Hyuga Yu had always been unable to figure out one question—
How exactly had Konoha won the Third Shinobi World War?
Or, more specifically—
How exactly had Konoha won its war against Kirigakure?
Konoha did indeed possess Kage-level powerhouses like Minato Namikaze, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade, giving it a certain advantage in top-tier combat strength.
But when it came to conventional forces, the five great nations were all more or less evenly matched at this point.
If the Land of Rain front had eased Konoha's pressure because Iwagakure and Kumogakure had sabotaged one another and weakened each other, followed by Minato Namikaze descending like a divine soldier to turn the tide at the brink of collapse, then that was understandable enough.
But—
What about Kirigakure?
Within the bloody mist of the Land of Water lay an exceedingly harsh, high-pressure military organization. Perhaps its conventional forces were slightly fewer than those of the other major nations because of its bloody mist policies—
But in terms of mid-level forces and elite ninja, it had no fewer than Konoha.
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, bloodline clans such as Kaguya and Terumi, secret technique clans such as Hozuki and Tsuchigumo, Ninja Academy elites who had fought their way out of the bloody mist's academy system... and the Third Mizukage, who had remained mysterious from beginning to end.
War potential on that level was in no way inferior to Kumogakure's. After the Third Raikage's death, it had even vaguely surpassed it.
With most of Konoha's forces committed to the western front, it had been left with no choice but to send the Uchiha and Hyuga clans, along with a handful of miscellaneous troops, to deal with such a terrifying ninja village.
Yet there was one deeply puzzling question:
On this battlefield, Konoha had