Two days later.
The three of them, dragging along a single surviving cart of supplies, finally managed to hire a boat. By the evening of the third day, they reached the front-line camp.
Uchiha Kai and Nara Kazama were casually assigned a tent.
After dropping off Ishikawa Itsuki at the medical camp on a stretcher, they returned to their quarters.
Kai lowered his voice:
"About that story you spun back there—are you sure it'll hold? We lost two full carts of supplies. You're certain no one will come after us for it?"
Kazama only smiled.
"Relax, it's fine. This kind of thing happens all the time. Everyone does it.
So far, no one's gotten into real trouble. Even without a scapegoat, at worst you get a scolding, maybe it slows your promotion a little.
But in wartime? Not even that. Usually they just tell you to make up for it in the next mission.
And this time, we already have a scapegoat lined up. Nothing to worry about.
Trust me—there won't even be a reprimand.
Two carts of supplies? That's nothing in the scale of a war.
The truly ruthless ones? They directly empty out entire front-line warehouses, then when the enemy attacks, they 'accidentally' blow it all up—before reporting to the village that it was destroyed by the enemy.
That trick is called battle losses.
You know how much is stored in a front-line warehouse? Easily over five billion Ryo worth of goods."
Hiss!
Kai was stunned.
He thought he had already lowered his expectations of people's morals—but clearly he still overestimated them.
This… this was far too familiar.
But one thing puzzled him. He had been in this world for so long, yet never heard a whisper of such practices.
He frowned.
"Wait—that doesn't make sense. I'm from Uchiha. We're one of Konoha's great clans. How have I never heard of this?"
At that, Kazama looked at him with a strange expression, brows slightly furrowed.
Clearly, he was struggling to explain.
Seeing that, Kai pressed on.
"We've fought side by side now. We're squadmates. Just tell me straight."
Kazama sighed helplessly, then finally admitted:
"The reason is exactly what you just said—because you're an Uchiha."
And instantly, Kai understood.
Of course.
Who knew the Uchiha better than an Uchiha?
Hot-headed, stubborn, prideful.
These shady little wartime games were an open secret among Konoha's higher-ups.
Everyone did it. Every clan.
Even the Sarutobi clan. Especially the Sarutobi clan.
Why? The logic was simple.
The supplies weren't the clans' personal property. They came from the village coffers, funded by the Daimyo's stipend each year.
If they went missing—so what? Just ask for more from the Daimyo.
No wonder the Uchiha could never fit in with the village.
Yes.
If the Uchiha ever found out about this, they'd refuse to stoop so low. Worse—they'd expose everything to the world, just to prove the glory of their clan.
The Uchiha were proud. Too proud.
And it was precisely this pride that doomed them to never seeing eye to eye with Konoha's other clans.
In his past life, Kai had never quite understood it.
Sure, there were plenty of idiots in the clan. But was that really enough reason for Hiruzen Sarutobi to wipe them all out?
The radicals within Uchiha—did they honestly have the brains or numbers to overthrow the Third Hokage's rule?
Ridiculous.
Most clans were neutral. The Ino–Shika–Chō were firmly pro-Hokage.
If Uchiha had rebelled, even Tsunade and her comrades would've stood by Hiruzen. Not to mention ANBU, Root, and likely even Uchiha's own moderates—including their clan head Fugaku—would have sided with the Hokage.
So why exterminate them?
Wouldn't it have been better to keep the Uchiha alive, and just throw them onto the front lines to die in battle?
He used to think Sarutobi Hiruzen was just an idiot.
But now—he finally understood.
The real reason was ideology.
Everything else was a smokescreen.
No wonder an Uchiha could never become Hokage.
If an Uchiha did take that seat, how would the others keep leeching off the village treasury?
A bitter laugh escaped him.
"Alright, say no more.
I finally understand why Uchiha could never be Hokage. Why the whole village singled us out.
Tobirama Senju was right after all—
We really are evil Uchiha."
Kazama winced awkwardly.
To hear an Uchiha call his own clan "evil"… that was a first.
What shocked him even more—was how deep Kai's thoughts ran. Kazama had only hinted at the truth, yet Kai had drawn the full picture on his own.
Since when did an Uchiha have this kind of brain?
And stranger still—Kai didn't even seem angry. His final words sounded more like weary reflection.
Even with Nara's quick wit, Kazama couldn't quite wrap his head around it.
In the end, he could only conclude:
This squadmate of his—wasn't Uchiha-like at all.
He coughed lightly.
"Ahem, those were your own thoughts, not mine. Don't repeat them to anyone.
If word gets out, I'm finished."
His face was bitter.
Truth be told, he regretted even bringing it up.
If this one Uchiha ever blabbed to the rest of those stubborn fools—if they all suddenly realized why they could never be Hokage, why no one supported them…
Hiss! Just the thought made his scalp prickle.
But it was too late now. All he could do was pray Kai wasn't a big mouth.
"Relax. I won't say a word," Kai said with an easy smile.
"I'm not the type to meddle in others' business. You've nothing to worry about."
But unfortunately—
No matter what he said, Kazama still frowned and sighed endlessly, clearly far from reassured.
Meanwhile,
Kudo Shin, guided by a fellow shinobi, entered the front-line strategy tent.
Facing Miyamoto Yukie, he immediately dropped to one knee.
"Honored Jounin, forgive us.
Our squad was ambushed by two Mist elite teams. Member Ishikawa Itsuki ignored orders, which ultimately led to the mission's failure. We barely saved a single cart of supplies.
Here are the details of the battle, as well as the enemy corpses, for your inspection."
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