Revitalizing the Uchiha clan starts with becoming a Kage.

Unfortunately, as always, Danzo often thought he understood his close friend, the Hokage, but in reality, he never truly understood him.

The decision made.

This action was launched immediately.

The tacit understanding needed between them was evident as Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu devoted themselves to preparing various logistical supplies and further recruiting villagers. Meanwhile, Sarutobi Hiruzen personally visited the Hyuga clan's gates, just as he had said at the Konoha F4's exclusive high-level meeting, making a second request regarding Sarutobi Hiruzen's arrival.

After a period of struggle and entanglement, the elders of the Hyuga clan finally agreed to Hiruzen Sarutobi's request. They could not choose to hand over their clan leader, and handing over the clan leader would also mean handing over the Byakugan bloodstains, so why not just give him a pair of Byakugan?

The Hyuga clan has a history of over a thousand years. Over the years, some members of the clan still retain the Byakugan of those who died. Although some things cannot be exposed to the outside world, it is something that is common to all major ninja clans: they all independently research their own bloodline limits in an attempt to obtain stronger power.

Especially the Hyuga clan, as a family known as the three great dojutsu, not to mention the legendary Rinnegan, the Sharingan can be continuously upgraded, so why can't their Byakugan? For the past thousand years, the main family of the Hyuga clan has never given up on related research.

And if you want to study these things, rolling your eyes is indispensable.

Taking out one of those accumulated disapproving looks wouldn't be a big problem. Even if doing so would cause their clan's bloodline limit to leak out again, a disgrace to the clan, the Hyuga clan had no choice unless they had the courage to leave Konoha like the Uchiha clan. Unfortunately, the Hyuga were not the Uchiha.

Logically speaking, as long as the Sharingan doesn't reach the Mangekyou level, the Byakugan and Sharingan should be considered to be at the same level of dojutsu. However, based on the verifiable history of the ninja world, the Uchiha clan has always suppressed the Hyuga clan. Even without those Uchiha clan members with the Mangekyou Sharingan, the Uchiha clan is still stronger than the Hyuga clan. This isn't because of their eyes; it's purely a difference in their character!

Especially after joining Konohagakure.

The Uchiha clan still maintains its pride, but the Hyuga clan has been further 'tamed'! The Hyuga clan is now truly one of the most loyal ninja clans in Konoha. Unless Konoha actually orders the entire clan to die or completely hand over the Byakugan bloodline limit, they can be said to be completely obedient to the Konoha leadership.

With these old-fashioned clan elders agreeing to the Third Hokage's request, the opinion of Hyuga Hiashi, the clan head, became insignificant. Not to mention that at this time, Hyuga Hiashi had not yet emerged from the shadow of the death of his only younger brother, and his Byakugan remained unchanged.

This clan leader wouldn't really care.

This agreement was reached immediately.

The Byakugan, along with the Third Hokage's order for the Konoha ninja in the Yuzuki area to retreat, were delivered to the Land of Hot Springs in the shortest possible time!

Hiruzen Sarutobi went to great lengths to appease the Cloud Ninja, while the Cloud Ninja received news of the collective retreat of the Konoha ninjas from the Yuzumi Mountain base, as well as a pair of Byakugan eyes that were specially delivered, claiming to be left behind by Hiashi Hyuga after his suicide.

I must say this.

The Fourth Raikage was stunned for a moment.

He really hadn't expected that Konoha would meet their demands in such a way.

I easily obtained the Byakugan bloodline limit and successfully occupied the Yuzumi Mountain base. Although there are still issues with the defense line around Fengzui Mountain and the distance to fully occupying the Land of Hot Springs, those are minor details. Konoha has said that they will definitely hand over the Fengzui Mountain base before the end of June. The most important thing is to obtain the Byakugan bloodline limit that I have been dreaming of.

It truly fulfilled the ambitions of the Hidden Cloud Village before the war.

It can be said that when the Fourth Raikage saw those crystal-clear Byakugan in the nutrient solution bottle placed in front of him, he still had a very unreal feeling. Konoha had so easily sent out the Byakugan bloodline limit.

