"Three days from now, a unit from Ame will launch an attack from this direction. The first battle on our side, no, to be exact, the first opportunity to earn merit, will be handed over to you."
"I guarantee the mission will be completed!" Fukuyama quickly promised, though he couldn't contain the excitement in his heart.
If the Uchiha clan could earn major merits on the battlefield, he was eager to see how Hiruzen would continue to target them after that.
On the left flank, Danzō also tried to assert dominance the moment he met Tsunade's group.
But Tsunade immediately fired back, dismissing his show of authority. Her exact words were: "The war's about to start, are you going to keep throwing tantrums, or start assigning missions? If the Suna ninjas attack while you're busy yelling, can you take responsibility for that? I seriously doubt whether you, as the commander-in-chief, even know how to fight a war. Do you really deserve this position? If you don't start assigning missions, we're leaving."
That shut Danzō up completely. Since Tsunade was using military logic to challenge him, he didn't know how to argue back.
What's more, her prestige had grown significantly by now. Punishing her outright would never win over the troops.
So he could only begrudgingly hand out the assignments.
As expected, all the most dangerous positions were assigned to Tsunade and Sakumo.
But the Uchiha clan's dovish members didn't fare much better either, they were sent under Tsunade's command as well, leaving them completely dumbfounded.
Hadn't the Hokage said they were here to earn merit so they could suppress the hawkish faction afterward?
And hadn't he said that Danzō would back them up?
So why were they being sent straight to the most dangerous fronts?
If Danzō could hear their thoughts, he would say: "What the hell do Hiruzen's orders have to do with me? I'm already planning how to deal with Homura and take his place. Why would I help him win people over? Those Uchiha want to side with Hiruzen? Then they can all go die! Tsunade and Sakumo can die too! Once they're gone, with Hiruzen's reputation already in decline, it won't be long before the Hokage seat is mine."
But what he didn't know was that an hour earlier, Minato had already split from the group. Without entering the camp, he had gone off alone to gather intelligence.
This time, Minato brought no one with him. His past experience of dragging six burdens into battle had left him mentally scarred. He had come to a clear realization: as someone who had mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique, solo combat was his greatest strength.
Every extra companion only added extra risk.
Wherever he went, he hid a kunai engraved with the Flying Thunder God mark in a concealed spot and buried a sensory amplifier.
Even without using the Flying Thunder God Technique, his speed was incredible. In no time, he had scouted many areas, gathered comprehensive frontline intelligence, and mapped out detailed terrain and Suna ninja deployments.
This feeling of having everything under control made him feel that war wasn't all that difficult after all.
His brother was right, intelligence is king!
As long as you have solid intel, and the power gap isn't overwhelming, there's no war you can't win.
And he was right about something else too, science and technology are the number one productive force.
For a sensory-type ninja like him, the sensory amplifier was practically a cheat code.
In the words of Shin, Konoha's technology was a generation ahead of the other hidden villages.
Winning the war wouldn't be surprising, losing it would be.
After Tsunade and the others left the camp, Minato boldly joined up with them and handed over the detailed terrain map to Tsunade.
One had to admit, Danzō was truly devious, he had assigned surveillance officers to every important individual, and Tsunade was no exception.
However, since Root had already been purged once by Shin and Minato, there weren't many elites left. The surveillance officer assigned to their group was just a Special jonin. But at that moment, those so-called monitors were rolling on the ground like idiots, laughing uncontrollably, completely incapacitated.
After all, in front of elite Uchiha ninjas, this kind of weakling was just free target practice. One genjutsu and he couldn't even tell which way was up.
That was why Tsunade had openly used a kunai marked with the Flying Thunder God Technique to summon Minato and chosen to link up directly.
The Uchiha clan's dovish faction might be gentle, but they weren't stupid. They knew perfectly well what the state of the village was when they left.
If war hadn't suddenly broken out, Tsunade would already be Hokage by now.
Before, they followed Hiruzen's orders only to hedge their bets and play both sides. After all, you never know how things might turn out.
But now, with Tsunade right in front of them, they followed her every word, completely discarding any thought of obeying Hiruzen's orders.
Fukuyama had warned them early on not to get too close to Hiruzen. That man was ambitious and cunning, allying with him was no different from bargaining with a tiger. It would only bring disaster to the Uchiha clan.
He had sincerely invited them to support Tsunade alongside him, saying that she was Konoha's true future.
But back then, the political situation was unclear. The leaders of the dove faction misjudged the circumstances and chose to align themselves with Hiruzen, walking a dark path with no return.
Now that Konoha's situation had completely changed, they were filled with regret.
At this point, all they wanted was to get on Tsunade's good side and perform as best they could, just to avoid being purged by Shin.
Although Shin had never said he'd retaliate against the dove faction, Fukuyama knew him well, he was the type who would repay even the smallest grievance, and a little twisted on top of that.
If he wanted revenge, killing you would be the merciful option. You'd suffer a fate worse than death, tormented until the very end.
Still, the dove faction was part of the Uchiha clan, and he didn't want them to walk into destruction and weaken the clan further for no reason.
So before setting out, he had a long conversation with the dove elders, finally helping them understand what needed to be done next.
He even assigned Fugaku to the dove faction's squad, hoping that Shin would show some mercy in recognition of his tireless efforts, unwavering cooperation, and continued support for Tsunade.
If his son could build a good relationship with Minato, and the dove members could impress Tsunade enough to earn her appreciation, maybe Minato and Tsunade could together convince Shin to spare the dove faction.
You could truly say that Fukuyama was exhausting every option for the good of his clan.
After learning the team's mission, Minato immediately launched into a strategic brainstorming session. He quickly grasped Danzō's real intentions and discussed countermeasures with the others, crafting an effective response strategy.
Seeing the calm and confident Minato speak eloquently and with such clarity, both Sakumo and Fugaku, who had been sent by Fukuyama, were completely stunned.
They couldn't help but think, Damn, why does this feel like we're standing in front of Shin?
In other words: We've got two Shins on our side. How the hell can we lose?