Chapter 235: Eve of the Decisive Battle

In the Hidden Leaf Village, within the Hokage's office.

"Lord Hokage, the third squad of the Anbu has been ambushed by Uchiha Itachi. None... none have returned."

A member of the Anbu knelt on one knee, head bowed, reporting in a trembling voice to Danzō.

Thud.

Upon hearing this, Danzō slammed his cane onto the ground, a cold glint flashing in his murky eyes.

Due to Shisui's death, Itachi might be the person who despised him the most in the entire shinobi world, and he was also the enemy Danzō had sworn to eliminate.

He couldn't let that young menace grow. Otherwise, he would become a significant threat in the future.

But for now, there was no rush.

"Immediately relay my orders. Recall all remaining reconnaissance ninjas. We can't keep sending them to their deaths at the hands of the Uchiha."

Danzō ordered sternly, then inquired, "And what about the troop assembly? Have we reached the required numbers?"

The Anbu quickly responded, "Lord Hokage, as per your instructions, we've mobilized an army of twenty thousand from the Hidden Leaf Village. They're ready to move out at your command."

"Hmm."

Danzō nodded, seemingly satisfied, then waved his hand dismissively, "You may leave."

Afterward, Danzō stood up and walked to the large window, gazing out at the Hidden Leaf Village. Before the expedition, he intended to give a pre-war mobilization speech.

Ever since he became the Hokage, Danzō increasingly reveled in the intoxicating power of the position, often feeling rejuvenated, as if he had shed twenty years.

Especially when he attended various events, delivering speeches from the podium.

The adoring gazes from the crowd below and the thunderous applause at the end gave him an unparalleled sense of reverence.

No wonder.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, during his time as Hokage, was so fond of giving speeches, constantly promoting the "Will of Fire."

Being Hokage was truly addictive.

Danzō was now more convinced than ever that the Fourth Hokage's death was orchestrated by Hiruzen to reclaim his position.

To not be outdone by Hiruzen, Danzō had even dedicated considerable time to hone his speech-giving skills.

However, while Danzō reveled in the pleasures of power, the atmosphere within the Hidden Leaf Village was one of palpable tension.

The world of shinobi had only enjoyed half a year of peace, and now war loomed again.

Moreover, for the villagers of the Hidden Leaf, even days without war were filled with unrest.

After all, their Hokage had signed numerous unequal treaties with the four major ninja villages and even invited them to station troops in the Hidden Leaf.

Over the past six months, the ninjas from the four villages had been acting increasingly brazen and unrestrained in the Hidden Leaf, leading to numerous severe incidents.

For instance, some refused to pay their gambling debts and even ransacked casinos, stealing large sums of money; others seized the properties of Hidden Leaf merchants under various pretexts, even abducting their wives and daughters; some got into verbal altercations with villagers, which escalated into physical confrontations, resulting in fatalities; and there were those who maliciously ignited explosive tags, hurling them at innocent crowds, causing multiple injuries.

The list went on.

In the face of these heinous crimes committed by the four villages' ninjas, the villagers of the Hidden Leaf were naturally outraged, wishing for justice.

However, under Danzō's orders, the Hidden Leaf merely issued verbal warnings to the offending ninjas, and every incident was brushed under the rug.

The most outrageous part was that sometimes, to appease the offenders, the Hidden Leaf even demanded the victims apologize or directly punished the victims themselves.

Patience.

That was Danzō's expectation of the Hidden Leaf villagers as the Fifth Hokage.

With the Hidden Leaf's continuous appeasement, the crimes of the four villages' ninjas grew more rampant, with their actions becoming increasingly audacious.

The villagers of the Hidden Leaf felt utterly subjugated, living in constant humiliation and fear.

Many began to yearn for the days when the Hidden Leaf was the leading village among the Five Great Shinobi Countries.

Those were truly golden times.

Now, with the Uchiha clan declaring war on the Shinobi Allied Forces, Danzō, in his bid to exterminate the Uchiha, initiated an unprecedented war mobilization.

In the village, everyone from young boys aged seven or eight to elderly folks in their fifties and sixties, including retired and injured ninjas, were forcibly conscripted. No one was spared.

However, what Danzō hadn't considered was that for most Hidden Leaf ninjas, this was a war they didn't want.

While the Uchiha clan was in the Hidden Leaf, many did resent them, but that resentment hadn't escalated to outright hatred.

After all, regardless of their differences, they were all villagers of the same village.

More importantly, when the Uchiha clan broke ties and left the village, and the Shinobi Alliance immediately invaded Konoha, many realized just how crucial the Uchiha clan was to the village.

As time went on, voices advocating for the exoneration of the Uchiha clan grew louder within the village. Rumors spread that it had always been the village elders, led by the Third Hokage and Danzo, who had oppressed the Uchiha clan for decades, deliberately sowing discord between the clan and the villagers.

Thus, many began to question if they had been manipulated by the village's higher-ups into despising the Uchiha clan.

Meanwhile, the villagers' disdain for Danzo, the current Hokage, grew. Many wished for the swift demise of this elder who had sown division within Konoha, seized power amidst the chaos, and sold out the village. However, their grievances against Danzo were only whispered in secret, for fear of retribution. Danzo's spies were everywhere, monitoring the villagers' every move. Those who spoke or acted against him faced severe consequences, ranging from imprisonment to execution.

Under Danzo's tyrannical rule, the atmosphere in Konoha was tense and fearful.

In a park in Konoha during the afternoon, Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji, three young shinobi, were leisurely swinging on swings and basking in the sun. Thanks to their clan's influence, they were spared from the brutalities of war, unlike their peers, and could enjoy carefree moments like this.

