Chaos and Deadlock

Facing a hopeless situation, the Mist ninjas who had no time to withdraw began fleeing in all directions.

But against the numerous Konoha ninjas and their gathered experts, most Mist ninjas failed to escape and died on the battlefield.

Only a very small number of Mist ninjas escaped or chose to surrender.

Once the battle ended, the Konoha ninjas began clearing the battlefield.

They collected the bodies of both allies and enemies, gathered supplies from the ninjas and the Mist camp, sent the wounded back to camp for treatment, and handled the other aftermath.

The Mist ninjas had withdrawn too hastily to take away or destroy the supplies in their camp. The captured supplies eased much of Konoha's logistical pressure.

They worked until dusk before the battlefield was finally cleared. Exhausted and filthy, the Konoha ninjas washed the mud from their bodies by the lake before returning to camp to eat and rest.

The next morning, after breakfast, the Konoha ninjas broke camp and prepared to drive the Mist ninjas out of the Land of Fire.

Fourth Mizukage Yagura mobilized ninjas from the rear to replenish his losses, but they still could not withstand the Konoha ninjas' momentum and suffered another defeat.

Although they had prepared thoroughly beforehand, and their losses this time were far lower than before, a defeat was still a defeat.

After two consecutive defeats, Mist had been driven onto the peninsula connecting the Land of Fire and the Land of Whirlpools. Another step forward would let them invade the Land of Fire, while another step back would force them to defend the Land of Whirlpools.

If this had been the early or middle stage of the war, such gains would have been quite good. After all, the battlefield had initially been within the Land of Whirlpools.

They had needed to defeat the Konoha ninja forces in the Land of Whirlpools before they could station troops at the Land of Fire's border. Yet now, Mist had been driven out of the Land of Fire.

That made the outcome extremely terrible. All the Land of Fire territory they had swallowed had been spat back out. The cooked duck had flown away—who could accept that?

To stabilize the situation, Mist's higher-ups each voiced their opinions during a high-level meeting and racked their brains. Pooling everyone's command, they finally came up with a good way to maintain the situation.

The fact that they had suffered two consecutive defeats proved that no matter what defensive measures they adopted, they could not withstand Konoha's strategy of "no matter how many routes you take, I will press forward along one."

Konoha ignored all their arrangements and tactics meant to lure the enemy. It simply kept its eyes on the location of their main force, steadily advancing and forcing a straightforward decisive battle between their main forces.

They could not hold their ground, nor could they win a fight. Giving up the land they had taken for nothing was too humiliating and unbearable. They seemed to have entered a vicious cycle.

If they wanted to change and stabilize the situation, and ensure the tailed beast attack on the village plan could proceed smoothly, they had to break out of that vicious cycle.

After discussing it, Mist's higher-ups decided to break the main force into smaller units, use offense as defense, and turn passivity into initiative.

They would disperse into squads and detachments, infiltrate the Land of Fire, and wage unconventional warfare through surprise attacks on supply lines, towns across the Land of Fire, and Konoha camps, as well as assassinations, ambushes, poisonings, and similar methods.

If they could not defeat Konoha head-on, then they simply would not fight head-on. They would force Konoha to disperse its own main force, then let everyone descend into a massive melee!

A chaotic situation was best for fishing in troubled waters. They were not afraid of dragging things out by causing trouble throughout the Land of Fire, and under such battlefield conditions, Mist clearly had better odds of victory.

Even if they could not win, they could at least delay things long enough for the tailed beast attack on the village plan to be carried out. Once the plan succeeded, they could gather their forces for a large-scale offensive.

As long as Konoha suffered a devastating blow, Cloud, Rock, and perhaps even Sand, which had just signed a defeat treaty, would begin to stir...

Once they saw Konoha's weakness, if the three great ninja villages acted again, the other smaller ninja villages would surely follow. Who would not want to tear off a juicy piece of the resource-rich, pleasant, and economically prosperous Land of Fire?

If the plan succeeded, they, having changed the situation in the ninja world through their own efforts and seized the initiative, would certainly receive the biggest piece of the pie!

Thinking of that bright future, Kirigakure decisively took action. They not only infiltrated by land but also assembled ships to invade from all directions by sea.

