Mifune, the supreme commander and general of the Samurai of the Land of Iron, felt as if calamity had struck out of nowhere, even as he sat quietly at home.
What baffled him most was why the samurai, who had already been driven into a frigid, barren refuge—the Land of Iron—by the ninja, were still relentlessly targeted by those treacherous shinobi.
One of the sparks that ignited the Third Great Ninja War was the Rain Ninja Village's invasion of the Land of Iron, led by Sanshouo Hanzo, crossing numerous small countries in a distant campaign. Now history seemed to repeat itself, with Konoha's powerful Rebel Ninja Clan Alliance also setting their sights on the samurai of the Land of Iron, imposing extremely harsh terms. This was the final insult!
"What should we do?"
Upon receiving the ultimatum issued by the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation, the senior samurai leaders grew anxious and hurried to Mifune's mansion to discuss countermeasures.
"Let's appeal for aid from the Daimyos of the Five Great Countries!"
Rikaku, one of Mifune's direct subordinates, suggested, "The honorable Daimyos would surely not sit idly by while the samurai order falls apart entirely."
"The Daimyos won't pay any attention to this!"
Okisuke, another senior samurai, countered, "Even the strongest among the ninja nations, the Land of Fire, stood helpless against these rebellious clans. Even if we plead with them on our knees, they'll still turn a deaf ear!"
"Then what other options do we have?"
"Are we really just going to wait here and die?"
The samurai hall exploded into a frenzy of arguments.
In truth, all these senior warriors knew deep down whether such appeals would actually work or not.
Yet people often refuse to admit helplessness until they're forced face-to-face with it.
"Prepare for war."
Amid the chaos of opinions, Mifune's voice, though calm, struck like lightning across the gathering, leaving the senior samurai stunned.
"Prepare for war?"
They exchanged uneasy glances—some intrigued, many more filled with apprehension.
Just before the full outbreak of the Third Great Ninja War, under the command of Sanshouo Hanzo, the Rain Ninja Village launched an aggressive invasion upon the Land of Iron, desperate for scarce mineral resources and steel.
Despite putting up brave resistance worthy of the true samurai spirit against an enemy considered merely third-rate within the Ninja World, the outcome for the samurai of the Land of Iron had still been tragically disastrous.
Even Mifune himself, the pinnacle of martial excellence in the Land of Iron, suffered bitter defeat at the hands of Sanshouo Hanzo—a humiliating memory never to be erased.
And as for ordinary samurai? Those who didn't flee at the mere sight of Sanshouo Hanzo were already considered elite warriors.
Moreover, although the Land of Iron had long insisted on maintaining neutrality—refraining from rashly sending samurai forces to take advantage even when the Rain Country faced widespread assault from multiple Hidden Villages—this did not mean they were isolated or ignorant about current events across the Ninja World.
In fact, as samurai were increasingly seen as relics of a bygone era and no longer posed any real threat to the new order built by ninja and noble daimyo families, the samurai of the Land of Iron actually experienced a certain revival under the "One Village, One Nation" system. They became sought-after personal guards and military advisors for various daimyo and aristocrats, thus gaining a unique advantage—especially in intelligence gathering.
Precisely through this informational edge, Hyuga Soushu's domineering manner and awe-inspiring feats of glory quickly spread among these perceptive senior samurai commanders.
Based on the Land of Iron's past battles and the many great victories won since Hyuga Soushu came to power, these senior samurai quickly reached one clear conclusion: If even the Rain Ninja Village couldn't defeat the Land of Iron, then facing the martial might of Hyuga Soushu—who had become legendary across the Ninja World—or even the Coalition Force of Konoha Clans, any stubborn resistance would lead to consequences far worse than those suffered during the Rain-Iron War!
"Have your courage completely vanished with the invasion of the Rain Ninja Village?"
Looking at this group of senior samurai clearly displaying signs of hesitation, Mifune immediately lost his temper: "You're the worst batch of samurai commanders I've ever led!"
"Have some shame! Don't let the legacy of our samurai be stained by your weakness and fear!"
The senior samurai all kept their heads lowered, barely daring to breathe.
"Preparation for war is absolutely necessary!"
Mifune took a deep breath and continued explaining, "Regardless of whether we ultimately seek help from the various daimyos, we must demonstrate a spirit of courageous resistance. Otherwise, those court nobles will never accept our request!"
"No one wants to help a pack of spineless, helpless failures!"
Okisuke, Mifune's trusted aide, immediately followed up: "Only by fully showcasing our samurai spirit can we resist powerful enemies with the aid of the nobles and daimyos!"
"We respectfully receive your command!"
Their reply, however, was feeble and uncoordinated.
