Chapter 43: The Village Erupts, Konoha Mobilizes its Ninja Army Against the Sand Village

Seeing that Minato and Mikoto were so exhausted they could barely stand, the sentry ninja quickly brought over water and some rations. The sentry captain, Natsuki Kozou, turned to the three and said, "I'm Natsuki Kozou, the captain of this outpost. Could you please give us a detailed account of the enemy encounter? We need to relay this information back to the village."

"No problem," Minato replied after catching his breath. He began recounting the events while Takuya sat off to the side, too tired to bother talking.

Truth be told, he was also exhausted, mostly from helping Minato and Mikoto bear the burden along the way. If it weren't for the potential complications, Takuya would have gladly chopped up those three deadweights.

Why did they have to be so fat? he thought. They can't run, and now we're the ones left dragging them around, nearly killing us in the process.

"You took out an entire jonin squad by yourself?"

The outpost ninja were shocked when they heard that Takuya had single-handedly wiped out a jonin squad. They eyed him with a mix of disbelief and awe.

"This is the enemy jonin's body. It should provide the village with valuable intelligence," Takuya said, producing a sealing scroll.

The sentry captain quickly unsealed it, verifying the body's identity. When he saw the face, he confirmed both the identity and the validity of the information.

Minato hadn't lied, though the details were a bit off.

Indeed, an entire jonin squad had been annihilated, and it was Takuya who had done it—though the enemy probably had no idea how it happened.

Not that it mattered much; even the Third Kazekage himself was still puzzled over how he had been caught off guard.

Not only had he been injured, but he had also come dangerously close to making a fool of himself.

Fortunately, the Sand Village reinforcements had arrived only after he broke free from the genjutsu.

If they had come any sooner, the Third Kazekage would've been a laughingstock.

The deceased was undoubtedly Akagiri, a jonin from the Sand Village, but how had Takuya managed to kill him?

The sentry captain apologized, saying, "I don't mean to doubt you, but I need to verify the truth of this matter. I hope you understand."

"I understand, sir," Takuya replied, acknowledging the captain's concerns. Falsely claiming credit for a kill could spell trouble for both Takuya and the captain relaying the intel.

Takuya closed his eyes briefly, and when he reopened them, the captain found himself staring into a pair of three-tomoe Sharingan.

The captain fell silent.

This kid's so young—could he be a genius from the Uchiha clan?

But then again, is he even really an Uchiha?

When did the Uchiha start having members with white hair?

The three-tomoe Sharingan alone was enough to validate everything Takuya claimed. No one would doubt the power of the Sharingan's genjutsu control—no one in the entire shinobi world.

"I'll send this intel and Akagiri's body back to the village immediately. You've done well; get some rest. The village won't forget your contributions," the captain said.

With messenger hawks at their disposal, the intel scroll would reach Konoha in no time.

With that, Takuya's team had officially completed their mission—they could finally rest.

The three Daimyo officials they had rescued were overwhelmed with gratitude upon learning that Sand ninja had surrounded the camp and that Takuya's team had saved them.

They were endlessly thankful and showered the team with praise.

"Ugh..." Takuya, finding them annoying, quickly pushed Minato—the team's diplomat—forward to deal with them.

Mikoto leaped up to a tree branch, sitting beside Takuya. She turned her head slightly, gazing at his youthful profile with a gentle smile.

"Takuya, after this gets out, the Uchiha clan will probably try to persuade you to return to the family," she said.

"Just ignore them," Takuya shrugged. "It's not like they can force me to go back and change my name or something."

The Uchiha are a ticking time bomb. Anyone who gets involved with them is asking for trouble. Takuya had no interest in getting mixed up with them.

Mikoto smiled softly, not pushing the matter further.

She respected Takuya's choice. Whether he chose to return to the Uchiha or not, she would firmly stand by his side.

The messenger hawk, carrying the intel scroll, flew swiftly back to Konoha, where it was delivered directly to the Third Hokage's desk.

In an instant, the entire Hokage's office erupted in chaos.

Upon receiving the news, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado rushed to the Hokage's office immediately.

"Sarutobi, is it true? Has the Sand Village really invaded?"

For once, Koharu and Homura, usually composed as elders, were frantic. They didn't even bother knocking, instead barging straight into the office.

"The information is accurate; there's no mistake. It seems the Third Kazekage himself is leading the attack on the Land of Fire."

The Third Hokage, his face grim, handed the intel scroll to the two.

