Bai Mu and Tsunade were both resting peacefully, sleeping very well, but Uchiha Fugaku was different. He had been sleepless all night, with too many things on his mind.
Because Uchiha Fugaku's thoughts were overly complex, he didn't know how to deal with the upcoming events. Tsunade's appearance on the Hidden Mist battlefield was absolutely a monumental matter.
If Tsunade were attacked and rescued by our fellow village ninjas, and then she left after recuperating, everything would still be normal. But if Tsunade stayed on the front lines, that would be a problem.
How would the village internally view this?
How would the Hokage faction see this?
Uchiha Fugaku had a headache.
Or rather, he was agitated.
And confused.
What should he do?
This was his biggest dilemma.
He sat in a daze all night, unable to figure out what to do until dawn.
It wasn't until Uchiha Yakumi arrived that the calm was broken, but the news the latter brought undoubtedly left Uchiha Fugaku feeling very distressed and confused.
"Clan Head, the Hyuga clan ninjas have arrived, and Bai Mu said he wants to hold a jonin meeting, hosted by Tsunade."
"Tsunade? What is Bai Mu trying to do?" Uchiha Fugaku didn't react for a moment, then looked at Uchiha Yakumi with a puzzled expression.
Holding a meeting was one thing, but having Tsunade host it? What was the purpose?
"I don't know."
Uchiha Yakumi shook his head, then said, "Clan Head, we must be present. Given Tsunade's appearance, her intentions, and the impact of her staying here, we must be cautious."
Tsunade's identity was too sensitive. If something happened to her here, the Uchiha clan would be in trouble.
"I know, that's why I was sleepless all night. This matter… sigh, what is that guy Bai Mu doing? What is he, a young man, thinking? I originally thought Tsunade came just to take her disciple away, but I didn't expect her to stay and treat the wounded. Although this reason is very reasonable and there's nothing wrong with it, after all, we're all Konoha Hidden Village, the problem is her identity's influence, plus we are Uchiha, which makes it very awkward."
Uchiha Fugaku sighed, showing a dejected expression. Since he was in front of his confidant, he had no qualms.
Seeing this, Uchiha Yakumi quickly said, "Clan Head, we must be present. We must ascertain what Tsunade intends to do, and Bai Mu's situation is unusual. Why did he suddenly become so close to Tsunade? These are all suspicious points."
"What do you mean? Are you saying Bai Mu is going to betray the Uchiha clan?" Uchiha Fugaku could only think of this, as it was usually the case.
To Uchiha Fugaku's question, Uchiha Yakumi could only respond with a wry smile: "Clan Head, I can't say much about this, but it's really strange!"
"Bai Mu has always been low-key, but his strength is undeniable. The problem is, based on my observations during this period, a group of young Uchiha are gathering around him. These young people are quite strong, aged between their teens and twenties. I'm a bit worried if Bai Mu has some plans or schemes."
A group of young Uchiha gathering around him?
Young people from within the clan gathering around him, what is he trying to do?
Upon learning this, Uchiha Fugaku couldn't help but think a lot, because this matter was clearly not right, and he couldn't help but overthink it. He was, after all, the head of the Uchiha clan. Moreover, the usually low-key Bai Mu actually gathered a group of young Uchiha clan members—what was he trying to do?
"What does he want to do?"
"I don't know!"
Who could know?
Currently, there was no way to find out, and besides, he hadn't done anything out of line. Could they really forbid people from interacting just because of this?
That was definitely impossible.
Uchiha Fugaku stood up, pondered for a moment, and then instructed, "Alright, after the meeting, you go talk to him. If anything seems off, tell me immediately."
"Aren't you going to show up?"
Uchiha Yakumi asked.
"No, you go first." Uchiha Fugaku waved his hand and strode out of the main tent.
Bai Mu, Tsunade, and the jonin from the Uchiha and Hyuga clans were all gathered here, along with jonin from other ninja clans and a few jonin from civilian backgrounds.
However, these were relatively few, only about a dozen people in total, far fewer compared to the jonin of the Uchiha and Hyuga clans.
When Uchiha Fugaku arrived, he noticed that Bai Mu and Tsunade seemed to have reached some kind of agreement.
This atmosphere… something was off!
Even if Uchiha Fugaku were a fool, he could still spot the problem.
Moreover, he wasn't foolish; he clearly sensed that something was amiss, and combined with the strange atmosphere inside the tent, the jonin of the Uchiha clan and the Hyuga clan also seemed a bit off, which made it very difficult to fathom.
No matter what, I am the commander. What do you mean by doing this, Tsunade?
Calling you Lady Tsunade is a sign of respect, not an invitation for you to point fingers and possibly seize command. This is truly inappropriate.
"Lady Tsunade, may I ask if you have any instructions?"
Uchiha Fugaku stood in the middle, scanned the room, then looked at Tsunade and asked in a deep voice.
"Let's start the meeting."
Tsunade said indifferently.
She did not respond to Uchiha Fugaku's question.
And this attitude and response undoubtedly deepened Uchiha Fugaku's suspicions.
A ninja from the Nara clan spoke, "Hyuga Reito, along with the Hyuga clan ninjas, already scouted the movements on the Hidden Mist Village's side last night. The Hidden Mist's main base has frequent ninja traffic, and it's highly likely that the Third Mizukage has personally arrived. This indicates that they are planning a major move."
"The Third Mizukage has personally arrived?"
"That's impossible, isn't it?"
Suddenly, there was a buzz of discussion.
As for Uchiha Fugaku, he frowned, pondered for a moment, and finally spoke.
"Lady Tsunade, our position here is not the main battlefield, but a defensive line. Our mission is primarily defense. The Third Mizukage personally arriving seems unnecessary, doesn't it? Do they intend to invade the Land of Fire by sea? Although the coastline is long, the difficulty of invasion is high, consuming manpower and resources. There's no need to do that."
As soon as Uchiha Fugaku spoke, a considerable number of Uchiha clan members echoed his sentiments.
"Exactly, we are merely in a standoff; it's not to the extent that they would summon a Kage."
"Besides, why would the Third Mizukage need to come to the battlefield?"
"That's right, he's already old. Coming here would just be suicide."
Of course, many of these clan members were quite radical, believing that even if the Third Mizukage came, an old man like him would merely be committing suicide.
As the Uchiha clan ninjas joined in, the situation immediately became somewhat chaotic.
At this moment, Hyuga Reito stepped forward and said in a deep voice, "Clan Head Fugaku, what Nara Shinichi said is most likely true. According to our reconnaissance, they are already building multiple strongholds, and there are indeed many transport ships at sea. These are very likely the Hidden Mist's mobile supply points at sea, which is very disadvantageous for us."