It was far too difficult to seize territory from Konoha, so Kirigakure's higher-ups naturally turned their eyes toward another neighbor—the Land of Wind!
Now that the Land of Wind's climate had returned to normal, its land held boundless potential. Kirigakure had long coveted it, and now Sunagakure had been defeated by Konoha. Sixty thousand Shinobi Army troops had been captured, leaving it with only forty thousand effective troops. Its strength had fallen to the bottom among the five great shinobi villages, inferior even to the second-rate Land of Rain.
Was there a better target than this country? If Konoha could carve flesh from this weakened nation, why couldn't Kirigakure? Surely the Land of Wind had already grown accustomed to ceding territory, hadn't it?
Thus, the Land of Wind, regarded as a fat piece of meat, became Kirigakure's primary target. Of course, to prevent Konoha from interfering, Kirigakure still had to keep them occupied. A four-nation counteroffensive was probably no longer possible, so they would make it a three-nation counteroffensive instead. Since they had no intention of occupying Konoha's territory, there was no need to fight to the death. Sending out a diversionary force would be enough to achieve their strategic objective!
And so Kirigakure's troop-splitting plan came into being. Its specific steps were as follows:
First, an eighty-thousand-strong Shinobi Army composed of bloodline clans and the Seven Ninja Swordsmen would land along the southeastern coast, then advance westward to attack the West River region. If the campaign went smoothly, they would continue west to attack the Western Forest Region, or even head north to attack West Lake and Western Plain, thoroughly disrupting the rear of Konoha's shinobi forces within the Land of Earth, creating an opportunity for Iwagakure to launch a counteroffensive while drawing away Konoha's main force.
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