Although envoys kept arriving from every corner of the Ninja World, each frantically trying to mediate and prevent the looming open war threatening the Land of Iron, Soushu still refused to meet anyone—including the messenger Anbu ninjas sent directly from Konoha.
Admittedly, although the Hidden Leaf's messenger Anbu were given the cold shoulder by Hyuga Soushu, the seven hundred specially selected shinobi dispatched by the four great clans and the Ino–Shika–Cho triad had become the first full-strength Standing Ninja Army assembled entirely from the ninja clans; clearly demonstrating that despite internal disagreements, these clans aligned with the Hokage lineage could still use their heads when faced with genuine interests.
Regarding this matter, Hyuga Soushu gave high praise: "Cooperation doesn't mean we have to agree on everything; what matters is seizing profitable opportunities."
Sarutobi Shinnosuke, personally appointed by his father Hiruzen Sarutobi as representative of the Standing Ninja Army, also expressed strong agreement. Speaking as heir to the Sarutobi Clan, he affirmed that the Hyuga were the fairest and most selfless force among the ninja clans—an indispensable pillar for peace throughout the ninja world.
The reason was very simple: the Hyuga Clan, with its immense financial resources, had directly purchased all the unsold grain from the Central-Southern Border Forces controlled by the Hokage faction ninja clans.
Moreover, according to plans laid out by Hyuga Soushu, starting next year, the entire Central-Southern territory would switch entirely to cotton cultivation. The Hyuga Clan would also jointly invest in and establish weaving workshops.
This decision followed a theory proposed by Hyuga Soushu following the joint conference:
"We have to aim for the high-value segment of the supply chain!"
Therefore, after such a forward-looking explanation, almost no clan representative could raise any objections. After all, a method for making money had already been generously shared—if one still couldn't figure out how to enter that path, it could only be blamed on one's personal lack of comprehension.
As for those envoys from various countries lingering around Hakone Prefecture, they also received official notices delivered under the name of the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation, as each clan's Standing Ninja Army gradually arrived on site.
The content was straightforward—either implement an open-door policy without discriminatory restrictions, or wait for the company's Standing Ninja Army to kick down your gates and enforce equal distribution of benefits by force.
No third option existed.
The envoy from the Land of Lightning was surprisingly quick to accept the situation. Upon receiving confirmation, he immediately turned back for his homeland. After all, nowadays the Land of Lightning had effectively become a fragmented state—part feudal, part occupied—and was barely holding on to its former self. Apart from that ironic title of being one of the Five Great Countries, it possessed little real authority.
Furthermore, the prolonged war with Mist had drained Cloud's final reserves of strength. Though they had barely managed to repel those foreign Mist invaders who arrived across the sea, now they could do nothing but retreat into their stronghold at Raimei Canyon and silently lick their wounds, completely unable to resist Konoha's rampant infiltration.
Hence, no matter how reluctant the nobles and aristocrats under the Lightning Daimyo might feel, they could only watch helplessly as the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation flooded their markets, watching their domestic workshops and farm owners go bankrupt one by one.
Yet this situation brought some minor benefits—powerful courtiers began seizing this wave of collapse to purchase what were once valuable assets at rock-bottom prices. They also started adopting intensive production models inspired by the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation.
In response, the imperial court of the Land of Lightning officially named this policy "Industrial Promotion and Development," hoping to cultivate a powerful industrial conglomerate through internal competition capable of resisting the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation.
After the Lightning Country's envoy departed, however, representatives from the Land of Earth and the Land of Wind remained locked in a standoff within the Hakone Prefecture city. Their main purpose? Even if they couldn't achieve anything themselves, they wouldn't let the enemy sneak off to strike a secret deal with the Hyuga Clan.
However, apart from these major nations and the Land of Iron—who would soon face enforced free trade at the hands of the Standing Ninja Army—there was one more country already panicking like a fish out of water.
That country was none other than the Land of Waterfall, which proudly considered itself the sixth-greatest nation in the Ninja World and a neutral state.
During the Coalition Force of Ninja Clans' campaign against Grass Country, it had once been marked by Hyuga Soushu as one of the invasion targets. Unfortunately, this plan was abandoned due to strong opposition from Konoha's F4.
But times have changed.
Now even the Sarutobi Clan showed signs of being all talk and no action. While the Hokage's decrees from Konoha still held some sway within the village, their reach beyond it was fading fast. Those original Konoha clans who'd already made their fortunes and moved their families out of the village no longer gave much thought to the Hokage's will. As for the so-called Will of Fire, it had long since faded away during nearly three years of expansion waves—after all, capitalism is the most alienating force!
Therefore, both the Daimyo of the Land of Waterfall and Takugure viewed the existence of the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation with deep suspicion. Especially after the company began forming and training its own Standing Ninja Army, the top leaders of the Land of Waterfall couldn't sit still anymore.
