Although the Third Raikage had returned to the battlefield, in the span of a month, the entire Cloud Shinobi force had been weakened by thirty percent. The balance of strength had already tipped. If this continued, Konoha would be using superior numbers to overwhelm the enemy and snowball its advantage.
Now that the Mist Ninja had pulled this move, Konoha had transferred two thousand ninja away, immediately easing Cloud Shinobi's pressure and giving them a chance to catch their breath.
"They want the other ninja villages to keep bleeding so none of them can grow too dominant. The Mist Ninja really do deserve their reputation as shit-stirrers!"
In the island nation of England in the real world, they had once used the same strategy against Europe. Whichever country became too strong, they weakened it, preserving the balance, eliminating threats, and protecting their own interests.
There would be little outcome on the Mist Ninja front. Konoha could not exactly chase them out onto the sea. As long as the Mist Ninja maintained their harassment, they could tie down more than six thousand Konoha troops.
The key to breaking the deadlock still lay with the Stone Ninja and Cloud Shinobi. Though the Stone Ninja were currently being suppressed by Tsunade and the others, they had yet to show any signs of collapse.
Cloud Shinobi had only just caught their breath, and the Third Raikage's return had greatly boosted their morale. Yet their situation was not optimistic. After a month of continuous retreat, they had nearly been driven out of the Land of Hot Water. One more retreat, and they would be back on their own territory in the Land of Lightning.
Once they retreated to their homeland, it would be difficult for Cloud Shinobi to continue fighting Konoha. Leaving aside the blow