HSU: Ch. 288

Masashi didn't have to wait long. The first to enter were the jonin from the two clans who had entered the village with him. Soon after, the various commanders of the stationed troops also arrived.

"Thank you all for your hard work," he looked at everyone. "Please, have a seat."

Since the commander had spoken, everyone naturally didn't stand on ceremony. They bustled around, each finding a place to sit.

"Who's in charge of reconnaissance?" Masashi asked.

"That would be me."

"What should I call you?"

"Please just call me Ren."

"Very well. I'll trouble you to brief us on the current situation in the Land of Hot Water."

Ren nodded and began explaining the situation. He spoke in a very organized manner, no unnecessary words, no ambiguity. It was immediately clear he was someone who got things done.

After a straightforward and informative report, Masashi had a much clearer understanding of the situation in the war zone.

First, due to the limited size of the Konoha ninja army, they couldn't conduct large-scale reconnaissance. As a result, the areas monitored and controlled, either by Konoha ninjas themselves or by hired ninja organizations, covered less than a third of the Land of Hot Water. And this control was limited to the eastern region. The area directly under Konoha's control was mainly along the eastern coast, with the territory of Yu acting as the front line.

This arrangement was also to ensure that the sea routes remained open, as they were the fastest link between the northern and eastern war zones. As for those hired ninja organizations, leaving aside the truthfulness of their reconnaissance, the Konoha army didn't fully trust them even in terms of technical capability.

Then came the enemy.

The main forces of Kumo were officially gathered at the fortress. However, a large number of Kumo ninjas had already scattered into the western mountain region. Unlike in the last war, this time the Kumo ninjas did not group together so easily. Instead, they took advantage of their numerical superiority to cast a wide net.

Ren also believed that the fortress might just be a decoy. Kumo could very well be using old roads in coordination with coastal routes to transport military supplies simultaneously, preventing the kind of logistical crisis that would occur if the fortress were to fall.

This would mean that the actual number of Kumo's forces mobilized this time was even greater.

It was a reasonable deduction.

But aside from Kumo, there were other powers currently active in the Land of Hot Water.

The Land of Fire had a well-known no-man's-land where Nekobaa's weapon shop was located. Sora-ku sat at the border between the Land of Fire and several northern countries. As a result, the area not only hosted a black market but also provided the best secret bases for various rogue ninja organizations.

Only a small portion of them supported Konoha; most were still observing from the sidelines. Observation didn't mean harmlessness. To the under-manned northern Konoha forces, these were high-risk, unpredictable factors.

And lastly, there was Oto

During the Chunin Exam incident jointly orchestrated by Iwa, Kumo, and Kiri, no minor villages outside the Five Great Nations participated. At the same time, these smaller villages also didn't take Konoha's side to fight against the Three Great Villages. In short, they had all conveniently "forgotten" their alliance with Konoha and the other Great Ninja Villages at the time.

Excluding Orochimaru, the only non-Five Nation force that took any action was Akatsuki.

But after the chaos ended, Nagato sought out Minato and Jiraiya, claiming that Akatsuki had rebelled and was no longer under his control. Whether or not that was true, Nagato himself did not make a move, nor did the Ame ninjas.

As for Orochimaru, his connection with Oto was never openly revealed. The Oto ninjas, too, were merely bystanders during the turmoil. But now that things had escalated to the level of a full-scale Great Ninja War, all the Konoha jonin knew the truth, Orochimaru was the true leader of Oto. As such, Konoha's ninja forces regarded Oto as an enemy.

Because of this, when Ren spoke of the large-scale troop movements by the Oto ninjas near the borders of the Land of Hot Water, though they hadn't entered the country directly or moved south into the Land of Fire, it was clear they were preparing to engage Konoha.

"As for Orochimaru, we don't need to worry about him for now," Masashi said, waving his hand dismissively. He had every reason to speak with such confidence.

The system created by Hashirama, was a distribution method that satisfied both ninja and nobles alike. By concentrating ninjas into hidden villages, their formidable power became organized, reducing the risk of them turning against the country. Meanwhile, the nobles handled governance, societal development, and wealth accumulation. They would then pay for services, distributing part of that wealth to individual ninjas through the hidden villages.

With ordinary people withdrawn from the military domain, more manpower could be focused on production. And since the limited number of ninjas took over military responsibilities, this indirectly reduced the spread and scale of wars. By the Warring States period, most of the continent's population was no longer directly involved in warfare. But correspondingly, all the profits of the military sector went exclusively to the ninja world.

