Chapter 62: More Money
The Sharingan, the eye that reflects the heart. An Uchiha who experiences a strong emotional upheaval may awaken it, progressing from one tomoe to three. And those with even greater talent may, under extreme emotional stimulation, evolve it into the Mangekyo Sharingan, gaining a variety of miraculous abilities.
Of course, there is no standard for "extreme emotion." It's also possible to have your entire family wiped out and only awaken a single tomoe.
In his past life, influenced by various works of fiction, Dana had thought it was easy to awaken the Mangekyo. A little stimulation, push them to the brink, and it would just happen. He had also thought that the Uchiha were the type to fearlessly charge into battle, shouting "For the glory of the Uchiha!"
But the reality was not so simple. A fearless warrior is not a ninja.
So, just as he thought his experiment had succeeded and his opponent was about to awaken the Mangekyo, Fugaku Uchiha calmed down. He gritted his teeth and said to the man behind him, "Inabi, take Yashiro and retreat."
"But Tetsu is in their hands!"
"Our only chance of saving him is to find Lord Jiraiya immediately. If we don't leave now, we'll all die."
The wounded Yashiro, supported by Inabi, said with difficulty, "The Sharingan cannot be allowed to fall into enemy hands."
"Would you rather one pair of Sharingan fall into their hands, or four?! That's an order! Retreat now! If they pursue, at that man's speed, it makes no difference whether we run or fight!"
At the critical moment, Fugaku gave the order to retreat. Though Inabi and Yashiro were furious, they were outmatched and had no choice but to obey.
After they had left, Fugaku saw that the man in the "One of Circles" mask did not pursue.
Is such a powerful man really a mercenary? he thought. Though not as coveted as the Byakugan, if he were from the Stone or any other great village, he would never have given up four pairs of Sharingan when he had the advantage.
He then began to back away slowly, preparing to leave.
Just as he had created some distance and was about to disengage completely, the man who had single-handedly defeated his squad called out.
"You actually managed to control your impulses. Are you really an Uchiha?"
Fugaku gritted his teeth. "I, Fugaku Uchiha, will remember this."
Dana understood. No wonder he had been so restrained.
"It's not a grudge, it's a favor," he said. "You were the ones who wanted a fight. You were outmatched, and I'm letting you go. You owe me."
Fugaku almost lost it. This shorty was so infuriating. It took all his strength not to say something even more shameful, like, "Just you wait, I'm going to get reinforcements."
He gave his opponent one last, long look with his crimson eyes and then quickly left.
"My lord," one of his subordinates asked, "what are your orders?"
"Use the super-sized sealing scroll to pack up these supplies. We'll release them near the Stone's camp and transport them normally from there."
A seven-foot-tall ninja with a garlic nose slammed his fist on the table.
"Another supply shipment hijacked! Dammit!"
Onoki, the Tsuchikage, was naturally with the main force for a major operation like the invasion of Konoha. But after a successful initial push into the Land of Fire, things had gone downhill.
First, they had been stopped by the reacting Konoha forces. Though they had entered the Land of Fire, they had not reached their intended destination. Then, their troops had struggled to adapt to the forest climate and terrain. A short battle with a few people was a completely different matter from a long-term encampment with thousands. How to set up camp, how to find water—it was all a headache. This was the first time the Stone had ever advanced this far. Most importantly, the long advance meant a long supply line, and Hiruzen's student was constantly harassing it in the Land of Grass, a major annoyance. If they sent too few men to escort the convoys, they were at risk of being attacked. If they sent too many, it was a waste of resources.
He had sent several teams to eliminate them, but they had all failed. Onoki wished he could just fly over to the Land of Grass and deal with them himself. But the enemy was elusive, and he worried about leaving his main camp undefended for too long.
Just then, a ninja lifted the tent flap. "My lord," he reported, "a supply shipment has arrived. It seems to be Oiwa's."
Onoki was surprised. Oiwa had reported that his convoy had been attacked three days ago. They had fallen into a trap, and not a single kunai was left. Onoki had chewed him out for it.
"Who brought it?"
The ninja's expression was strange. "Do you remember the guard missions we posted? The ones for the rogue ninja, to bolster the convoy's numbers? It's one of them. They call themselves..."
"They call themselves what?" Onoki asked, curious.
"...the 'Ashen Bandits'," the ninja said, his face still contorted.
Onoki was speechless. Who calls themselves bandits?
"They're all wearing mahjong masks. According to them, after Oiwa's team was drawn away, another squad of Uchiha ninja attacked. The Ashen Bandits repelled them, but by the time the fight was over, there were no Stone ninja in sight, so they brought the supplies here themselves."
Onoki considered the report. It all seemed plausible, except for the part about the rogue ninja being so responsible. The Stone had only hired them as cannon fodder and hadn't paid them much. An Uchiha squad was not an easy opponent. To defeat them, you needed at least twice the number of equally skilled ninja. This "Ashen Bandits" group was something special.
"Do they have any proof?" Onoki asked.
"They have a prisoner. We've confirmed his identity. He's a member of that Uchiha squad."
Jiraiya's unit had been active in the Land of Grass for a while now, and their members' identities were known. They even captured a live Uchiha. That's not easy.
Onoki was intrigued. "Go and ask them what they plan to do with the Uchiha prisoner," he ordered. "The Stone is very interested."
