Chapter 326: Stepping into the Sea (3)

When Uchiha Keiji and his nephew rushed to the first line of defense, the troops were preparing for lunch. As the war came very suddenly, Konoha's food reserves were mostly simple and easy-to-eat individual combat rations. In order to ensure that the front-line ninjas had good food and peace of mind, many shops' cooking utensils, ingredients and chefs were temporarily requisitioned. Anyway, the enemy would not suddenly attack for the time being, and the safety of ordinary people could be guaranteed. They would just be sent back after the meals were ready.

As a result, Uchiha Keiji saw many familiar people busy in the military camp, including Ichiraku Ramen, Morimaru BBQ, Jingxia Sukiyaki, etc., which made him feel uncomfortable. The war was a war between ninjas, and ordinary people should not be involved. Or it could be said that protecting the villagers was one of the ninja's duties. Now they needed their help to let the troops have a hot meal, which showed how Konoha had neglected its military equipment in recent years.

Nara Shikaku was a very attentive person. Noticing the gloomy look on the Deputy Hokage's face, he guessed what he was thinking and said softly, "Deputy Hokage, you don't have to be like this. You see, the ninjas get along very well with the villagers. There is no ninja village like ours in the entire ninja world. This just shows that our mass base is very solid and our defense force is equally indestructible. When the war breaks out, the ninjas on the front line will surely be the first to bravely fight for their families and villagers without fear of death."

Uchiha Keiji didn't comment, and said calmly: "Before I came here, I signed a military order with the Hokage. I will never live in disgrace until the mission is completed. You should pay more attention to military appearance and discipline. Let the villagers leave after the food is ready. Before the war, we should not talk about preparing for war, but we still have to have the necessary tension!"

"Ideological work and propaganda work on the urgency of the mission must be done by ninjas above the squad leader level, so that the troops understand the details of the mission. This way, even if we are dispersed and the command system fails, we can organize an effective counterattack."

"Understood!"

As they were talking, they came to the tent in the center of the camp, where a barrier perception class was set up under the leadership of the Yamanaka clan ninja. Uchiha Keiji was well aware of the importance of intelligence to war, so he came here to check as soon as he took office.

There is no false reputation under a great name. The perception class is full of fanatics who only know war. In a very short time, they built a complete and efficient barrier under the pressure of the enemy's reincarnation. Any chakra that tries to break into the barrier will be sensed at the first time. When Uchiha Keiji looked for a while and wanted to ask questions, Yamanaka Inoichi, who was wearing a perception helmet, kept the seal posture and shouted: "Enemy fluctuations appear in the northwest three o'clock direction, one person, initially judged to be an elite jonin level!"

Immediately, a ninja pressed the switch of his headset and said, "Attention, Northwest Third Team, an elite Jonin enemy has appeared in your defense zone!"

Zira's earpiece sounded, and a ninja replied, "Got it!"

Needless to say, there must be several elite teams going there to deal with it. At this stage, Konoha has sufficient military strength, and it is impossible for them to be outnumbered. Moreover, the enemy is most likely the so-called immortal reincarnation, and requires cooperation between teams to seal and deal with it.

Uchiha Keiji was very satisfied, and instructed the perception team to report any chakra fluctuations above the Kage level in a timely manner. Ninjas of this level could not be defeated by numbers, and he or even Yeshan would need to take action personally.

"Dequan, you lead the team to stay here and make sure they are safe!"

Uchiha Dequan's expression remained calm and he just nodded when he heard it. However, Nara Shikaku looked at him thoughtfully, and it was obvious that he had guessed the cause and effect.

But at the moment of the war, Nara Shikaku naturally would not speak out to earn any favors. Besides, he himself did not know whether he could return alive, so why would he care about other people's family affairs? As for the unfamiliar young man who had been following Uchiha Keiji, Nara Shikaku also knew him. Knowing that he was the Three-Tails Jinchuriki, his heart sank and he pretended not to know. He secretly regretted not hugging his son more before leaving.

.......

The highest commander of the Hidden Cloud Village this time is called Tudui. It's a strange name but very common in the village. The Land of Lightning is a country that advocates the use of force and has no humanities or knowledge. The name is arbitrary. He is not young and powerful. He has held an important position since ten years ago and is highly regarded by the Third Raikage. However, he has a strange temper and is a loner. He never likes to form cliques, and often offends many people when carrying out his work.

But such a terrible guy with low emotional intelligence has held a high position in the Hidden Cloud Village for a long time, because he is the tallest among the short people, and he is not good at being a person but is steady in doing things.

Ninjas can march much more easily than ordinary people. They can cross rivers as if walking on flat ground and mountains as if jumping over small ditches. The whole army is like a dagger piercing the heart of Konoha. Except for eating, drinking, defecating, urinating and sleeping, the Cloud Ninjas travel madly under the stars and moon, wearing cloaks and bathing. It will take only one day to reach the agreed place, but Tudui is not happy.

Konoha Ninja Village has many barriers, and no one has been able to break in for half a century. Dozui's original plan was to use the advantage of a sudden attack to transfer Konoha ninjas out of the village to fight, so that the man from the Hidden Rain Village could take advantage of the opportunity to come in and turn the world upside down. This can reduce the loss of personnel on his side. After all, the fewer deaths, the more gains. Even if Konoha investigates, it is nothing more than a charge of crossing the border to cause trouble, and an apology can be made to fool him. As for the bold words in the Raikage's office that cannot be taken seriously, Dozui is not stupid, and naturally he will not sacrifice the lives of his ninjas in vain to help the man from the Hidden Rain Village.

