Desolate outskirts, endless wilderness.
At times, the morning stars could still be seen faintly through the heavy dawn mist.
A few wisps of smoke drifted in the distance, while a winding stream meandered through the land. A cool breeze tugged at one’s hat, and fine rain dampened one’s clothes. Lush green grass covered the roadside, while the winding path disappeared to the left. It was like a pack of wolves and wild dogs barking madly from the roadside.
In the distance stood a stretch of woodland, filled with ancient cypress trees. Here and there, a few peach and apricot trees remained, though their blossoms had already withered almost completely.
Graves surrounded the area on all sides.
There was not a single trace of human habitation.
Land of Rivers.
Gennozuke had been away from home for more than half a year and looked thoroughly weather-beaten.
Fortunately, the mission Lord Kei had entrusted to him was finally nearing completion.
The Sand Shinobi of the Land of Wind had assembled a large army within the Land of Rivers.
As long as their supplies were burned, the Sand Shinobi advancing in force would have no choice but to solve their food shortage locally.
And the way shinobi solved such problems was very simple.
They robbed people.
After all, everyone knew just how poor the Sand Shinobi of the Land of Wind were.
If the Kazekage hadn’t been able to dig up iron sand and somehow keep the village going, the Sand Village could probably have disbanded in the time it took to finish a meal.
Therefore, determining exactly how much of the Sand Shinobi’s supplies to burn was a problem.
Burn too much, and the Sand Shinobi might collectively desert.
Burn too little, and it wouldn’t inflict enough damage on the Land of Rivers.
The Land of Rivers had already been battered into ruin by Gennozuke’s efforts over the past six months.
All it needed now was that final straw to break it.
If Gennozuke handled this correctly, the Red-Eyed Clan, once they reached the point where they could no longer survive, would have only two choices.
Either they could gather all their strength, attack the daimyō’s residence, take on the reputation of rebels and murderers who had killed their daimyō, and ultimately be crushed by the other daimyō acting together.
Or they could accept Gennozuke’s proposal and follow him to Konoha to begin a new life.
Leaving one’s homeland was difficult only as long as one could still survive there.
Once survival itself became impossible, there was nowhere that couldn’t be left behind.
The Red-Eyed Clan’s only concern now was whether they could integrate into their new homeland after they arrived.
For Gennozuke, that wasn’t a problem.
Both the Kōga and Iga Groups desperately needed more people.
From the moment they were founded, they had never truly been shinobi clans.
They were shinobi academies.
They simply happened to share the same surname now.
Both the Kōga and Iga Groups took great pride in that surname.
The power of deeply rooted ideas was frightening.
In Gennozuke’s world, only those who could no longer survive by ordinary means would choose to become shinobi.
People such as hinin and eta.
Tanners, butchers, undertakers, and shrine maidens were considered eta.
Kabuki performers, beggars, criminals, and displaced wanderers were considered hinin.
When such people truly had no other way to survive, they would risk their lives in exchange for a path to advancement and the possibility of earning the shogunate’s recognition.
The most important paths were becoming shinobi, assassins, and similar occupations.
Despite being called "shinobi," they were essentially a group of death-seeking warriors.
The name "shinobi" had supposedly been adopted because openly calling them warriors might have offended the samurai class and provoked their hostility.
No matter how well such people performed as shinobi, their lifelong aspiration was merely to attain the status of a warrior.
Even the lowest-ranking samurai was a status that people like shinobi could only dream of reaching.
Gennozuke had never dared dream that he could become a noble, much less a member of a great clan.
Yet now, he had actually become one.
Not only that, he belonged to the most prestigious clan in the world.
Therefore, protecting the honor of his surname had become his absolute duty.
Besides, Lord Kei had promised him that once he completed this mission, he would allow Oboro to marry him.
At that time, he would marry Oboro and have children with her.
He would enjoy life under the Uchiha name, while his children would cast off their eta status and become proud nobles.
They would be born into a stable environment, use the advantages bestowed by their bloodline to obtain tremendous power, and then let the glory of the Uchiha illuminate the entire shinobi world.
Whenever Gennozuke imagined that future, his heart trembled with excitement.
Why are these pitiful commoners of the Land of Rivers so stubborn?
Why do they insist on waiting until death is staring them in the face before believing that someone actually wants their loyalty?
It seemed Lord Kei had been right.
You had to keep suppressing them until they became desperate.
Then, when they were trapped in the abyss, extend a hand and save them.
Become the final lifeline they could cling to.
Only then would they truly feel grateful.
Otherwise, given enough time, every act of assistance would become something they took for granted.
And one day, if you were no longer capable of helping them, they might even come to resent you.
Sitting cross-legged atop a tree, Gennozuke realized for the first time just how complicated people were.
Back in his own world, a bunch of commoners could be dealt with simply by throwing some money at them.
And when had the Uchiha ever lacked money?
It was rather amusing.