A rogue ninja organization and one or two Uchiha prisoners were not enough to warrant his personal attention. A Hyuga main family member, maybe. The Sharingan was powerful, but it was not very user-friendly for non-Uchiha.
A short while later, after he had already put the matter out of his mind, the subordinate returned. "The Ashen Bandits said," he reported, "that that's a different price. We'll have to pay more."
Onoki was speechless. They really did talk like bandits.
"How much?"
"They want the 'Light-Weight Boulder Technique'."
"...Tell them to take their Uchiha prisoner and get lost!"
On a hill outside the Stone's camp, Dana had chosen a spot to communicate with them. He was still a bit wary of the Tsuchikage. The old man—no, he wasn't old yet—was a formidable opponent.
"So they're not willing? What if I pay more?"
The Stone ninja who had come to relay the message looked at him like he was an idiot. The Light-Weight Boulder Technique was a secret art of the Tsuchikage's lineage, and one of the few jutsu in the world that allowed a person to fly. It was a strategic-level ninjutsu. In Dana's mind, it had incredible potential for development.
"Alright, alright, fine," he said. "But we did go above and beyond our duty. I hope you'll put in a good word for us with your superiors. And if you have any other missions, don't forget to recommend the Ashen Bandits."
As he spoke, he discreetly slipped a few explosive tags into the man's pocket.
The Stone ninja jumped, thinking he was about to be killed. He quickly checked them. It was a small stack of new, unactivated explosive tags. He almost gave me a heart attack!
Dana made a gesture. "We're all ninja," he said. "Money is so tacky. This is the real currency."
The Stone ninja's expression changed several times. "I'm just an ordinary Chunin," he said awkwardly, "but I am the one who handles the mission postings. I'll keep an eye out for you."
After sending the ninja away, one of his subordinates asked, "My lord, what's our next move?"
Dana took off his mask and took a breath. He counted the explosive tags in his ninja pouch. The Cloud was now mass-producing them as part of the "blacksmith's shop" project, though the outside world didn't know that yet.
"We continue our mission," he said. "The Stone's supply shortage can't be solved with a single convoy. We'll have to escort them for a while. Even if we can't protect them all, we have to ensure the basic supply route is open."
"When the Stone can finally face Konoha head-on, then we can move on to the next phase of our plan."
The subordinate hesitated. "Shouldn't you return to the Land of Hot Water, my lord?" he asked. "If this continues, it will be difficult to explain to the clan and to Lord Dodai."
They hadn't expected things to get so complicated. Not only had Dana fought, but he had also come to the outskirts of the Stone's main camp. They had been on edge for days. But Dana's authority was growing, and they felt they could no longer restrain him.
"No," he said. "Without me to adjust the plan in real-time, things could go wrong."
"Then what do we do with the Uchiha prisoner?"
"Send him back to the village. Let Dad decide what to do with him."
"Yes, my lord."
For a time, Dana and his "Ashen Bandits" made a name for themselves on the battlefield, repeatedly protecting the Stone's supply convoys from Jiraiya's attacks.
Jiraiya's unit, after their first encounter with the "Ashen Bandits," had tried to capture them and find out what had happened to Tetsu Uchiha, but they had found their opponents to be surprisingly strong, completely changing their perception of rogue ninja.
Both sides were skilled, but the "Ashen Bandits" had the backing of the Stone. Jiraiya's unit was also constantly on the run from the Stone's main forces. How could they fight a combination of the "Ashen Bandits" and the "Stone"? After several failed attempts and heavy losses, Jiraiya was forced to give up on rescuing Tetsu Uchiha.
The "Ashen Bandits" and the Stone ninja, on the other hand, had developed a good relationship. Many of the Stone ninja now knew that their village had hired a group of highly skilled and reliable mercenaries. Even Onoki was hearing good things about them.
Fugaku and the other Uchiha were furious, but there was nothing they could do.
In the end, after repeated failures and heavy losses, Jiraiya was forced to abandon his position in the Land of Grass. With the help of the reinforcements led by Sakumo Hatake, he broke through the Stone's encirclement and retreated to the Land of Fire. Though he had not achieved a complete victory, he was still treated as a war hero. He and his men had fought a lonely battle, delaying the Stone's advance and buying Konoha more time to prepare.
The Uchiha squad had performed exceptionally well, which had somewhat improved the villagers' opinion of the Military Police Force. More importantly, as the squad leader, Fugaku had gained a great deal of prestige within the clan. As a member of the main family, he was now a leading figure of the younger generation and a strong contender for the next clan head. But he would never forget the ninja who had taken his forehead protector, or Tetsu Uchiha, whose fate was unknown but had been covered up by both the village and the clan.
And Jiraiya brought the intelligence about the "Ashen Bandits" back to his teacher, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"A powerful rogue ninja organization?" Hiruzen mused.
Jiraiya nodded. "To be honest," he said, "there were eleven of them, and I felt like every single one of them was at the Jonin level. It's not normal. It's highly likely they're ninja from another great village in disguise, trying to escalate the war between us and the Stone."
Hiruzen said nothing. Of the five great villages, besides Konoha itself, all of them would benefit from a war between the Stone and the Leaf.
"No matter," he said finally. "Whether they're acting on another village's orders or not, we must proceed with the next phase of our plan."
"Old man," Jiraiya said, his voice grim, "what are you going to do?"
"We will launch a full-scale offensive," Hiruzen declared, his voice firm. "We will drive the Stone from the borders of the Land of Fire and push the battlefield back to the Land of Rain."