"Hokage-sama," one of the ANBU appeared in the office before they could examine the contents of the scroll. He handed the Hokage another freshly retrieved intel scroll.

The Third Hokage quickly opened it, scanning its contents before standing up in shock.

"It really is the Third Kazekage leading the charge!"

The body of Akagiri, whom Takuya had killed, had been sent back to Konoha, and the Intelligence Division had extracted several critical pieces of information from his brain, confirming the Third Kazekage's involvement.

"This..."

Koharu and Homura's faces turned pale, their words stumbling. "How could he dare?"

After so many years of peace, the Sand Village had launched a sudden, unprovoked attack on Konoha.

Their ninja army had already invaded the Land of Fire.

If not for Takuya's team quickly relaying the intel, Konoha would have been completely blindsided.

The enemy could have been at their doorstep, and they wouldn't have had a clue.

From the intel they had received, it was clear that Takuya's team had performed a great service—especially Takuya.

He had killed Akagiri, and the Intelligence Division had extracted valuable information from his brain.

Akagiri's body had arrived just in time.

"Calm down," the Third Hokage said, frowning slightly at Koharu, who was beginning to panic.

The enemy's already inside the Land of Fire. Panicking now won't help anything.

It's better to think of a strategy and figure out how to deal with this imminent threat.

"Should we negotiate with the Hidden Rain Village?" Homura suggested.

Compared to the Hidden Rain, he was more concerned about the Sand Village.

Even if the Hidden Rain's military might had grown, the village was still small.

Despite having Hanzo, who was known as a demi-god, few took the Hidden Rain seriously.

The Five Great Nations were still more focused on rivals of equal stature.

The Sand Village carried far more weight than the Hidden Rain.

"It's difficult," the Third Hokage replied. Negotiation was a good idea, but with Konoha and the Hidden Rain currently locked in a stalemate, neither side willing to back down, negotiating now was nearly impossible.

They would have to either achieve a decisive victory or wait until the Hidden Rain could no longer sustain the war before negotiations could begin.

Rushing to negotiate with Hanzo because of the Sand Village's attack would only result in Konoha being at a disadvantage.

That was not an outcome the Third Hokage was willing to accept.

And with Hanzo on the front lines, he would likely refuse any negotiations.

"No matter what, we must drive the Sand Village's forces out of the Land of Fire. We can't allow them to plunder our territory."

The Sand Village was poor and lacked resources, while the Land of Fire was a prime target.

Even if they couldn't seize land, the Sand Village's goal was clearly to plunder as many resources as possible.

If their ninja were allowed to rampage through the Land of Fire, the country would be thrown into chaos.

The Fire Daimyo wouldn't stand for it.

Koharu's words made sense. The Third Hokage nodded slightly, agreeing that they should prioritize expelling the Sand Village's forces.

"Issue a conscription order immediately. We must organize our ninja army and drive the Sand Village out of our territory, no matter the cost!"

The Third Hokage, still in his prime, was a true warrior—not yet the old man who would later be more inclined to negotiate and make concessions.

At this moment, his power was at its peak, and his resolve was unwavering.

If he said it was time to fight, he meant it—no half-measures.

"I'll make the preparations," Homura said, standing to leave.

Koharu added, "I'll coordinate with the Logistics Division to ensure all necessary supplies are ready before the army departs."

The Third Hokage nodded without expression, his gaze fixed on the intel scrolls spread across his desk.

The conscription order was issued overnight, sending shockwaves through Konoha.

The Sand Village had launched an unprovoked attack, directly invading the Land of Fire. Their army was already within their borders!

This is outrageous!

Anger erupted throughout the village, with countless citizens flooding the streets, shouting at the Hokage's office.

They demanded that the Third Hokage send troops to drive out the Sand Village invaders.

With the conscription order in effect, Konoha sprang into action.

Ninja from various clans began gathering, joining the army according to the set quotas.

Though the village had many civilian ninja, Konoha's true backbone was still the many clans, big and small.

These clans were the foundation that allowed Konoha to maintain its position as the leading nation among the Five Great Nations.

Sometimes, quantity couldn't replace quality.

Take the Uchiha, for example—the clan had over thirty jonin.

Considering that Konoha had only a few hundred jonin in total, the Uchiha clan alone made up about a tenth of that number.

What was even more remarkable was that Uchiha jonin were nearly unbeatable in one-on-one combat against civilian jonin.

Except for prodigies like Orochimaru and Jiraiya, of course.

P/S: If you are interested, you can read up to chapter 103 at patreon.com/Emik01.