"Do you guys think the Shinobi Alliance can defeat the Uchiha clan this time?" Ino asked curiously while swinging.

Shikamaru, lying on the grass, pondered the question deeply. Choji, pausing from munching on his chips, mumbled, "I wish the Uchiha would defeat the Hokage and return to Konoha. Then we wouldn't be bullied anymore."

As a naive young boy, Choji held no negative views towards the Uchiha clan. In fact, he had a favorable impression of them, especially since Dan Uchiha had once offered to train him.

"Choji, watch your mouth!" Shikamaru quickly covered Choji's mouth, looking around cautiously. If Choji's words reached Danzo, not even the head of the Akimichi clan could save him.

However, "The Uchiha, as arrogant as they seem, are undeniably powerful. Given that they've declared war on the Shinobi Alliance, they might just..." Shikamaru murmured, his eyes glinting with thought.

Two days later, after a passionate speech by Danzo, he led a massive army of 20,000 from Konoha, marching towards the Mountain Graveyard. Not just Konoha, but the other three major ninja villages also mobilized their forces. The Cloud and Stone villages each had over 30,000 troops, while the Sand village had nearly 20,000.

The combined forces of the four major ninja villages, along with soldiers from various nations, totaled a staggering 100,000. This immense army converged from all directions, surrounding the Mountain Graveyard, leaving the Uchiha clan with no escape.

Of course, the Uchiha never intended to flee.

Atop the village in the mountains, Tsunade had been busy over the past few months. Apart from researching the Reanimation Jutsu, she was also tasked by Dan to develop a special type of soldier pill.

Ever since Dan learned the Yin Seal technique from Tsunade, allowing him to store excess chakra, his voracious appetite returned. However, this posed a problem as he had to spend a lot of time eating and even had to visit the restroom up to ten times a day.

To address this, Tsunade spent half a year developing a new soldier pill tailored for Dan. On the table in front of him lay a blue pill, about the size of a ping pong ball. It emitted a faint medicinal scent and shone with a metallic luster, resembling a blue iron ore.

Dan picked up the pill, feeling its weight. It was surprisingly heavy and hard to the touch.

"This soldier pill was created using a special technique, compressing a large amount of medicinal ingredients through repeated pressing over a hundred times.

Its potency is dozens of times stronger than a regular soldier pill, and it's also incredibly dense, even harder than iron.

A regular ninja would be unable to digest it if they swallowed it carelessly; it would be akin to suicide. But for you, it shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Tsunade looked at Dan with a teasing smile, a challenge in her eyes.

I've made the soldier pill you wanted; now let's see if you dare to eat it.

Dan simply smiled faintly, saying nothing, and swallowed the blue pill in one gulp.

To Tsunade's astonishment, rumbling, thunderous noises emanated from Dan's stomach. His intestines were moving like grinding stones, slowly crushing the iron-hard soldier pill.

It's widely known that a person's internal organs cannot be trained.

Except for a monster like Dan.

Thus, the energy from the pill was quickly absorbed and stored within his body.

"This is good. One of these a day should suffice," Dan commented approvingly after digesting the pill, and he even named it—

The Fasting Pill.

From now on, he wouldn't need to eat meals; he could just consume a pill daily.

After all, to Dan's knowledge, the Otsutsuki clan in the universe also sustained themselves on pills.

That was the true elegance of a sage.

Subsequently, Dan and Tsunade headed to the conference room to attend the pre-war meeting within the clan.

The Uchiha's fourteen—no, now fifteen—shadow-level powers were all gathered in the conference room.

"From today onwards, you are a member of the village committee."

With a solemn expression, Fugaku handed a black ring, engraved with the character "Yin," to Uchiha Izumi in front of everyone.

"Thanks to the Director and Itachi, I was able to awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan."

Izumi bowed slightly to Dan, expressing her gratitude.

"Hmph."

Tsunade snorted coldly from the side.

She had heard about Izumi's awakening process, being played by Dan's genjutsu, which reminded her of the time she was also fooled by Dan, believing Shizune had died in front of her.

However, since Tsunade was not a member of the Uchiha clan, despite experiencing enough mental stimulation, she unfortunately could not awaken the Sharingan.

After Izumi's promotion ceremony,

"Dan, how do you think we should fight this war?"

Fugaku's first inquiry was directed at his brother-in-law.

In fact, as the true backbone of the Uchiha clan, whenever Dan made a decision, there was basically no opposition within the clan.

After all, past events had time and again proven that the Director was always right.

Even if his words were always astonishing.

And this time, when Dan spoke, everyone's faces showed surprise.

"You all should retreat first. I'll stay here alone."

Dan said this with a calm face.

Everyone: "..."

After a brief silence,

Fugaku regained his composure, asking incredulously:

"Dan, are you planning to face the Shinobi Alliance alone? According to the information we have, the enemy has a total of one hundred thousand soldiers..."

Although he had utmost confidence in Dan's abilities, facing a hundred thousand troops alone seemed impossible, even for the First Hokage in his prime, right?

It was an utterly fantastical notion.

Dan shook his head, explaining:

"I have no interest in showing off. It's just that the senjutsu I've recently learned might cause collateral damage on the battlefield. So it's better for you all to keep your distance from me at first and observe the situation."

So that was it.

Everyone paused, simultaneously speculating about what Dan's senjutsu would look like.

Could it be so powerful that even he couldn't control it?

If that was the case, they indeed should steer clear, lest they find their lives too long.