As the branch family head of the Hyūga Clan, Hyūga Hizashi's strength spoke for itself. His mastery and application of the Byakugan far surpassed that of ordinary Hyūga shinobi, allowing him to see things more clearly and in greater detail.
When Ren heard his words, he frowned slightly. The uneasy feeling in his heart grew stronger.
"Ren … the one leading those Konoha ninja is Mimura Yōhaku, the commander of the Land of Grass border defense unit! These are all border garrison troops!"
After observing a while longer, Hizashi's expression changed dramatically as he spoke anxiously.
The Border Defense Forces, as the name suggested, were responsible for guarding the frontier.
The unit led by Mimura Yōhaku was stationed along the Land of Grass border, primarily tasked with defending against sudden attacks from Iwagakure.
If border defense shinobi appeared here without official redeployment orders, there could only be one explanation:
Iwagakure had launched an invasion, and the border defenses had been breached.
But that was exactly what didn't make sense.
Even if the Iwagakure army attacked, the defenders could have relied on the defensive network Konoha established along the border, retreating step by step while resisting the enemy until reinforcements arrived.
It was impossible for the defense line to collapse so quickly and retreat all the way to Kikyō Mountain without any prior warning.
"Ren , what should we do?" Hizashi asked urgently.
Ren shook his head solemnly.
"We'll take it one step at a time."
"Arrange for everyone to rest and recover their strength first. We'll discuss the rest after Mimura Yōhaku arrives."
Hizashi suppressed the anxiety in his heart and left to organize medical treatment for the wounded.
After some time passed, Mimura Yōhaku and the border defense forces finally approached the fortress.
When they saw the devastated state of Kikyō Mountain Fortress, they were stunned.
Clearly—
They had no idea the fortress had been attacked.
"What happened here?!"
"What's going on?"
"Who's the commander here?"
As soon as he entered the fortress, Mimura Yōhaku began shouting loudly while searching for the person in charge.
Ren walked over directly.
"Captain Mimura. A word in private."
Mimura Yōhaku was momentarily stunned when he saw him, confusion appearing in his eyes.
"And you are…?"
Since the outbreak of the Third Great Ninja War, Mimura had been stationed at the border and rarely returned to the village.
Naturally, he didn't recognize Uchiha Ren , who had only recently risen to prominence in Konoha.
"Uchiha Ren ."
"Current head of the Uchiha Clan."
"Commander of the Konoha Military Police Force."
Ren introduced himself concisely.
"Uchiha Ren …?"
Mimura's eyes widened.
"You're the Crimson Sun from the Kirigakure battlefield?!"
He immediately straightened his posture and respectfully bowed.
"Mimura Yōhaku greets you, sir."
Although he didn't know when Ren had become the Uchiha Clan Head and Military Police Commander, there was no reason for Ren to lie about something so easily verified.
And both of those positions were ranked above Mimura's own command authority.
While there was no direct chain of command between them, Mimura—being an extremely traditional man—still showed proper respect.
"Forget the formalities."
Ren pulled him aside to a quiet corner.
"What happened?"
"Why are your border defense troops here?"
Mimura gave a bitter smile.
"The fault lies with me."
"I was caught off guard by Iwagakure and forced into a retreat all the way here."
Ren frowned.
"How did it come to that?"
"Under normal circumstances, as long as you fought while falling back between the border outposts, even five thousand Iwagakure troops shouldn't have been able to defeat you this quickly."
Mimura's expression turned even more bitter.
"That would have been the case… originally."
"But yesterday during the day, we received an urgent order from the Hokage's Office."
"The order required us to withdraw five hundred ninja from the Land of Taki border and send them to the Land of Rice Fields to assist the defenders there in encircling Kumogakure forces."
"As a result, the defenses along the Land of Taki border were essentially left empty."
"I hadn't even had time to redeploy troops from the Land of Grass border to reinforce it when that very night we received intelligence that Iwagakure had launched a full-scale attack from the Land of Taki border."
"Because the defenses there were hollowed out, the Iwagakure army encountered almost no resistance at all."
"Soon afterward, I received reports that once the Iwagakure forces entered the Land of Fire, they maneuvered toward our flank and rear, attempting to wipe us out in a single blow."
"And almost at the same time—"
"Sunagakure launched an attack in the Land of Rivers, tying down the defenders there."
"They also assembled an elite force that passed through the Land of Rain and launched another assault against us."
"Surrounded on all sides, we had no chance of victory."
"The defense line collapsed completely."
"So I chose not to continue resisting. I gathered the border defense troops from the Land of Rain and Land of Grass, retreated here, and planned to defend Kikyō Mountain Fortress to the death while waiting for reinforcements from the village."
"During the retreat we were attacked by several small units from Iwagakure and Sunagakure…"
"But fortunately our losses weren't too severe."
After hearing the explanation, Ren finally understood the situation.
From Mimura's account, his decisions had been completely reasonable.
If Konoha's defensive network across the Land of Rivers, Land of Rain, Land of Grass, and Land of Taki was imagined as a single defensive line, then withdrawing troops from the Land of Taki had effectively created a gap in that line.
Iwagakure had entered through that gap and penetrated into the Land of Fire.
From there, they could launch attacks against the defense line's flank and rear at any moment.
This meant the originally connected defensive line—where units could support each other—was instantly broken into isolated strongpoints.
Once that happened, the entire defense network collapsed like falling dominoes.
Fortunately, Mimura had made a decisive decision to retreat.
Otherwise, they might have been annihilated before even receiving the official withdrawal order from the village.
Under normal circumstances, the leadership of Konoha would never issue such a foolish order.
As for the order Mimura received—
Ren didn't even need to think to know who was responsible.
Shimura Danzō.
He must have issued the order in the name of the Hokage's Office without authorization.
There was no doubt about it.
Danzō had both the audacity and the means to do such a thing.
Even when Hiruzen Sarutobi had been alive, Danzō frequently acted in the Hokage's name to interfere with decisions.
And now—
With Hiruzen gone—
There was no one to restrain him.
Ren spoke again.
"Captain Mimura… how many people did you bring back this time?"
"About 1,200."
Mimura's expression darkened.
"Nearly three hundred of our comrades died during the retreat."
"If not for their sacrifice…"
"The rest of us might already have been completely surrounded and annihilated by the Iwagakure and Sunagakure armies."
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