The reinforcements from Konoha arrived on the third day after Hatake Sakumo reached the Northern Border. Moreover, they came in force—three thousand ninja in total.
Leading them was Koryo Jonin, an ironclad supporter of Hatake Sakumo, with a Sarutobi clan elite jounin serving as his deputy.
However, immediately upon arriving at the main camp of the Northern Border Defense Force, the reinforcement unit clashed with the stationed personnel, forcing Hyuga Soushu and Hatake Sakumo to cut their trip short and return to the Land of Fire ahead of schedule.
The reason for this conflict? Surprisingly trivial—a senior Nara jonin named Takumi from the Ino–Shika–Cho triad took offense at Yamanaka Toshimichi abandoning tradition. He tried to set things right according to his own interpretation of tradition, aiming to bring the wandering Yamanaka back into the fold by reestablishing a traditional three-man team, while also bringing the logistics and supply operations under direct control of the Hokage faction.
Naturally, Yamanaka Toshimichi, whose views were deeply rooted in martial philosophy, refused outright to have anything to do with those whom he held in such contempt. He justified his rejection of Takumi Nara's demand to return to old customs, and after a heated verbal exchange, the infuriated Nara jounin decided to take advantage of the fact that most of the border forces had already left the camp, opting instead for violent coercion.
In the eyes of the Nara elite, this was clearly an internal clan affair; although Toshimichi did not belong to his clan, the alliance between the three clans had stood the test of time, and the Nara had always been the acknowledged strategic minds behind the group. Guiding a misguided Yamanaka back to the right path seemed not only justified but entirely reasonable—even if such a matter ended up before the Hokage himself, the Nara jounin wouldn't feel the slightest bit guilty.
Even if, afterwards, Yamanaka Toshimichi's logistics directorship was forcibly revoked by Hyuga Soushu, it still achieved the goal of removing one capable jounin from Soushu's limited number of subordinates, effectively weakening the opposition against the Hokage faction.
The problem, however, lay in the absence of Hyuga Soushu—he had stepped out for inspection—but within the camp remained Mahiru Uchiha, who had been designated as the acting commander.
Mahiru Uchiha responded decisively, ordering immediate full-armed mobilization of every chuunin-level or higher personnel within the border forces. She first gravely injured the troublemaking Nara jounin, and then bluntly confronted Koryo Jonin, the commanding officer, asking whether he intended to provoke an internal war against the ninja clans!
Upon arrival at the main camp, Koryo had been preoccupied with settling in the newly arrived reinforcements, inadvertently decreasing his oversight over the Hokage-faction ninjas harboring ulterior motives. Thus, only when Mahiru wounded the Nara jounin and tensions between both sides escalated dangerously did Koryo finally catch wind of what had happened.
However, being a long-time village administrator and staunch ally of Hatake Sakumo, Koryo had never seen eye-to-eye with the Hokage faction to begin with, and unwilling to disrupt the unity required for facing external threats, he could only act as a mediator in this mess.
Yet the Hokage faction ninja, who had been severely beaten but still hadn't learned their lesson, voiced discontent and continued challenging Mahiru Uchiha with the support of a deputy commander belonging to the Sarutobi Clan within the reinforcement unit. Soon, nearly eight hundred ninja gathered, facing off against the forces mobilized by Mahiru Uchiha.
Including the Jonin from the Nara family, all the ninja in the Hokage faction had overlooked one critical fact: within the reinforcement unit, the majority still consisted of ninja from various clans within the Coalition of Ninja Clans!
Although relations between each clan and the Uchiha Clan were generally distant, and although the Coalition of Ninja Clans was nothing more than a loose alliance formed purely out of mutual interest, as long as one of Konoha's two prestigious clans—the Uchiha Clan—still stood within the coalition, it gave many other clans the courage to challenge the Hokage faction. Even more so considering the Hyuga Clan still held a dominant position within the Coalition of Ninja Clans.
Therefore, while the Hokage faction ninja continued their armed confrontation, Jonin from different ninja clans spontaneously mobilized nearly thirteen hundred ninja from their respective families and quickly surrounded the cluster of Hokage faction ninja.
As for the remaining eight hundred or so members of the reinforcement unit who had not yet joined the conflict, most were commoner-born supporters of Sakumo Hatake. Although they did not join the confrontation, they had already received secret orders from Koryo Jonin to prepare themselves as backup forces, aiming to prevent the conflict from escalating into an outright civil war.
Just as tensions ran high inside the headquarters, Soushu Hyuga and Sakumo Hatake returned to the Ninja Force headquarters.
