Four minutes.
That was an extremely tight window.
Based on the continuous reports from the sensor ninja and Byakugan users, the formation of the Water, Earth, and Lightning Allied Forces gradually became clear.
They had deployed a Three Sides Surrounded, One Side Open formation directly ahead.
Using Uzushiogakure as the center point, the enemy's main force was the Mist Ninja Army Main Camp east of Uzushiogakure, numbering roughly eight hundred Mist ninja; to the north were the Cloud Hidden Elite Unit and some Mist ninja, around three hundred in total; to the south were the Stone Hidden Explosive Unit and a small number of Mist ninja, around four hundred in total.
Combining the intelligence gathered along the way with the information provided by Uzumaki Clan survivors, the Three Nations Allied Forces had deployed nearly three thousand troops in total for this campaign. After the successive battles with Uzushiogakure and the losses from those defeated, killed, or wounded by the Mobile Unit during its relief mission, the allied forces still retained nearly two thousand combatants. Yet only around fifteen hundred had appeared here...
Uchiha Tokimitsu looked west toward the Land of Fire with a troubled expression.
If nothing unexpected happened, the Mist Ninja Army that had not appeared here had most likely set an ambush along their route of retreat.
Due to the operational range required by ninja, large-scale ninja armies rarely clustered together when fighting. Ninja possessed high offense and agility but low defense, so to facilitate jutsu use and avoid friendly fire, they generally employed Tidal Tactics—wave after wave of continuous attacks battering the enemy's position. The Three Sides Surrounded, One Side Open formation also made it easier to spread out their forces.
At the same time, that deliberately preserved "possible path of survival" could be lined with ambushes,