The Art of Balance

Early morning

Eastern Stronghold of the Land of Fire

Naraku sat imposingly in the Garrison Commander's seat, with several ninja squad commanders below him.

Originally, the Eastern Stronghold consisted of twenty large fortresses and forty-five small outposts. Before Naraku led his troops to provide support, the forty-five small outposts on the outer perimeter were abandoned by the garrison Garrison Commander, Fukushima Yuki.

By gathering the ninja teams scattered in various locations and holding their positions while awaiting reinforcements, Fukushima Yuki demonstrated some leadership and foresight, befitting the commander appointed by Sarutobi Hiruzen.

If the outer outposts are not eliminated and are defeated one by one, the Eastern Stronghold will fall, and the situation in the eastern part of the Land of Fire will definitely be in chaos.

"Naraku! Now that Hidden Mist has been driven out, according to intelligence, tens of thousands of Hidden Mist ninja have gathered there and are building ships. They will likely attack soon."

"At that time, I'll be counting on you, Lord Naraku!"

Fukushima Yuki position taken; on the contrary, she was extremely respectful, after all, the Uchiha Clan had saved her life.

"Hmm, how's the recap of the battle from the other day? Yuuki-kun, you were so careless; even the command post's news got overheard by Hidden Mist."

"If it weren't for our timely reinforcements, this Eastern Defense Line would probably be finished."

In the arena Uchiha Fugaku, the Second Elder Uchiha Kyo, Choza Akimichi, Hizashi Hyuga, and several others whose names Naraku couldn't recall, serving as Konoha Jonin Jonin Choza Akimichi and Hyuga Clan.

"Well, to my shame, of the fifty ninjas at our base, most have been killed or wounded. Only a dozen or so are still able to fight, eleven are slightly injured, and the other twenty-eight have already perished in battle."

The entire Eastern Stronghold suffered nearly half its thousand-strong force as a result of the Hidden Mist invasion; currently, only five hundred men are available for combat.

"I can't believe it," said Fukushima Yuki with a sigh.

Naraku had a general understanding of the defenses at the Eastern Stronghold; nearly half of his thousand men had been lost, which was a significant loss.

Naraku glanced at Uchiha Fugaku, mainly wanting to know the casualties of the vanguard he led.

Seeing Naraku's gaze, Fugaku said in a deep voice:

"Of the three hundred vanguard troops, nearly one hundred were killed or wounded, forty-seven tribesmen died, and sixty others sustained injuries of varying degrees. After treatment by the Medical Corps, they will soon be able to recover their fighting strength."

Upon hearing this, Naraku touched his eyes. Three hundred people, and after fighting for so short a time, the casualties were already so high. Hidden Mist, as one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, is known as the Village of the Bloody Mist. It's true that they have some tricks up their sleeves.

"What were the results?"

"In the past few days, we have taken a total of 365 enemy kills."

"401 bodies captured"

"One thousand one hundred bodies were captured."

"Six hundred and seventy bodies were captured."

The Choza Akimichi Hyuga Clan secured over 300 kills, Uchiha's team secured over 400 kills, the Uchiha clan secured 1,100 kills, Eastern Stronghold defense team secured 670 kills.

"Hmm, not bad. Although we suffered heavy casualties, the losses in Hidden Mist were even greater."

All twenty strongholds on the Eastern Defense Line were attacked. They fought desperately, suffering nearly half casualties, a heavy loss, but they still managed to exchange at least one for one, a respectable number of kills.

If the defending force hadn't received reinforcements, the entire force of a thousand men would likely have been wiped out, with only about six hundred casualties. A thousand Konoha Ninja for six hundred Hidden Mist.

However, later, Uchiha Nara, Hizashi Hyuga, and Choza Akimichi attacked the exhausted Hidden Mist with fresh troops, achieving considerable success while suffering relatively few losses themselves.

In this battle, according to intelligence reports, almost all of the three thousand Kirigakure ninja were killed Hidden Mist wounded. They no longer pose a threat to the eastern part of the Land of Fire.

However, the hundreds of Hidden Mist who fled were all Hidden Mist members and powerful ninjas. As for the Genin lost by Hidden Mist, there are graduates and promotions every year.

"Hmm, a respectable achievement. This vanguard of Hidden Mist is no longer a threat to us. Prepare for defense and await the main force of Hidden Mist."

"Hi!" X10

Konoha

Hokage Building

In the Hokage Office, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Mitokado Homura Sarutobi Hiruzen Utatane Koharu a tatami mat, handling Konoha affairs.