"In the name of the Supreme Northern Commander and Jonin Unit leader, all ninja units that have gathered without authorization must disband immediately, regardless of identity or demands!"
Sakumo Hatake's expression was extremely grim, his tone clearly revealing extreme impatience: "Five minutes! Any who haven't disbanded and returned to their tents will be designated as rogue ninja!"
This was truly a very serious statement.
Leaving aside Sakumo Hatake's prestige and strength, even just those 800 neutral ninja under Koryo Jonin's command alone would already pose a significant threat to the Hokage faction ninja!
Meanwhile, Mahiru Uchiha cast her gaze toward Soushu Hyuga, and only after noticing Soushu Hyuga give a slight nod did she elegantly wave her hand backward. The border guards from the Northern Front immediately sheathed their weapons and, led by their respective Jonin, marched back in formation to their tents in the Ninja Force camp.
Seeing what was happening, the clan ninja who had joined the standoff were quickly called off by their clan's Jonin leaders.
Now, all pressure was placed upon the Hokage faction ninja led by the reinforcement unit's deputy commander.
"What is your name?" Sakumo Hatake asked gloomily.
"Saemon Sarutobi," the deputy commander swallowed hard, reluctantly answering despite clear unwillingness.
After all, although Soushu Hyuga had brought back only nine ninja from Northern Border, every single one was a Jonin from one of the two great noble clans. Combined with Sakumo Hatake himself—the legendary The White Fang revered throughout the ninja world—and the backing of the Jonin Unit supporters, even without participation from the directly commanded Northern Front forces or the ninja clans within the coalition, Sakumo Hatake was still confident he could disarm the ninja from the Hokage faction.
This was also the handling plan that Sakumo Hatake and Hyuga Soushu had discussed on their way back.
Hyuga Soushu would not forcefully intervene in the affairs of the Reinforcement Unit under the name of the Hyuga Clan. In return, Kakashi Sakumo would allow ninja from the Coalition of Ninja Clans to join the Northern Border Defense Force voluntarily as reinforcements. After all, the original influential Jonin stationed at the Northern Front headquarters had been severely weakened following the cleansing battle and the stealth raid warfare. This also allowed Soushu to refresh his forces and reassign key personnel accordingly.
As for the ninja belonging to the Hokage faction, Kakashi Sakumo did not really hold any discriminatory or exclusionary attitude toward them. However, he had also made a request to Hyuga Soushu—that this matter be let go completely without any further accusations from either side, and at most, when assigning combat missions, they should simply avoid working together.
But this did not mean Kakashi Sakumo was willing to see the ninja of the Hokage faction forming their own independent group with an implicit intention of passive resistance against him, the Supreme Commander. Therefore, his plan was to completely dismantle all organizational structures above the squad level within the Hokage faction's ranks, and fully integrate them into the civilian ninja Jonin Units controlled by Koryo Jonin.
As for the ninja from the relatively loosely organized Coalition of Ninja Clans, since they came from different families and held milder attitudes toward the Jonin Units, Kakashi Sakumo chose to turn a blind eye.
"I've never heard of you, and your name isn't on the Jonin Unit list! How did you get the title of Jonin?"
Sakumo Hatake snarled immediately, "And as the Deputy Officer of the Ninja Force, rather than restraining those under your command, you have instead allowed them to gather and cause trouble. Your behavior has completely violated the code of conduct for senior Ninja Command personnel!"
"No, that's not true! I was mobilized into military service from my clan after the Ninja Clan Summit, and my status as a Jonin was specially granted by Lord Hokage before deployment. Lord Sakumo has always been stationed elsewhere, so there might have been some delay in information!"
Saemon Sarutobi cut in hurriedly: "As for the origin of this incident, it's not our fault—it was all instigated by that woman from the Uchiha Clan! And she even injured a Jonin!"
Saying this, he ordered his subordinates to bring forward the seriously injured and unconscious Nara Jonin, presenting him before Sakumo Hatake and Hyuga Soushu.
"Lord Sakumo, you are the village's most just senior elder. Please, you must—"
"Do you mean my men were in the wrong?"
Hyuga Soushu interrupted his words.
And the six Uchiha Jonin standing behind him simultaneously revealed their Sharingan eyes!
"Commander Soushu, that's exactly what happened!"
Although Saemon Sarutobi quickly bowed his head to avoid the gaze of the Uchiha Jonin's Sharingan, he insisted on his statement, "If it weren't for that woman—"
"That's three minutes!"
