The Leaf's army advanced far faster than the old nobles of the Land of Fire had imagined.
Under the precise command of Hatake Sakumo, the "White Fang of the Leaf," this force of elite shinobi fought in a manner that completely overturned all conventional notions of warfare.
There were no prolonged sieges, no brutal wars of attrition.
Before absolute power and extraordinary skill, defenses built on high walls, thick ramparts, and ordinary soldiers were as fragile as ice and snow beneath the sun.
After Maple Song City, Whetstone City—the second major stronghold guarding the vital route to the capital—failed to even mount a proper resistance.
The lord of Whetstone City had attempted to make a last stand with the three thousand elite warriors stationed within the city. He had even declared that he would show "those shinobi who only knew how to hide in the shadows and throw shuriken" what true battlefield combat was.
Reality, however, delivered a resounding slap to their faces.
The battle began at dawn. Before the sky had fully brightened, the night-watch soldiers discovered in horror that several crucial granaries and armories within the city had caught fire at once.
As chaos broke out, the solid city gates were blasted open from within by some massive explosion.
Then countless dark figures surged into the city like ghosts. Swift as the wind, they leaped between rooftops and walls, their kunai and short blades precisely harvesting the lives of officers attempting to organize a defensive line.
The warriors possessed courage and strength, yet they could not even touch the hem of their enemies' clothes. Often, after only a single exchange, their lives were taken by wind blades from nowhere or stone spears thrusting up from the ground.
Hatake Sakumo himself was like a white phantom upon the battlefield.