"I didn't expect to be sent to defend the border of the Land of Earth. It seems I'm destined to be entangled with Ōnoki in this life!" Thinking about how he had attacked Iwagakure alone years ago, and how he was now transferred here to defend against Iwagakure's assaults, Isamu shook his head helplessly.
While Isamu was lamenting, Senba walked in at that moment.
"Father, it seems that ever since we arrived, the Land of Earth's attacks have become exceptionally fierce. What's going on?"
"Hehe, it's already good enough that they haven't launched a full-scale offensive yet!" Isamu replied with a bitter smile.
"A full-scale offensive? Father, what do you mean?" Senba asked with a puzzled expression.
"You probably don't know this, but when I was young and had just obtained the Uchiha's power, I attacked Iwagakure in the Land of Earth by myself and killed quite a few Iwa Ninja. Now that they know I'm here, it's only natural they hate me to death!" Isamu explained calmly.
"Oh, so that's what happened. To dare attack Iwagakure alone and still retreat unharmed… you were really incredible back then! But why isn't this recorded anywhere in Konoha?" Senba asked curiously. He was familiar with many classified matters in Konoha, yet he had never heard of this.
"This is a top-secret matter among top-secret matters. Aside from a few old-timers in the upper ranks, no one else knows about it. Besides, making something like this public would only deepen the hostility between Villages, so it's normal for it to stay hidden."
Except for the older generation, the current generation of Konoha knew nothing about Isamu's assault on Iwagakure.
At the same time, Isamu secretly felt a trace of regret.
Damn it! I should've extracted those memories from back then. Otherwise, things wouldn't be this troublesome now. I was really careless!
"Isn't attacking an enemy nation supposed to be a good thing? Why would the Village deliberately hide it? I really don't understand!" Senba frowned, looking dissatisfied.
"That's because back then—"
"This is bad! This is bad! Lord Isamu, an Iwagakure force is approaching from the front!" Before Isamu could finish speaking, a Chunin wearing a green flak jacket rushed in frantically.
"What, again? What's wrong with those Land of Earth people? They launch an attack every ten days without fail. Do they think we're easy targets?" Senba immediately became furious after hearing the report.
Isamu also felt rather helpless. He had only been stationed at the border for a little over a month, yet Iwagakure's forces had already attacked no fewer than three times. Every single attack came exactly ten days apart, as if they were following a strict schedule.
"Pass down the order. Everyone prepare for battle. We've repelled them so many times already; we can repel them again this time!" After giving the order to the Chunin, Isamu and Senba immediately led the Ninjas from the camp toward the front lines.
The battlefield was only twenty kilometers away from the camp, and it took them just a few minutes to arrive.
"Lord Isamu!" Seeing the supreme commander of the border forces arrive, a Jonin quickly stepped forward to greet him.
"Hmm, what's the situation? I heard an enemy force is approaching. How many are there exactly?" Isamu nodded and asked.
"According to the intel, the Land of Earth has dispatched nearly seven hundred Ninjas this time. There are about thirty Jonin, over two hundred Chunin, and several hundred Genin. This is the strongest enemy force we've seen in recent months!" the Jonin reported, his face full of concern.
"Oh? Seven hundred people and more than thirty Jonin? I didn't realize Ōnoki thought so highly of me. He's really giving me face!" Even Isamu was slightly surprised.
Out of all four borders, only this one was experiencing such intense fighting. Even though the chaos in the Ninja World had originally been stirred up by the Hidden Sand Village, and the other Great Villages were mostly probing cautiously, only Ōnoki's Iwagakure had been attacking with relentless aggression.
He didn't know whether this was revenge for his assault on their Village years ago or something else.
His force originally numbered seven hundred Ninjas, but after just one month, only five hundred remained. Losing over two hundred men in such a short time showed just how brutal the fighting had become.
"Lord Isamu, this enemy force is composed of elites, and the gap between our numbers is too great. Should we retreat and request reinforcements from the Village?" the Jonin suggested cautiously.
Hearing this, Isamu glanced over his own troops.
They only had ten Jonin, and all of them were ordinary Jonin. There were just over one hundred Chunin, while the rest were Genin. The difference in strength between the two sides was indeed enormous.
However, Isamu had no intention of asking for reinforcements so easily.
None of the other border units had requested support yet. If he became the first one to ask for help, wouldn't that practically be admitting he was incompetent?
That was something he absolutely could not accept—at least not against a force of this size.
"Forget about reinforcements. We haven't reached the point where we can't handle this yet. Don't forget, we have two Kage-level powerhouses on our side. This seven-hundred-man Iwagakure force is basically here to deliver battle merits to us!" Isamu said with a sly grin.
That's right. After countless fierce battles, Senba had finally advanced from Quasi-Kage level to true Kage level. With Kage-level strength, dealing with ordinary Jonin had become much easier.
The battlefield truly was the best place for tempering oneself.
With Kage-level Senba, plus Isamu, who could temporarily reach Kage level by fusing with White Zetsu, dealing with thirty Jonin wasn't difficult at all.
As for the hundreds of Chunin and Genin, Isamu simply didn't care about them.
"Two Kage-level powerhouses… Ah, right! I almost forgot Lord Senba already possesses Kage-level strength. But who's the second Kage-level powerhouse?" The Jonin immediately relaxed after remembering Senba's strength, but he still looked confused about the other person.
"Who else could it be? Isn't he standing right in front of you?" Isamu shrugged.
"In front of me?" The Jonin looked around in confusion before immediately turning to the Ninja standing beside Isamu.
"Tanaka, did you break through to Kage level?"
The reason he didn't even consider Isamu was simple: everyone in the unit knew that Isamu's strength had supposedly stagnated at Elite Jonin level forever. No one believed he could reach Kage level.
"N-No, no, no! I only have Elite Chunin strength! How could I possibly be Kage-level?" The Ninja named Tanaka waved his hands frantically in denial.
"Not you? Then who could it be?" The Jonin rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Aside from Tanaka, who was relatively young, nobody else seemed likely.
Thump!
"Shinoda, you bastard, are you doing this on purpose? The Kage-level powerhouse I'm talking about is me!" Seeing that Shinoda still hadn't realized it, Isamu immediately flicked him hard on the forehead.
This guy was seriously infuriating.
If it weren't for the limitations of this body, he would've surpassed ordinary Kage level long ago. How could he possibly be looked down upon like this?
"Ow!" Shinoda rubbed his forehead in pain before staring at Isamu in disbelief. "Lord Isamu, you're saying you're the Kage-level powerhouse? Stop joking around. Everyone knows your strength. You're the type of Ninja who can never break through Elite Jonin level. This really isn't the time for jokes during a border war!"
"You really have a talent for saying infuriating things." Isamu's mouth twitched. "But think about it carefully. If I didn't possess Kage-level strength, why would the Third Hokage send me here to command all of you?"