Seeing Toshiro's confusion, Uchiha Jusan didn't explain. Instead, he handed Toshiro two ninja scrolls from beside him.
Looking at the two ninjutsu scrolls, which he had acquired at a considerable loss, Toshiro didn't open them on the spot. Instead, he prepared to take his leave directly.
"There's one more thing!"
Just as Toshiro was about to say farewell, Uchiha Jusan, looking somewhat disappointed, interrupted him.
"With our firm hold on the Grass Country's front line, the war has inevitably entered a stalemate. While there will still be battles at the front camp, the intensity will unavoidably decrease. Although large-scale battles have become less frequent, correspondingly, the clashes between the intelligence and raiding squads of both sides have increased dramatically!
"The village requires our Uchiha clan to form some small and medium-sized squads to join this infiltration war!"
Here, Uchiha Jusan paused, wanting to observe Toshiro's reaction. But as expected, he was disappointed; Toshiro's face showed no expression. Having heard the clan leader's initial words, Toshiro already had a fair idea of what would come next.
"The clan intends for you to lead some younger members of the clan to join."
It wasn't that Uchiha Jusan didn't want to protect the younger members of his clan, but they simply couldn't spare more manpower at this time. Drawing too many adult clan members would make their defensive line even more vulnerable, a consequence that was utterly unacceptable. Faced with the village's orders, he also had no real way to refuse.
[As expected!]
Hearing this, Toshiro wasn't surprised. Since he had already entered certain people's sights, hiding was not an option. He just didn't expect their tactics to come so swiftly; merely a night had passed, and now he had to join the brutal infiltration war. This kind of infiltration and anti-infiltration warfare among ninjas was nearly the most dreaded task in the entire camp.
Small squads dispersed across a large-scale ninja battlefield would barely leave any trace. Once any weakness was exposed, surrounding enemy ninjas would swarm like piranhas scenting blood, not stopping until they had torn off a piece of flesh or devoured you whole.
[Damn, it must be that old Danzo's idea! The rapid 'arrangement' this time shows just how much they 'value' me!]
"I understand! I'll take my leave now."
While cursing internally, Toshiro knew that complaining was useless; he could only hold his nose and accept the task. His heart felt as if he had swallowed a fly—bitter and disgusted.
Just as Toshiro was preparing to leave, clan leader Jusan spoke again, though he found himself at a loss for words. He knew all too well the brutality of those infiltration battles; even some adult ninjas struggled with them. Now, sending a group of young clan members into such a mire was a bitter pill to swallow.
During these days, he had 'sent off' too many clan members. Even if he wanted to protect them, the clan was all but powerless.
"Thank you for your concern, clan leader. I'll make it back alive..."
Nodding to express his gratitude, Toshiro left the tent without looking back. He needed to prepare in earnest; failing to do so might indeed be disastrous this time.
As he walked out of the dimly lit tent, Uchiha Jusan watched him disappear into the sunlight, mumbling to himself:
"Perhaps it's time for me to embody the Will of Fire and fulfill my own destiny..."
This current clan leader of the Uchiha, seeing his family members and young ones continually swept away by the war, grew notably more aged and weary. Now, even the young had to be sent to likely death, intensifying his sense of helplessness.
At the same time, he made a silent decision in his heart.
Toshiro was unaware that, just moments earlier, the clan leader had inquired about his relationship with Orochimaru, hoping the village might show a modicum of mercy to his clan through this connection. Otherwise, given the current situation, it wouldn't be long before even younger clan members would be sent to the front lines.
Coveting the Hokage's position through Orochimaru wasn't even on Uchiha Jusan's mind at this moment.
...
"At least they didn't give me any counterfeit junk."
Back in his tent, Toshiro opened the two scrolls handed to him by elder Jusan and began to review the contents. One ninjutsu was 'Secret Art: Super Beast Imitating Drawing'. In Toshiro's view, it had no significant combat value and wouldn't greatly enhance his strength, serving primarily a unique auxiliary role, which might come in handy for this mission.
As for the second ninjutsu, Toshiro chose one that could enhance his taijutsu to some extent. He didn't aim for something like the Eight Gates, as such techniques required total dedication for any meaningful achievement.
'Ninja Art: Strange Power Technique,' merely ranked A-level as a taijutsu method, was Toshiro's chosen second ninjutsu. Even if he couldn't adapt to Tsunade's fighting style, learning this technique might still be useful in critical moments.
Moreover, he harbored private hopes that through this technique, he might glimpse some of the mysteries of the Sage Body. It was impossible to reverse-engineer the Sage Body through this jutsu alone, but gaining some understanding of its characteristics didn't seem too far-fetched.
He didn't believe he couldn't learn it when Sasuke's wife and kids could.
(End of Chapter)