Deep within the Uchiha clan's main compound, inside the administrative office located behind the grand meeting hall, numerous Uchiha clansmen constantly hurried in and out, carrying towering stacks of intelligence reports and documents that urgently required approval from the personnel inside.
Currently, three men were drowning in a sea of paperwork, their faces etched with profound anxiety and fatigue.
These three men were the current chief administrators of the Uchiha clan, and all three were Peak Jōnin: Uchiha Yutaka, Uchiha Taka, and Uchiha Kangan.
Uchiha Yutaka was previously the Third Elder. Following the disastrous sneak attack by the Hyūga clan, he had been stripped of his position. Later, he was sent to guard the southern border in place of Uchiha Fujin, and eventually transferred to Kazama Valley to defend against the Senju, effectively attempting to redeem his past failures through military service.
During this critical time of total war, he had been reinstated and entrusted with managing the clan's internal affairs. As the former Third Elder, domestic administration had always been his original domain anyway.
"Sigh... we've been fighting the Senju for six years now, and this time they are absolutely dead-set on fighting us to the bitter end," Uchiha Kangan said, rubbing his aching temples after approving another document. "From the initial skirmishes at Kazama Valley, the entire front line has now expanded to cover absolutely every single border we share with them. Every shinobi capable of fighting has been deployed. Even the next generation of children under ten have been sent to the front. Only the three of us were left behind to guarantee the logistics and supply lines. The situation is dire."
The document Kangan had just approved was an urgent request from Uchiha Sen. The letter emphatically stated that he was facing catastrophic pressure on the main battlefield and desperately lacked manpower. He pleaded with the clan to send reinforcements, even if they were only Chūnin or Genin.
Kangan's response was simple: Denied. Suspend all reinforcements.
There was simply no one left in the clan. The only remaining force was strictly reserved to guarantee logistical supply lines and protect the main compound itself. After the painful lesson taught by the Twelve-Clan Alliance six years ago, they would absolutely never deploy this final defensive force to the front lines.
Uchiha Yutaka and Uchiha Taka sighed in deep sympathy. Having managed logistics for so long, they honestly felt that this job was even more exhausting than fighting Senju experts to the death on the battlefield.
Every single commander on the front lines was constantly stretching their hands out, demanding more—more men, more money, more weapons, more grain, more medicine! These demands piled up like mountains, suffocating them.
The first few years of the war had been manageable; the Uchiha possessed a colossal family fortune and massive war reserves. However, entering the fifth and sixth years, even the Uchiha's supposedly bottomless logistics had begun to crack under the strain.
War is, after all, an ultimate money-burning machine. Even a mountain of reserves could be burned to ash. The three of them had already resorted to ruthlessly pinching pennies and rationing supplies bit by bit.
Yutaka picked up an urgent document beside his hand. "This arrived this morning. It's an urgent demand for grain from the Patriarch. Every single battlefield on the front line is facing a severe food shortage! Over at the Kaze River line, Uchiha Masada's troops have been out of grain for three whole days! If they don't receive supplies immediately, they likely won't be able to hold off the Senju's offensive. If the Kaze River falls, it means a fatal gap will be torn into our entire defensive line, and stubbornly holding Kazama Valley and Nara Slope will become meaningless! And judging by the Senju's posture this time, they absolutely won't stop until they take those territories. The situation has reached the absolute most critical point."
Uchiha Taka grabbed his hair in frustration. "We are already scraping everything together! But even if everyone in the clan compound starves themselves, we only managed to scrape together 300,000 catties of grain! That's only enough to supply the front line for about a month at most! Although we've ordered all the women and children left in the compound to start farming, the harvest is still two months away! We simply don't have enough time!"
Uchiha Kangan added, "And the Nara Slope battlefield, where Madara is stationed, also sent an urgent dispatch. They are in critical need of medical supplies, and their weapon degradation is incredibly severe. The consumption of explosive tags is particularly astronomical. They hope the clan can dispatch supplies immediately. Oh, and Madara also requested that if possible, we send an additional 100,000 catties of grain; they are starting to run low as well."
Hearing this, Yutaka smiled bitterly. "We have no choice; we'll just have to work harder. Useful or not, Taka, you must personally lead the convoy to the front line tomorrow and deliver this grain! You must be extremely careful. A year ago, the Senju dispatched an elite squad to ambush our supply lines and nearly succeeded. I would rather you travel slower than give them any opportunities.
"As for weapons... the Fujiwara mine has yielded a new batch of iron ore. Judging by the time, the smiths should have finished forging roughly a thousand longswords. Send those to Madara as well. For explosive tags... keep searching the compound, though there aren't many left, and we don't have the manpower to mass-produce more. We can probably scrape together about a hundred thousand tags; give those to them as well.
"As for medical supplies... we truly have absolutely nothing left. Tell them they'll have to figure out a way to manage on their own."
"That's the only way," Taka nodded. In truth, gathering even this much was incredibly difficult. He deeply admired Yutaka; to still be able to manage everything so methodically under these agonizing conditions was remarkable. If it had been just him and Kangan, the entire logistical system would have collapsed long ago.
"By the way, how are the negotiations with the Kaguya clan regarding purchasing their grain?" Yutaka asked.
Kangan quickly replied, "We're still negotiating. However, the Kaguya are blatantly taking advantage of our desperation to extort us! They are demanding 200 ryo for a single catty of grain! That's downright robbery!"
Yutaka gritted his teeth furiously. "Buy it! As long as they are willing to sell, I don't care how expensive it is—buy it! We will settle the score after this war is over."
Just as they were discussing the matter, a Chūnin entered carrying an intelligence report and placed it respectfully on Yutaka's desk. "My Lords, an intelligence report from Lord Shinji in the north."
"The north?" Yutaka asked in surprise. The Uchiha's northern territory had been perfectly peaceful for years, typically only sending a routine 'all is well' report every six months. Why would they suddenly send an urgent dispatch? Could something have gone wrong?
His heart jolted as he hastily tore open the letter. The further he read, the stranger his expression became. Gradually, a look of profound joy bloomed on his face, and he couldn't help but smile. However, upon reading the final paragraph, his brow furrowed deeply once more.
Seeing his rapidly shifting expressions, the other two asked softly, "What happened?"
Yutaka handed the report over. The two leaned in to read it together. A moment later, they exclaimed in shock, "Uchiha Shinji actually pacified the entire north?! How is that possible?! Even Lord Tō suffered massive losses when he was stationed there!"
"It should be true. Shinji wouldn't dare lie to us about something this massive. He explained it very clearly in the letter: the three enemy factions broke into internal conflict, and he simply swooped in to reap the benefits. But never mind the details! It's been years since we've received a genuinely good piece of news; my mood has finally lifted a bit.
"However... what do you think about his claim of suffering 'devastating casualties' and demanding rewards from the clan? Furthermore, he explicitly stated that Uchiha Xuan contributed the most to this victory and strongly recommended promoting him to be his second-in-command in the north. What are your opinions?" Yutaka asked.
Taka frowned. "Rewards? Where exactly is the clan supposed to find things to reward him with right now?! We're practically bleeding ourselves dry just to feed the clansmen on the front lines, and he actually has the absolute gall to demand rewards?! As for Uchiha Xuan..." He paused thoughtfully before adding softly, "Isn't he a bit too young?"
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