Shikaku saw how heavy the atmosphere had become. After a moment's thought, he said, "The situation might not be as bad as it seems. With the Hyuga and Uchiha joining in, we should be able to stabilize the front. As for Sunagakure, send Choza and Zhen Hong."
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded. There was no better option. Konoha was fighting on four fronts, and its strategists, Shikaku Nara and Intelligence Department head Inoichi Yamanaka, were burdened with so many duties that they couldn't leave Konoha. Of the Ino-Shika-Cho, only Cho was still free to go out.
"There's something else I still can't figure out."
Shikaku pointed to the two Sunagakure forces on the map. "Why did the Sand Shinobi split their forces in two?"
The room fell silent.
Unfortunately, Konoha's spies had a hard time gathering information in that area. Sunagakure was very wary of outsiders.
Sunagakure's efforts to attract immigrants had originally presented a good opportunity, but Konoha was stretched too thin by the war to spare any spies.
"Could it be a dispute over who gets the credit? The factions in Sunagakure have been at odds for a long time."
Utatane Koharu hesitated, then voiced her guess uncertainly.
"But would they really disagree over something this important? They didn't split their forces like this during the war with the Cloud Ninja."
Mitokado Homura offered a different opinion.
"Back then, they were defending their village. Of course they would set aside their differences."
"I still think Sunagakure's elders wouldn't take such an aggressive approach. They might disagree over how to divide the spoils, but not over how to deploy their forces."
The two senior advisors disagreed. The others felt both arguments had merit. After going back and forth, they eventually turned to Shikaku.
Shikaku had been deep in thought since the