Hatake Sakumo Did Not Agree with the Third Hokage's Ideals

Kaedeji's chakra was rapidly depleting.

Since the battle began, he had already used up six zombies, and more than half his chakra was gone. If this continued, things would become dangerous.

Kaedeji had already noticed that more and more enemies were paying attention to him, deliberately or otherwise seeking opportunities to break through the Konoha Ninja defensive line and assassinate him directly.

Medical Ninja were priority targets for Sunagakure Ninja to attack, and a Medical Ninja like Kaedeji, who possessed a unique technique, was an even higher-priority target.

When Sunagakure arranged for a specialized unit to detonate the fourth wave of poison smoke on the battlefield, Kaedeji finally decided it was time to retreat.

On a battlefield with over ten thousand people on both sides, victory could not possibly be decided in a single battle. There would definitely be many engagements. Factoring in the duration of the fighting, the chakra reserves of the participating ninja, and the intensity of the war around him, Kaedeji felt that one side would soon temporarily withdraw.

He deduced that Konoha would not retreat proactively. Although many ninja had been poisoned and were struggling desperately, and their casualties were heavy, they would never voluntarily take even a single step back.

In the war against Sunagakure, Sunagakure was the invader. Those sand-eaters coveted the fertile land of the Land of Fire, had the strongest motive for attacking Konoha, and fought with the greatest ferocity.

Originally, the Land of Rain lay between the Land of Fire, the Land of Earth, and the Land of Wind. It was the battlefield tacitly accepted by Konohagakure, Iwa, and Sunagakure. Pulling their forces into the Land of Rain and fighting until the sky turned dark, even if they ruined the Land of Rain's economy and environment, was still more worthwhile than fighting within their own territories.

Not to mention that the Second Great Ninja War had been started by Hanzō of the Salamander of Amegakure.

But after Hanzō defeated the Sannin last year and announced his proactive withdrawal from the war, the three sides could only swallow their displeasure. They were afraid of driving Hanzō too far, after all—he was one of the strongest ninja in the world, known as the Demigod.

Since they could not wage full-scale war in the Land of Rain, they could only fight at close quarters. Sunagakure stationed its troops at the border of the Land of Fire, where they clashed with the blocking force commanded by Hatake Sakumo.

"Is that so? Another forty-seven ninja died from poisoning today?"

In the rear camp, Hatake Sakumo sat with a solemn expression. He wanted badly to deploy, but he knew it was not yet time. He had to wait for Sunagakure's corps commander to make the first move.

Hatake Sakumo was undoubtedly Konoha's foremost combat force during the Second Great Ninja War. He had amassed countless military achievements, and the name "Konoha's White Fang" resounded throughout the ninja world.

Most importantly, Hatake Sakumo's greatest achievements had all been earned from Sunagakure.

Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law, two top Puppet Masters who were at the height of their fame, should have become Sunagakure's star ninja. In a few more years, one of them might even have become Sunagakure's Kazekage.

Facing such elite Puppet Masters, Hatake Sakumo had personally entered the battlefield with a short blade in hand and launched a surprise attack. In just one battle, he killed them both.

That astonishing result shocked every nation, dealt a heavy blow to Sunagakure's morale and fighting strength, and even directly changed the course of the war between Konoha and Sunagakure.

This was also another major achievement Konoha had attained after the Sannin ended the war between Konoha and Amegakure.

Right now, Hatake Sakumo was not happy at all. Sitting idly in the main camp, he felt the thunderous clashes of ninjutsu from the front lines and heard the screams coming from the wounded camp behind him. It felt as though his heart were being cut apart.

He did not agree with the ideal of placing missions above all else. He would rather give everything he had to help as many comrades as possible.

He was Konoha's strongest fighter, and his efficiency at killing was extraordinarily high. Logically, in a very short time, he could kill large numbers of Sunagakure Ninja and indirectly help more of his comrades.

