After the Sand Hidden ninja forces retreated, the remaining Sand Hidden ninjas were like turtles in a jar; even if the allied forces did nothing, they couldn't last long. Considering the power people unleash when desperate, Uchiha Kagami and Hanzō discussed it and decided not to launch a strong offensive, but rather to surround them and wait for them to tire out.
During this time, Uchiha Kagami went to examine the bodies of the Sand Hidden ninjas, primarily those who preferred death to surrender. He looked at the wounds from their suicides, appearing pensive. Seeing this, Hanzō also checked multiple times but found nothing unusual, merely thinking that the Sand Hidden ninjas' will was indeed tenacious.
"What exactly are you concerned about, Kagami-kun?" Hanzō couldn't help but ask.
"Hmm, Hanzō-kun, look. Leaving aside those who sought a mutual kill, some were captured by our subordinates, their chakra completely exhausted, and even tied with ropes, yet they disregarded the pain and resolutely chose death. I still find it very strange," Uchiha Kagami said.
"There doesn't seem to be anything special about it, does there? In the early Warring States period, weren't ninjas who committed suicide immediately after failing a mission everywhere?" Hanzō said.
"That was because ninjas at that time had no other choice. Once they fell into enemy hands, all their intelligence would be tortured out of them, and then they would be killed," Uchiha Kagami said. "But this situation changed in the late Warring States period. If there were indeed prisoners, although they would still be interrogated, the cruelty of the interrogation began to decrease. Only important members of ninja clans would be treated that way."
The reason for this change was that in the early Warring States period, ninjas carried out missions as individuals, and those who could be dispatched were the elites of their clans. Without extraordinary measures, it was impossible to obtain information, and generally, it wouldn't involve battles between clans.
By the late Warring States period, entire ninja clans began to be hired by nobles. At that time, it was no longer about individuals, but about grudges between entire clans. The quality of ninjas dispatched by ninja clans at that time varied, and even if there were prisoners, they were often not very skilled. Interrogation circumstances were also limited. Thus, ninja clans who captured prisoners changed their minds; instead of wasting their energy, they might as well make good use of these prisoners.
As long as there was no single-minded intention to annihilate the opponent, even if an important member of the opposing side was captured, and even if they wanted to obtain information from the opponent, they would not resort to cruel methods. Doing so would signify an endless feud between the two clans, which was unacceptable to powerful ninja clans who valued their continuation.
It was fine for small clans with little foundation, but for more powerful ninja clans, unless they intended to wipe out the other clan, they would always leave the other party a way out. Therefore, the old methods could no longer be used, which is why ninja prisoners began to appear, and these people were even able to return to their ninja clans.
Of course, the overall atmosphere could only be said to have improved somewhat. Under the demands of the nobles who hired both sides, many clans in the late Warring States period also reached a point of life and death. A clear example was the Senju and Uchiha clans, leading to a proverb during the Warring States period: "When the Senju move, the Uchiha also move."
And after entering the Hidden Village era, the atmosphere improved even more. Bringing many ninja clans under the management of a single Hidden Village changed how information was guarded and the value of information known by ninjas. The number of prisoners taken during the First Great Ninja War already exceeded the entire Warring States period. Now, in the Second Great Ninja War, due to the emergence of civilian ninjas—civilian ninjas knew less information and had less value than previous clan ninjas—in just a few months, the number of captured ninjas has already approached the results of several years in the First Great Ninja War. If it weren't for the Sand Hidden ninjas' refusal to surrender and budget cuts preventing military expansion, this number might have already been surpassed.
Therefore, against this backdrop, the Sand Hidden Village's fearlessness of death is a rather difficult phenomenon to explain. It's understandable if most members of a squad or even a unit are like this, attributable to effective village education. But for everyone to be like this, even when already subdued and without the strength to fight back, still contemplating death—this is somewhat abnormal.
—It's almost like a return to the old customs of the Warring States period, Uchiha Kagami couldn't help but think.
"What's the use of thinking about these things?" Hanzō, however, didn't care as much. His Land of Rain was not like Konoha Village, which had been deeply influenced by new ideas—even ninjas like Uchiha Kagami, born in the Warring States period and not very young, had already abandoned many ancient Warring States customs—to this day, the Land of Rain has only been open for a few years. Hanzō is considered a person who has stepped into the new era, but one of his feet is still in the old era.
