If one simply compared the current strength of each unit under the Northern Border Ninja Force, it would definitely be insufficient to conquer Kumo's main headquarters.
After all, even if Kumo had endured countless hardships and internal turmoil, its foundation as the second strongest among the Five Great Hidden Villages still stood firm before suffering any large-scale devastating attacks.
Therefore, although most Jonin in the Military Council agreed to march northward and strike against Kumo, which had just barely recovered from the Eight-Tails incident, Sakumo Hatake mostly arranged troop deployments focused on capturing various prefectures across the Land of Lightning.
Hyuga Soushu kindly offered a further explanation: "We must dismantle the Land of Lightning's war potential before engaging in decisive battle with Kumo. Only then can we achieve victory at minimal cost during the upcoming final confrontation!"
Naturally, these were nothing more than superficial justifications; Hyuga Soushu's true objective was actually those scattered Guardian Ninjas directly serving the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning, who had temporarily replaced Kumo Ninja Force's military presence throughout the country.
Although the number and combat capability of the Land of Lightning's Guardian Ninjas couldn't compare to Fire Country's direct ninja forces due to limitations in national resources, even a small threat can become significant in large numbers. Soushu didn't mind leading personally and clearing out these minnows firsthand.
Once the Jonin Military Meeting reached a unanimous decision, Sakumo Hatake first sent another request to the village for reinforcements. Meanwhile, at Hyuga Soushu's strong insistence, he was once again appointed as Chief Inspector, tasked with eliminating illegal ninja organizations such as the Guardian Ninjas in central prefectures of the Land of Lightning in preparation for the subsequent large-scale northern offensive.
Sticking to his philosophy that quality outweighs quantity, Soushu took only about three hundred shinobi northward for this mission, leaving all the lower-ranked Genin from the border forces behind under the Instructor Corps for advanced training and routine duties. However, this time around, Mahiru Uchiha and his sole apprentice Might Duy accompanied him on the campaign.
Departing from Hakone Prefecture, Soushu's Konoha Northern Expedition Inspection Force swept through four prefectural cities in the Land of Lightning. After capturing each city, they systematically destroyed the city walls, dismantled the local guardian nobles' fortresses, looted their treasuries, and then opened the granaries, freely distributing food to the common people of the Land of Lightning!
As a result, the perception of Konoha ninja as mere invaders was greatly diminished. Even after the withdrawal of the Konoha forces, faced with the increasingly brutal rule and heavy taxation imposed by the noble families' samurai-led military retinues, many ordinary people began longing for the comparatively better conditions they briefly experienced during the Konoha ninjas' occupation of the cities.
However, for shinobi, public favor held absolutely no value.
Soushu's true aim was to strike fear into the aristocrats at the Lightning Daimyo's court, driving them to make rash and desperate decisions out of panic.
For example, courtiers collectively submitted a petition urging the Daimyo to deploy his own Guardian Ninja forces—whose power was already vastly inferior to the inspection ninja forces—to fight back against Soushu's invading army rampaging across the Land of Lightning.
After all, each court noble in the Daimyo's court had a powerful local clan backing them. Hyuga Soushu's campaigns across the prefectures were effectively digging out their roots, so it was only natural for the aristocrats to feel anxious and alarmed.
But the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning wasn't a fool. He wouldn't recklessly throw away his Guardian Ninjas so easily.
Due to the historically strong relationship between the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning and the Kumo ninja village, there had been no urgent need before Konoha's invasion for the Daimyo to raise an independent ninja force. Instead, funds were mainly directed to the village to strengthen its power, thus raising the country's and ruling elite's standing within the ninja world.
To the nobles of the Five Great Countries—from the Daimyos down to the local lords—the so-called ninja wars were, at their core, nothing more than a game of prestige. They didn't care whether ninjas lived or died; what mattered to them were the vanity of great-power status and the wealth that naturally followed increased rank.
As for the commoners—
Which noble truly cared about them?
To the nobility, commoners were like sewer rats, weeds in a field, or cockroaches—always multiplying, always replaceable. Cut one batch down, and another would rise up on its own. Under the control of the Daimyo's samurai armies and ninja forces, they willingly offered their labor and even their children, praying for that tiny bit of protection.
