"The strategic mistake could not be undone. But since we still held a firm advantage in military strength at this stage, the next step should at least be to minimize our losses—in other words, the village could no longer single-mindedly pursue a swift conclusion to the war in the Land of Water. Instead, we should focus on reducing the scale of the war and lowering its intensity as much as possible."
"How, specifically?"
"There are many angles we can work from. For example, we could cut off the source by negotiating with the Water Daimyo and severing the Mist Ninja's logistical support. Or we could reorganize the current air-strike formations, combining the Eye System with our air superiority to deploy forces more flexibly in response to the Mist Ninja's current guerrilla tactics... If you require it, I will compile the relevant measures into a document and deliver it to the Hokage Office later tonight."
"You have my thanks..."
The Third Hokage glanced at Soji's pale, haggard face, then ultimately decided to ignore his conscience and make this outstanding employee work overtime a little longer.
But Yamada Soji was not finished speaking...
"Lord Sarutobi, aside from the supplementary strategies mentioned above, there is another matter I must remind you to resolve as soon as possible."
"You mean the hunting plan we previously carried out with the Sand Ninja?"
"You misunderstand... I mean the two Tailed Beasts possessed by the Mist Ninja."
When the First had distributed the Tailed Beasts, he had taken the relative strength of each village into account. The Lands of Water, Earth, and Lightning had each received two Tailed Beasts. The Mist Ninja's Three-Tails, Isobu, and Six-Tails, Saiken, might not have outperformed the Sand Ninja's Shukaku in battle, but they were still monsters that struck directly at the