"According to the village's orders, treat enemies with priority on capturing them, and treat our own with priority on minimizing losses," Uchiha Kagami said. "Looking at the Sand Hidden ninjas now, if we attack directly, it might cause considerable losses to our side. Now we're just trapping them. As time goes on, their combat capabilities will decrease without supplies. At that time, many fewer of our people will die. This fulfills the order to prioritize minimizing losses."
"Then, regarding enemies, the priority is to capture them, but as you said, the Sand Hidden ninjas are probably impossible to capture," Hanzō shook his head and said.
"No, I think there must be a reason behind their fighting spirit. Even if the Sand Hidden Village's development speed isn't as fast as other villages for various reasons, it shouldn't be like this. If we can find the underlying reason, there might be a way to capture them," Uchiha Kagami said.
"What if there isn't?" Hanzō asked.
"If not? Then there's nothing we can do. Following the principle of minimizing losses, we'll just keep them trapped here. Whether they can't stand it anymore and try to break through, or they stay put until they lose the strength to act, it all benefits us," Uchiha Kagami shrugged. "It's always better than a direct attack."
"I thought you would try other ways to capture them. After all, I heard you treat prisoners quite well," Hanzō smiled and said.
"We will show a certain degree of goodwill, but it will not be at the expense of our own interests," Uchiha Kagami glanced at Hanzō and said, "Only by taking care of ourselves can we have the capacity to take care of others. The order of these two must never be confused."
"Is that so," Hanzō mused. He felt that Uchiha Kagami was hinting at his current position: as long as the Land of Rain did not intend to be an enemy of Konoha Village, then on the basis of certain goodwill, Konoha Village would ensure the Land of Rain's status. This was mutual benefit and assistance.
"Then how do you plan to investigate the reason behind this matter?" Hanzō immediately asked.
"I'll go catch a Sand Hidden ninja myself this time," Uchiha Kagami looked up, his eyes already transformed into Sharingan. "With my genjutsu abilities, I should be able to make him lose the ability to retaliate before he can even react."
Uchiha Shisui, in the future, would be a direct descendant of Uchiha Kagami. Perhaps Uchiha Shisui's genjutsu talent came from his grandfather. Uchiha Kagami also had considerable experience in genjutsu. When he was in the Anbu, his instructor was Senju Tōka, who had a place in the Senju clan during the Warring States period due to her genjutsu, and even the Uchiha clan dared not underestimate her. After her training, Uchiha Kagami's genjutsu abilities became even more outstanding.
Senju Tōka retired to a secondary role after the First Great Ninja War, serving as a teacher at the Ninja Academy, responsible for genjutsu courses. Uchiha Kagami would consult her during his free time. Senju Tōka was no longer young, but her energy as a teacher was still abundant, and she was happy to share her insights with her former student. Even though he was a member of the Uchiha clan and now a member of the village, he was still a young man admired by Senju Tōka.
Thinking of Senju Tōka at this moment, Uchiha Kagami felt a pang of sorrow. Given Senju Tōka's age, plus the wear and tear from battles during the Warring States period, she probably wouldn't live much longer. His own teacher, Senju Tobirama, died due to internal injuries from the war. How much longer could this old instructor of his, this remarkable woman whom Fumori Masaki's wife, Satomi, regarded as a mother, hold on?
Composing himself, Uchiha Kagami left with a squad. They had already located a certain Sand Hidden ninja squad, but due to the tactic of surrounding without attacking, no one had disturbed them. As they stealthily approached, the Hyūga ninja beside him reported that there were only three opponents and listed their positions one by one.
Uchiha Kagami pondered for a moment, then explained his plan to those around him, focusing on capturing the opponent. As long as Uchiha Kagami made a move, he could use genjutsu to control the opponent before they could attempt a mutual kill.
At this moment, the Sand Hidden ninja squad still didn't know what they were about to face. They nervously observed their surroundings. They knew they were surrounded and had also heard the news of the Sand Hidden Village's retreat. At first, they didn't quite believe it, but looking at the quiet surroundings, their hearts grew heavier. Had they been abandoned? Were they just to wait here, isolated and helpless?
Under such immense mental pressure, their initial thoughts were quite frantic. They felt they would rather die and take someone down with them. Because they feared dying without value, they chose not to run around but to wait here, yet they didn't expect the Konoha or Rain Hidden ninjas to remain inactive for so long.
As time slowly passed, their initially agitated minds gradually cleared. They began to wonder if they should choose death because of this, or if there might be another way out. Perhaps out of self-deception, they also thought that Konoha Village might not have discovered their presence and had already left, or that there might be a loophole in the encirclement created by the Konoha ninjas, and they still had hope of escaping.