Therefore, no matter how brutal the ninja wars seemed, within the framework of separation between villages, nations, and military from civilian governance, they had little real impact on the aristocratic elite. After all, ninjas who didn't directly engage in actual production or management relied on the nobles for financial and material support. To the nobility, the wars fought by ninja over mission quotas were no different from rabid wolves tearing each other apart over scraps of meat.
But everything changed when Hakone Prefecture fell.
First came A's Kumo Ninja Force, choosing to set up their command center inside the city to conceal their movements, which led to an attack by Konoha ninja. Along with massive civilian casualties, nobles also suffered unexpected disaster.
Then, with Kumo's counterattack and cleansing operations crushed, the local nobles endured even greater suffering amid street-to-street fighting once the city walls were breached. Especially those nobles foolish enough to hide scattered Kumo ninjas within their mansions for self-protection, hoping to use them as leverage. But under the Byakugan eye of the Hyuga ninja, all these ordinary people sheltering alongside ninja were identified as hostile entities and mercilessly eliminated without exception.
Yet this was still just the beginning.
After the fall of Hakone Prefecture came the northward advance led mainly by Hokage-aligned ninja forces, who successively broke through several prefectural cities and completely wiped out the samurai armies controlled by the local guardian nobles.
But compared to the actions of Soushu Hyuga's pacification ninja army, all of this was like a drop in the ocean!
Prior to this, the northern Jonin forces composed of Hokage faction ninja had always refrained from staying long after capturing a city out of fear of retaliatory strikes from Kumo's massive army. They hadn't even raised their blades against local aristocrats. At most, they'd just looted some unguarded treasury treasures before leaving quickly. Although the aristocrats suffered losses, they could directly swallow up any remaining or undiscovered repository assets after Konoha ninjas left, then send letters requesting emergency relief funds and supplies from the Daimyo's court.
But Hyuga Soushu was different—he refused to let middlemen profit. He wanted it all!
So when the city fell again, nobles based on stereotypes offered no futile resistance. However, what awaited them wasn't an opportunity to scavenge but rather Kunai flashing with eerie blue light threatening their lives.
Under these ninja threats combined with Genjutsu manipulation, the aristocrats performed no better than the lowest paupers. Once those Kunai pressed against their necks, these previously arrogant nobles who once claimed their bloodline superiority immediately spilled everything like beans from a tipped barrel!
Then came a locust-like swarm that devoured every last coin of the aristocrats' generational wealth.
Even daily necessities like grain and cloth that couldn't easily be carried away were distributed generously across the city under Hyuga Soushu's orders, showering everyone with benefits.
This absolutely broke the hearts of captured aristocrats—who could bear seeing precious white rice handed out to despicable commoners like this? It was simply outrageous!
Thus, Hyuga Soushu naturally became the darling child of newborn figures like Dongxi and Beyang—the chief culprit disrupting peace in the Ninja World and outlaw harming aristocrats.
However, the kunai of condemnation ultimately outweighs mere verbal criticism. No matter how furious defeated aristocrats became behind closed doors—ranting, cursing, sticking pins into effigies—it didn't hinder Hyuga Soushu from remaining invincible, conquering city after city.
As for civilians in the Land of Lightning whose good fortune arrived unexpectedly from Konoha while they stayed safely at home, those blood-soaked Konoha ninja bursting into cities seemed just like celestial guardians bestowing miraculous kindness upon them. Who else in the world would ever see ninja freely giving things to common people?
Such polarized perceptions peaked after Konoha Ninja Forces withdrew from captured cities and moved elsewhere—noble families desperate to recover losses naturally targeted recently enriched commoners: "What you eat, wear, and use—all belong to me!"
Driven by this mindset, local aristocrats quickly counterattacked upon Konoha forces' withdrawal, ruthlessly extorting and blackmailing commoners who hadn't yet finished celebrating their sudden windfall—kicking them headfirst into despair!
Therefore, spontaneous armed resistance by commoners naturally arose.
Because the noble families' samurai armies had been either decimated or scattered during the Leaf Village's invasion, they lacked sufficient strength when the nobles hastily began to oppress the commoners. At the very least, they no longer held a power so overwhelming that it separated them from the common folk.
