West of the Fire Nation.

Confederate 5th Regiment camp.

Perhaps due to psychological effects, after nightfall, Mifune suddenly sensed a chilling aura in the air, and his palms began to subconsciously tighten the katana at his waist.

Even so, the aura of coldness still lingered, and Mifune couldn't feel the slightest sense of security even with the weapon in hand.

The samurai's intuition told him that this was because of the fierce battles on the battlefield in the Kingdom of Rain, which had caused the skies of neighboring countries to become filled with this ominous color.

The bright moon was bright and clear, the wind was light and the clouds were light, but the sky Mifune saw always had a layer of haze and a faint scarlet color, as if the moon was stained with blood and began to turn red.

Mifune stood outside the conference room tent, raised his head, looked into the moonlight, narrowed his eyes slightly, and held the handle of the katana a little harder, trying to use this method to dispel the anxiety and uneasiness in his heart.

There was a lot of noise near the camp, the sound of troops gathering. Ten minutes ago, Konoha Yamanaka Kaiichi Jounin, captain of the intelligence force located at the Alliance Army headquarters, conveyed the operational instructions of the staff to the various alliance units.

The alliance with the Kingdom of Ghosts has been torn up. The Alliance Army and the Kingdom of Ghosts are no longer in an alliance and can attack at will.

As one of the main forces of the Alliance Army, the Fifth Regiment has been guarding the western part of the Fire Country since the beginning of the war, and occasionally participated in the war, so the losses were very small, and it still retains most of its troops until now. This is a weapon that can

The sharp blade that penetrates the Kingdom of Rain. There are more than 20,000 people in total, with a total of 150 squadrons, most of which are combat squadrons, a small number of medical squadrons and reconnaissance squadrons, and air force squadrons that focus on air combat.

In addition, there are thousands of warriors from the Iron Kingdom among them, accounting for about one-sixth of the Fifth Regiment.

If we leave aside these thousands of samurai, the number of the fifth regiment will not exceed 20,000. And this is where Mifune hesitated.

The reason why he participated in this battle on behalf of the Kingdom of Iron was not because he wanted to be an enemy of the Kingdom of Demons, but because of the existence of Akatsuki and the Ten-Tails, he had to join forces with the Alliance. The main purpose was also to destroy Akatsuki and assist

The Alliance forces recover the tailed beasts to prevent the world from being controlled by magic like the Infinite Tsukuyomi.

Now that the Alliance Army has broken up with the Demon Country, it means that the battle against Akatsuki has come to an end and is no longer a threat. As the assisting party, the Iron Country should retreat bravely at this time, evacuate the ninja battlefield, and return to the Iron Country Daimyo

Just restore life there. However, is this really the case?

Will the Union Army let him go?

Thousands of warriors, plus him as a warrior general, are already a powerful force.

Even those ninja villages from small countries were brought here, including those from neutral countries. As a samurai group from the neutral country Iron Country, where should they go?

Unlike those weak ninjas from small countries, the Iron Country has a strong military and has enough room to operate in terms of choices.

Therefore, how to choose now has become a difficult problem in Mifune's mind.

As the departure time approached, he was still thinking about this issue.

Should we leave or continue to fight?

Just as Mifune was deep in thought, footsteps came from behind.

"Rikkaku?"

"It's me, Mifune-sama."

The tall samurai Rikkaku came closer and bowed slightly to Mifune.

He served as the squadron leader in the Fifth Wing, replacing Mifune and responsible for mediating disputes among the ninjas in the villages of the Alliance's Fifth Wing, including those bounty hunters who had many grievances and entanglements.

"Have all the troops been assembled?"

"Yes, due to the battle order issued by the headquarters, the ninjas in each village have finally put aside their prejudices for the time being. Most of the squadrons have been assembled, and a few are still adjusting. But I think it will take a while before we can set off and the troops will march in.

The Land of Rain." Satokaku replied in a calm tone.

This is the strategy that the Alliance Army formulated from the beginning. The 1st to 4th Wings will check and balance the main forces of the Kingdom of Ghosts. As the 5th Wing, they will go to the Country of Rain at the moment of declaration of war to fight for the Five Shadows.

Help out.

In addition, the same is true for those bounty hunters who were invited. The next place they will go to is the Kingdom of Rain, where they will enter the core battlefield and accept the command of the Five Shadows.

The Bai Jue and Dragon Beast Legions that stood in front of them disappeared for some unknown reason. Then, the road in front of them was smooth.

Before entering the core battlefield, I thought there would be no more twists and turns.

but……

Thinking of something, Satokaku looked at Mifune's back. His upright figure was like a sharp blade about to be unsheathed. Although he tried to restrain himself, there was still a sharp breath emanating from his torso, which made people's skin feel slightly.

It stings.

"In that case, let's summon all the squadron commanders who can take charge. I have something to announce."

Mifune's face was calm. After saying this, he stared at the dark clouds in the western sky and remained silent without saying a word.

"yes."

Li Jiao did not hesitate, went down quickly, and immediately summoned the squadron leaders who were in charge.

Less than two minutes had passed, and a dozen elite jounin from Konoha, Sunagakure, Kumogakure and other villages came here to gather in accordance with Mifune's summons.

Compared with other squadron leaders, they are stronger and have enough commanding experience to effectively command troops in combat.

Within the Fifth Alliance, their voice is roughly equal to that of Rikaku, second only to Mifune, the Fifth Alliance's co-captain.

