Western Land of Grass.
In a forest near the Land of Earth, four Iwagakure ninja cautiously patrolled their surroundings.
Although Iwagakure's ninja forces had suffered no losses in their battles against Konoha's ninja forces, Iwagakure's higher-ups had ordered them to contract their forces and draw the Konoha ninja toward the Land of Earth as much as possible.
Thus, Iwagakure's ninja forces had basically all withdrawn to the western region bordering the Land of Earth, operating under a strategy focused on preserving their strength.
"I really don't know what the higher-ups are thinking. Iwagakure's forces are strong and thriving, so why do we keep retreating before Konoha?" Seeing that everything around them was calm, an Iwagakure chunin complained.
He was deeply dissatisfied with Iwagakure's current war strategy. Since the war began, Iwagakure had basically only committed a tenth of its strength, constantly concealing its true power.
In his view, there was no need to deploy an army of ten thousand. Back when Kirigakure had invaded Konoha's homeland, simply sending out five thousand ninja would have been enough to seize Konoha amid the chaos.
Yet the higher-ups had remained unmoved, allowing Kumogakure and Konoha to bully them.
"Maybe they want to lure the enemy into the Land of Earth, then use its geographical advantage to wipe them out more easily," said a rather plump Iwagakure ninja beside him.
"They're being overly cautious. With all the nations locked in chaotic warfare, this should have been Iwagakure's best chance to become the strongest Ninja Village."
Clearly, he too had plenty of complaints about Iwagakure's current war strategy.
They clearly had the strength to counterattack or even crush the enemy, yet they kept yielding ground. It was truly suffocating.
"Enough talk. The higher-ups have their own considerations. We just need to carry out our orders