July 5th
While the rest of the world was entirely consumed by the high-profile alliance ceremony between Konoha and Kumogakure, the remaining frontlines began to ease into a relatively peaceful state.
Inside the Land of Rivers command camp, Uchiha Shinichi walked slowly along the dirt path, conversing quietly with Hatake Sakumo.
"So, what was it truly like?" Sakumo asked as his eyes gleamed with curiosity. "What was it like to face Suna's Scorching Magnet head-on?"
The major, decisive battle between Konoha's vanguard and Suna had taken place about a week ago. However, Sakumo, Kaya, and Keiko had been deployed under the secondary divisions led by Kagami and Koharu to hunt down the enemy's decoy team. They had easily repelled the group of injured and elderly Suna-nin, but the veteran puppets were exceptionally cunning; they constantly avoided a direct confrontation, dragging out the engagement to exhaust the Leaf forces. The moment Kagami and Koharu tried to march back to reinforce the main front, the surviving Suna-nin would regroup, launching hit-and-run guerilla strikes before retreating the second Konoha retaliated. This frustrating game of cat-and-mouse persisted for two grueling days before Kagami finally ordered a total search-and-destroy operation. It took the combined division just a single day to completely wipe out the remaining Suna outliers.
Now that the dust had settled, Sakumo finally had the opportunity to reconnect with Shinichi at the base camp.
"He was a formidable foe..." Shinichi replied in a slightly bored tone, looking down at his palms. "But he was entirely too overconfident in his Scorch Release. He relied on it far more than his Magnet Release or any basic ninja fundamentals."
Yakumaru had been a dangerous opponent, but he hadn't displayed the refined lethality or absolute martial skill Shinichi expected from a true, Kage-level expert. It was highly likely that because Shinichi had personally witnessed the world-shattering clash between Madara and Hashirama, his standards were skewed. In his professional evaluation, Yakumaru barely scratched the baseline of a Kage. Peak Elite Jonin? That was the most generous rating Shinichi could give him.
Sakumo, on the other hand, twitched his eyebrows in utter disbelief. According to the intelligence reports Konoha had meticulously gathered on Yakumaru, the man was a monstrous combatant capable of slaughtering ten Jonin and a fifty-man squad of Chunin simultaneously. His Scorch Release was considered practically untouchable; no standard Ninjutsu, including advanced Water Release, could suppress its heat. In fact, fire and wind techniques only served to supercharge his plasma orbs. While Lightning and Earth Release displayed minor effectiveness, Yakumaru's Scorch Release could bypass heavy stone walls entirely to immolate the caster directly. To make matters worse, Konoha lacked ninja proficient enough in Earth Release to launch effective long-distance kinetic attacks against him. As for Lightning Release, Yakumaru effortlessly deployed his Magnet Release to manipulate surrounding shuriken and kunai, forming an electromagnetic shield that safely grounded all electrical currents. Approaching him was suicide due to his orbiting Scorch Orbs, and attacking from afar was useless. Yet, here stood Shinichi, casually dismissing him as an unworthy opponent.
Sakumo let out a deep, defeated sigh and shook his head. Ever since their very first spar back at the Ninja Academy, he had never been able to fathom the absolute limits of Shinichi's strength. It was both his greatest luck and his deepest misfortune to be the young Uchiha's closest friend. Frankly, practicing alongside Shinichi and receiving his direct corrections taught him far more than any Academy instructor or the elderly masters of the Hatake clan ever could. However, observing Shinichi's unfathomable growth and rapid development had often left Sakumo feeling discouraged—bordering on absolute despair during their early years.
Over time, he had grown accustomed to Shinichi's unnatural uniqueness, accepting his friend's genius for what it was. He stopped obsessing over how far ahead Shinichi had surged, choosing instead to focus entirely on perfecting his own blade.
Currently, Sakumo's individual combat prowess was on the verge of breaking into the ranks of the Elite Jonin—a tier that, while unofficial, was universally recognized across the Five Great Shinobi Nations.
Tobirama's military reforms dictated that veteran Elite Jonin were the primary candidates considered to succeed the Hokage mantle. Though the administrative council didn't maintain an official rank to distinguish them from standard Jonin, a silent consensus had formed throughout the military: the top one hundred most powerful Jonin in the Leaf were classified as the elite jonin. Sakumo's sheer skill with a blade had successfully elevated him right to the precipice of that golden circle.
Konoha commanded a massive standing force of roughly 1,500 active Jonin. Nearly twenty-five percent hailed from the Senju lineage, twelve percent belonged to the Uchiha clan, and the remaining roster was split among the other prominent ninja clans and non-clan civilian shinobi.