In the Land of Hot Springs, at the Cloud Village's stronghold, the Fourth Raikage, A, gently stroked the bottle of nourishing liquid in front of him, as if trying to widen his eyes to carefully examine the Byakugan within. His face showed both excitement and a hint of confusion. Just as the Third Hokage and Shikaku had predicted, whether Konoha handed over Hyuga Hiashi or not was secondary.

The core objective of the Hidden Cloud Village is those Byakugan bloodline limits!

This is the supreme eye technique in the ninja world, said to be on par with the Sharingan. Especially in war, the Byakugan can play a role in large-scale army battles that is in no way inferior, and may even be better than the Sharingan!

The Hidden Cloud Village, which originally had the greatest enthusiasm for collecting various bloodline limits, would naturally not let go of this bloodline limit. However, the Fourth Raikage really did not expect that the Hidden Leaf Village would actually give away the Byakugan bloodline limit.

This immediately made the Fourth Raikage, A, suspect that Konoha might be plotting something.

The only thing that can be truly confirmed is that the pair of eyes in front of them are genuine Byakugan. As long as the Hidden Cloud Village can find a suitable candidate to transplant the eyes, the Hidden Cloud Village will immediately gain the Byakugan's ability to see through everything!

"Tutai!"

"Yes, Lord Raikage!"

"What exactly is Konoha's intention? They just gave away those Byakugan like that, isn't there some kind of conspiracy involved?"

The Fourth Raikage, A, wore an expression that was half joy and half surprise. He gently placed the Byakugan back on the table and looked at the earthen platform in front of him, asking softly.

"I don't believe there's any conspiracy involved, Lord Raikage."

Tu Tai gently shook his head and said.

"Oh?"

The Fourth Raikage, A, raised an eyebrow. On either side of him, Mabui and Samui, the two still rather green Raikage's personal secretaries, as well as Darui, the most talented young man, also widened their eyes slightly, looking at their most outstanding advisor with a hint of curiosity.

"As you saw in the previous intelligence, Konoha has lost its defenses around Wuyuan Mountain due to being caught off guard. Although it's not fatal and doesn't pose a real threat to Konoha, and the casualties aren't heavy, this is the first time since Konoha was founded that a large army of several thousand from a major country has invaded the Land of Fire. In the past, it was only small-scale invasions by elite troops. The significance is completely different. Therefore, we can conclude that Konoha will definitely face great pressure. With the first batch of more than 5,000 reinforcements dispatched to the western front, and another batch of forces being mobilized later, it's clear that Konoha is determined to retake the Wuyuan Mountain stronghold!"

"Although Konoha's resources are such that they could potentially unleash nearly ten thousand more troops if things went to extremes, they certainly wouldn't want another war on the eastern front. Stabilizing us is the best option, and meeting our conditions is their duty. Of course, both Konoha and we understand that the Hyuga Hiashi condition is impossible. They can also see that our core intention is the Byakugan bloodline limit. The Hyuga clan is a long-established ninja clan, and it's almost certain that some of their deceased members still possess the Byakugan. Giving us a pair, even if it's a huge price to pay, is still within Konoha's means!"

"Therefore, there is no conspiracy involved, unless Konoha's target is us, not Iwagakure. But the probability of that is too low. First, they would need to mobilize more troops, and second, they would need to reach a peace agreement with Iwagakure. But the cost of that is too high. I think the possibility is less than one percent!"

Tu Tai spoke in a very calm tone, enunciating each word clearly.

The most common and often most effective tactic in military strategy is to first lull the enemy into a false sense of security and then launch a surprise attack at a crucial moment. However, in the case of Konoha Village today, such a possibility is not very high. Even if the exact number of Konoha ninjas dispatched to the western front cannot be determined, there is still a rough estimate. Moreover, the loss of the Wuyuan Mountain stronghold is a real result.

On this basis.

The probability of Konoha taking action against Kumogakure is really low.

Out of caution, Tsuchikage considered all possibilities before reporting them one by one to his Raikage.

