At this time of year, snow was falling heavily elsewhere, but the Land of Wind remained the same as ever.
Even when it snowed, it melted quickly. The days were scorching, while the nights turned bitterly cold.
Frightening sandstorms swept through from time to time, causing immense trouble for Konoha's combat forces.
Without familiarity with the terrain, encountering such a natural disaster was like being cursed with terrible luck.
After fighting for so long, Konoha's ninja would rather run into Sunagakure's enemies and have a proper battle than get caught in a natural disaster and scramble around clutching their heads, looking for shelter.
Quite a few squads had died without even knowing why.
They had not died at the enemy's hands, but because of the Land of Wind's brutal weather.
Sunagakure was also skilled at fighting with the terrain.
If they could not beat you head-on, they played dirty. Wasn't Orochimaru fond of dirty tricks?
Now it was their turn.
The cost of the war was no longer proportional to its gains.
Orochimaru had already realized this.
The most rational choice was to stop the war immediately, because there was nothing to gain by continuing.
Unfortunately, that was only Orochimaru's personal view. The village's orders were to continue fighting until victory was secured.
Orochimaru had little to say about that. He had already gained enough glory from this war, established sufficient prestige, and earned enough merit.
Whether the war stopped or continued had little impact on him.
Even if Konoha ultimately lost, Orochimaru would not be affected.
Still, Sunagakure had begun fighting in a more underhanded manner, which truly made the war difficult. Konoha's side had become hesitant and constrained.
If they advanced deep into enemy territory, they worried about their rear.
But if they fought head-on, Sunagakure refused to