Having consecutively lost two strategic-level combat forces, Iwagakure's strength had declined drastically. Although it still possessed more troops than any shinobi village except Konoha, its true strength had fallen to the bottom among the major shinobi villages, only slightly stronger than Kirigakure. That was because Iwagakure had only one Kage-level expert left: Tsuchikage Ōnoki!
In wars between shinobi, troop numbers were certainly important, but top-tier combat power was equally important. Every Shinobi Army needed at least one Kage-level expert to hold the line; otherwise, both morale and tactics would be severely affected. In terms of high-end combat power, Konoha was currently in the best position. They had a double-digit number of Kage-level experts leading troops into battle, which was why Konoha had the confidence to fight multiple major shinobi villages on several fronts at once.
What was even more outrageous was that Nawaki's Flying Thunder God Technique and True Clone could freely transfer multiple Kage-level experts between battlefields. This made the deployment of high-end combat power even more flexible. Sometimes, even if they took a few risks and sent out a Shinobi Army without a Kage-level expert stationed within it, it would not be a problem at all.
But in Iwagakure's current situation, with only one Kage-level combatant remaining, Tsuchikage Ōnoki could only remain behind to guard Iwagakure and could not divide his forces for battle.
Under such circumstances, Iwagakure could no longer threaten the surrounding nations. Not only Konoha, but even neighboring Amegakure and Kusagakure could safely digest the territories they had occupied from the Land of Earth. Moreover, this situation would continue for a long time to come.
After Nawaki led his army to rendezvous with the Shinobi Army in the Original Lake region, he merely ordered Yomi's Immortal Army to move into the territory Roshi had abandoned