Although Hyuga Soushu publicly claimed the corporation aimed to open Iron Country's self-imposed isolation and promised to benefit its people with high-quality yet affordable goods—and although Iron Country's samurai indeed started preparing their armies for fierce resistance—the truth was obvious to anyone with clear eyes: those outdated samurai represented remnants of a bygone era, destined for inevitable defeat.
Under such circumstances, the Land of Waterfall naturally needed to consider its own fallback options.
After repeatedly failing to secure an audience, the disappointed ambassador from the Land of Waterfall could only report back to his Daimyo about failed peace negotiations. Consequently, the village of Takugure began mobilizing and preparing for war.
Whether they could actually defeat the coalition forces of the Leaf ninja clans remained uncertain, but regardless, as the sole Sixth Ninja Village in possession of a Tailed Beast outside the Five Great Ninja Villages, Takugure had no reason to surrender without fighting.
Let us now turn to another chapter—one blossom follows its own branch.
Just as rival factions across the Ninja World began weaving their own webs of alliances and countering each other's moves, in May of Year 42 in Konoha's calendar, under Hyuga Soushu's leadership, four thousand strong Coalition Forces of Ninja Clans marched southward from the occupied regions of the Land of Lightning, heading steadily toward the Land of Iron.
Likewise, five thousand samurai troops led personally by Iron Country's general Mifune actively mobilized as well, relocating toward border areas directly threatened by the advancing Coalition Forces, quickly seizing strategically advantageous positions.
At noon on the second day after the Coalition Forces' departure, Hyuga Soushu and his unit appeared before the samurai army's frontline positions.
"Their marching speed seems even slower than ours!"
"Those ninja probably aren't anything special anyway!"
Having waited through an entire night and morning, finally catching sight of the Coalition Forces, the samurai whispered among themselves, trying to boost each other's morale.
"Silence!"
Mifune barked instantly, sending the samurai officers rushing forward to silence the whispering troops.
"We might've miscalculated slightly."
Looking at the composed formation of the Coalition Forces standing ready before them, Mifune couldn't help sighing regretfully.
Overly nervous, once securing advantageous terrain, Mifune had immediately ordered his samurai into full alert mode, anticipating the offensive the Coalition would supposedly soon launch.
However, when estimating the Coalition's pace of advance, he calculated based purely on average speeds of ordinary ninja forces, completely failing to expect that Hyuga Soushu would march so leisurely—almost like walking slowly.
Meanwhile, the samurai scouts Mifune had dispatched fell one by one beneath the Gentle Fist strikes of Hyuga's reconnaissance ninjas, unable to relay even the slightest piece of intelligence back to the frontline. Therefore, unaware of the actual situation, Mifune and his men maintained a vigilant posture continuously throughout the entire night.
The problem, though, was that even samurai had their limits when it came to endurance.
Although the warriors under his command seemed excited at the moment, Mifune could see that their energy and morale were nearly depleted. Now they were only clinging on with sheer determination.
Therefore, even an outcome where they barely escaped with their lives would be considered a merciful result.
"Sigh..."
Mifune sighed inwardly. He whispered to his aide Rikaku, giving him quiet instructions: should the battle turn against them, Rikaku was to pull back immediately with the two thousand rear-guard troops.
And if they got surrounded while retreating? Surrender on the spot—no sense fighting to the death.
Rikaku was deeply perplexed by these orders but loyally accepted them nonetheless.
Just as Rikaku hurried away, the Coalition Force of Ninja Clans completed their formation and started advancing forward steadily.
Meanwhile, elite ninja squads began flanking toward both wings of the samurai formation. At the front, adjustment shots signaled the upcoming large-scale barrage of ninjutsu attacks.
"It's starting."
Mifune took a dry swallow, then slowly drew his long sword. He then summoned another trusted retainer, Okisuke, assigning him to take over command of the samurai army.
Before Okisuke could recover from his shock at being suddenly placed in command mid-battle, Mifune had already stepped out of formation and advanced directly toward the enemy line.
"This is..."
Hyuga Soushu noticed the middle-aged warrior stepping forth suddenly from the enemy ranks.
"That's General Mifune of the Land of Iron," Fugaku Uchiha responded swiftly, peering through his telescope. "A master swordsman renowned for his [Iai Beheading] technique."
"Is that so?" Soushu chuckled lightly. "In this day and age, someone still dares to play the old one-on-one duel trick!"
He raised his voice to the gathered officers, "Gentlemen, who among you will claim him?"
Shwip! Shwip! Shwip!
Numerous Jonin from various ninja clans immediately raised their hands enthusiastically, clearly eager to participate.
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