison.
...
In the Hokage office, Nara Shikaku and Yamanaka Inoichi, who had rarely set foot outside their clan lands since Uchiha Douhuan came to power through a coup, received a rare summons from the Hokage today.
"Clan Head Nara, Clan Head Yamanaka." After the two entered the office, Uchiha Douhuan first greeted the two with a smile.
"Greetings, Lord Fifth Hokage." The two bowed to Uchiha Douhuan.
"No need for such politeness, you two. Please sit first," Uchiha Douhuan gestured for the two to sit down, then went to a nearby cabinet to get tea leaves. While brewing tea, he said to them, "Long time no see. How have you two been lately?"
"Pretty good, I suppose. It's rare to have some leisure time. Aside from my wife nagging a bit every day, these recent days have been the life I've always dreamed of," Nara Shikaku said with a smile.
"I can't compare to him. Although my official duties have been put down, the family business has expanded a lot recently, so I have to keep an eye on it," Yamanaka Inoichi stated.
Uchiha Douhuan had only removed their three clans' power within the village but hadn't imposed restrictions on other aspects of the three clans. With the Land of Fire relocating its capital to Konoha, the Nara clan, which dealt in medicinal herbs, was relatively unaffected; after all, their herbs and formulas were specifically for ninjas, so the large influx of nobles didn't impact them much – unless they were willing to stoop to selling aphrodisiacs, which, given the Nara clan's tendency to 'let things rot', was highly unlikely.
However, the Yamanaka clan's flower business and the Akimichi clan's restaurant business both became beneficiaries after the Land of Fire relocated its capital to Konoha; the scale of both clans' industries expanded significantly.
"It seems you gentlemen have been doing well recently. In that case, I can rest assured," Uchiha Douhuan chuckled.
"Lord Hokage summoning us here today, is there something you need to instruct us on?" Nara Shikaku then asked.
"Hehe, still can't hide it from Clan Head Nara," Uchiha Douhuan said after pouring each of them a cup of tea. "Calling you two here today, there is indeed one matter I need your help with."
"Please give your instructions, Lord Fifth Hokage," the two nodded in unison.
"Clan Head Nara, I wonder how you view the current war situation between Iwagakure and Takigakure?" Uchiha Douhuan asked.
"Iwagakure and Takigakure?" Nara Shikaku stroked his chin and analyzed, "If we only calculate the strength of both sides, Takigakure can at most hold out against Iwagakure for two weeks. And that's if Takigakure utilizes its Tailed Beast."
"Takigakure's Jinchuriki is currently in Konoha," Uchiha Douhuan stated.
"Then they can hardly hold out for even a week," Nara Shikaku said with a shrug. "The Takigakure leader's strength, among the major ninja villages, would struggle to even qualify as an elite Jounin. Not to mention Iwagakure possesses battlefield-devastating weapons like combination ninjutsu. Whether it's high-level combat power or mid-to-low-level combat power, Takigakure is completely no match for Iwagakure."
"What if Takigakure receives external aid to block Iwagakure's high-level combat power, and Konoha also supports them with combination ninjutsu, plus our Land of Fire's logistical support?" Uchiha Douhuan asked with a smile.
"This..." Nara Shikaku frowned upon hearing this, simultaneously calculating rapidly.
"If based on the conditions you've given, then Takigakure should be able to hold out for a very long time. Furthermore, they would still retain the possibility of a counterattack," Nara Shikaku replied after pondering for a moment. "However, if, as you say, our Land of Fire fully supports Takigakure, even if Takigakure holds out through this war, there isn't much benefit for us, is there?"
"The overt benefits aren't many, but the hidden interests behind this are enough to make every ninja village's heart flutter," Uchiha Douhuan chuckled and shook his head. Although Nara Shikaku possessed extremely high intelligence, his perspective on problems had always remained at the level of a ninja. Or rather, he had never thought that war could be played this way. This form of proxy war was indeed a bit beyond the scope for the ninja world.
"Clan Head Nara, why not look through these first before making a judgment," Uchiha Douhuan handed Shikaku Nara the contracts he signed with Iwata Sawaki, as well as the detailed plan formulated together with Kado.
To ensure this war could proceed according to the rhythm he envisioned, Uchiha Douhuan needed the help of a master strategist. Therefore, at this time, it was indeed time to deploy Nara Shikaku, a war staff officer tested by the Third Great Ninja War.
So, after finalizing the plan, Uchiha Douhuan didn't intend to hide anything from Shikaku Nara, revealing all current intelligence to him.
After Shikaku Nara read the intelligence Uchiha Douhuan provided, his eyes were filled with shock. Uchiha Douhuan's operations had completely surpassed his imagination as a ninja.
After a long pause, Nara Shikaku finally said, "If this is the case, then our Konoha can completely obtain the greatest benefits in this war without losing a single soldier."
Nara Shikaku's words were relatively tactful. This treaty was essentially attaching a blood pump to Takigakure. From the perspective of national interest, the moment Iwata Sawaki signed this treaty, regardless of the war's outcome, the Land of Waterfall was the loser.
"The premise is that this war can continue indefinitely, right?" Uchiha Douhuan chuckled.
"Correct," Nara Shikaku nodded. If viewed this way, for Konoha, it was best if this war could last as long as possible.
"This is why I called you here," Uchiha Douhuan said.
"You both know that during the previous Third Great Ninja War, I only participated as an ordinary soldier. Therefore, I have no experience in how to control the situation of a war," Uchiha Douhuan stated.