Although they thought this, no one had the courage to actively attack. They feared encountering Konoha ninjas midway, which would force them into a fight to the death. The best outcome would be to take the opponent with them from this world; surrender was not an option, unless they could disregard the lives of their families.
Even if one had no family, they would still have to consider that once they surrendered, they would be seen as a traitor to the village. Even if they returned to the village after the war, what good would come of it? Ninja villages are places formed by clans, with the addition of civilians. In daily life, it seems fine, but once it enters the realm of ninjas, the cruel side of ninjas is revealed.
Therefore, even without family burdens, no Sand Hidden ninja chose to surrender. Rather than being cruelly tortured to death later, it was better to die quickly with the enemy!
"Are we just going to keep waiting here? Food will eventually run out, and we'll still have to go out and look for it," one Sand Hidden ninja said somewhat despairingly.
"Y-you're right, we'll still have to go out eventually," another Sand Hidden ninja said, his throat moving, but he didn't take a step.
The remaining Sand Hidden ninja was the strongest among them. His expression was haggard, but his gaze was still calm. Listening to his companions, he was silent for a moment, then slapped his leg heavily and said, "Waiting here to die is not an option. We can only seek life in death. Let's go out and scout the situation."
"What if we run into Konoha ninjas?"
"Then we fight! Are you afraid of death or what?!" the Sand Hidden ninja who suggested going out said fiercely. "Starving to death here is still death, and dying out there is also death. Is there any need to choose?"
The other two, hearing this, slowly nodded. Just as they decided to go out, they felt the ground shake slightly. Their previous deliberation had made their vigilance somewhat lax, and by the time they noticed, it was too late. Two people emerged from the ground, isolating the Sand Hidden ninjas.
The three immediately separated. The strongest one felt a bad premonition and instinctively drew a kunai, determined to seek a mutual kill with the opponent. At this moment, he felt someone appear on his body and immediately tried to pull out an explosive tag—although in such heavy rain, the power of explosive tags was greatly reduced, if a large number of tags were concentrated and used at close range, it might still be possible to achieve a mutual kill. The explosive tags obtained before the war had basically not been used once they noticed this terrible weather; everyone intended to use them when trying to achieve a mutual kill with the opponent.
However, this Sand Hidden ninja didn't have time to detonate the explosive tag. A pair of crimson eyes appeared in his vision. The crimson was like thick blood, engulfing the entire Sand Hidden ninja. His nasal cavity was filled with the metallic smell of blood, assaulting him so much that he felt like he was going to faint.
—Th-those… In the last moments of his memory, the Sand Hidden ninja wanted to utter the name of those eyes, but he couldn't. He completely lost consciousness, feeling no existence of anything.
His body fell to the ground, sinking slightly into the muddy earth, while the other Sand Hidden ninjas also collapsed, each with a "Uchiha Kagami" standing before them. Uchiha Kagami slightly closed his eyes, dispelled his shadow clones, and said to his subordinates, "Thank you for your hard work."
Then, Uchiha Kagami focused his attention on the Sand Hidden ninja controlled by genjutsu. The conventional use of genjutsu is to disrupt the opponent's chakra to create illusions. A higher level allows for the implantation of corresponding memory illusions to control the opponent. Of course, very few genjutsu users can achieve this ability.
The illusions that genjutsu can create are based on the user's own cognition. If one completely lacks the corresponding cognition, it cannot be created. In essence, genjutsu amplifies certain thoughts in the subconscious of the target. The more powerful the genjutsu, the greater the degree of amplification it can achieve—and the reason why Kotoamatsukami is called the strongest genjutsu is that it can amplify even the smallest thoughts deep within the opponent's heart, without them even realizing it, thereby rewriting their will, without needing to maintain a chakra connection like ordinary Sharingan users controlling others.
The human heart is complex and ever-changing. As long as it exists, no matter how minuscule, it can be rewritten by Kotoamatsukami. Therefore, Kotoamatsukami can virtually rewrite anyone's will, except for those whose hearts are completely devoid of any thoughts that can be rewritten, or those whose power surpasses Kotoamatsukami.
Uchiha Kagami quickly found what he was looking for. Aside from their unwillingness to be captured, the reason these people preferred death was the Sand Hidden Village's command not to surrender. If they surrendered, they would be deemed rogue ninjas by the village, and their families would also be exterminated.
"So that's what it is," Uchiha Kagami exclaimed in sudden realization, followed by an angry shout: "How brutal!"