The Daimyo's army primarily relied on the central route, with the other two routes serving as auxiliary. Compared to the central route, the other two routes had fewer Chakra Samurai, but their deterrent power over ordinary samurai remained strong.
Under the coercion of the Chakra Samurai, the samurai on the other two routes marched rapidly towards their destination. If their movements were even slightly slow, they would be urged on by the Chakra Samurai. If anyone dared to show any sign of resistance, the Chakra Samurai would not hesitate to drag them out and execute them as a warning.
Although the ordinary samurai did not dare to resist the oppression of the Chakra Samurai, their dissatisfaction grew increasingly strong, and murmurs of discontent often arose during their march.
"Damn it, why do we have to get involved in this mess?" one of the low-ranking officers grumbled.
"Don't complain, be careful not to be targeted by those ruthless guys from the Daimyo's mansion," another low-ranking officer quickly said.
"Heh, those guys may be ruthless, but somehow, they don't seem very bright. As long as our movements aren't slow, talking won't attract their attention," the first low-ranking officer replied.
The Chakra Samurai were cultivated by Uchiha Kokuya using his secret medicine. Over several years, their minds had been eroded by Uchiha Kokuya's special chakra, and they would only obey Uchiha Kokuya's commands. Although they still possessed knowledge that allowed them to act according to orders, they appeared sluggish in situations not directly related to commands.
It wasn't just these two low-ranking officers; other ordinary samurai were also discussing and complaining about their dissatisfaction, but their movements did not stop at all. They marched quickly forward, and the Chakra Samurai seemed to turn a deaf ear, only intervening if someone's movements slowed down.
However, under such high-speed marching, talking would waste excess physical strength. Soon after, they were too tired to speak and could only march in silence with their heads down. They were not Chakra Samurai. Although chakra is said to be converted from physical strength, those who cultivate chakra often break through the limits of human meridians, and thus their physical strength will also far exceed that of ordinary people – otherwise, how could they convert physical strength into chakra for combat?
These ordinary samurai in the interior also had a drawback: insufficient training. Because they were in the interior, unlike the samurai armies on the border who had to bear the responsibility of defending against enemy forces, the interior had enjoyed a long period of peace, and training naturally became lax.
In places like the capital, to ensure deterrence against local and border areas, the training level of the samurai army was no less than that of the border, and even higher. The only thing they might lack was combat experience, which would also be arranged by the Daimyo's mansion for them to gain experience at the border.
But it was different for the local lords outside the Daimyo's mansion and the border.
Once long-term training intensity was provided to the samurai army, it meant that military expenditure would increase—the Land of Fire was a country primarily based on feudalism, and the increase in military expenditure would largely be borne by the local lords.
It would have been fine during the founding period, but now, decades have passed. The interior has enjoyed a long period of peace, and local lords have gradually become unwilling to bear such high military expenses. In familiar terms, they have gradually become corrupt. However, around the time of the Shinobi World War, due to the situation, they would begin to increase their training levels.
However, this civil war was sudden, and the local lords were not psychologically prepared, so it was naturally impossible for them to start training early. Therefore, these ordinary samurai still maintained their past comfortable living environment and could not adapt to high-intensity marching so quickly. But they had to adapt, otherwise, the corpses left in the wilderness would be their example.
Compared to them, the Chakra Samurai, due to their chakra training, were strong and full of stamina, and they were not afraid of pain or fatigue. They always followed silently near the samurai, and this posture gave people a great sense of oppression.
Fortunately, these Chakra Samurai were not truly heartless. When the ordinary samurai were truly unable to move further, they did not force them but allowed the entire army to rest on the spot—of course, during this process, some lives had to be sacrificed before the Chakra Samurai would make such a move.
As the samurai began to eat their rations, they saw that the Chakra Samurai only nibbled on some things and then stopped eating, instead staring coldly at everyone from the side.
Even though the number of ordinary samurai was several times that of these Chakra Samurai, they still felt afraid. In their eyes, these Chakra Samurai were even stranger than those ninjas with their bizarre techniques; they simply didn't seem human.
