"All one hundred squads of the Mist Front are present and accounted for!"
On one of Konoha's training fields, an Uchiha ninja shouted loudly toward Arin.
Just from the tone alone, one could feel the burning enthusiasm and worship hidden within it.
Feeling the piercing gazes from the surrounding Uchiha, Arin's scalp tingled slightly.
Could you people not look at me like that?
At this rate, he would feel embarrassed harvesting Sharingan from them later.
Fine.
At worst, he would just kill Itachi ahead of schedule for them.
This level of enthusiasm was simply too much for him to handle.
As one of the primary forces responsible for killing Uchiha in the future, he honestly felt a little guilty.
One hundred squads.
Each squad consisted of three members.
A total of three hundred ninja.
Among them, one hundred were Uchiha.
The remaining two hundred were civilian ninja inserted into the units.
Although the village intended to scatter the Uchiha across different battlefields, they still had no desire to let them establish too many connections with other clans.
Civilian ninja were the easiest personnel to mobilize.
Thus, the anti-Mist front mainly consisted of combinations of civilian ninja and Uchiha.
The civilian ninja did not know much about Arin.
But the Uchiha clearly admired him immensely.
Ordinary people would never receive such burning looks from the Uchiha.
A clan that worshipped strength, the Uchiha held a level of fanaticism toward the Sannin, White Fang, and Flame Demon that ordinary people simply could not understand.
Especially Flame Demon Hyuga Arin.
The Fire Release techniques he used were beyond imagination.
And the Uchiha themselves specialized in Fire Release.
Naturally, they admired him even more.
Arin rubbed his forehead.
Not a single one of these people was familiar to him.
And honestly…
These gazes really were making him embarrassed.
In the end, he could only force himself to say:
"Alright."
"Move out!!"
…
The main border between Kirigakure and Konoha centered around the Land of Bears.
However, the Land of Water occupied a special geographical position.
Surrounded entirely by ocean, it possessed numerous hidden sea routes into other nations, allowing indirect infiltration into the Land of Fire.
Kirigakure had operated this way during both previous ninja wars.
Though unlike the First Great Ninja War—
Back then, Kirigakure caused trouble everywhere.
Sometimes raiding the Land of Wind.
Sometimes stirring chaos in the Land of Earth.
Or occasionally clashing with the Land of Lightning.
But during the Second Great Ninja War, Kirigakure showed little interest in the other battlefields.
Instead, they focused almost exclusively on Konoha.
Unfortunately for them, the results were not ideal.
The Uchiha suffered relatively few losses and instead produced many elites.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was probably muttering complaints inwardly already.
That was likely part of why he wanted to disperse the Uchiha to other battlefields.
Konoha's declining ninja numbers were one factor.
But this definitely contributed as well.
Arin's unit traveled without pause.
After three days, they arrived at the Konoha military encampment near the Land of Bears border.
As the self-proclaimed model lover of peace, Konoha would never casually enter another nation's territory unless absolutely necessary.
Unlike the other hidden villages.
Those villages basically operated under:
Who cares whose land this is?
If Konoha weren't too strong to invade casually, they would probably march directly through the Land of Fire itself.
Honestly, Konoha's good reputation was not entirely undeserved.
To the broader ninja world, Konoha truly was an oddity.
The ninja profession itself was fundamentally dark and bloody.
Yet Konoha insisted on wrapping itself in righteousness.
Naturally, countless people mocked them for it.
Konoha's response was simple:
Laugh all you want.
We're still making money.
The other villages instantly stopped laughing.
As Arin stepped into the camp—
Three figures appeared before him instantly.
At the same time, the other ninja all emerged from their tents and knelt on one knee before him.
"Hyuga Arin-sama!!"
All the voices merged together into a single thunderous roar.
Having never experienced something like this before, Arin subconsciously rubbed his nose.
This feeling…
"Is actually pretty nice."
"And you three are?"
Arin looked toward the trio before him.
"Uchiha Yashiro."
The leading young man with narrowed eyes spoke solemnly.
He looked extremely serious.
"Uchiha Fugaku."
The ninja on the left also calmly introduced himself.
"Uchiha Jin."
The ninja on the right appeared noticeably more relaxed, carrying a faint smile.
Originally, Arin had been paying close attention to Uchiha Fugaku, the future Uchiha clan head.
But after hearing the last name—
He turned toward the less oppressive-looking man.
A smile spread across Arin's face.
"Interesting."
The three looked at him in confusion.
None of them understood what he meant by "interesting."
Arin ignored that and instead asked:
"What's Kirigakure's current situation?"
By his estimation, the Mist Village should still be relatively calm.
After all, the Third Great Ninja War was still five years away.
Fugaku answered solemnly:
"The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist have appeared on the frontlines."
"But their current whereabouts are unknown."
Arin: "???"
Was reality deliberately slapping him in the face?
"Do we know why they mobilized?" Arin asked seriously.
Weren't those seven supposed to appear during the Third Great Ninja War and later get crippled by Might Duy?
Why were they showing up this early?
Fugaku shook his head.
"Unknown for now."
"However, Kirigakure currently shows no signs of gathering forces to establish a full battlefront."
Arin fell silent for a moment before speaking:
"Keep monitoring them."
"Find the movements of those seven as quickly as possible."
For some reason—
He suddenly had a bad feeling.
Surely Uchiha Madara was not targeting him personally, right?
This place practically counted as Madara's home turf.
"Yes!!"
Everyone answered in unison.
…
Land of Water.
Kirigakure.
Inside the Mizukage's office.
The Third Mizukage sat behind his desk wearing full Mizukage robes and a bamboo hat.
The curtain hanging from the hat obscured most of his face, revealing only the lower half.
A Mist ninja knelt before him.
"Mizukage-sama, the seven have already infiltrated the Land of Bears."
At that moment, the Mizukage raised his head slightly.
"Flame Demon Hyuga Arin has already entered the Konoha encampment."
"Tell them to prepare at all times."
"Yes!!"
The Mist ninja hurriedly acknowledged the order.
Still—
He felt confused.
Kirigakure had not received any intelligence regarding Arin's arrival.
So how exactly did the Mizukage know?
Though puzzled internally, he wisely buried the question.
In the next moment, he vanished.
Beneath the Mizukage's hat—
Three tomoe slowly rotated within scarlet eyes.
Black Zetsu pushed a wheelchair out from the shadows.
"Madara."
"Hyuga Arin has already entered the Land of Bears border."
"This time, we absolutely must eliminate him."
The aged Uchiha Madara slowly opened his eyes.
Three tomoe rotated within his crimson pupils as he questioned coldly:
"Why does it feel like you want Hyuga Arin dead even more than I do?"
Black Zetsu's body stiffened briefly.
But he quickly prepared an excuse.
"His existence is already interfering with our plans."
"Madara, we are one."
"Of course I worry that he may disrupt our plan."
"He…"
Black Zetsu's voice darkened.
"…is too much of an eyesore."
Madara frowned deeply.
Even he had not expected a mere Hyuga to grow to such a level.
"Indeed."
"He really is…"
"…far too much of an eyesore."
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