On this day, scenes like this played out in more than one place across the Land of Whirlpools.
The trend was growing more pronounced, and for some time to come, Kirigakure would receive reports of all kinds of losses every day.
Whether it was supply teams being ambushed, preventing their cargo from reaching the front lines, or supply routes being destroyed so deliveries could not be made on time—
All of it gave the Mist commanders splitting headaches. It wasn't as if they hadn't tried taking measures.
But those measures couldn't exactly be called effective. If anything, they were pretty much useless.
From the moment Uchiha Sou gave the order, all ten thousand or so civilians capable of serving as combatants had left their villages and joined the resistance group closest to them.
Under the guidance and command of the Konoha Ninja assigned to train them, these resistance groups had then scattered their camps throughout the vast forest.
Although the people had suffered quite a bit—after all, hiding in the forest was nothing like staying in a town—this approach had done as much as possible to prevent the Mist from wiping them all out at once.
Moreover, the Konoha Ninja in charge of their respective "war zones" had followed to the letter the instructions Uchiha Sou had given them before the war began.
That was, unless absolutely necessary, never to attack the Mist head-on, but instead to harass them by every means possible!
Following this approach, the Kirigakure shinobi in this region were having an especially hard time.
They could retaliate in force, but the Mist Ninja simply didn't have enough manpower, especially with the front lines already under pressure.
And finding the resistance groups wasn't easy either. The Land of Whirlpools was enormous; who knew which corner they were hiding in?
But if they simply shut their eyes and waited to die, ignoring the resistance, they would still receive reports of losses every day. It made the Mist Ninja gnash their teeth in fury.
Still, the Mist Ninja hadn't come away empty-handed. The various resistance groups had done a good job and taken great care, but at the end of the day, they were just ordinary people.
"A bunch of civilians have managed to resist to this extent. It's almost unbelievable."
At Kirigakure's headquarters in the Land of Whirlpools, Karatachi Yagura frowned as he looked over the report in his hands. It was clear he was in a foul mood.
He looked only twelve or thirteen, but that was simply because he had been born with a "baby face."
He wasn't the Fourth Mizukage yet, but as a pupil of the Third Mizukage and a member of the Karatachi Clan, he was being groomed as a high-priority prospect.
And this war had made him the overall commander in the Land of Whirlpools!
"Lord Yagura, there are Konoha Ninja behind this." A middle-aged Mist Ninja seemed somewhat afraid of Karatachi Yagura, but he still mustered the courage to speak.
"Of course I know there are Konoha Ninja behind it. Do you think these people could have managed this on their own?"
Karatachi Yagura snorted, then tossed the report onto the table.
"The real question is how they managed to do all this in such a short time. That's no simple feat."
"Lord Yagura, do you think these people might be connected to the attack on the prisoner camp earlier?"
Another Mist Ninja couldn't help speaking up.
For the past six months, Kirigakure had been having trouble keeping its prisoners under guard. Small prisoner camps had been attacked again and again.
It wasn't a major issue as far as the war was concerned, but it had still caused some casualties.
The Mist Ninja had looked into it, but the targets were too small, and they hadn't gotten anywhere. In the end, they had been forced to let it drop.
It was war. People died. Besides, Kirigakure had investigated; the enemy had simply been too cunning for them to get any results.
But now, it seemed there might have been more to it after all.
"The prisoner camp attacks?" Karatachi Yagura pondered for a moment, then nodded. "There may indeed be a connection. But that's even better. At least it leaves us some clues."
With that, Karatachi Yagura turned and picked up a map. Studying it intently, he continued,
"Although we can't know where the scattered resistance groups are hiding, all of them must have a central command.
"I don't believe the Konoha Ninja leading the resistance groups are operating independently. That would easily lead to serious problems, just as it would if we tried to fight a war without a chain of command.
"So our primary objective is to find their command post. Once we locate it, the resistance groups will become a disorganized rabble again."
As he spoke, he quickly marked up the map with a pen, then handed it to the Mist Ninja beside him.
The Mist Ninja took the map and unfolded it. He soon frowned; several areas had been marked.
"Search these areas."
Karatachi Yagura spoke evenly, though his expression was especially cold.
"Pay particular attention to the villages and towns. The resistance groups operate far apart, but we can't rule out the possibility that local civilians are providing them with information.
"This time, send people who are both strong and ruthless. For one thing, their command post is likely to have a number of shinobi guarding it.
"And if word of our search gets out, they may ambush our men. So I need people who understand the situation and know what they're supposed to do."
"I understand, Lord Yagura." The Mist Ninja nodded at once.
He didn't think there was anything wrong with this. During wartime, who cared whether civilians lived or died—especially civilians from another country?
Kirigakure had plundered the Land of Whirlpools mercilessly for years. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been so many resistance groups.
Besides, intelligence was crucial to shinobi. If someone let information leak and got their own people killed, that would be unforgivable.
"Lord Yagura, Lord Kiba and Lord Juzo Biwa are both resting at the moment." The Mist Ninja seemed to think of something and spoke up immediately.
"Kiba and Juzo Biwa?" Karatachi Yagura considered this, then answered without hesitation. "That'll work. Two members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist should be more than enough. But to be safe, send a squad along with them."
"I understand, Lord Yagura." The Mist Ninja nodded, then prepared to leave and pass on the orders.
"Wait." Just as he was about to go, Karatachi Yagura called after him. "Leak this information to Konoha. Let them know that someone in the Land of Whirlpools is training the local civilians."
The Mist Ninja froze, unsure what to say for a moment. In the end, he nodded. "Yes, Lord Yagura."
After saying this, the Mist Ninja turned and left the command room. Karatachi Yagura sat back down, a smile creeping onto his lips.
"Training civilians? What a far-fetched idea. I don't believe Konoha would ever issue such an order.
"Otherwise, Konoha wouldn't have stood by and watched us land, then let us exterminate the Uzumaki Clan."
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