So normally, any ninja would have a positive attitude toward war, it was profitable, after all. But Orochimaru wasn't a normal ninja. He was, without a doubt, the most war-averse ninja in the entire shinobi world.

He wouldn't fight unless it was absolutely necessary. And right now, things clearly hadn't reached that point.

In fact, Masashi genuinely believed that ever since Orochimaru defected from Konoha, he had made it his mission to mess with Konoha's enemies instead.

"I understand. However..." Ren hesitated. "The activity level of the Oto forces has increased dramatically lately. Orochimaru is, after all, a missing-nin from Konoha. Now that his identity is exposed, it's not impossible that Kumo has managed to win him over. I suggest we maintain at least a minimal level of reconnaissance on Oto."

"That's acceptable," Masashi replied, not wanting to discourage Ren's initiative. "Keep your main focus on the Kumo ninjas. Reconnaissance in the mountains won't be easy, feel free to request additional personnel from Hiashi."

"Understood," Ren nodded, indicating that his report was complete.

"Now, let's talk about supplies," Masashi said. "This time, we brought along the nobles from the Lands of Rice Fields, Hot Water, Frost, and Lightning. The nobles from the Land of Hot Water within our controlled zone have already set off to return home. As for the rest, we need to send them back. If too many of them linger here too long, it'll become a liability for us."

"Supplies are still relatively abundant at the moment," another Konoha ninja reported. "Since our current troop numbers are limited, consumption has been low. The initial stockpile was prepared for a force of ten thousand, and everything was transported via sea from the southern ports, so we're not worried about ambushes."

"Good. Then we'll first send back the nobles from the Lands of Rice Fields and Hot Water," Masashi decided. "I'll lead the team. If the Oto ninjas still don't withdraw after we've handed them over, I'll go ahead and take down Oto while I'm at it. While I'm gone, Hiashi will act as interim commander. Shisui, you and your clan members must fully obey his leadership."

Kumo could scatter its forces because the village was far away in the Land of Lightning. But Oto was next door. If they didn't retreat, Masashi would dismantle their home, just to see if Orochimaru had the guts to defend it.

"I understand. You can count on me," Shisui said.

"Mm. Once we've returned these nobles, we'll send the ones from the Lands of Frost and Lightning to southern fortress, and use that opportunity to probe the real strength of the Kumo forces." Masashi made a slicing motion with his hand. "We're short on manpower. So rather than sitting around guessing, let's go knock on their door and test their strength."

He always felt that with the power of Hashirama and Madara, and the setup they pulled together, it made no sense that Konoha didn't end up steamrolling the other four villages.

It was likely all because of the damn Great Ninja Wars.

Because no matter how things went around and around, Konoha was always involved. They never sat one out. After all, beyond redistributing power, the wars served another key function: balancing market supply and demand.

Since Konoha had the strongest money-making capabilities, everyone wanted to gang up on them. It was essentially taking turns to bleed Konoha dry. Which meant Konoha always suffered the highest casualties. And when too many died, the core personnel were gone, which put them at a disadvantage after the war.

This time, though, he believed Konoha had a real shot at breaking the cycle, make Konoha suffer fewer casualties, and get the other villages to take the heavier losses.

In fact, according to Hashirama's original vision, he wanted to gather most of the ninjas under a single village to create a one superpower system. But things didn't go as planned. The shinobi world was no small place, and the other ninja clans weren't idiots. Once Konoha was established, they immediately saw the benefits and began copying it.

After Madara disappeared from the stage, the world shifted from "one superpower" to "one super, four strong." When Hashirama passed, it became simply "five strong."

An industry without a towering giant was immature. Masashi felt that with the hidden system having existed for decades now, and everyone being mature ninjas, the industry itself should mature too.

After the meeting ended, he immediately set off.

He didn't bring many people, not even a single jonin. He just brought a small squad as a symbolic gesture, mainly in case anyone with no eyes tried to harass the group on the way.

Oto ninjas weren't like Kumo ninjas. If he were facing Kumo, he wouldn't go off solo. Even though Kumo's talent pool had been heavily depleted, their overall war discipline remained strong. If they decided to play dirty and deny him any opportunity to clear the field quickly, and managed to push their main force into Konoha's rear, they could use sheer numbers to strike a heavy blow.

The Fourth Great Ninja War in the original timeline was different, the target was clear, and everyone had no choice but to team up. It perfectly suited Madara's wishes, letting him go on a satisfying solo rampage. But in this normal ninja war setting, that approach was far too risky.