Upon hearing Uchiha Douhuan's words, Yamanaka Inoichi's mouth couldn't help but twitch. Ordinary soldier... Which ordinary soldier could achieve a battle record of slaying hundreds of enemies in a single engagement?
"Then, what does Lord Hokage want us to do?" Nara Shikaku asked.
"I plan to have you lead an elite squad to the Land of Waterfall's battlefield to provide support. You will have full command of this unit," Uchiha Douhuan said. "Of course, considering our current non-aggression pact with Iwagakure, the identity of this squad must be kept strictly confidential. At the very least, you cannot wear Konoha headbands. The same goes for your Ino-Shika-Cho trio; do not act unless it's a matter of life and death."
"Are we going to support Takigakure?" Yamanaka Inoichi asked.
"No. Lord Hokage's meaning should be to exist as a third party on this battlefield. We help whichever side is at a disadvantage," Nara Shikaku interpreted.
"Correct, that's exactly it," Uchiha Douhuan nodded. "For this operation, because of our treaty with Iwagakure, the village cannot directly support your actions. Therefore, I do not expect great achievements from you, but you must ensure your own safety. Understand?"
"Understood," Nara Shikaku nodded. "Then, I wonder which unit Lord Hokage plans for us to lead out?" Nara Shikaku pressed further. "It can't be ninjas from our own three clans, right? Although I'd have more confidence commanding our own ninjas, once our three clans' Ino-Shika-Cho formation is used, it would be inexplicable."
"I plan to have you take ninjas from the Sarutobi clan. Among the current ninja teams in the village, only they are strong yet lack obvious distinguishing characteristics that would reveal their identities," Uchiha Douhuan said.
"If it's them, then that's not bad," Nara Shikaku replied. "However, can Lord Hokage be sure I can command them?"
Although now, after Sarutobi Hiruzen had exhausted past goodwill, the Ino-Shika-Cho three clans and the Sarutobi clan basically no longer interacted, on the battlefield, if there was a rift between soldiers and their commander, the impact could be extremely fatal.
"You can rest assured on this point. Besides you two, I also plan to have Asuma lead the team," Uchiha Douhuan said.
"Then there's no problem," Nara Shikaku stated.
With the Sarutobi clan's young clan head present, there was no fear of these Sarutobi ninjas disobeying orders. And for Nara Shikaku, handling Asuma wasn't a difficult task either.
"When do we depart?" Nara Shikaku asked.
"Three days from now," Uchiha Douhuan said. "You can also escort the first batch of our support supplies to them."
...
After the Third Hokage retired, the previously strained father-son relationship had greatly improved.
Of course, it was mainly because the Third Hokage pulled down his old face and personally stepped forward to help Asuma propose to Kurenai Yūhi.
After getting engaged to Kurenai, Asuma, like a middle-aged man who had settled down upon reaching a certain age, just did Jounin work in the village.
However, after receiving Uchiha Douhuan's deployment order, he readily accepted this mission.
Three days later, the group, under the cover of night and disguised as wandering ninjas, left Konoha.
And during these three days, Onoki's mood had not been so good.
When the war first started, their Iwagakure achieved considerable results on the first day. But in the following days, the advance of their Iwagakure forces clearly stagnated.
Their consistently victorious combination Earth Release ninjutsu encountered an opponent on the battlefield.
Although Takigakure's ninjas had only practiced the combination ninjutsu style Lightning Release: Kirin taught by Uchiha Douhuan for a short time, and even if nearly a hundred ninjas released it, its power was far inferior to the original version, it was, after all, Lightning Release, which best countered Earth Release.
What made Onoki and the frontline commander Kitsuchi even more disgusted was that Takigakure's ninjas suddenly started acting extremely wealthy, throwing exploding tags like confetti as if they were free.
Takigakure definitely didn't have this kind of financial strength. And combined with the combination Lightning Release ninjutsu that appeared on the battlefield earlier, it was glaringly obvious to Onoki who was supporting Takigakure from behind.
Of course, what truly changed the tide of battle was the entry of the Akatsuki organization. On the battlefield a day ago, Kitsuchi originally had a chance to directly kill Iwata Sawaki, the leader of Takigakure Village. But the appearance of a purple-haired woman clad in a red cloud robe directly changed the battle situation. After Konan joined the battlefield, while rescuing Iwata Sawaki, she incidentally took control of all the exploding tag traps set by Takigakure Village. Under her control, these exploding tags seemed to come alive, causing heavy losses to the Iwagakure forces on the front line in just a few breaths. Even Kitsuchi suffered considerable injuries in the attack.
"Damn Akatsuki! Have they forgotten who was providing them with funding and support before?" Onoki slammed the table angrily. "And damn Uchiha Douhuan! Supplies instead of troops, huh! Damn it!"
"Lord Tsuchikage, please calm your anger," an Anbu member in the Tsuchikage's office spoke out.
"Connect me to Konoha's Uchiha Douhuan!" Onoki took a deep breath, then turned and instructed.
Soon, the video dialogue between Onoki and Uchiha Douhuan was re-established.
"What's wrong with Lord Tsuchikage? Why so angry after just a few days? Is the battlefield situation not looking good?" Uchiha Douhuan chuckled, looking at Onoki's slightly flushed cheeks.
"Lord Hokage seems to be showing little respect for our pact," Onoki said after taking a deep breath, questioning him.
"Oh? I wonder what Lord Tsuchikage means by this? Our Konoha directly rejected Takigakure's alliance request. Isn't that enough?" Uchiha Douhuan said with a smile.
(End of Chapter)
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