This time, Nawaki led his forces back to the Land of Fire by fleet. Rather than detouring through the southwestern waters to the West Forest region bordering the Land of Wind, he took the most direct route toward the southeastern coast deep within the Land of Fire, where Kirigakure's eighty-thousand-strong clan faction Shinobi Army was currently confronting Konoha.
Nawaki chose this route to take advantage of the negotiations between Kirigakure and the Kazekage. He would first eliminate the hidden danger in the heartland of the Land of Fire and free up the 150,000 troops under Orochimaru's command. Once their forces united, they would have a total of 350,000 troops. This would not only ensure Konoha remained invincible in the coming war, but also minimize casualties among its Shinobi Army.
This tactic of dealing with the easy target first and the difficult one later seemed steady and unremarkable, seemingly at odds with Skywalker's usual wild and unconventional style of warfare. Yet it was the correct choice.
If Nawaki had directly led his 200,000-strong army around to the southwestern coast of the Land of Wind, the carrier fleet could have arrived in two days at most. Such a tactic would have been completely beyond everyone's expectations. Both Kirigakure and Sunagakure would have been caught off guard, and the carrier fleet could even have wiped out the entire Kirigakure fleet stationed in the southwestern waters along the way.
Yet Nawaki did not choose this clearly advantageous route of advance, because doing so would not serve Konoha's interests and might even bring uncontrollable variables!
Although Skywalker could claim to be supporting an ally when he led 200,000 Konoha troops ashore in the Land of Wind, it would inevitably make Sunagakure wary. Konoha would become the strongest side, so who could guarantee that they would