At the Kumogakure Camp in the Land of the Moon, most of the Cloud shinobi had returned to resupply.
Only a few squads too far away chose to spend the night outside, returning to camp every few days for supplies.
Inside Command Headquarters, the Raikage stood alone before a sand table, deep in thought. It showed the entire Land of the Moon and Land of Fire.
His gaze rested on Konoha. Three thousand shinobi had landed in the Land of Fire, but the outcome was still unknown.
Yet in the days since, Konoha had done nothing beyond sending some reinforcements. The Raikage was not optimistic about the three thousand who had landed.
If they had taken Konoha, the Konoha Camp in the Land of the Moon would have surrendered by now.
The Cloud shinobi in the Land of Fire had really only had three days. If they failed to take Konoha in that time, they had even less chance now that Fugaku Uchiha and the others had arrived to reinforce it.
An intelligence officer hurried in, interrupting the Raikage's thoughts.
"Lord Raikage, urgent intelligence! The Third Hokage has led a large force of Konoha shinobi out of camp. Our scouts report that they're likely coming for us."
The Raikage nodded. "Assemble our forces. Kumogakure must show no weakness."
"But—"
The Raikage raised a hand. "The two thousand shinobi here are more than enough. Several of Konoha's top fighters have gone back as reinforcements, so their numbers are about the same as ours.
"Sunagakure obeys Konoha in name only and barely lifts a finger. There's no telling who will win. This war has reached a critical point."
"Yes, sir."
The intelligence officer hurried out of the camp. The Raikage looked at the sand table before him, but in his heart, he