"Lord Shukuma, what should we do after arriving in the Land of Whirlpools?" a Senju clansman asked. "The situation in the Land of Whirlpools must be terrible right now."
Facing one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, no one believed the Land of Whirlpools could win.
Senju Shukuma pondered for a moment before saying, "If the Uzumaki clan falls into disaster, our primary task is to protect the Uzumaki clansmen and follow their orders."
On the battlefield, the worst thing is hearing two conflicting voices. So, it was better to remind them now to avoid disputes later from disobeying orders.
"But the Uzumaki clan..." They were all reckless fools! Once a war started, they would just charge forward mindlessly, shouting about glory and the Uzumaki clan. They had no tactics at all. Were the Senju supposed to charge forward mindlessly too?
But before the words could be spoken, Senju Shukuma glared, and the clansman swallowed them back, awkwardly waving his hand.
Senju Shukuma looked at the approaching Land of Whirlpools with confusion. At first, there should have been loud noises and tremors, so why was it so quiet now? Had they arrived too late? Had the Kirigakure forces shamelessly deployed a Tailed Beast to attack head-on?
Sigh... He hoped some Uzumaki clansmen were still alive. As long as some survived, there was hope. If none...
"An ancient clan with such a long history," Senju Shukuma lamented gloomily. He wondered where the future of the Senju clan lay. They were starting to feel disillusioned with Konoha. Lord Tobirama had not been gone for long, and already people in power were scheming against the Senju.
What had the clan leader decided? Was this really the path they would take?
...
"I'm so desperate!!"
This was Hozuki Gengetsu's current state of mind. He had come to invade the Land of Whirlpools in high spirits, only to fall into trap after trap. Now, the cannon fodder had been wiped out, and the reinforcement fleet had been destroyed—except for one ship...
Damn it, the Yuki clan was probably already badmouthing him behind his back!
The ambitions of the Yuki clan were well-known in Kirigakure.
This was exhausting. Not only did he have to fight on the front lines, but he also had to guard against backstabbing from his own people.
And...
Had the Uzumaki clan evolved or something? Since when did they become so smart? They set up ambushes, launched sneak attacks, and even spammed Shadow Clones! Since when did the Uzumaki fight like this? Who used Shadow Clones like this in war? They were just for confusing the enemy, what else were they good for?
One hit and they'd pop!
This battle was frustrating. Who fought like this, throwing money around the whole time?
Now, as night approached...
Because of today's failures, the Kirigakure forces had not gained a single advantage. They had been beaten so badly they almost wanted to call for their mothers. Though the heavy casualties were mostly due to explosive tags, not a single one was actually taken out by a Shadow Clone!
Damn it, they were all Shadow Clones! Thinking about it made him furious. Their side had suffered heavy losses, and the enemy had too...
So the Land of Whirlpools was really rich, huh?
After this battle, the people of the Land of Whirlpools would probably have to eat grass. Not that it mattered much to the Uzumaki—their strong vitality meant they wouldn't die from a little grass. It might even supplement their vitamins and help their health.
But Kirigakure couldn't do that! After spending so much, returning empty-handed would be humiliating. Not only would it shame him, but it would also shame the village. The other villages would mock them.
"What should we do now?" Hozuki Gengetsu asked the Kirigakure shinobi below.
The shinobi exchanged glances. They didn't know either. Their combat strength wasn't inferior, it was even stronger. But...
The Uzumaki shinobi were just too rich. They hadn't lost in battle, they had lost to the power of money!
Maybe the Mizukage could give them some funding too? Buy hundreds of millions of explosive tags for them to play with?
But that was impossible. Their Mizukage wasn't that generous.
The Mizukage's advisor sighed. "We lost because of arrogance. We lost because of poor intelligence! We were too careless!"
And because they lost to money!!
The Land of Whirlpools was rich. With their one-village-one-nation policy, the entire country and shinobi village were their own people, so funding was easy to get. But the Land of Water... The daimyo was too stingy. Getting funds required layers of approval, and in the end...
No money!
How infuriating! No funding for a major war, and now that the fleet was annihilated, the daimyo was probably already planning to replace the Mizukage. Why would he give them money? He'd probably send more men instead.
At this, the Mizukage wanted to dig up Horiguchi Take's corpse and whip it again. It was all the vanguard's incompetence!
They had so much time, yet they didn't notice all those explosive tags? Were they blind? Because of them, Kirigakure had suffered heavy losses. If there were ten blames to assign, Horiguchi Take would take seven.
No, he'd take all ten! It was because of the vanguard's lack of intel that Kirigakure was in this mess. If they had discovered the explosive tags earlier, things wouldn't be so bad.
Now morale was low. The team was hard to lead.
So many had died, yet they had gained nothing. Of course morale was low. And it was all Horiguchi Take's fault!!!
Meanwhile, Horiguchi Take almost rose from the dead to write the word "unjust" on the Mizukage's leg. How was this their fault? The Uzumaki hadn't given them a chance!
The moment they appeared, the Uzumaki charged out screaming, blocking them at all costs. It looked like an all-out battle, but it was just to stop them from finding the explosive tags. How were they supposed to investigate? They couldn't get close!
He had even warned the Mizukage that the Uzumaki seemed suspicious and suggested waiting a few days. But the Mizukage had said the Uzumaki were just reckless fools and that they had to act fast, otherwise, the Land of Whirlpools would be divided among others.
What could he do? He was desperate too! No matter what he tried, he couldn't get past. How was he supposed to scout for traps?
Of course, Hozuki Gengetsu wouldn't actually whip a corpse. No matter what, Horiguchi Take was his subordinate and had sacrificed for the village. As a high-ranking official, he still had some dignity.
He still had to save face!
"What should we do next?" Hozuki Gengetsu asked seriously. This time, they couldn't afford to underestimate the enemy.
The Kirigakure shinobi thought about it but still had no ideas. The lack of intel was the problem—they had no idea what the Uzumaki were planning.
The Mizukage's advisor suggested, "Send out sensor-nin next. If they encounter Uzumaki, don't engage, signal immediately."
If they got ambushed again, it would be trouble.
"Then tonight, we'll rest..."