Lightning Country, Thundercloud City.
In the span of a single month, this great city, one that could rank among the largest in the entire Shinobi World, had suffered three major blows in succession. Thundercloud City no longer resembled a major city at all. Its entire western wall, along with nearly half the city, had been reduced to ruins.
Amid the ruins, several Kumogakure ninja helped a group of laborers repair houses and the city walls. The Second Raikage had also dispatched a large number of ninja to scout the surrounding area, fearful that the enemy might launch an attack at this time.
Within Thundercloud City, the Second Raikage slammed the scroll in his hand onto the table, a flicker of anger crossing his resolute face.
The scroll had come from the Daimyo Palace. More precisely, it was a military operation order from above. Its instructions were simple: the Second Raikage was to lead Kumogakure's ninja in raiding and harassing the Land of Flame's army from behind, coordinating with the Lightning Country's main force at the front.
At first glance, there seemed to be nothing wrong with that. After all, they only had a few thousand ninja, and facing the Land of Flame's army head-on was indeed unrealistic.
But the problem lay in the word "coordinating." Those two words alone established their respective roles: the main army was primary, while the ninja were secondary.
Whether one was primary or secondary also determined how the credit would be distributed. In other words, even if Kumogakure's ninja rendered great service in the end, the principal credit would still go to the army.
One had to know that throughout this war, the Lightning Country's army had not won a single battle. Like a stray dog by the roadside, it had been chased down and