368. Retreating Step by Step

Over the next few months, Fugaku devoted himself wholeheartedly to training new members and managing the duties of the Konoha Military Police Force.

As Danzō had initially predicted, with Konoha's population skyrocketing, the workload of the Military Police Force was pushed to its limits.

Although Konoha had made preparations in advance, providing housing and various daily necessities for the new villagers, the sudden transition to a new life still led to numerous issues among them.

Conflicts arose over the allocation of housing and supplies, leading to physical altercations.

There were complaints about stolen items, verbal disputes, and even cases of late-night singing disturbing others' rest.

While these might seem like trivial matters, they were crucial in determining whether the new and old villagers could coexist harmoniously.

If conflicts between the two groups escalated, Fugaku's job as the head of the Military Police Force would become even more challenging.

Fortunately, after several months of training, a new batch of police officers was ready to take on their roles.

The arrival of these fresh recruits significantly alleviated Fugaku's workload, and the increased manpower greatly improved Konoha's public security.

As it turned out, Danzō's predictions were entirely accurate.

For maintaining order and security, these professionally trained genin were more than sufficient.

After all, the newly relocated villagers were mostly ordinary people, and they naturally felt a sense of awe toward the ninja who could scale walls and leap across rooftops.

With adequate personnel, the difficulty of managing these issues decreased considerably.

After experiencing the benefits of this expansion, Fugaku immediately launched a second recruitment phase to prepare for the ongoing wave of immigrants.

"If I had known being an elder would be this exhausting, I would have refused the position," Fugaku lamented late one night in the Hokage's office, finally finishing the stack of documents on his desk.

Hearing this, Shikaku, who was also working overtime, shook his head and chuckled, "Elder Fugaku, this is just the beginning. Not only will the number of immigrants to Konoha continue to rise, but Elder Danzō also plans to establish police stations across the Land of Fire."

Fugaku's eyes widened in shock.

Managing Konoha alone was already overwhelming. If police stations were set up throughout the Land of Fire, how much would the workload of the Military Police Force expand?

Seeing Fugaku's stunned expression, Shikaku reassured him with a smile, "Don't worry, Elder Danzō said the plan will be implemented gradually. But you still need to be prepared. After all, Konoha is no longer just a village. The entire capital's government is in the process of relocating here. It wouldn't surprise me if one day the Daimyō announces the relocation of the capital to Konoha."

"Our vision can no longer be limited to just one village. We must look further, to the entire nation, and even the entire shinobi world."

Shikaku's words were thought-provoking and served as a reminder to Fugaku.

He was no longer just the leader of a clan; he now bore the responsibility of maintaining the security of the entire Land of Fire!

As he gazed out the window at the revitalized village, a sense of historical mission welled up within him.

---

Meanwhile, in the Land of Rice.

The two anti-Land of Lightning forces secretly supported by Konoha had achieved significant victories within the Land of Hot Water.

With the gradual opening of the railway in the Land of Rice Fields, Konoha's speed of transporting supplies had increased more than tenfold!

In the past, transporting supplies required crossing mountains and seas, consuming vast amounts of manpower and resources.

Now, all they had to do was load the supplies onto a train.

A single train could carry the equivalent of what hundreds of people used to transport, and it was much faster, allowing for continuous shipments.

In contrast, the Hidden Cloud Village still relied on traditional manual transportation.

As a result, the Land of Hot Water, which they supported, was far behind Konoha's two resistance organizations in terms of supply logistics.

Not to mention, the latter also received strong guidance from Konoha and support from various performance-enhancing drugs.

With neither Konoha nor the Hidden Cloud willing to officially intervene, it was only natural that the Land of Hot Water was being pushed back step by step.


Faced with this situation, the Land of Hot Water could only resort to a highly risky plan: sending elite forces into Konoha's territory to destroy the railway!

While this might provoke Konoha's wrath, the Land of Hot Water had no other options left to salvage their situation.

Unfortunately for them, their plan had already been exposed to the watchful eyes of Konoha's Root division.

As this elite squad from the Land of Hot Water stealthily entered the Land of Fire, approaching the nearest railway track, several masked figures were already waiting for them.

When the elite ninja saw the patterns on their masks, their faces turned pale.

"It's Konoha's Root!" exclaimed what appeared to be the leader of the squad, his face filled with panic.

Seeing Root ninja here meant that Konoha was fully aware of their plans. In such a situation, this isolated squad had little hope of survival.

Fortunately, one of the burly ninja beside him kept his cool and said coldly, "I'll hold them off. You all retreat!"

With that, he pulled out a scroll from his waist and summoned a barrage of ninja tools, hurling them toward the enemy.

The other ninja from the Land of Hot Water quickly shot him a grateful look and immediately fled toward the border.

The decisiveness of their retreat left the lone ninja staying behind with a hint of exasperation in his eyes. But he had no choice.

To avoid leaving too much evidence for Konoha, he had to make this sacrifice.

If the entire squad were captured here, it would give Konoha leverage against the Hidden Cloud.

Indeed, this ninja staying behind was not from the Land of Hot Water but from the Hidden Cloud.

After all, without the Hidden Cloud's involvement, a small village like the Land of Hot Water would never dare to attempt such a bold move against Konoha's railway.

Regardless, the barrage of ninja tools unleashed from the scroll rained down like a storm toward the Root ninja.

The Hidden Cloud ninja's goal was simple: to use the overwhelming number of tools to slow down the enemy's pursuit.

Unfortunately for him, his plan was doomed to fail.

One of the masked Root ninja charged forward at high speed.

As he accelerated, a massive amount of chakra erupted from the pores of his body, spinning rapidly around him.

"Rotation!"

With a deep shout, the blue chakra formed a terrifying vortex, effortlessly deflecting all the incoming ninja tools.