Nara Rukawa was efficient. As soon as Uchiha Sou made his decision, Rukawa immediately passed it down.
Once the personnel in each "war zone" received the news, they began making their own plans and preparations.
And when they finally took action, Kirigakure got a firsthand taste of what it meant to have the pressure cranked up.
Perhaps the resistance groups in each "war zone" and the Konoha Ninja had been itching for a fight for a long time. Or perhaps Kirigakure's campaigns to wipe them out across the country had made them all too familiar with the enemy.
Either way, when the operation began, Kirigakure was caught completely off guard.
The constant ambushes and sabotage left them scrambling to keep up. Roads, bridges, and facilities of all kinds were hit.
Some resistance fighters even used supplies they had seized from Kirigakure to launch long-range attacks on its bases and facilities, firing arrows with Explosive Tags attached.
Once the full-scale operation began, Kirigakure's rear was subjected to a saturation attack by the civilians of the Land of Whirlpools!
Every few days, the Mist Ninja got a taste of the people of the Land of Whirlpools' enthusiasm.
After all, in the Land of Whirlpools, Kirigakure had been even more ruthless about physically bleeding people dry than it had been about draining them economically.
Given that history, it was only natural that the civilians of the Land of Whirlpools were acting this way now.
And the civilians put on one shocking display after another for the Konoha Ninja. Sometimes, they seemed not to care about their own lives at all!
The Konoha Ninja who led and trained them had seen these people risk their lives to carry out their missions more than once.
They would willingly lay down their lives to cover someone else's retreat. When surrounded by Mist Ninja, they would strap Explosive Tags to themselves and set them off.
Even the civilians handling logistics had to dodge Mist Ninja patrols and watch out for the fangs of wild beasts just to get food to the people on the front lines.
Yet they never complained. Quite a few had even received food stained with blood—proof that the people delivering it had risked their lives.
The Konoha Ninja were stunned by such fighting spirit and unity.
Fortunately, the people of the Land of Whirlpools held Konoha in high regard and respected its shinobi far more than they did those from other lands.
This led many Konoha Ninja to change their views of the civilians of the Land of Whirlpools.
The full-scale operation also prompted many Konoha Ninja hiding behind enemy lines to seek out resistance groups, bolstering the forces in each "war zone."
In addition, the "project managers" of the various "war zones" kept Uchiha Sou's instructions firmly in mind.
As time went on, they continued to gather and intercept information about the Mist Ninja.
Even though the intelligence was often delayed and some of it was false, it was still useful enough.
They also kept expanding the areas under their control. Punishing collaborators, spreading information among the people, and building camps—all these tasks were progressing steadily, with excellent results.
"Those damn bastards are insane!"
Compared to the dramatic changes in the Land of Whirlpools, Kirigakure found itself in an increasingly passive and helpless position.
The civilians were even more willing to risk their lives than the Mist Ninja had imagined, and their suicidal ambushes and sabotage had caused enormous losses.
Kirigakure had assigned strict guards to every major supply depot and transport hub, but the resistance groups' "suicide attacks," along with the systematic destruction of everything along the way, still left them gaping in disbelief. The major transport hubs remained intact, but the roads everywhere else looked as if they had been dug up down to the bedrock!
The smaller supply depots had fared even worse. Their supplies had either been stolen or destroyed outright, and by the time reinforcements arrived, the attackers were long gone.
Under these circumstances, Kirigakure's foothold in the Land of Whirlpools was steadily shrinking.
Roads were being destroyed, and small supply depots were being attacked. As a result, supplies either failed to reach their destinations or arrived late.
Morale on the front lines kept falling, and the worst part was that they had no good way to deal with the situation.
Solving the problem shouldn't have been difficult: they could organize a large force to sweep through the resistance groups.
The "Human Purge Plan"? They knew that kind of work inside out. But organizing a sweep on that scale would take a huge number of people!
The front lines were already stretched thin. Konoha might have fewer shinobi, but their combat strength was no joke, so Kirigakure had to keep sending in reserves to maintain its fighting power.
If they pulled troops away now for a large-scale sweep and encirclement, the already struggling front lines would be in even worse shape.
But if they did nothing, things would only get worse. For a time, the Kirigakure command center was shrouded in gloom.
"Now isn't the time to discuss just how insane these people are. I called you here to figure out how to deal with the situation."
Karatachi Yagura looked at the Mist Ninja before him, frowning as he spoke. There was also something else he needed to understand.
"How are Juzo Biwa and Raiga Kurosuki doing? It's been so long. Why haven't we heard anything from them?"
"They..."
A Mist Ninja frowned, then finally replied with a helpless look.
"They've lost contact. For now, they're listed as missing. As for what happened, we..."
"Are they really just missing?"
Karatachi Yagura's brow furrowed even more at that. This was certainly not good news for him.
But he could be sure of one thing: whoever had taken on the two men and their squad and ensured that not a single one escaped was probably a formidable shinobi sent by Konoha!
There was something else on Karatachi Yagura's mind: the information they had "sent" to Konoha about the enemy shinobi behind their lines secretly training the resistance groups.
After sending it, the message seemed to have sunk into the sea. Konoha hadn't responded at all.
Karatachi Yagura couldn't help wondering whether Konoha really planned to abandon the Land of Whirlpools and start cultivating a nest of vipers in this godforsaken place.
That didn't make sense. If they intended to abandon it, why had they let Kirigakure land there during the Second Shinobi World War?
"Why is that? Could Orochimaru have come here?"
A frightening idea suddenly occurred to Karatachi Yagura. The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed!
The reason Konoha hadn't responded might be that the person who gave the order and carried it out was Konoha's commander.
And the one with the strength, ability, and authority to organize all of this might well be Orochimaru.
Konoha had others who could silently wipe out Raiga Kurosuki, Juzo Biwa, and their entire squad, but on the battlefield in the Land of Whirlpools, it seemed that only Orochimaru could do it!
"If that's true..."
Karatachi Yagura didn't know if his wild guess was right, but whoever was capable of all this was no ordinary person!
At that, Karatachi Yagura came up with an idea—an even wilder one.
"Recall every other member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist from the front lines, and assign them an elite squad."
"My lord, they're certainly strong, but..." The Mist Ninja hesitated before asking, "Is that really necessary? And with so few men..."
"It is necessary, and they don't need enough men. I want them to draw certain people out," Karatachi Yagura said coolly. "Tell them I only care about the result. And tell them they may have to face..."
Karatachi Yagura paused.
"Orochimaru. I imagine they'll be very interested."
Before you continue