Yuuki's journey, traveling day and night, will not be mentioned for now.
When the Konoha Villagers woke up, they found that the Village had completely changed.
There were far fewer Ninja jumping on the rooftops than usual.
Walking on the streets, it was obvious that there were significantly fewer people wearing headbands than before.
The Konoha Villagers, not knowing what had happened, immediately went to a newspaper stand.
They bought a copy of the Hokage News, hoping to get information from it.
The first thing that caught their eye when they opened the newspaper was a handsome face.
The Villagers who had been reading the Konoha Daily every day immediately recognized him as Yuuki, the head of their Military Police Force.
They then carefully read the text, the headline of which was in large characters: 'Defend the Nation's Gate!'
After reading the rest of the content, the Villagers learned that the war with Hidden Mist, which the Military Police Force had warned about, had indeed begun a short while ago.
Hokage-sama had decided to appoint Uchiha Tomoki as the supreme commander, and the Ninja forces were already assembling and preparing, set to depart soon to confront Hidden Mist.
The article concluded by stating that Hidden Mist was nothing to fear and asked the Villagers to rest assured.
The Konoha Villagers also began to discuss amongst themselves, just like the military enthusiasts of Yuuki's previous life, each becoming a 'cloud commander,' commenting on the current situation.
Naturally, the newspaper could not reveal the true operational details, so the Villagers did not know that Yuuki had already led his people out of Konoha.
Similarly, some people began to have subtle thoughts; Uchiha Tomoki, who had been the most relentless in apprehending them recently, was about to depart.
It seemed that if they just endured for a few more days, they could be a little bolder.
In reality, what these spies didn't know was that it was never the Military Police Force that truly caught them.
It was the Anbu Ninja hidden in the shadows.
As for the article in the Hokage News, it was one of the deals Yuuki had made with the Third Hokage that night.
Yuuki was not the type to secretly enjoy his accomplishments; he wished that every time the Uchiha Clan helped an old lady cross the street, the entire Village would know about it.
Therefore, Yuuki could not give up this opportunity to promote the Uchiha, especially since it involved going to the Battlefield and fighting for their lives with real weapons.
For this purpose, he specifically sacrificed the combat power of two Jonin; the sole purpose of these two Uchiha Ninja was to capture every exciting moment.
If one were to describe their work, 'war correspondents' might be more appropriate, and specifically, war correspondents with a strong bias.
On the second night after Yuuki and his group departed.
Because they had missed the optimal time to stop Hidden Mist at sea, the Hidden Mist warships had already docked at the Land of Waves port.
Though called warships, they were actually just some larger merchant ships that had been converted, with entirely wooden hulls.
They had unusually large cargo holds for their size; if they were still merchant ships, such large holds filled with goods would surely sink to the bottom of the sea.
However, at this time, the cargo holds were filled with Hidden Mist Ninja, some standing, some sitting, and some even with their feet on the ceiling of the hold, suspended in the air.
The Land of Waves had no Ninja, not even an army, so the Hidden Mist Ninja, after landing, headed straight for the Daimyo's Mansion.
Ninja mostly have a sense of hierarchy, but it was clear that these murderous Hidden Mist individuals cared nothing for the Daimyo of such a small country.
The entire Land of Waves was not even comparable to a random small island in the Land of Water.
After killing a few nobles who looked like they had long held high positions.
The Daimyo of the Land of Waves completely gave up resistance, allowing the Hidden Mist Ninja to occupy his Daimyo's Mansion.
At this point, the Hidden Mist Ninja were actually very close to the Land of Fire.
In the original work, the Great Naruto Bridge connected the Land of Waves and the Land of Fire, so one can imagine how close they were.
In such a situation, the Jonin and Chunin among the Hidden Mist could actually cross the bay directly to the Land of Fire without the need for ships.
However, there was no need; after all, the Land of Waves could serve as a natural stronghold, allowing for advance or retreat, and making escape easier if danger arose.
Therefore, the Hidden Mist Ninja began to build their camp in the Land of Waves.
After a night of construction, coupled with the continuous arrival of reinforcements, the main camp was fully built by the time dawn barely broke.
The high-ranking officers of the military were already gathered in the main camp, and the Ninja sitting in the main seat was named Masai Taichi.
Masai Taichi had also been known as a genius in his early years, but he disappeared from public view after the Fourth Mizukage took office.
His reappearance this time was as the Fourth Mizukage's Anbu, and he also served as the front-line commander for this operation.
If Yuuki were here at this moment, he would probably recognize many familiar faces, such as the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist? Suikazan Fuguki and Jūzō Biwa.
Of course, there was also the future Fifth Mizukage, Mei Terumī, and the Byakugan Ninja Ao.
Within Hidden Mist, due to the Blood Mist policy, there was almost no punishment for killing fellow Village Ninja.
The Hidden Mist Ninja present had all spontaneously formed into small groups.
Masai Taichi himself had actually died long ago when Yagura took office; the one sitting here now was a White Zetsu impersonating him.
White Zetsu's brain naturally couldn't understand the atmosphere of the scene; he just recited a few lines that Obito had taught him.
Finally, he announced that they would launch a surprise attack on the Konoha border forces tonight, instructing everyone to prepare themselves.
There was no battle plan, no grouping, and not even a departure time mentioned; after saying a few words, Masai Taichi left.
But the Hidden Mist Ninja present all became excited; they were almost tired of cutting down comrades in the Village, and finally, they could cut down Konoha Ninja.
As for the plan, wasn't it enough to just go in and cut? Grouping, why group? Time? It was already mentioned, tonight!
However, not everyone was accustomed to all of this.
For example, Suikazan Fuguki, for example, Mei Terumī.
Suikazan Fuguki couldn't understand why the Mizukage chose such a fellow as commander; he seemed not only weak but also not very smart.
However, the orders he gave were very much to his liking, so for now, he would listen to him, and when he was no longer satisfied, he would let Samehada eat him.
Mei Terumī and Ao, who was beside her, frowned; why would Mizukage-sama use such a person as a commander?
Masai Taichi's actions completely disregarded the lives of the Hidden Mist Ninja; it seemed that the life and death of the Ninja in the unit were not within his consideration.
Both the Mizukage and the current Masai Taichi made them feel a sense of strangeness.
However, Ao had just used his Byakugan to observe Masai Taichi; there was no abnormality, and his Chakra felt the same as the Masai Taichi he had seen before.
Mei Terumī, pondering deeply but getting no results, finally gave up on further investigation, but she estimated that tonight's battle would probably be a 'phoning it in' effort.
The beginning of this war, and even everything throughout its course, was full of strangeness.
Just like the Fourth Mizukage, whom all Ninja believed would end the Blood Mist policy and bring hope before he took office, he completely turned hostile after taking office, implementing an even harsher Blood Mist policy than during the Third Mizukage's era.
Mei Terumī, who had already left the camp, looked towards the east, which was the direction of Hidden Mist Village.
"Mizukage-sama, what is Hidden Mist Village truly aiming for by experiencing all of this?"
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