By comparison, the other hidden villages averaged only 700 to 800 Jonin. This massive disparity existed because Konoha had been founded peacefully, with the various warring clans of the Land of Fire joining the coalition 'willingly' under the sheer, unifying charisma of Senju Hashirama and the terrifying 'encouragement' of Uchiha Madara. Conversely, the other hidden villages had been forged through absolute bloodshed, as many of their localized clans refused to submit to a centralized authority without a war of attrition.
Shinichi shook his head, drawing Sakumo out of his tactical thoughts as he clenched his fist tightly.
"All we can truly do is continue to grow stronger, Sakumo. We must protect our families, our friends, and the people who actually matter. Because the true meaning of life... is simply in the act of living. As long as you are breathing... as long as there is even a flickering spark of life left within you, there remains a chance for reconciliation. A chance for change. A chance for something better."
He turned his dark gaze directly onto Sakumo.
"Political rights, prestige, forbidden jutsu, territory... all of that can be lost and eventually regained. But lives? Once a life is extinguished... it is gone forever."
Sakumo locked eyes with Shinichi for a long, profound moment. Slowly, he shifted his gaze, looking past the bustling encampment to watch his comrades resting, before staring idly up at the canvas of summer stars.
"The meaning of life is in the living..." Sakumo whispered to himself, the words echoing deeply within his chest. "Meaning... in the act of living."
For a fleeting second, Sakumo's internal chakra fluctuated with an intense, subtle frequency. His outward aura shifted visibly—hardening and refining until it felt like a master-crafted blade being perfectly sharpened on a whetstone. He looked back at Shinichi, a genuinely content, enlightened smile gracing his face. It looked as though an invisible, crushing burden had suddenly been lifted from his young shoulders.
"Thank you, Shinichi," Sakumo said softly, his voice clearer. "Every single time we speak, you never fail to teach me something invaluable. You're entirely right. What is the point of preserving our honor or fighting a war if we aren't alive to actually experience the peace?"
"What are you waxing philosophical for all of a sudden?" Shinichi chuckled, rolling his eyes playfully as he slapped Sakumo's shoulder. "Come on, let's go get some food. Kaya and Keiko are already waiting for us at the mess hall. My mother sent a massive batch of fresh bento through the Ninneko."
Sakumo blinked in surprise. "Your personal summoning contract is with the Ninja Cats?"
"No, idiot," Shinichi scoffed as they began to walk. "The Uchiha clan as a whole maintains a special, historical connection with the Ninneko clans. They run high-priority intelligence errands and logistical deliveries for us, and we pay them hefty sums of coin in return. In our specific case, my mother grooms them and manufactures specialized cat food that they absolutely crave. Anyway, are you joining or am I eating your share?"
"Of course I'm joining! Don't you dare touch my portion!" Sakumo laughed, hurriedly picking up his pace to keep stride with the Uchiha.
Enjoying a home-cooked meal packed by Uchiha Minami was an unparalleled luxury on the frontline. In a combat zone, the vast majority of rations consisted of dry, tasteless food bars and preserved meats designed purely for easy storage and survival. Fresh, hot meals were a rarity that ordinary soldiers almost never experienced. However, due to the Uchiha Gourmet enterprise and the clan's sprawling relationships with various animal kingdoms, their divisions enjoyed high-quality culinary drops once in a while.
Unlike other ninja families, the vast majority of beast contracts within the Uchiha clan were not signed by individual shinobi, but were rather held as collective assets of the clan itself. This organizational anomaly was a direct consequence of the Uchiha's unique Kekkei Genkai—the Sharingan.
Throughout the global summoning circles, the Uchiha bloodline carried a notoriously terrifying reputation. To be completely blunt, the vast majority of summoning animal clans were deeply wary of facing any Uchiha wielding a mature three-tomoe Sharingan, and they prayed daily to never cross paths with a user of the Mangekyō Sharingan. Even the legendary toads of Mount Myōboku and the colossal serpents of Ryūchi Cave maintained a cautious, strict wariness when dealing with the clan.
In the ancient past, during the brutal Warring States era, countless summoning beast clans had been forcibly subjugated, forced to serve the Uchiha under the total coercion of the Sharingan's absolute Genjutsu.
Over the past few centuries, the clan's overall temperament had calmed significantly, transitioning those ancient slave-bonds into standard, lucrative business transactions. Essentially, the Uchiha clan paid premium administrative fees and resource trades, and the summoning beasts executed domestic or scouting errands in return. After all, if there was one thing the modern Uchiha clan never lacked, it was an endless mountain of wealth.