"I wish you victory!"
With the heavy hopes entrusted by the villagers, the three battlefront teams left Konoha.
The Uchiha deploying this time included over seventy Jonin and nearly six hundred Chunin. The total number did not even reach seven hundred. Yet, their morale was the greatest of the three teams.
At this time, Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and Kirigakure had already entered the forests of the Land of Fire. Therefore, they would encounter each other in the forest, which was unfavorable for overall operations.
So, the team was divided into three large units led by Shisui, Fugaku, and Itachi. Each large unit had over twenty Jonin and nearly two hundred Chunin. Underneath that, they were further divided into over twenty medium units, led by Jonin. Each medium unit was divided into three small squads, led by experienced Chunin.
The small squads were mainly responsible for reconnaissance.
The medium units were mainly responsible for reinforcements at any time.
The large units were mainly responsible for annihilating the enemy.
And Hiromi was mainly responsible for—doing whatever he wanted!
Although Hiromi intended to act as the spearhead and charge in recklessly, he couldn't get too far away from his clansmen. Because they needed to accommodate the speed of the Chunin, their advance was very slow.
After entering the forest and moving for a day, it became pitch black.
The Uchiha clan of over six hundred people rested on the spot to avoid exhaustion when encountering Kumogakure.
Everyone ate military rations in the darkness without making a sound, as if they were hunters hiding in the dark, with only their blood-red eyes flickering faintly.
At this moment, several Kumogakure scouts approached, but they committed suicide after being caught.
"It seems they aren't far, probably half a day's journey away." Fugaku said.
"Search the surroundings, don't let them commit suicide." Shisui said.
Soon, they caught a few more. This time they were careful, and the scouts didn't succeed in committing suicide. It was just that a subtle trace was found in the vicinity, but no one was in sight.
"The news should have been reported back by the Kumogakure scouts, we have been exposed." Fugaku made the worst-case assumption.
Shisui nodded, looked at his clansmen, and said, "Set up an ambush while ensuring your own safety."
"Yes."
The Uchiha clansmen immediately entered combat alert mode, dispersing in a triangular formation using the large, medium, and small unit structure.
Currently, Hiromi had customized a few rough plans.
One: If Kumogakure used overwhelming numbers, he would explode with full power to wipe out the Kumogakure army, while Shisui, Fugaku, and Itachi would briefly suppress high-level combatants like A.
Two: If Kumogakure decentralized and only intended to attack Konoha without engaging them, the Uchiha clan would swap bases with them.
Three: If Kumogakure targeted Hiromi, the Kumogakure army would be leaderless, and Shisui, Fugaku, and Itachi would take the opportunity to lead the large units to annihilate them.
Now, Shisui, Fugaku, and Itachi had to leave to lead their units.
Before leaving, Fugaku urged Hiromi, "Remember, do not be impulsive."
Hiromi's expression was calm. "Don't worry about me, proceed according to the original plan."
Shisui, Fugaku, Itachi: "..."
They knew that Hiromi had previously been very resentful of his clansmen ignoring missions because they were worried about him. This current "proceed according to the original plan" was redundant, but it was actually a threat. It showed that Hiromi was getting a bit irritable towards the Uchiha clan.
But even if half of the Uchiha clan died, Hiromi could not die. He was too important to the Uchiha clan, both in combat power and ideology.
Even if only Koharu and Homura remained, without Hiromi, they wouldn't have 100% confidence in dealing with them.
And there was also Shikaku, whose intelligence was monstrous.
The three looked at each other, not daring to agree.
Shisui closed his eyes. Ten seconds later, he sighed, his opened eyes filled only with determination. "I will keep them in check."
Fugaku and Itachi were astonished. But upon recalling the night of the clan extermination, the first person to stand behind Hiromi was Shisui, so it felt reasonable.
In conflict, this father and son also chose to agree, not allowing their clansmen to act arbitrarily again.
Immediately, everyone began to move.
Soon, Hiromi was left alone.
In the dark forest, there wasn't even the sound of insects chirping, it was extremely quiet.
Hiromi ignored it, leaning against a tree trunk, closing his eyes to rest.
...
The night deepened.
In the forest, the sound of metal clashing occasionally rang out, very brief. It was Kumogakure scouts being discovered by Uchiha clansmen. But each time, they were quickly dealt with.
The entire forest was plunged into a tense atmosphere, so much so that not only around Hiromi, but insects elsewhere dared not chirp. The forest was eerily quiet.
For the next few hours, no sounds of clashing metal rang out.
The sky turned gray, dawn was approaching.
Hiromi opened his eyes, revealing a pair of Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. He glanced ahead, then took a step and moved forward rapidly. He quickly passed through the area occupied by Uchiha Clan Members and entered the desolate forest region.
Hiromi had advanced ten kilometers without encountering a single person from Kumogakure. This was highly unusual.
Kumogakure clearly had the advantage. They should have been attacking, crushing the Uchiha, and invading Konoha. Yet now, they were not attacking, but rather waiting as if for the Uchiha to come to them, showing no urgency at all.
In this situation, either Kumogakure knew the Uchiha's mission was to quickly defeat them, or they wanted to...
***
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