Chapter 183: The Sharingan Originates from the God Tree
"Saltwater, how many men do we have now?" Sougen asked, facing the puzzled expressions of the people in the tent. Instead of giving a direct answer, he turned his gaze to Nara Saltwater, a young member of the Nara clan. Though not as experienced and skilled as Nara Suzaku, Saltwater certainly lived up to his clan's reputation as strategic masterminds.
"Including the thousand troops you, as Hokage's assistant, brought, along with the forces of the Hot Springs, we have just over 4,700 men," Nara Saltwater responded solemnly. Since the last battle where they had to abandon the Kusatsu Highlands, the Cloud Ninjas hadn't launched any large-scale offensives, but skirmishes between scouts had continued without respite.
The battlefields between the Hot River Plains and the Kusatsu Highlands hadn't seen a single day without conflict. Each day, casualties ranged from as few as thirty or forty to as many as fifty or sixty. As these losses piled up, by the time Sougen arrived, the combined forces of Konoha and the Hot Springs had dwindled from nearly five thousand to around four thousand.
Even with the thousand troops Sougen brought, their numbers still barely reached five thousand.
Among them were over a thousand Hot Springs ninjas, and given their rather weak combat power... it was enough to make one sigh in frustration.
"4,700 men. How many of them are genin, and how many are chunin?"
"2,939 genin, 1,622 chunin, and 197 jonin."
"Down to the exact number? Truly the talent of the Nara clan." Sougen praised Nara Saltwater for his meticulous work and then asked, "And how many troops does the Cloud Village have?"
"…According to the intelligence we've gathered, Cloud Village currently has more than nine thousand troops in the Land of Hot Water," Nara Saltwater answered with a heavy expression. The overwhelming difference in manpower was like a boulder pressing down on everyone's chests, making it hard to breathe.
"Over nine thousand against our 4,700... about double our forces! And Cloud Village can still call for more reinforcements from their village, while we have no additional troops. To be frank, we can't expect more support from Konoha in the near future. We have to rely on the forces we have now to maneuver against the Cloud Ninjas."
Hearing this, the atmosphere in the tent grew tense.
Salt Spring, the leader of the Hot Springs Village, wore a look of despair.
"How can we defend against the Cloud Ninjas with so few people? If we spread out our forces, they'll easily defeat us one by one. But if we concentrate our troops, how much territory can we defend? The Cloud Ninjas could just split their forces and invade elsewhere, and then people will curse us as failures."
"Lord Hyuga, as harsh as it sounds, that's the truth. With the forces we have, defending against Cloud's attacks is like trying to plug a leaking ship. Block one hole, and another one opens. So instead of letting them take the initiative, I say we strike first and take control."
Ninja warfare is not something where small forces can hold off massive armies.
While favorable terrain helps, its usefulness is limited. The Leaf Ninjas, retreating to the Hot River Plains, had nowhere left to defend. Even the Kusatsu Highlands, which could be considered a stronghold, had already fallen to the Cloud Ninjas.
"Hokage Assistant, we understand your point, but… if our attack fails, we may not even be able to defend. The Cloud Ninjas could march straight into the Land of Fire," Hyuga Hiashi expressed his concern sincerely. This was the main worry of most people present.
Everyone knew that being passive was a disadvantage, but launching an attack wasn't simple either. Sending just a few hundred or a thousand soldiers would be like handing the Cloud Ninjas a snack. To truly disrupt the enemy's formation, they would need at least three thousand men. But with Konoha's total forces below five thousand, deploying three thousand for an offensive could spell disaster if anything went wrong.
Ninjas, even genin, are highly skilled in combat.
During the Third Ninja War, Konoha's defensive forces were whittled down to just four soldiers by the Iwa Ninjas, yet they held strong without retreating. Expecting a few hundred or even a few dozen to defeat nearly ten thousand enemies was wishful thinking—unless you had a powerhouse like Hashirama Senju or Madara Uchiha.
Otherwise, it's better not to indulge in such fantasies.
The Third Raikage could take on ten thousand Iwa Ninjas alone because their top fighters didn't participate, and they only tried to wear him down. But now, Konoha faced not only the Fourth Raikage, but also two jinchuriki and a slew of other Cloud Village elites…
If Iwa's ten thousand troops had fighters as strong as those from Cloud, they wouldn't have just worn down the Third Raikage—they would've obliterated him and his subordinates.
"Moreover, the Cloud Ninjas' recent lull in activity might be a trap, waiting for us to strike so they can wipe us out. It's just my guess, and it might sound alarmist… but I believe the risk of attacking is too high, Hokage Assistant. Please reconsider," Hyuga Hiashi pleaded earnestly.
"I agree with Hiashi."
"Hiashi has a point. The Cloud Ninjas were fierce and fast in their attacks before, but now they're quiet. It feels like they're plotting something."
"Yes, I feel the same way."
One by one, the jonin in the meeting expressed their support for Hiashi's concerns.
"I see. Your worries are valid, Lord Hyuga. However, I don't like being passive. And I must apologize… before this meeting, I already sent out a vanguard to attack the Kusatsu Highlands."
Sougen said with a smile that radiated killing intent. Seeing the astonishment on everyone's faces, he continued, "If all goes well, we'll soon receive news of our victory at the Highlands. This meeting was more about keeping you informed. But it's good to understand your concerns."
"Still… I'm afraid I have to say your worries are meaningless. Even if we can't completely defeat Cloud Village, as long as I'm here, there's no way they'll defeat us."
Sougen's confidence was resolute.
And why was he so confident?
The answer was simple.
Among the thousand reinforcements Sougen brought, two hundred were from the Uchiha clan, including over forty jonin. Even Uchiha Fugaku, the former clan leader, had come along. The Uchiha clan had sent their elite.
