Warfare Requires Method

The Land of Lightning is truly wealthy; they lost so many oxen, yet no one noticed for quite some time.

A did not even know his own cattle had been stolen, still immersed in the title that had become popular among the Cloud ninjas ever since Zhengyi shouted it that day: Number One Taijutsu Master of the Ninja World.

Well.

I am still far from reaching Father's level.

Hahaha~~~

Inside the tent at night.

"Zhengyi, the command of the front line against Kumogakure is now handed to you."

Zhengyi was lying on his sickbed recuperating when Orochimaru suddenly approached silently, lifted the curtain, and walked in.

That is truly terrifying.

If he were Kakashi, he might have...

Wait, what did Teacher say?

The command of the Kumogakure front line is being given to him?

Although commanding an army is a man's dream and the ultimate romance, if he makes a single mistake and Kumogakure breaks through, he will be a sinner of Konoha, and he would be hung up and whipped by Hashirama and Tobirama in the Pure Land.

"But..." Zhengyi felt immense pressure; every single life rested on his shoulders.

"Do not refuse; this is an order."

Orochimaru had already arranged the deployments; as long as Zhengyi was not a pig, there would be no issues.

Zhengyi only needed to be responsible for handling the trivial matters of the ninja army.

Orochimaru did not wish to waste his time on unnecessary things, such as dealing with the minutiae of the Konoha ninja army.

"If there is anything you cannot handle, come find Teacher again."

After delivering the notice, Orochimaru left just as irresponsibly.

Seemingly afraid that the Cloud ninjas might overrun the Konoha camp, he took Anko Mitarashi with him to his nearby laboratory.

There were nearly two thousand ninjas on the Kumogakure front line.

At this moment, the food, drink, sanitation, and survival issues of nearly two thousand people were all pressed onto Zhengyi's shoulders.

And he was still recovering from his injuries.

Although Zhengyi was only a Chunin, he had done so much dirty work for Orochimaru and even had some connections within Root, so who would dare not give him face?

Having always been kind to others, his reputation among the ninja community was no less than that of Minato.

It was just a bit of a coincidence.

Jiraiya was the Konoha commander on the Iwagakure front, and he intended to let his student leave a good impression.

Orochimaru was the Konoha commander on the Kumogakure front, and to make things easier for Zhengyi in the future, he also handed merit to him on a silver platter.

Thus, people as warm as the sun were rare, yet that year, Konoha produced two of them, one after the other.

"Is this your doing? Orochimaru." On the Iwagakure front, Jiraiya still thought his old friend had no interest in becoming Hokage.

But! He could give anything to Orochimaru, except for the position of Fourth Hokage.

The Child of Prophecy could only be Minato.

Compared to Minato, no one else was outstanding enough.

The only Kage-level powerhouse on the Kumogakure front had run off to conduct experiments.

Zhengyi had a massive headache.

To dump everything on him, a mere Chunin, to resolve—Teacher really did trust him.

Holding two thousand troops in his hands, Zhengyi felt a surge of excitement.

Looking at Orochimaru's "clumsy" tactical map, he felt that Konoha needed to make a move.

If things continued like this, the Konoha camp would be overrun sooner or later.

Therefore!

Zhengyi launched a fierce offensive, concentrating all of Konoha's advantages to strike the enemy's weakest point.

The previous command of Konoha could be said to have been devoid of any intelligence.

Possessing the Hyuga Clan and the Inuzuka Clan, two T0-tier reconnaissance families, and still fighting so poorly?

What were those Konoha commanders even doing?

He had thought he wasn't up to the task, but after a few days of exchanging blows with Kumogakure, he felt that he was not incapable after all.

Inside the meeting tent.

Zhengyi, seated in his wheelchair, proposed the "One Point Two Sides" tactic.

What was the One Point Two Sides tactic?

One Point: Select the weakest point in the enemy's entire defensive line.

Two Sides: Concentrate superior forces to attack this single point, while simultaneously encircling from at least two directions to prevent the enemy from escaping or receiving reinforcements.

If he were Hiruzen Sarutobi, he would certainly prioritize concentrating his forces to take down the weakest, Sunagakure, forcing them to negotiate peace with Konoha so they could turn their attention to other ninja villages.

But unfortunately, he was not the Hokage.

He did not even have the confidence to tell Hiruzen Sarutobi that he would surely regret his choices.

Why could Zhengyi, a mere Chunin, command Jonin, and even elite Jonin?

Because he was not teaching ninjutsu; he was teaching everyone the "algorithm" for how to win a war.

The ninja world at present either fought skirmishes or large-scale frontal assaults, with no methodology to speak of.

Thus, Zhengyi gave the Jonin present a lesson.

Those capable of becoming ninjas certainly did not lack intelligence; they simply lacked education.

Since what Zhengyi said was correct, they naturally understood it.

"To think war could be fought this way?" Aburame Shibi sat at the end of the table, looking forward to the mission Zhengyi would assign him.

His Aburame clan could utilize insects for reconnaissance.

"Hyuga, use your Byakugan to clear a path for Konoha."

"Inuzuka, I need you to smell the scent of the enemy and determine how long ago they passed through these routes."

"Yes!" Xn

Aburame Shibi wore an expectant expression; what about me, what about me?

"Alright, meeting adjourned."

Aburame Shibi: "..."

In the early hours of one morning, A had a sudden thought and chose to lead the Cloud ninjas in a surprise attack while Konoha was asleep.

Who said their Kumogakure was just a bunch of brainless brutes?

Was this not using their brains?

A felt smug about his brilliant scheme.

"B! Fire a Tailed Beast Bomb." The Cloud ninja force had traveled unimpeded, and upon reaching the vicinity of the Konoha camp, A ordered Killer B to fire a Tailed Beast Bomb.

Even though he admired Zhengyi.

Unfortunately, this was a battlefield.

If Zhengyi were blown to bits by Killer B's Tailed Beast Bomb, he would simply offer a sigh of regret before celebrating his victory.

Killer B transformed into his Tailed Beast form, and immediately, a Tailed Beast Bomb capable of shaking mountains began to form.

A purple-black sphere of light tore through the night sky, smashing into the direction of the Konoha tents with a destructive shriek.

A few seconds later, the once orderly area was replaced by a charred crater emitting wisps of blue smoke.

Around the crater, flames crackled on the wood, and thick smoke rose into the air, merging with the dust that had yet to settle.

"Why is there no sound?"

A was somewhat confused.

Logically speaking, there should have been a few survivors letting out heart-wrenching screams.

"Let's go, take a look."

"Where are the people? Why isn't there a single person from Konoha?"

Looking at the camp without a single corpse, A and the Cloud ninjas were completely stunned.

They searched everywhere but could not find any trace of Konoha.

A ordered his sensory ninjas to search the perimeter, only to discover that Konoha's defenses were extremely sparse; the two thousand ninjas who had previously made it impossible for them to protect the towns of the Land of Fire were gone.

Now, only about four hundred remained, stationed in a somewhat scattered manner.

What did this mean?

A was a bit baffled, but as someone who would eventually become the Raikage, he was still quite meticulous.

He was shaken by this bizarre maneuver from Konoha.

Fearing some sort of conspiracy, he did not dare to launch an attack rashly.

He only dared to launch a small probe.