With Konoha now surrounded by enemies on all sides, and most of the village's ninjas already assigned to missions, Sarutobi Hiruzen by this widespread situation and has no choice but to enlist the help of two advisors to handle state affairs.

"Third Hokage, your opinion on Namikaze Minato is truly impressive. In one battle, he killed thirty ninjas, including several renowned Kumogakure from Jonin, ensuring the safety of the northeastern defense line. This Namikaze Minato is indeed remarkable."

After processing several files, Mitokado Homura couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, praising Namikaze Minato twice in a row.

"Hmm, this Yellow Flash, Minato Namikaze Minato, the Kumogakure has already issued an order that anyone who sees the Yellow Flash can abandon their mission. He has achieved some of the accomplishments of White Fang, truly an excellent ninja."

Utatane Koharu's words also showed her strong approval of Namikaze Minato.

"Haha, this is truly wonderful news! Minato has always been an excellent ninja. The Second Hokage's Flying Thunder God Technique shines brightly in Minato's hands. It's a blessing for Konoha."

Upon hearing the two advisors praise Namikaze Minato, Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't help but beam with joy. Previously, Jiraiya had requested Sarutobi Hiruzen to allow Namikaze Minato to train in the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Without hesitation, Sarutobi Hiruzen directly taught Jiraiya the Flying Thunder God Technique, instructing him to train Namikaze Minato. As a result, a powerful ninja was indeed trained, which made Sarutobi Hiruzen feel quite proud.

The emergence of powerful ninjas in Konoha was a shining achievement for Sarutobi Hiruzen during his reign.

The image of Namikaze Minato flashed through the minds of the two advisors, and they were quite satisfied with this blond-haired, gentle-smiling, and very reliable ninja.

"At their eastern stronghold, after Uchiha Nara successfully defeated the invading Hidden Mist vanguard, their Hidden Mist force has been assembled for over three months without setting off. Is Hidden Mist afraid of Konoha?"

Mitokado Homura flipped through the file and saw the next entry, which was Naraku's letter of request for battle sent via Ninja Hawk. He continued:

"Heh, Uchiha Nara actually dares to directly attack Hidden Mist's homeland. He's got some guts. They only have three thousand men. As long as their eastern flank remains stable and doesn't fall, everything will be fine."

"I didn't expect that Uchiha Nara wipe out the invading 3,000 Hidden Mist in just one week, and that our own losses were not high. Hmm, perhaps those 3,000 men can hold the Eastern Stronghold defense line."

After reading Uchiha Nara's letter of request to fight, Utatane Koharu of the women in the Group of Four, thought for a moment and then spoke.

"Now is the time when we need manpower. Minato Namikaze from the northeast is blocking the Kumogakure Namikaze Minato. The Kumogakure is really too arrogant. They actually declared war on the Fire, Wind, and Earth Kingdoms at the same time, which greatly relieved the pressure on me."

As for the affairs of the eastern stronghold, the Land of Water, as long as Uchiha Nara can hold onto Hidden Mist, that's enough. As for attacking the Land of Water, Koharu, you should reply to Naraku.

Tell Uchiha Nara to just defend the Eastern Stronghold and not to underestimate Kirigakure, which is known as the Kirigakure of the Village of the Bloody Mist.

Sarutobi Hiruzen slowly said that his views on the Eastern Defense Line issue explained by Utatane Koharu were the same as Sarutobi Hiruzen 'Utatane Koharu.

Mitokado Homura chuckled upon hearing this, "Third Hokage, you say Kumogakure is arrogant, but is Uchiha Nara arrogant too? He actually thinks he can attack Kirigakure with just three thousand men? We should be grateful if he doesn't ask for help."

The three talked at length about the current situation and handled their official duties.

At this moment, Uchiha Nara a bit of a headache. After quickly defeating the Hidden Mist vanguard, he had waited for three months but the Hidden Mist main force still hadn't arrived. It seemed that the Hidden Mist wasn't coming and were just dawdling around in the Land of Water, doing who-knows-what.

Uchiha Nara a letter to the Hokage, reporting the situation and requesting permission to attack Kirigakure, and asking for the Hokage's and others' opinions.

Although Naraku led a large army, these Konoha Ninja were Naraku mouthpieces he intended to use to Uchiha clan.

If leading an army into a major battle results in heavy casualties and a Pyrrhic victory, then there's no point in promoting their prestige.