But that was only part of his confidence.
More importantly, Sougen trusted in his own strength.
Since teaching the Mist Ninjas a lesson at the port of the Land of Water, he hadn't fought seriously in a while. Even when sparring with others, he had held back and hadn't used the power of his Mangekyo Sharingan. Yet he could still feel his constant progress.
Mastering the Blazing Fan…
It was like holding the key to understanding the essence of the God Tree.
This branch, taken from the God Tree in its full form, held unfathomable mysteries. But his greatest discovery so far from studying the Blazing Fan was confirming that the Sharingan, as a bloodline limit, originated from the God Tree.
Unlike the Hyuga clan's Byakugan, which came from the Otsutsuki clan, the Sharingan traces its roots to the God Tree. Kaguya Otsutsuki ate the God Tree's fruit, awakening the Rinne Sharingan. This power was passed down to her son, Hagoromo Otsutsuki, whose eldest son, Indra, inherited the Sage's Eyes—the Sharingan.
Upon confirming that the origin of the Sharingan was the God Tree, Sōgen also gained insight into a method to perfect the Mangekyō Sharingan from the Flame Fan.
Although he hadn't yet evolved his eyes to the level of the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan due to time constraints, he was just a step away. It was only a matter of patience before it would naturally happen. In addition, he further enhanced his understanding of Yin Release and Yang Release.
To be honest, when compared to the ancestor Uchiha Madara, who founded Konoha with the First Hokage, apart from his eyes not having evolved into the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, Sōgen felt that in every other aspect, he wasn't inferior to his ancestor in the slightest.
The biggest difference between the Mangekyō Sharingan and the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan is, in fact, stability.
Other than that, there isn't a world of difference between the two. Wielding Samehada, which could restore his depleted eye power at any time, Sōgen had found an alternative way to temporarily compensate for this shortcoming.
In other words,
When Sōgen previously claimed during the meeting at the Hokage Building that his abilities were only one-tenth of the First Hokage's, he was truly being humble. If he were to face off against Senju Hashirama in his prime, Sōgen couldn't guarantee victory, but he believed that his performance wouldn't fall short of Uchiha Madara's. Perhaps the only thing he lacked was Madara's rich combat experience.
But,
This was an era without Senju Hashirama.
Furthermore, after mastering the Flame Fan, Sōgen no longer viewed the Five Great Shinobi Villages as his enemies. His opponents were Uchiha Obito, the temporarily deceased Uchiha Madara, Nagato with the Rinnegan, the Black Zetsu who had been lurking in the ninja world for a thousand years, and Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, who was still slumbering on the moon.
Of course, Sōgen understood the importance of taking things one step at a time.
Before confronting Obito and the others, he first needed to stabilize the chaotic situation in the ninja world. After that, he could consider how to deal with Uchiha Obito, Nagato, and more enemies.
The meeting ended in an unexpected manner. The supreme leader's autocratic decision left everyone feeling unsettled, but when they saw Sōgen's bloodthirsty scarlet eyes, no one dared voice their opposition. Even Hiashi Hyuga, who appeared to want to speak up several times, ultimately chose to remain silent.
And so,
Following Sōgen's resolute instructions, the group began to move, though they carried mixed feelings about the future. However, some harbored a small hope that there might really be a victory in reclaiming the Kusatsu Mountain region.
—
At the time the meeting concluded, the advance team sent by Sōgen had already reached the border between the Tanghe Plain and the Kusatsu Mountains. Here, Konoha and Cloud ninja patrolled day and night, hunting each other down whenever the opportunity arose.
"Shisui, did Sōgen give you any specific plans?"
After rushing to the border, the advance team paused to rest. Uchiha Fugaku approached Shisui, the team leader, to ask about the detailed strategy. Although Fugaku was once the clan leader, as the saying goes, "new leadership, new rules." Now, Fugaku was just an elder, not even a key figure in the advance team, acting as Shisui's deputy.
"A plan?" Shisui's expression was odd.
"Yes, we've come this far, so it should be safe to reveal the plan. What are we doing?"
"Um... Elder Fugaku, I'm sorry, but Sōgen didn't give me any sort of plan."
"Shisui, are you saying there is no plan?"
Fugaku's eyes widened.
"According to Sōgen, we don't need a plan. We are to defeat the Cloud ninja stationed in the Kusatsu Mountain region by brute force." As Shisui spoke, he instinctively touched the massive sword, Samehada, wrapped in bandages on his back. He couldn't help but recall his earlier conversation with Sōgen—
"Just use Susano'o and bulldoze your way through."
"Don't worry about using up your eye power; I'll lend you Samehada temporarily. It'll help you recover the chakra you spend."
"Crush the Cloud ninja in Kusatsu Mountain with overwhelming power and show these hill barbarians how wrong they were to march south!"
Sōgen didn't even give Shisui time to think before making the decision for him. With the Uchiha clan as the core, and experts like Might Guy from the non-clan civilian faction, Sōgen had assembled an advance team of fewer than 300 people. Certainly, this small force couldn't defeat the entire Cloud ninja army.
But taking on the 2,000 Cloud ninja stationed in Kusatsu Mountain wasn't impossible.
Even Shisui was confident of that. If he used Susano'o without holding back, even a tailed beast wouldn't stand in his way.
If that weren't the case, Shisui would never have agreed to such a crazy mission. He wasn't concerned about his own safety; sacrificing himself for the village would be an honor. But he didn't want to lead so many of his clan members and comrades to their deaths.
"You young people... you're insane!"
Fugaku exhaled deeply, staring at Shisui for several seconds before finally shaking his head in resignation. "Fine! I just hope your decision is the right one, and we don't waste the clan's most valuable assets."