Sakumo Hatake said coldly.
He already knew full well where the truth lay, and had no interest in listening to these nonsensical explanations.
At the same time, Sakumo Hatake raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
"Move out!"
Upon seeing this, Koryo Jonin, who had been closely observing the situation inside the tent, immediately shouted loudly. Then more than eight hundred ninja poured out one after another, aggressively advancing toward the ninja of the Hokage faction.
The members of the Hokage faction, including Saemon Sarutobi, immediately fell into chaos.
"Lord Sakumo! We agreed on a five-minute dispersal period!"
Saemon Sarutobi bellowed in frustration.
"Halt!"
Koryo Jonin shouted in response.
"Tora! Tora! Tora!"
His followers halted at once and chanted "Tora!" three times in perfect unison as a reply.
"Lord Sakumo, we just want a fair say."
Saemon Sarutobi had no choice but to bow again.
"One more minute!"
Sakumo Hatake's words were cold and ironclad.
This was also the first time he had shown such an uncompromising stance.
"I..."
Saemon Sarutobi opened and closed his mouth several times, yet could not utter a word under Sakumo Hatake's death glare. After wasting about ten seconds, he finally gave the order in defeat: "Lower your weapons, disband, and return to camp!"
At the same time, Sakumo Hatake's raised hand and Koryo Jonin's half-drawn blade both slowly dropped.
Hyuga Soushu wore a calm expression, while the six Uchiha Jonin standing behind him revealed disappointment.
As for Saemon Sarutobi, he could only console himself that his endurance had prevented Konoha from falling into internal strife during a critical time.
As for those hundreds of ninja from the Hokage faction who had gathered together with him, their faces relaxed significantly, but they quickly felt ashamed for backing down so easily, silently blaming Hyuga Soushu and Sakumo Hatake for this humiliation.
"A day of retribution shall come."
Though Saemon Sarutobi didn't say much when retreating back to his tent, he silently burned with rage, longing for the day to settle the score against Hyuga Soushu, Sakumo Hatake, and those audacious bastards who dared disgrace Konoha's first family.
"Soushu, I won't interfere with the direct personnel affairs of the Ninja Force; please handle those matters yourself."
After the ninja from the Hokage faction dispersed, Sakumo Hatake finally spoke calmly: "After all, we will soon face Kumo's forces."
"If internal conflicts remain unresolved, external wars are unlikely to yield good results."
Hyuga Soushu expressed his opinion impassively.
"We're running out of time."
Shaking his head, Sakumo Hatake continued: "Besides this reinforcement unit, the village will probably continue sending around two thousand more ninja troops, aiming to finally resolve the accumulated hatred since The Second's sacrifice for the village. Therefore, war is unlikely to end quickly, and unity during prolonged warfare is extremely important."
"Unity is indeed crucial. Yet, it's undeniable that different interpretations of the Ninja Way make trust between us difficult."
Not long ago, Hyuga Soushu had already used righteous reasons to weaken nearly all the Hokage faction's influence within the Northern Border Defense Force, so naturally, he wasn't willing to cause any trouble at this moment.
For him, maintaining stability, smoothly integrating the entire Ninja Force, and consolidating power fully suited his personal interests.
"The upcoming combat missions won't force interaction between your subordinates and theirs."
Sakumo Hatake reiterated the promise reached during their return journey, adding further: "However, as clan ninja voluntarily join the Border Forces' jurisdiction, can the original border ninja have the option to choose withdrawal freely?"
"The ninja of the operational squads deployed within the Northern Border can make their own decisions regarding reassignment, although their defense zones will be transferred accordingly."
Hyuga Soushu paused briefly before replying, "After all, the main force needs to rotate out for rest after two rounds of combat."
"Then there shouldn't be a problem."
Kakashi Sakumo breathed a sigh of relief.
Sakumo had allowed Soushu to release those former subordinates in part to quell the resentment among the Hokage faction's ninja. It was like giving a slap and then offering a sweet—standard practice to soothe tempers.
What Hyuga Soushu truly sought, however, was power and a position he could fully control. As for whether those Hokage faction ninja within the operational squads stayed or left the current command, he didn't care—he'd never trusted them anyway.
Most importantly, with those Hokage faction ninja leaving the Border Forces, Hyuga Soushu could reclaim control over the ninja ranks and convert them into his personal private army. While outwardly the Northern Border Defense Force seemed weaker, in truth, it was like sacrificing a few broken fingers to forge a strong, clenched fist.
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