"What in the world are these guys? Are these the people that guy Tobi trained?" The low-ranking officers whispered to each other. They had all heard that the Chakra Samurai were trained by Tobi, a favored minister of the Daimyo's mansion.
These low-ranking officers didn't know much about this. They were only slightly higher in status than ordinary soldiers and didn't have the energy to pay attention to national affairs. They had only heard Tobi's name and some rumors.
They had naturally also heard about the mutual accusations between the Konoha Hidden Village and the Daimyo's mansion. Although they didn't know the details, they understood some of it. To be honest, due to their past impression of the Konoha Hidden Village and their negative impression of the Daimyo's Chakra Samurai, their thoughts were somewhat biased towards the Konoha Hidden Village.
However, these low-ranking officers did not possess such high awareness or courage. Some were cowardly and feared death, not daring to rise up against these Chakra Samurai. They could only march towards Konoha Hidden Village under their coercion.
If someone had led them, the ordinary samurai might indeed have risen in rebellion, but those mid- and high-ranking officers had all been dealt with by the Chakra Samurai. As the saying goes, a group without a leader. No matter how dissatisfied these ordinary samurai were, they dared not step forward—that's what happens when there's no leader. For these ordinary samurai, the influence of mid- and high-ranking officers was particularly great. Without them, it would probably take an even worse situation for them to rise up and fight back on their own.
Once they finally got to rest, the ordinary samurai relaxed as much as possible, knowing that once they set off again, the Chakra Samurai would maintain their high-intensity marching speed. Some even took off their armor to lighten their load. After shedding their armor, they were drenched in sweat, causing them to drink large gulps of water.
Lacking training, they had no strict sense of discipline. At this time, the samurai looked like a ragtag army, dressed casually, with weapons and armor scattered on the ground, completely lacking the appearance of a regular army. This was also the norm for local lord's armed forces, incomparable to those armed forces that had to bear important responsibilities.
Here, in the wilderness of the forest, there were naturally insects, and the ordinary samurai wouldn't notice that some peculiar insects were lurking among the trees. These insects were parasitic destruction bugs.
Yes, the ninja forces, far superior to the samurai army in terms of marching flexibility, had already arrived nearby. Through the reconnaissance capabilities of the Aburame clan and other reconnaissance units, they had gathered information on the samurai army, including their marching formations, equipment, and even their complaints.
This ninja unit was led by Uchiha Kagami. After receiving the report from the Aburame clan, Uchiha Kagami fell into deep thought. As they had expected, these ordinary samurai were very dissatisfied with the Daimyo's Chakra Samurai, and they could express it without hesitation. The Chakra Samurai's apparent deafness to their complaints also matched their assessment of the Chakra Samurai's rigidity.
"It seems indeed possible to win them over, but we need to properly separate them and then deal with those Chakra Samurai," Uchiha Kagami thought.
Immediately, Uchiha Kagami gave the order to launch an attack to lure the samurai into the forest. He believed that even if the ordinary samurai found it inappropriate, the Chakra Samurai would likely force them to enter.
Upon receiving the order, the ninja squad quickly moved, attacking the resting samurai army as per Uchiha Kagami's instructions. Their offensive wasn't particularly fierce, and they didn't even use many killing moves. Their main purpose was to inform the enemy that the ninja squad had arrived.
The ordinary samurai, like startled birds, jumped up from the ground, and at this moment, their lack of training became apparent. Their movements were particularly chaotic, and some couldn't even put on their armor properly for a while.
The Chakra Samurai, however, instantly leaped to the front of the formation and looked into the forest. One of the Chakra Samurai waved to the ordinary samurai behind them, ordering them to follow into the forest to pursue the ninja squad.
The ordinary samurai immediately hesitated. Among them were some low-ranking officers who were veteran soldiers and very familiar with ninja tactics. They knew that such a complex forest was unfavorable for a large army's movements but an excellent place for ninjas to move freely. Frankly, entering it was not a good idea.
