Grass Country, Western Region.
"This field… next year's crops will grow beautifully."
Uchiha Yuan stood atop a low dirt mound, murmuring to himself as he looked out across the ravaged farmland.
The fields were torn and cratered, soaked with dried blood.
A faint breeze carried the heavy stench of death.
Corpses of both Grass and Rain shinobi lay scattered everywhere.
Nearby, a handful of each side's survivors silently gathered their dead.
Today marked the sixth battle between the two forces.
After leaving dozens of bodies behind, both sides had finally withdrawn.
Yuan turned away from the devastation and walked down the mound.
The Grass-nin encampment was filled with chaotic noise.
Some shinobi loudly exaggerated their battlefield feats, bragging about how many Rain-nin they had slain.
Others cursed angrily at the medics tending to their wounds too roughly.
But the moment Yuan stepped through the entrance, the entire camp fell silent.
Every Grass shinobi turned toward him with instinctive fear and reverence.
When Yuan's group had first arrived at the western border, the Grass forces were already locked in desperate combat.
Outnumbered, they had been pushed back repeatedly by the Rain-nin.
After Yuan joined the battlefield, he alone engaged multiple Rain jōnin, halting their advance entirely.
From that moment, the Grass forces were able to hold their ground.
The power he displayed made every Grass shinobi tremble.
"Lord Gintoki!"
(He was, of course, still using his Gintoki disguise.)
Yuan walked into Fūwa Ōno's command tent.
Ōno rose at once. "My lord."
"Have you finished tallying today's casualties?" Yuan asked.
"Yes. Today we lost twenty-seven shinobi—three jōnin, six chūnin. Fourteen were seriously injured, twenty-one lightly injured."
Yuan was silent for a moment.
"Adding the losses from the earlier battles… we've lost a total of one hundred and thirty-five shinobi."
For a great nation with tens of thousands of shinobi, that number would be trivial.
But for a small village like Grass—with only two or three thousand shinobi in total—
this was a crippling blow.
Ōno nodded grimly. "If this continues, we must request reinforcements from the village… but most of our forces are tied up against the Hidden Waterfall and Hidden Rock."
"And the Rain-nin?" Yuan asked. "Their casualties?"
"Based on the bodies recovered and battlefield estimates… around a hundred dead."
Yuan's eyes narrowed.
"For their current force, that's not a loss they can easily accept."
A few days later.
Under the bright sun, Yuan sat cross-legged beneath a tall tree.
Two butterflies rested lightly on his fingertips.
A chubby squirrel perched on his left shoulder, holding a nut in its tiny paws.
The scene was peaceful—almost idyllic.
Then a gust of wind swept through the trees, and a Grass shinobi flickered into view.
He immediately knelt on one knee. "My lord, the Rain-nin have retreated."
Yuan slowly opened his eyes.
The butterflies fluttered into the air, circling him a few times before drifting away.
He tapped the squirrel's head gently.
The startled creature bolted up the tree.
Yuan rose to his feet—then vanished with a single Shunshin.
Back in the command tent, Grass shinobi came and went in a rush.
Ōno hurried over the moment Yuan entered.
"My lord, the Rain-nin have fully withdrawn. Should we pursue? Or return to the village?"
"If they've retreated, we return as well. My objectives here are complete."
Yuan's tone was calm—but his gaze was razor sharp.
Ōno stiffened.
Among the fallen Grass shinobi, every one of Ōno's personal confidants—
had died in "self-detonation attacks" against the Rain forces.
Arranged, of course, by Yuan.
Now, only Ōno himself remained.
But Yuan wasn't ready to remove him yet.
When the time came for Gintoki to officially take control of Grass Village…
Ōno would "heroically die" at the hands of Hidden Rock.
The perfect ending.
After confirming the Rain forces had fully retreated, the Grass reinforcements began the march home.
Yuan did not return with them.
Instead—he slipped alone into the Land of Rain.
Grass was already his in all but name.
Now he had to understand the neighboring country as well.
Rain's leader—Hanzo the Salamander, the so-called Demi-God of the Ninja World—
and the rising shadow of the future Akatsuki…
These were matters he would not leave to guesswork.
A fast-flowing river rushed past Yuan's feet.
He scanned the water, then flicked his wrist—
A weighted kunai with a rope attached plunged into the current.
A moment later, he hauled up a flailing, hefty fish.
Before long, a small fire crackled by the riverbank.
Yuan sat on a stone, grilling the fish over the flames.
He sprinkled it with wild herbs gathered from the forest and tasted it with the tip of his kunai.
Over the past few days wandering the Land of Rain, he had seen its true condition—
Chaos. Poverty. Endless conflict.
Much like Grass, Rain Country was plagued by constant clashes.
He had discovered that multiple foreign ninja groups operated openly within Rain's borders:
Sand-nin
Rock-nin
Shinobi from the Land of Rivers
Shinobi from the Land of Birds
The Land of Rivers was backed by Wind Country.
The Land of Birds was backed by Earth Country.
Yuan frowned.
Hanzo earned the title Demi-God for a reason. Rain Country nearly became the sixth Great Nation once.
But the Five Great Nations would never allow a sixth power to rise.
Best to keep Rain locked in perpetual turmoil—the only way to crush Hanzo's ambitions.
He gazed toward the distant horizon.
No wonder the Rain-nin invade Grass for supplies.
No wonder Sand and Rock operate within Rain's borders.
And yet…
For Rain to survive such constant warfare… they, too, must have a backer.
A faint smile tugged at Yuan's lips.
Wood Leaf.
Who else?
Ally with Hanzo.
Use Rain to exhaust Wind and Earth.
Keep all three weakened.
A simple, elegant strategy.
He would need to confirm it himself.
The grilled fish crackled in the fire.
And Yuan continued deeper into the Land of Rain.
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