"No more joking around." Hiruzen spoke with a serious expression. "Konoha jōnin, Shimizu Mitsuki — the village needs you to lead a unit to reinforce the Kumogakure front in the Land of Hot Water."
After several months of buildup, the battle there had become increasingly fierce. Due to insufficient manpower, Konoha's defenses were often breached by surprise attacks.
Now that the Kirigakure front had been concluded by Mitsuki single-handedly, Konoha finally had enough shinobi freed up to send reinforcements to the last two active battlefields.
Mitsuki had been anticipating this for a long time. He accepted immediately:
"Leave it to me, Hokage-sama. I've been wanting to test the mettle of Kumogakure for a while now."
To be honest, Mitsuki truly enjoyed fighting strong opponents. His previous clash with Madara had been incredibly satisfying.
In his previous life, he had been fortunate to be born into a peaceful world.
But passionate, bloody battles are a man's romance — and after obtaining such overwhelming power, Mitsuki naturally wanted a stage worthy of displaying it.
Seeing the eagerness in Mitsuki's eyes, Hiruzen nodded in satisfaction.
"Good. The reinforcement unit will be fully assembled in three days. When the time comes, you will lead them to the Land of Hot Water."
He then handed Mitsuki a document.
"This is the list of jōnin selected for the reinforcement unit. Take a look and see if anything needs adjustment."
Mitsuki accepted the list and skimmed the top — and almost let out a whistle.
Had he stabbed a stick straight into the Uchiha clan's nest?
At the very top were Ruri and Shisui, two of the strongest in the entire Uchiha clan.
And the remaining names also included quite a few Uchiha.
After scanning the list, Mitsuki raised his eyes.
"Didn't the Uchiha just return from the Kirigakure front? Isn't this pushing them too hard?"
Hiruzen shook his head lightly.
"This wasn't an order I forced on them. Clan Head Fugaku came to request it personally."
A few days ago, after the Uchiha and Hyūga returned from the Kirigakure front, they had barely rested when the Uchiha became restless again.
Before all this, most Uchiha had been stuck working in the Konoha Police Force. But after fighting freely on the Kirigakure front for so long — only for Kirigakure to suddenly surrender — their battle-lust had no intention of quieting down.
So the Uchiha who returned from the battlefield went to Fugaku and begged him to ask the Hokage to let their clan join the frontline again.
Fugaku's ears were always soft. After getting pushed by his clansmen, he went straight to the Hokage building to report it.
Conveniently, Hiruzen had been worrying about what the Uchiha would do after Mitsuki left. With Ruri having awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, he was afraid the Uchiha might develop… other ideas.
If Ruri were to imitate Madara and provoke a rampage of the Nine-Tails… Hiruzen was no Hashirama. He had no chance of subduing the beast alone.
Let alone the consequences if Kushina was harmed — even in death, he wouldn't be able to face Lady Mito.
So Hiruzen simply decided to send Ruri and Shisui — who also likely possessed a Mangekyō — into Mitsuki's unit.
Let the capable work more.
Mitsuki didn't mind. His relationship with Ruri needed no explanation — old classmate, long-time teammate. His relationship with Shisui was also good.
Besides, someone like Shisui, a natural good guy, rarely got into conflicts with anyone.
"Also, Mitsuki," Hiruzen added bluntly, afraid Mitsuki hadn't caught his meaning. "You must keep a close eye on the Uchiha. Their temperaments are extremely unstable. Even those you know well may suddenly change and act irrationally."
He might as well have written "Ruri" in bold letters.
Mitsuki understood the concerns of Konoha's upper ranks well — their distrust of the Uchiha wasn't new, nor would it vanish so easily. It was, after all, the will passed down by their teacher.
So Mitsuki calmly smiled and reassured him: "Mm. I'll keep that in mind."
Mitsuki's confident smile seemed to ease Hiruzen's nerves, which had been tense ever since the reappearance of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
…
After Mitsuki received his mission, Konoha's wartime mobilization began operating at full speed.
Within the village, the end of the Kirigakure conflict didn't affect civilian life much. After all, the main forces fighting there had been the Uchiha and Hyūga — unlike the Sunagakure battle, where many civilian shinobi returned, and it was close to the New Year.
So only the two clans held small internal celebrations.
Hiashi even invited Mitsuki to join their celebration, but Mitsuki felt it inappropriate for an outsider to attend a clan-exclusive event and politely declined.
…
Inside the Naka Shrine of the Uchiha clan.
After receiving Hiruzen's approval, Fugaku immediately gathered the clan for a traditional assembly.
Ruri, as the clan's rising star, was naturally present. Shisui, however, had been tied up serving the Hokage and couldn't attend.
"Hokage-sama has approved the request I submitted days ago. We will depart in two days under the command of Jōnin Shimizu Mitsuki to reinforce the Land of Hot Water against Kumogakure."
Standing at the front of the shrine, Fugaku wasted no time with pleasantries.
The Uchiha below instantly buzzed with excitement. Truth be told, they had felt somewhat constrained fighting on the Kirigakure front.
Most Kirigakure shinobi specialized in Water Release — a natural bad match-up against the Uchiha's signature Fire Release.
Now they could go clash with the brutes of Kumogakure? They were thrilled.
Some were even moved enough to mutter a few rare compliments about Konoha's leadership.
Seeing his clansmen satisfied, Fugaku felt relief wash over him.
But he barely had a moment to enjoy it before dissenting voices rose:
"Clan Head, why do we have to be led by that Mitsuki?"
"Yeah! He's just some kid who earned a few achievements with Space–Time ninjutsu!"
"He's what, barely a teenager? Fresh out of the Academy for only two years! What does he know about leading troops?"
A vein bulged on Fugaku's forehead.
He cursed these idiot clansmen in his heart.
Arrogance needs limits — Mitsuki's achievements were real, absolutely solid.
The fact that Mitsuki had killed the Third Mizukage hadn't yet spread publicly. Only a small portion of Konoha knew, and high-ranking shinobi in other villages had learned bits through their intelligence networks.
But the ordinary Uchiha shinobi? Of course they didn't know.