Two nights later, after several days at sea, Kirigakure's army of one hundred thousand finally landed on the southwestern coast of the Land of Wind.
Having learned from the previous failure, Yagura had laid out detailed tactical arrangements in advance. He ordered the hundred thousand Mist Ninja not to establish any supply lines after landing. Instead, they were to immediately concentrate their forces and launch an all-out assault on the nearest cities.
The commander-in-chief of the hundred thousand Mist Ninja this time was Hozuki Zangetsu, a direct member of the Mizukage faction and the clan head of the Hozuki Clan. Though his name was not particularly well known, his status was actually extremely important.
Strictly speaking, the Hozuki Clan should have belonged to Kirigakure's clan faction. However, after the Second Mizukage, Hozuki Gengetsu, died, his direct-line son inherited the position of Third Mizukage. The Hozuki Clan was therefore naturally close to him. Furthermore, the clan was so sparsely populated that its entire membership did not even exceed single digits, so it naturally became part of the Mizukage faction.
The current clan head, Hozuki Zangetsu, was Hozuki Gengetsu's son. He was more than ten years younger than the Third Mizukage. Though they were nominally fellow disciples, he had been cared for by the Third Mizukage since childhood, and their relationship was like that of master and disciple. He was also around ten years older than Yagura, and the two were fellow disciples as well. Thus, he had earned Yagura's deep trust and was appointed commander of this hundred-thousand-strong army.
As a transmigrator, when Nawaki first learned the commander's name, he had assumed the man was merely an ordinary minor character. After all, this Hozuki clan head did not seem particularly gifted. Even after inheriting the Hozuki Clan's secret techniques, he was