Besides, isn't Ui just a Chunin? Could he show a little "Chunin-level" restraint for once? First, he bombards a Tailed Beast, and now he's nuking the Sand's command center? Is he some kind of specialized Sand Shinobi exterminator? How are other Chunin supposed to live up to this standard?
In truth, the magnitude of Ui's success was largely due to the inherent advantages of surprise and air superiority. A surprise attack is a given—the enemy is caught off guard. But air superiority provides a geometric advantage. A Fire Style jutsu launched from the front is worlds apart from the same Fire Style dropped directly onto an enemy's skull from the heavens.
Had Yata's "egg bombs" been fired horizontally like conventional cannonballs, they never would have achieved the sheer kinetic and destructive force of a vertical drop.
Back at the command center, most were half-believing at best. They had heard the rhythmic, rolling thunder of the explosions, but had Ui truly decapitated the enemy's command hierarchy?
Fortunately, Tsunade was there. Despite Ui's age, she knew he wasn't the type to spout nonsense in the middle of a war.
"Confirm the results with Ui. Again."
Tsunade's face was a mask of gravity. If the enemy command was truly gone, Konoha held an incomparable advantage. But despite her stern expression, her habits betrayed her... she was nibbling on her thumb nail—a girlish tic she fell back on whenever her mind was racing.
The command center demanded a second confirmation. Ui repeated his report word for word. This time, Tsunade allowed herself to believe.
But before she could issue new tactical orders, another message crackled through.
"Lady Tsunade..." The reporting shinobi stammered, his face a picture of pure bewilderment.
"What now? Speak up!" Tsunade barked.
"The Chunin on reconnaissance, Ui Uchiha... he just reported that he is heading out to launch an air raid on the Hidden Sand Village."
Tsunade: "..."
I take it back. Ui didn't spout nonsense, but he certainly committed to absurdity.
Tsunade nearly tripped over her own feet. An air raid on the Hidden Sand? Was he joking?
"Stop him immediately! His mission is reconnaissance! Ask him if he's forgotten his basic training!"
Stopping him was a necessity. To Tsunade, this was pure recklessness. Like teacher, like student, she thought. Was this the kind of "off-the-rails" behavior Kushina had been teaching him?
"About that... Lady Tsunade... he didn't wait for our instructions. He's already gone."
The reporting shinobi looked as if he were suffering from a severe case of spiritual constipation.
Ui was indeed already soaring away from the battlefield, banking toward the coordinates of the Hidden Sand as marked on his map.
Had the commander been the Third Hokage or anyone else, Ui wouldn't have dared. Abandoning a reconnaissance mission was a cardinal sin for a shinobi—the kind of thing that got people executed.
But the commander was Tsunade. And Tsunade was "one of his own." A little leeway among friends, right?
Besides, Ui was just one small link in the reconnaissance chain. Konoha's intel wouldn't collapse without him. It wasn't as if the Hyuga clan were just there for decoration.
Furthermore, he could see that the battle on this front was already decided. Since the outcome was a foregone conclusion, his presence was no longer a deciding factor. So why not head into the enemy's deep rear and cause some real havoc?
Objectively speaking, his logic had some merit. Also objectively speaking, his behavior was a textbook suicide mission.
Regardless, he followed his heart, becoming a shinobi like the wind—or perhaps just a madman.
Tsunade's fury was quickly overtaken by a sense of helplessness. Let him go. She just hoped he'd make it back in one piece. She couldn't stop him now anyway; she had a whole war to manage.
Attacking the Hidden Sand Village had never been part of Konoha's strategic goals.
If this were a total war between two nations, they would love nothing more than to wipe the Sand off the map. But this was a five-way free-for-all. Investing massive resources and risking heavy casualties to completely eliminate one enemy was strategically unsound—it was brainless.
The Land of Wind was one of the Five Great Nations. Even at its weakest, the Sand would fight to the last man. Konoha didn't want to deal with the fallout of a desperate, dying village.
What Konoha needed was a submissive Sand Village—one they could shove toward the northern front to hold back the Hidden Stone, keeping them away from the Land of Fire.
In short: beat them into submission, then make them work for you.
With the Kazekage on the battlefield, capturing him would be the ultimate prize to achieve that goal.
However, while a full-scale invasion was a bad idea, what about a single-man strike? A stealthy aerial infiltration?
That should be fine, Ui thought.
After thirty seconds of intense self-delusion—concluding that this was entirely feasible—he had sent his request and promptly vanished.
If anyone asked why he was so impulsive, he'd just blame Kushina's education.
Naturally, his actions were "purely for the sake of Konoha's grand strategy." He certainly didn't have any selfish desire to test exactly how much damage Yata could do.
To prevent any Sand shinobi on the ground from signaling the village, Ui first flew a distance back toward the Konoha lines, creating the illusion that he was returning to base.
Once he was out of sight, he climbed to a staggering altitude, looped in a massive arc around the battlefield, and set a course straight for the heart of the desert.
Even when being reckless, he was still meticulously careful.