"Captain, we are about to leave. Could you please tell me what's the reason for summoning us here at this time?"

A squadron leader Jonin from Kumogakure was the first to be unable to bear it. He looked at Mifune and took the initiative to ask Mifune about his intention in issuing the summons order.

After Satokaku brought them here, he took the initiative to stand beside Mifune and protect him closely.

Later, there was also a group of armored samurai, about dozens of them, who were all the elites of the Iron Country samurai group. Their superb sword skills alone were enough to suppress chuunin, and a few of them could even fight with jounin.

The elite of the entire Iron Kingdom, the foundation of the country. "Yes, if it is to mediate disputes, I personally think it is unnecessary. We don't have time to waste on this."

Konoha's squadron leader Jonin was the first to answer.

The order from the Alliance Army Headquarters has been clearly issued to each of their squadron leaders.

The next battle plan is very important. Although the ninjas in each village dislike each other, they only come up with it after they have free time. At this time, it is impossible to abandon the headquarters' battle plan just because of this friction.

regardless of.

They, the squadron leaders, still understand the priority of the matter.

Moreover, those who have conflicts are not jounin at the level of the squadron leader. Most of them are chuunin and genin from each village. When conflicts arise, squadron leaders like them, in order to take the overall situation into consideration, will never get involved and will even take the initiative to cooperate.

The warriors of the Kingdom of Iron must stop internal fighting. This is also the order secretly given to them by the Five Shadows at the beginning of the war. At least they must not lose control at the critical moment.

"Don't worry, I didn't call you all here just for these things, but..."

Mifune paused before speaking and glanced at these people.

"What is it, Your Excellency, Captain?"

Everyone was puzzled by Mifune's attitude and couldn't wait to ask more questions.

Mifune was silent for a moment and closed his eyes, as if he was thinking about something. After a while, he opened his eyes. The color in his eyes was very clear and bright, without any turbidity. "Next, I and the warriors of the Iron Kingdom will break away from the alliance and give up.

Afterwards, we will fight in the Kingdom of Rain and return to the Kingdom of Iron to defend it. I leave the command of the Alliance Army’s 5th Regiment to you.”

"Varied--"

"Your Excellency, Captain, what do you mean?"

"Captain, do you want to betray our Alliance Army?"

Hearing Mifune's resignation, more than a dozen squadron leaders in front of them were shocked.

Of course, after the shock, he became more angry and questioning. He was very repelled by Mifune's idea of ​​​​retreating without a fight, and began to issue reprimands and accusations.

language.

Seeing the angry expressions of these people, Rikou, who stood beside Mifune, subconsciously held down the handle of his knife, fearing that these people would suddenly attack Mifune in a state of anger.

Mifune stretched out his hand and blocked Satokaku's side, indicating that there was no need to be so vigilant. Although his body was old, he still had some reflexes due to his years of cultivation and recuperation. Even a ninja of the level of the Five Kages would not be able to do so.

Attack him silently. Otherwise, he would not have been selected as the captain of the fifth regiment by the Alliance Army.

Faced with the accusations and dissatisfaction of these people, Mifune did not become angry. It would be better to say that their reactions were within his expectations.

He is the captain of the fifth regiment. At this time, he retreated without a fight and quit the Alliance Army. In the eyes of most Alliance ninjas, his behavior is "betrayal," right? But in terms of the Iron Kingdom's stance

For his part, Mifune didn't think he had betrayed his covenant. "Everyone——"

Mifune's powerful words came out, overpowering the arguments of these people:

"——We samurai joined the Alliance Army in the name of assisting parties. The purpose is to destroy Akatsuki and prevent the infinite Tsukuyomi from happening. We are fighting for the peace of the ninja world. But now the Alliance Army and the Kingdom of Demons

The break has already been broken, and the Akatsuki matter has probably been settled. Then, as the assisting party, we, the samurai, naturally have no reason to fight against the Kingdom of Demons. This is your ninja's war, and the samurai will not intervene."

Mifune's voice was very firm.

He thought about it for a long time, and finally made up his mind to resign as captain of the Fifth Regiment of the Union Army.

For him, the position of captain is not an honor, but a shackle, a tool that binds him and the warriors to the Alliance Army.

"If we are fighting for peace, then please continue to assist us, captain, to defeat the Kingdom of Demons. In this way, the ninja world will naturally have permanent peace. The righteous side will surely win."

Sunagakure's squadron leader Jonin stepped forward and said, his face serious.

Mifune glanced at him and replied with a calm face: "There is no definite statement or evidence about who is the righteous one between the Alliance Army and the Demon Country. Moreover, the position between countries itself is relative justice, and

Something that is not absolute.”

"Young Captain, don't you need to think about it again? If you withdraw at this time, I think the headquarters will be very dissatisfied. Please consider it for the sake of the Iron Kingdom."

The words spoken by the captain of Kumogakure Squadron were already threatening.

Mifune was silent for a moment and continued: "Before the war started, I signed an agreement with the Five Kages. During the war with the Kingdom of Demons, the warriors of the Kingdom of Iron will break away from the alliance and will not serve as assisters and continue to fight for the Kingdom of Demons.

The alliance army goes to war. This is something that has been decided for a long time."

"If that's the case, why didn't we get the relevant order? At the headquarters, why do you want you to continue to serve as the commander? Is the so-called agreement made up by the commander himself?"

The distrust was clear on the faces of this group of people.

But their intention is also very clear. They want Mifune and the samurai to be completely tied to the alliance and fight for them.
To be continued...