Although Nawaki had given up on the idea of directly seizing it with the Rinnegan, that did not mean he intended to completely abandon the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path!
Since there was no way to take a shortcut, why not simply use an army to seize it by force? Although they would likely find a way to move the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path after Madara died, there was always some hope, wasn't there?
Thus, after surrounding the forest, Nawaki did not use his usual siege tactics. Instead, he directly ordered his six hundred thousand troops to launch an all-out assault on the Mist Ninja at any cost!
Although the Konoha ninja did not understand why their commander-in-chief had issued such an order, once the sweep operation succeeded and truly encircled the Mist Ninja's main force, they developed a blind faith in Nawaki. Therefore, without the slightest hesitation, they launched a full-scale assault on the forest from every direction. They believed that, under Skywalker's leadership, they would surely win this war.
The Mist Ninja, meanwhile, had the exact opposite mentality from the Konoha ninja. They simply could not understand why Mizukage Yagura had abandoned guerrilla tactics and chosen to hold this forest instead! Could some incredible treasure truly be hidden here? Yet in the eyes of the Mist Ninja, no matter how precious a treasure was, it was not worth defending like this. The Mizukage's orders were plainly burying all hope for Kirigakure! However, because of Yagura's long-standing high-pressure rule, not a single Mist Ninja dared defy his orders. So they all obeyed and set up defenses in the forest, but their morale was abysmal and could collapse at any moment. No one was willing to fight to the death for an unknown reason.
Konoha's army of