Early October, Konoha Year 32.
In the second year after the Second Shinobi World War officially began, the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire secretly reached an agreement. A campaign to encircle and eliminate the demigod Hanzo quietly began...
We shall not discuss Konoha's deployments for now, but the Sand Ninja fighting on their home soil had already revealed their killing intent!
By this point in the war, the Land of Wind's military losses could no longer be measured by mere numbers. Moreover, there was no foundation of trust between the allied forces participating in this operation. Thus, after repeated discussions, the Sand Ninja's final plan was not to inflict massive casualties upon the main Rain Ninja forces within their territory. Instead, they set their sights on the demigod himself, who had recently been rushing back and forth across the front lines!
On one hand, this was a carefully designed plan based on an opening Ibuse himself had exposed, offering relatively high returns and safety;
On the other hand, this amounted to using Konoha as a proxy, leaving the main task of wiping out the Rain Ninja's principal forces to them! Only then could they ensure that the alliance between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rain would be utterly voided—and perhaps even turn the two sides into bitter enemies!
As the one who had proposed the entire plan, Mekiya Ruri naturally took on the role of commander, using the opportunity to obtain temporary command over all combat units on the front lines!
Under her direction, the Sand Ninja, who had spent the past several months fighting only scattered skirmishes, launched their first full-scale offensive, carrying out extensive sabotage against key points throughout the Rain Ninja-occupied territory in a deliberate sequence.
For a time, beacon fires