Chapter 17

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It's not 12 years from now; the Third Shinobi War ended less than a year ago.

The friction between Konoha and the villages of Kumogakure (Hidden Cloud) and Kirigakure (Hidden Mist) still persists, with skirmishes breaking out at the borders.

Currently, Uchiha Shisui is stationed on the front lines, locked in a long-term confrontation with Mist Village. Although there are no major battles, ninjas are still seriously injured or even killed at the borders on a daily basis. If not for Tsunade's recommendation of deploying a three-person squad composed of two combat specialists and one medical-nin, the situation in Konoha would likely be far more dire.

Thus, taking responsibility for the defense of Konoha's borders is no small task, and it's practically impossible without sufficient resources.

Now is a period of high-stakes warfare with elite forces, and most lower-ranked shinobi have returned to their respective villages for covert development. Only the chunin and higher-ranking shinobi are deployed to the front lines. And given the vast borders of the Land of Fire, it would take at least 200-300 chunin to maintain stability.

But everyone knows that the combined strength of all Uchiha chunin doesn't amount to 200, and now Toki has stated that the Uchiha clan will take full responsibility for defending Konoha's entire border? People begin to think Toki must be crazy.

Uchiha Fugaku, standing nearby, was shocked and immediately blurted out, "Do you even realize what you're saying? How could we Uchiha have the strength to fight off other villages right now?"

The pro-Toki faction within the Uchiha only consists of about 80 chunin, and with Toki's statement, he was effectively dooming the clan's forces to an impossible task.

However, a slight smile appeared on Toki's face as he glanced at the attribute panel in his mind.

[Host: Uchiha Toki]

[Strength: Elite Jonin]

[Position: Clan Leader]

[Family Members: 1,057]

[Family Prestige: 247 points]

[Strength Distribution:

Kage-level (1 person)

Elite Jonin (2 people)

Jonin (3 people)

Special Jonin (60 people)

Chunin (324 people)

Genin (171 people)

Owned Buildings: Uchiha ancestral shrine, No. 1 training ground, ninja tool research and development center

Inheritance: Exclusive Uchiha fire ninjutsu, various other jutsu, shuriken techniques, genjutsu, taijutsu, Sharingan techniques, etc.

After a month of intense training, not only had the 200 genin under Toki's command achieved combat capabilities equivalent to chunin, but 33 of the original 80 chunin had also advanced to the level of special jonin.

Now, Toki had at his command:

1 Jonin

53 Special Jonin

247 Chunin

These were all Uchiha chunin who had awakened their Sharingan, making them on par with the Anbu in strength.

In these 30 days, Toki had spent clan prestige points daily to ensure continuous, uninterrupted training in genjutsu, shurikenjutsu, body flicker technique, the three basic ninjutsu, and other skills. While Uchiha Fugaku and his group focused on gathering votes, Toki's faction had undergone a massive qualitative leap.

How talented was Uchiha Itachi? After seeing Sasuke's cheeks get singed by a fireball jutsu, Itachi could instantly perform it after seeing the seals once. His mastery of shuriken techniques and genjutsu was second to none, even at a young age.

Now, under Toki's leadership, his 280 subordinates had undergone training equivalent to 10 months of uninterrupted, top-tier learning.

At this point, their proficiency in shurikenjutsu had reached the highest level. They could now aim and hit targets with exceptional precision, even using genjutsu alongside their Sharingan to further enhance their skills.

These shinobi were now more than capable of overwhelming ordinary Root members. Even though the Root may not have had the same conditions as the Anbu, they were still among the best chunin in the village, making Toki's Uchiha forces formidable.

The most unexpected improvement came with their mastery of the body flicker technique, a signature move of Shisui Uchiha. This technique drastically improved their chakra control, allowing several to advance to the level of special jonin.

As direct descendants of Indra, the Uchiha clan members naturally possessed abundant chakra reserves. However, their talent for controlling chakra varied, resulting in waste when refining chakra or using ninjutsu.

As Ebisu once explained to Naruto, despite having the same chakra and using the same jutsu, Sakura could perform an optimal release with minimal chakra, while Naruto wasted more and achieved lesser results. Most of the Uchiha chunin had faced similar issues. However, after mastering Shisui's body flicker technique, their chakra control drastically improved.

Even though their chakra reserves hadn't increased, they could now release several times more ninjutsu with the same amount of chakra.

At the very least, the Uchiha special jonin now each had around 1 unit of chakra.

What they currently lacked was real combat experience against enemies, which was necessary to consolidate the muscle memory and reflexes gained from training. Only through battle would they be able to awaken the higher-level Sharingan.

At this point, very few members of the Uchiha clan had unlocked the three-tomoe Sharingan.

The minor conflicts following the Third Shinobi War presented the perfect opportunity for them to gain quick experience.

Thinking of this, Toki glanced at Fugaku and spoke calmly, "If we don't have enough chunin, we'll send in genin to fill the gaps. As long as our Uchiha clan is here, Konoha doesn't have to worry about enemy invasions."

"Before our Uchiha clan collapses, I will never allow Sarutobi Hiruzen, this useless old man, to become Hokage again."

"As Setsuna said, the Hokage can be a symbol. As for the real power in the village, I suggest we implement a separation of powers."

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