Thus, after the commoners launched consecutive armed uprisings that defeated the nobles' henchmen, those originally fearful peasants who timidly picked up crude weapons to protect their own interests suddenly realized—the lofty nobles were not actually invincible!
"Originally thought nobles were untouchable—until they saw with their own eyes how nobles died just as easily when struck down!"
Suddenly, from the commoners' perspective, the nobility's halo of superiority completely faded away. Their so-called noble bloodlines were no longer sacred, and the ruling status once protected by martial might rapidly crumbled. The central provinces of the Land of Lightning, already ravaged by warfare, quickly descended into a full-scale free-for-all chaos!
As a result, the courtiers remaining at the Daimyo's mansion grew extremely anxious. The reason they had maintained power and enjoyed lives of luxury within the Daimyo's court was precisely because...
Especially after the rice riots began spreading toward the Kinai region directly governed by the Daimyo himself, even the Daimyo—who had initially hoped to use rioters to weaken the courtiers' influence—finally lost his composure as well.
Overnight, the Lightning Daimyo issued eighteen imperial edicts to Kumo Village, demanding that the Third Raikage immediately dispatch ninja forces to eliminate those reckless Leaf invaders. Meanwhile, the Lightning Daimyo also ordered ceremonial officials to send a diplomatic delegation with a letter of protest to the Fire Daimyo. However, shortly after this envoy left the Kinai territory surrounding the Daimyo's mansion, it silently disappeared into the chaotic sea of rebels flooding the central provinces.
This time, even the Lightning Daimyo was genuinely stunned!
Then, those guardian ninjas who had avoided battle to preserve their strength quickly learned the reason behind the missing envoy: After complete disorder overtook the central provinces of the Land of Lightning, black-market ninja and masterless ronin previously lurking underground surged forth like swarming locusts, disguising themselves within rebel ranks and swiftly seizing leadership positions.
In other words, this was no longer simply a peasant rice riot—it was an outright subversion by underground criminal forces against the established system dominated by the Daimyo nobility and ninja villages!
This truly terrified the Daimyo beyond measure!
Previously, under continuous pressure from village ninja, those black-market ninja and masterless rogues could only cower in shadows like rats in sewers, barely surviving through harsh and limited black-market missions. Although noble families knew of their existence—and some even secretly profited from them—involvement remained controlled. But now, with surface order utterly destroyed, there was nobody left within the central provinces of the Land of Lightning capable of balancing these wildly rampaging outlaws.
"Lord Soushu, our sealing scrolls are already full."
Hyuga Soushu received this report from his Assistant Aide-de-Camp, Mitotou Takahiro, while resting after capturing their seventh city.
"Didn't everyone carry at least two sealing scrolls? How come they filled up so fast?"
Hyuga Soushu asked in surprise.
Could the loot really be that huge? He hadn't noticed anything special.
"Indeed, especially since the confiscated ninja tools are taking up so much space."
explained Mitotou Takahiro.
"Destroy all the low-value ninja tools and discard trinkets like silver coins. Only Sealing Scrolls carrying value no less than Gold Kan in equivalent weight are allowed to be kept!"
Upon hearing this, Hyuga Soushu immediately realized that his underpaid civilian-born ninja would likely fall into packrat mode — never wanting to part with anything they found. He quickly issued a strict order: "Anyone who violates this rule will have all their spoils confiscated upon inspection back at the main camp!"
"Yes, sir!"
Mitotou Takahiro saluted and left promptly to pass on the top command to the Konoha ninja who had taken part in the battle.
"Now *that's* a good kind of problem,"
remarked Mahiru Uchiha cheerfully while polishing an excellent top-grade katana she had just seized.
"There are still three cities ahead of us. Once we wrap up operations in the central area of the Lightning Country, our mission will be deemed a full success."
Hyuga Soushu drew a circle on the map where they were currently stationed, marking the area as cleared of enemies.
Mahiru Uchiha made a sudden move to corner him—only for Soushu to beat her to the punch, stepping forward quickly and silencing her with a kiss.
In the midst of a garden brimming with spring's vibrant hues, something new bloomed silently between them.
<><><><><><><><>
Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!
~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** this weekend!
<><><><><><><><>
~ 100+ Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
~ More *Free* Chapters and Books Available on Patreon!
patreon.com/Tansnovel
<><><><><><><><>