One of the samurai officers bravely offered them advice, but the Chakra Samurai ignored him completely. Seeing someone object, a Chakra Samurai walked over expressionlessly. At this moment, the samurai officer felt a sudden surge of impulsiveness. He begged for mercy repeatedly, indicating that he would no longer object.
But these Chakra Samurai were not so understanding. The Chakra Samurai who walked over insisted on killing the samurai officer and drew his sword.
Just then, a kunai suddenly attacked this person. The Chakra Samurai, as expected of their training, turned and used their shoulder armor to deflect the kunai. However, the kunai was tied with an explosive tag, and with a loud bang, a huge explosion sent the Chakra Samurai flying.
However, this Chakra Samurai did not die because the armor on his body was imbued with chakra, giving him resistance to ninjutsu damage. The material of the armor itself also had extremely high defensive power. An ordinary person encountering such an explosion at such a close distance would at least be dizzy and suffer some internal injuries, but the Chakra Samurai would not care.
Because of this incident, the Chakra Samurai's attention was drawn away, and no one paid attention to the samurai officer, who fortunately escaped.
Although this samurai officer had acted impulsively, it also demonstrated his insight and courage. He understood that the recent tactics were employed by ninjas, and their purpose might be to protect him. Otherwise, why would they only launch that attack and then stop attacking the samurai army?
Not to mention the recent incident, even in the initial attack, the ordinary samurai were only startled. Some might have been injured, but absolutely no one died.
Konoha Hidden Village's reputation over the past decades in the Land of Fire played a significant role at this moment. Even if these local lords hadn't deeply cooperated with Konoha Hidden Village, they had more or less come into contact with them, and ordinary samurai would naturally understand some things. This samurai officer was already somewhat inclined towards Konoha Hidden Village, and his current stance was undoubtedly even closer.
However, under the coercion of the Chakra Samurai, the ordinary samurai still rushed into the forest. Although they were all somewhat afraid and didn't know what they would encounter inside, no matter what, it was better than being killed by the Chakra Samurai!
"They've come in."
"Indeed, those Chakra Samurai simply won't listen. Any experienced officer would understand that it's impossible to charge in like this and fight our ninja unit."
"That just means these Chakra Samurai are dull-witted. It makes them easier to deal with. If they were too smart, it wouldn't be easy to win against them."
After a few brief words, the ninja squad began to move. Uchiha Kagami had not brought many direct combat personnel; most were ninjas with special abilities, such as genjutsu users. In this environment, these ninjas could play a greater role.
For example, during the First Shinobi World War, in the first battle that Kazamori Masayoshi participated in, it was a forest ambush commanded by Senju Toka. Relying on the mysterious and unpredictable nature of genjutsu, even though their own forces' combat power was insufficient compared to the enemy, they managed to hold back the Kumogakure ninja squad.
Now, under Uchiha Kagami's command, the ninjas' bizarre techniques were fully unleashed. Some samurai inexplicably got lost as they walked; some samurai accidentally fell into a slope, their armor clanking as they fell, hurting them so much they almost couldn't get up; some samurai saw strange illusions and fled in terror... Only the Chakra Samurai walked resolutely forward, no matter what kind of illusion, it couldn't confuse them, and all the traps set were dodged by their agile movements.
Uchiha Kagami understood that to face these Chakra Samurai, they had to fight them head-on. Relying on small tricks alone wouldn't be enough to deal with these well-trained Chakra Samurai.
Uchiha Kagami said to the combat unit behind him, "It's our turn to make an appearance."
At this moment, under the division and disintegration by the Konoha ninjas, the Chakra Samurai were isolated, and their sluggish minds didn't even notice this, or perhaps they noticed but didn't care. This was the flaw of the Chakra Samurai.
After one lure, the Chakra Samurai arrived at Uchiha Kagami and his team's ambush point. Uchiha Kagami swung his scythe, and the chains rattled.
"I should send you on your way," Uchiha Kagami said to the Chakra Samurai.