But when the time came, Tudui found that it was not the case at all. For the sake of confidentiality, he did not announce the surprise attack on Konoha in advance. The confidentiality was done well, but the bloodiness and brutality in the hearts of the ninjas were aroused and they were like wild horses that could not be controlled. They killed everyone they saw and looted every village they saw. They stuffed all the good things on their bodies, looking like bandits. The blood debt and hatred between the two ninja villages had accumulated for a long time. The cloud ninjas were all desperate criminals. They were always excited and less afraid when fighting. This opportunity was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. No matter how Tudui suppressed and stopped them, it was useless. Instead, many people openly sang the opposite tune.

Take the battle outside the capital of the Land of Fire for example. Tudui's order was to dispatch an elite squad to block Konoha's harassment and for the main force to quickly disengage. However, the ninjas under him did not listen at all and actually formed a battle formation, chasing the fleeing Konoha ninjas all the way, and would not stop until they were all killed. Tudui was so angry that he almost vomited blood.

In fact, it is not the fault of the lack of control and prestige of the Tudui. The troops brought this time are all troublemakers. They are undisciplined in the village on weekdays, and they are even more vicious when they arrive at the territory of the Fire Country. They all think that they will die anyway, so they might as well make a good fight before they die. Some even suggested not to go to Konoha Village at all. Isn't the capital not far away also the heart of the Fire Country? There are no ninjas stationed there. It won't be too late for us to rush in and burn and smash the capital before going to Konoha.

In response to this, Tudui finally made up his mind to kill the troublemaker. He could not go to the capital. Once the dispute between ninjas escalated to a war between countries, the weak country of Lightning would be killed by the Fire Country in a matter of minutes. Apart from other things, the tens of millions of mouths in Lightning Country depended on the food of the Fire Country to feed them every year. If they didn't sell you food, they would kill you!

In theory, ninjas have their own rules for marching. How many reconnaissance teams to send out, how to protect medical ninjas and sensory ninjas, when to cook, and where to set up camp are all difficult problems that test the commander's ability. But Tudui doesn't have such worries. His subordinates are all a bunch of rough men. They eat by stuffing dry biscuits into their mouths and drinking some cold water. Sleeping and resting are even simpler. When they are tired, they lie on the ground and snore loudly. As for functional ninjas, there are very few of them and they don't need protection at all.

It's no wonder that the Iwagakure Village looked down on them. They were a bunch of hooligans who relied entirely on their own strength and bravery in fighting, without any rules at all. They boasted all day long that they were the second strongest village in the ninja world. In fact, they were just fancy pillows, silver spears and wax tips, and their strong bodies were wasted.

Just look, a dozen or so Konoha ninjas who were obviously the spontaneous blocking force just showed up. Before Doui could give any order, hundreds of Cloud ninjas with red eyes rushed forward with howling. In an instant, the army of thousands of people was reduced by one third.

Tudui had no other options, and he could not leave those hundreds of people alone, so he had to order the troops to rest on the spot. He rushed over with his confidants, of course not to kill people, but to retrieve his troops and make sure they did not fall into the enemy's delaying tactics.

After the team was united, Tudui, who was exhausted both physically and mentally, was about to give the order to continue moving forward, but a confidant came up to his ear with a strange look and whispered something in his ear, which made him involuntarily furious.

After all the trouble, Tudui felt a sense of fear in his heart, because the 1,100 people had become more than 900 people, and the remaining 200 people were nowhere to be found!

The first thing that came to Tudui's mind was that someone had deserted the battlefield, or someone had chosen to be a coward out of fear of death, but it was impossible after careful consideration. He knew better than anyone what kind of ninjas he had. To put it nicely, they were strong but simple-minded. To put it bluntly, they were a group of desperate criminals who did not take their lives seriously at all and believed that they would be heroes again in 18 years. So the problem was simple. Those 200 people were 100% dead!

The sun was shining brightly, but Tudui shuddered. If this was really the case, how many of his 900-plus ninjas would be able to reach their destination alive? They had only walked halfway, and the further they went, the more enemies would spontaneously block their way!

Even though the Cloud Ninjas are numerous and powerful, fighting between ninjas requires agility and flexibility. Standing still like a wooden stake and releasing ninjutsu to compete is stupid. The ninjas of Konoha always harass in a planned way. There are more than a dozen people with clear division of labor. First, a few people release ninjutsu to attract hundreds of enemies, and then turn around and run. If the enemy does not come to chase, there is no need to rush. Find a place with dangerous terrain and then release large-scale combination ninjutsu to disgust you. Kill as many as you can. If the enemy comes to chase, there is no need to fight. Lead them into the traps and ambushes set up in advance to fight. After a harassment, although the whole army is annihilated, the Cloud Ninjas will at least be killed and wounded! Especially Uchiha Qide, relying on his subordinates who are all ninjas with Sharingan opened, he killed at least more than a hundred Cloud Ninjas, and then Tuzui personally led people to surround and beat them up before he died in hatred.

Tudui now clearly understood what a great country's foundation and a strong village's will meant. The Konoha ninjas had no orders or missions, but they rushed forward one after another as if they were risking their lives, and they all played dirty tricks, making it difficult for the ninjas to deal with them. With such a small number of people, let alone destroying Konoha, it would be a blessing to be able to live to see the Konoha Village!