Interception on the Move

The Mist Ninja vanguard had been routed with ease.

That wasn't to say Kirigakure could be crushed in one fell swoop. By Naruto's estimate, even in its weakened state, Kirigakure could still mobilize over ten thousand ninja if it committed everything it had. If it pushed itself to the limit, it could even field fifteen thousand. The defeat of four or five thousand Mist Ninja would inevitably deal a serious blow, but it wouldn't be fatal. Even so, this meant Snow Ninja Village held the initiative in this war with Kirigakure.

Of course, there was one other point that mattered most.

"How are our casualties? Utakata and Karin are both unharmed, right?"

Victory was the bare minimum requirement.

But even with that as the foundation,

Naruto also had to consider the casualties suffered by the village as a whole.

If their losses were too severe,

Snow Ninja Village wouldn't be able to accept it either.

After this battle,

Naruto could almost predict that Konoha and the Cloud Ninja would turn their full attention to the Land of Snow and Snow Ninja Village. As for the Akatsuki, once they learned that the Three-Tails, Six-Tails, and Nine-Tails were all gathered on one side, Nagato and Obito would inevitably start paying close attention to him as well. Even if the frontal battle had included a touch of surprise, overall, Snow Ninja Village had openly and forcefully routed Kirigakure, one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, in a direct confrontation.

In other words,

Snow Ninja Village now had the credentials to be called the Sixth Great Ninja Village.

If their own village suffered heavy casualties and won only a costly victory,

then in the plans that followed,

the core wouldn't need to change,

but some of the supporting measures would have to be adjusted.