Masashi had considered summoning Matatabi and charging through the coastal route straight to Kumo for a blitz strike. But if he did that, knowing Kumo's temperament, they would definitely go for a desperate one-to-one trade. They'd be willing to abandon the Valley of Clouds and Lightning entirely, mobilize the whole village, take the old roads or sea routes, and directly assault the Land of Fire. Before he even reached the valley, the Kumo army could already be deep in Konoha's forests.

And if he had to turn back, not to mention Kumo could use long-range communication techniques like the Heavenly Transfer Technique, just half of their army scattering would turn the Land of Fire into a blaze of war.

Still a bad deal.

At the level of the Five Great Villages, advancing step by step with caution really is the safest approach.

But Oto-nin were different. He really trusted Orochimaru.

Over the years, through various dealings, he was certain Orochimaru had never actually cultivated the Oto ninjas as a real battlefield force. Helping Orochimaru run errands, collect research materials, build secret bases, that they were very good at. The lab operations ran like clockwork. But when it came to actual fighting? They were basically on the same level as Kusa ninjas.

By contrast, the nobles of the Land of Rice Fields and the Land of Hot Water were quite pleased. They were finally going home.

Masashi personally escorted them back to their respective territories.

During the process, thanks to these hostages… oops, he meant VIP guests, he managed to get a fairly clear picture of the western border of the Land of Hot Water. In short, the plains area had basically become a lawless zone. Both Kumo and Konoha scouts were active in the area, but neither side occupied any key positions.

For Konoha, it was due to a lack of manpower. As for the Kumo ninjas, they were worried, if they left too few, they wouldn't be able to hold the ground; too many, and they might become a target for concentrated attacks. In their current state, with a shortage of top-tier combat power, Kumo had shed its old, bold ways and become far more cautious. Under these conditions, the nobles' return journey went extremely smoothly.

After escorting the nobles of the Land of Hot Water home, he led the group from the Land of Rice Fields to the border between the two countries. There, the Oto ninjas were already waiting.

Compared to the small, sparse Konoha escort, the Oto ninjas contingent looked downright extravagant. Over a thousand of them, blanketing the hills, giving the nobles of the Land of Rice Fields a great sense of security.

It wasn't that they felt unsafe with the Konoha ninjas, after all, their escort was Masashi, a man fierce enough to take out an entire village on his own. But nobles were nobles. Most of the time, they just love a good show of force. And since they were more than willing to pay extra for the show, the ninjas generally didn't mind indulging them.

He first instructed his small team to regroup, then walked alone toward the Oto forces.

The mountain range stretching from the north of the Land of Lightning ended in this region where the Lands of Hot Water and Rice Fields met, this was the foothills. A breeze blew softly as the Oto ninjas stood stock-still, not moving an inch, proof that Orochimaru had at least given them some basic training.

At the very least, their formation was respectable.

That was very Orochimaru, when it came to things investors cared about, like public image, he paid close attention.

If Masashi didn't already know the truth about Oto, he might've thought at first glance that they had some of Konoha's class, might even have been willing to spend money on them.

Instead of dropping a Chibaku Tensei right on them.

"Are you the White Ghost?" The commander of the Oto ninja force looked around forty, the type whose sharp edges had long since been worn away by the years. "We're here to receive the nobles of the Land of Rice Fields."

"Yeah. Let's do the handoff," Masashi said, glancing at the mass of Oto ninjas behind him. "As Konoha's commander, let me ask: is this the entirety of the forces you've deployed to the border?"

"Yes. This movement is solely for the nobles' escort," the middle-aged Oto ninja replied with certainty. "Oto is Konoha's ally, we would never oppose Konoha."

"Then why didn't you join up with our forces?"

"We're small and lack strength, unable to offer support," he answered instantly.

"Alright then. Help me pass on a message to Orochimaru. I won't hold the Chunin Exams incident against him. But if he screws up my operation this time, I'll blow up his labs. I know which ones have projects nearing completion."

"That's not a very nice thing to say." A thin figure emerged beside the middle-aged man, skin pale as always, exuding his usual aura of gloom. Only now, his tone carried a trace of irritation. "I fulfilled my end of the deal during the Chunin Exams. You didn't deliver anything, and now you're threatening to bomb my labs?"

"I thought you wouldn't show yourself," Masashi said, eyeing him. "Want to talk?"

"Sure." Orochimaru turned and walked toward the back. The Oto ninjas parted to make way. "Too many ears here. Let's find somewhere more private."