The Land of Water might fall short of the Land of Fire in many respects, but it had never lacked ships. They requisitioned them—requisitioned as many as they could.

Mist's sudden change in tactics truly caught Konoha off guard. Reports came from everywhere that this place had been attacked or that place was requesting aid, forcing Konoha to dispatch ninjas to respond.

The Land of Fire's daimyo was furious upon receiving news that towns across the country had been attacked, because it affected tax revenue. And if tax revenue was affected, his money would shrink considerably.

Enraged, the Land of Fire's daimyo pressured Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi while also sending diplomats to the Land of Water's capital to lodge a strong protest with its daimyo and issue threats.

If Kirigakure's ninjas dared attack towns in the Land of Fire again, then Konoha's ninjas would answer in kind.

In the ninja world, conflicts and wars between ninja villages generally could not involve civilians. Though it was not an explicit rule, it was one everyone tacitly accepted.

With the destructive power of ninjas causing trouble in towns across the countries, tax revenue would inevitably suffer enormously. No one would be able to live in peace, and even their lives would be threatened.

Of course, battles and wars between ninjas inevitably affected civilians in practice, but the scale and impact were generally small enough that people could turn a blind eye.

Mist's ninjas causing trouble on a large scale in towns throughout the Land of Fire could be said to have violated the ninja world's unwritten rules.

Therefore, the protest and threats issued by the Land of Fire daimyo's envoy were entirely justified!

The Land of Water's daimyo was in the wrong and did not dare offend the Land of Fire, its big brother, beyond repair. Otherwise, if Kirigakure failed to win, life in the Land of Water would become difficult afterward.

Once Konoha and the Land of Fire recovered their strength, targeted suppression would surely cause the Land of Water and Kirigakure to decline greatly.

The Land of Water's daimyo sent someone to the front lines to pressure Fourth Mizukage Yagura. Yagura agreed to stop invading towns and return two-thirds of what they had gained.

Returning everything was naturally impossible; that would be far too weak. Returning two-thirds was already showing the Land of Fire's daimyo considerable respect.

They could not possibly work so hard for so long only to gain nothing. Would that not mean Mist had come for nothing?

Of course, it was said to be two-thirds, but in truth it was not two-thirds at all. It was only half.

Though the Land of Fire's daimyo was still displeased, he knew the remaining third could not be recovered.

However, the Land of Fire's daimyo did not let the matter rest. He was a daimyo—since ascending to his position, when had he ever suffered such humiliation?

The Land of Fire's daimyo sent all the recovered two-thirds of the money to Konoha as military funding and told them to beat Yagura and those sons of bitches from Mist senseless!

Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi gladly accepted and said he would certainly do so. After years of war, Konoha's finances had become somewhat strained.

Hiruzen Sarutobi allocated half of the money toward producing war supplies, which were continuously sent to the front lines.

As time passed, the massive melee continued for more than a month in the blink of an eye. The fighting spread across the eastern and southern regions of the Land of Fire, with ninja battles raging everywhere.

Sensing that the time was ripe, Yagura dispatched two Anbu detachments carrying the vessel sealing the Three-Tails. They secretly infiltrated the Land of Fire in search of a suitable jinchuriki.

An Anbu detachment generally consisted of four squads, with four people in each squad. Including the detachment leader, that made seventeen people in total.

Konoha Anbu had four detachments. Including the Anbu Commander and deputy commander, there were seventy people in total.

The ninja villages of the ninja world basically imitated Konoha's system, so Kirigakure's ANBU numbered around seventy as well.

As Yagura sent people into action, Madara Uchiha, who had been hidden in the shadows and closely watching the situation develop, also began to move. He sent Black and White Zetsu to guide the Mist ANBU.

Uchiha Gen had not been idle either. Like the other ninjas, he remained busy every day, either carrying out missions or on his way to carry out one!

The only difference was that sometimes he carried out missions with his three subordinates; sometimes he worked with other Special Jonin and Jonin; and sometimes he carried out missions alone.

That day, Uchiha Gen received another solo mission. Taking advantage of the chaotic situation, he decided to complete the preparations concerning his own future.

Some things were in a completely different league in terms of difficulty when done outside the village during wartime rather than inside Konoha...