In his previous life, Gennozuke had been so poor that, for the sake of money and status, he had been forced to kill his beloved Oboro with his own hands.
Who would have thought that fortunes would reverse in this life?
Not only had he become a member of a great clan, he had also been entrusted with enough wealth to crush a man beneath it.
He had come here to buy people’s lives.
As the saying went, a poor household needs wealth when traveling.
Whenever Gennozuke left home to carry out a mission, Lord Kei had stuffed no small amount of money into his hands.
And the amount was terrifying.
It was enough to buy the entire Land of Rivers.
If all that money had been spent inside the Land of Rivers, it could certainly have made this impoverished little country prosperous for a time.
Unfortunately, this money hadn’t come to save the country.
It had come to take lives.
A powerful nation would never allow another stable and prosperous power to emerge on its doorstep.
That was geopolitics.
The Land of Rivers possessed a considerable territory and bordered the strongest nation, the Land of Fire.
It had the potential to become a great power.
And that was precisely why it could never be allowed to prosper.
As a strategic buffer between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind, all it needed was a fierce population and widespread poverty.
A fierce population wouldn’t be easily conquered.
Poverty ensured that human lives remained cheap.
With wealth that could rival an entire nation’s treasury at his disposal, Gennozuke began spending recklessly throughout the Land of Rivers.
The people’s impoverished lives meant that labor was extraordinarily cheap.
In half a year, Gennozuke had gathered every rogue shinobi within the Land of Rivers.
Their number had reached an astonishing 2,500.
Although fewer than two hundred of them were even likely to possess Chūnin-level strength, numbers alone were impressive.
The daimyō’s government controlled only about five hundred shinobi.
To put it another way, the Sand Shinobi army invading Konoha consisted of only a little more than four thousand troops.
If Gennozuke wanted, he could even wage a defensive battle against the Sand Shinobi within the Land of Rivers.
And there was a good chance he could win.
Neither Uchiha Kei nor Gennozuke had anticipated this.
Unfortunately, the Sand Shinobi were not Gennozuke’s objective.
The Red-Eyed Clan was.
The problem was that the old stubborn members of that clan understood something very clearly.
As long as they remained in their homeland, they were respected local elders with authority and influence.
The moment they left, they would become nothing.
They might even become burdens upon their own clan.
Using tradition, attachment to their homeland, and every other means available to them, they refused to let the Red-Eyed Clan leave.
So what if our homeland is poor?
This is our root.
As a result, Gennozuke’s mission had remained stuck here.
Lord Kei wanted an absolutely loyal Red-Eyed Clan, not a group of burdensome stragglers.
Yet these so-called burdens possessed tremendous prestige within the Red-Eyed Clan.
If this problem couldn’t be solved, Gennozuke would never obtain a completely loyal Red-Eyed Clan.
Gennozuke didn’t mind killing every adult member of the Red-Eyed Clan and abducting all their children.
But if there was still a chance to secure enough people for Lord Kei, he was willing to make one last effort.
The Sand Shinobi’s coming raid might be the Red-Eyed Clan’s final opportunity.
If even after being pushed beneath such an overwhelming burden, to the point where they could no longer survive, the Red-Eyed Clan still refused to leave—
Then they couldn’t blame Uchiha Gennozuke.
At that moment, an explosion rang out.
A smile appeared at the corners of Gennozuke’s mouth.
"Shishirō, those missing-nin and rogue shinobi are just like we used to be.
"Our lives are so worthless."
In the distance, a shinobi unit composed of Genin recklessly charged the Sand Shinobi supply camp.
They threw themselves forward without regard for their lives, desperately trying to get even a single explosive tag into the Sand Shinobi’s camp.
The rewards Gennozuke had promised were enough to make them sell their lives.
Uchiha Shishirō, the adopted son of Uchiha Tenzen, disagreed with his companion’s statement.
But his disagreement wasn’t with the idea itself.
He simply disliked Gennozuke.
This was the man who was going to marry the princess of the Iga Group.
"Gennozuke, don’t say things that disgrace your status.
"We are noble Uchiha.
"And you are the man who will become the husband of Princess Uchiha of the Iga style."
Shishirō valued his surname above his own life.
"Not bad, not bad!"
Gennozuke considered himself an ardent defender of the Uchiha’s reputation.
But compared to the young people of the Iga Group, he suddenly seemed utterly lacking in devotion.
These fanatics who treated honor as their faith might worship Maitreya the god , but if anyone dared insult the honor they possessed as Uchiha, they would immediately send that person to meet their the god .
They truly were people who possessed not a shred of compassion when it came to honor.
"I was only feeling a little sentimental.
"I would never do anything that would disgrace the Uchiha.
"Otherwise, even with Lord Kei personally intervening, my marriage to Oboro might not happen.
"You people are such fanatics!"
As he spoke, Gennozuke put an arm around Shishirō’s shoulder.
"Speaking of which, you’re going to marry Uchiha Chikako after you return, aren’t you?
"Maybe our weddings will even be held together."
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