Ultimately, at this level of conflict among the three great ninja villages, some things are already out in the open. Sometimes it's not that they can't guess what you're going to do, but even if they do guess, they still have many concerns and find it difficult to make a completely firm decision. The so-called alliance between Iwagakure and Kumogakure is an example of this.

Not to mention anything else.

"Is that right?"

The Fourth Raikage looked thoughtful, then slowly nodded and said.

"So what's next?"

"I think the more this is the case, the more we need to remain calm. Raikage, we've already obtained all the benefits we could. To put it bluntly, our initial goal was simply to acquire the entire Land of Hot Springs. Now that the Hot Springs Mountain base is in our hands, and the remaining area around Mount Fengzui can be obtained from Konoha by early July at the latest, we've also gained the Byakugan as the biggest surprise. There's really no need for us to continue to pressure Konoha. We can just sit back and watch the battle between Konoha and Iwagakure!"

"As for the alliance, we have already 'advanced' and occupied the Yuzumi Mountain stronghold, forcing the Konoha garrison to retreat to the Fengzui Mountain stronghold. This is more than enough to handle the situation. There is no need to confront Konoha head-on again. Don't forget, Raikage, Iwagakure has not relaxed its defenses in the area bordering us. Our scouts have discovered information that the Four-Tails Jinchuriki has appeared at Iwagakure's stronghold on the eastern border of the Land of Earth! We must be wary of this!"

"Moreover, as I just mentioned, if Konoha is really provoked, they can still muster nearly ten thousand troops. Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin, has already appeared. Is the other Legendary Sannin, Tsunade, the granddaughter of the First Hokage, already preparing for battle? We must be wary of all of this. Moreover, Kirigakure has remained silent until now, so we also need to be vigilant!"

Seeing the restless glint in his Raikage's eyes, a desire that seemed to be expanding to an even greater extreme, Tsuchikage immediately advised him seriously, "If you're willing to go all in before you've secured the benefits, that's fine, but we've already taken most of the benefits we can get. Our village will need some time to digest them."

Even though the Land of Fire's territory and other resources are incredibly abundant and tempting, Tsuchikage believes that his own village must exercise restraint. The sheer war potential of Konoha alone is enough to make his village think twice.

To choose to hold out for the sake of those remaining benefits that may not even be obtained is, frankly, very unwise in Tutai's view.

Moreover, they also had to consider the movements of Iwagakure and Kirigakure. Tsuchikage truly believed that the best course of action for his own village was to observe the situation and wait and see. There was no need to risk their own lives. Wouldn't it be better to just watch Iwagakure and Konoha fight to the death?

If the two great ninja villages weaken each other in this clash, Kumogakure can easily overpower them and seize dominance in the ninja world. Therefore, Tsuchikage must use the most serious tone to stop his Raikage from having any unnecessary ambitions.

Even if we really want to do something, we have to see how things develop next.

It is absolutely unacceptable to do anything unnecessary at this time.

Upon hearing the admonition from his 'supreme strategist,' the Fourth Raikage raised an eyebrow, as if about to erupt in anger, instantly making Mabui, Darui, and the others in the nearby seats tense up.

But it only lasted for a second.

That was another emotion that I actively calmed down.

In fact, the Fourth Raikage was not unaware of the meaning behind Tsuchikage's words. Ultimately, the conflicts between nations all boil down to the word 'interests'. With Sunagakure and Kirigakure gradually falling behind, in the current ninja world struggle, Kumogakure's enemy, besides Konoha, is Iwagakure!

If we can reliably weaken both major ninja villages at the same time.

The Hidden Cloud Village could easily seize control of the ninja world, so there was indeed no need to do anything unnecessary. However, the Fourth Raikage A's warlike and restless emotions, deep in his bones as a Raikage, made it somewhat difficult for him to restrain himself.

But in the end, reason prevailed over emotion.