Yet as the supreme commander, he could not do that. He had to carry out the Third Hokage's cautious, conservative grand strategy. He could only watch as large numbers of comrades died and wait for Chiyo to act.

"This is already the fourth round of poison smoke. However, we prepared sufficient gas masks and organized Wind Release ninja to perform Great Breakthrough, which can reduce the poison smoke's harm in the shortest possible time. The Medical Corps has also delivered a newly manufactured batch of antidotes to the ninja on the front lines. They should be somewhat effective."

Hatake Sakumo listened to the reports and processed the large amounts of intelligence in his hands. He could not even create a few Shadow Clones to help relieve his workload. Everything was for the sake of conserving chakra, ensuring he remained at peak condition and could strike at any moment.

Yet Chiyo still made no move.

"That woman Chiyo has gone mad. She will not be able to endure much longer," Hatake Sakumo said. In truth, he did not entirely agree with the Third Hokage's orders. Their fighting style was far too conservative.

According to the Third Hokage's thinking, even if their casualty ratio against the enemy was one-to-one, or even one-and-a-half to one, Konoha would still be winning.

There was no other reason: Konoha controlled the largest number of ninja, had the most elite bloodline and secret-technique clans, and the Land of Fire possessed the strongest finances. There was simply no need to take risks.

Coupled with the fact that Konoha had no interest in the rotten, barren land of other nations and had no need to expand its territory, especially in its war against Sunagakure. Expansion was the most meaningless thing possible. What was the point of seizing nothing but a pile of sand where neither crops nor medicinal herbs could grow?

Were they supposed to specifically train a batch of Magnet Release Ninja to squat in the desert all day panning for gold?

They Just Need To wear the enemy down. With Konoha's foundations, its recovery ability was the fastest. Not losing was winning. Even if they suffered some losses, it would still be a great victory. There was even less reason to take risks.

To the east, Kumogakure and Kirigakure had yet to send large armies to participate in the Second Great Ninja War. To the west, the war with Amegakure had ended last year, leaving only Sunagakure and Iwa. Sunagakure and Iwa were also at war, and the Third Kazekage had even led a corps straight into the territory of the Land of Earth.

They only needed to keep dragging things out. Victory could be achieved without taking any risks. The Third Hokage loved this sort of war most—he would rather proactively accept some minor losses than fail to find ways to drag the enemy into this rhythm of warfare.

Hatake Sakumo knew with his eyes closed how the Third Hokage would extract benefits from other nations after winning the war—demanding reparations was one aspect, but more importantly, he would demand greater mission quotas.

That was, the villages that failed to win on the battlefield would have to sign contracts with Konoha, ceding a certain percentage of their domestic mission volume for Konoha to complete.

During peacetime, ninja villages primarily earned money by completing missions issued by employers, obtaining funds to train newly promoted ninja.

The greater the mission volume, the more opportunities the village's ninja had to train, and the faster their strength would grow. The village would also have more money. With money, it could develop new ninjutsu, spread compulsory education faster, mass-produce more ninja, and ultimately reinforce this situation with stronger military power, forming an unbeatable virtuous cycle.

Once Konoha won the Second Great Ninja War, its prestige would soar. Wealthy people around the world would certainly be more willing to issue missions to Konoha, which itself meant that the number of missions other ninja villages could receive would sharply decrease.

On top of that, every ninja village would have to sign humiliating, unequal contracts, ceding a portion of their already scarce mission numbers to Konoha.

It could only be said that the outbreak of the Third Great Ninja War was inevitable. There was a reason Konoha fought all four other Great Ninja Villages during the Third Great Ninja War, and even at its least pressured, had to fight one against two.

No Great Ninja Village could tolerate such a situation existing forever. Once they recovered even a little, they would certainly launch another war against Konoha, seize more mission quotas, and settle the hatred accumulated during the Second Great Ninja War.

Hatake Sakumo forcibly suppressed the heaviness in his heart as he reviewed the various pieces of intelligence arriving from the front.