The Fourth Raikage, A, took a deep breath, nodded emphatically, and said, "Immediately send personnel to negotiate further with Konoha, stating that I, the Raikage, agree to Konoha's conditions. Then, immediately dispatch troops to the Yuzumi-zan base, and further advance the battle line to the front of Fengzui-zan, but be sure to maintain a relatively safe distance. After that, send someone to communicate with Iwagakure, stating that we have already 'defeated' Konoha's garrison in the Land of Hot Springs and are now pressing close to the border of the Land of Fire, looking forward to joining forces with the Iwagakure army to jointly attack Konoha!"

"Yes, Lord Raikage!"

Upon hearing that his Raikage had ultimately restrained his personal impulses...

The stern face that had been on the earthen platform now revealed a faint smile, and he bowed slightly in response.

The clashes between ninja villages are so thrilling and exciting. Konoha's retreat once again resulted in Kumogakure remaining inactive. Although it seems that Konoha suffered the greatest losses, in this situation, the most distressed party was actually the Iwagakure frontline troops located in the Land of Fire.

Some of the generals were already regretting 'encouraging' their squad leader to lead the troops in a direct raid on the Wuyuan Mountain stronghold.

"Pfft!"

"boom!"

In yet another frontline clash.

Even as he led his men to wipe out an invading Konoha squad, his face was filled with exhaustion.

Although the consumption of chakra and physical strength was not particularly severe.

Moreover, there is a minimum amount of rest time every day.

This is due to the excessively high frequency of raids and battles.

This kept Jiang Si in a state of constant tension, and the mental strain was not so easy to recover from.

The general, who had thought he was completely used to war and had a wealth of war experience, realized this time how arrogant he had been!

When he stayed in Konoha, the war with the Cloud Village was only a localized conflict. Last year's war with the Sand Village was more of a decisive and satisfying defeat. The reason it was so easy was that Rasa was also too complacent, and the Sand Village's strength was indeed rather weak.

But this time, when facing Konoha, which was still barely able to maintain its status as the number one ninja village in the ninja world, Shoji truly experienced the cruelty and hardship of war.

The endless attacks, counter-attacks, and various flanking maneuvers put immense pressure on the generals who were always on the front lines.

This is all based on the fact that the Yellow Earth was already being supplemented by Red Earth, which had been dispatched back from elsewhere to share the burden.

Otherwise, it would be just Shoji alone facing such intense pressure from Konoha.

It's easy to break down on a mental level.

358. Lessons learned from the first time not being a failure

At least, Shoji truly experienced what it means to be physically and mentally exhausted.

In the past ten days or so, he hasn't had a single day to truly rest. Every day has been filled with battles of varying intensity. More than two hundred Konoha ninjas have died under his blade. That's right, the number of Konoha ninjas he killed is the same as the number he killed after being ambushed by Root. But in that battle, Shoji could do it with ease and didn't even feel the slightest bit of fatigue.

However, in this confrontation, Shoji was exhausted. The reason was simple: this was not a one-off confrontation. Most importantly, it was different from the battle ordered by that idiot Danzo, where everyone rushed in at once. In Shikaku's battle plan, the Konoha ninjas could adopt the best kiting tactics for every clash!

Unless Shoji is willing to expend the power of his Mangekyou Sharingan to directly use Susanoo to sweep everything away, in normal mode, Shoji is ultimately just an ordinary Kage-level fighter. Jonin can still pose a certain threat to Shoji. With a well-coordinated team, if Shoji relaxes even a little, it is not impossible for them to injure him.

Remember, this isn't some online game from your past life. With a significant level and equipment advantage, your opponent can't do any damage. Ninjas are still human, and they all have high attack and low defense. Even without activating Susanoo, Shoji is still in this category.

To talk about an absolute, damage-free victory is a joke.

Even with correct tactics and a large enough number of people, if they become mentally exhausted to a certain extent, it is possible for Si to be injured or even killed. This is a matter of probability. Theoretically, even a genin has a chance of killing a kage-level ninja, even if that probability is one in ten thousand or one in a million. But things with probability are still things with probability.

No ninja can claim that a single kunai cannot kill them.

As long as you are a creature that falls within the category of 'human beings'.

"Lord Shoji, all the Konoha ninja have been confirmed dead, but a distress signal has been sent from the 12 o'clock position!"