Fugaku and the others knew nothing of the flattery taking place in the command headquarters at the Iwagakure Camp, but the next day, the Iwagakure Forces began gradually withdrawing.
A total of two thousand ninja left the battlefield in succession to join the forces surrounding the Raikage.
Iwagakure's troop movements did not escape Kumogakure's scouts. Inside the command headquarters at the Kumogakure Camp...
"Iwagakure has been moving its troops, sending a large contingent back to Iwagakure. Lord Raikage is still tied up fighting them, so these ninja are most likely being sent to deal with him."
"Konoha and Sunagakure's forces will arrive soon. It looks like Iwagakure planned this all along. The Three Great Ninja Villages have far more troops than we do.
Dragging this out will only deplete Kumogakure's combat strength and weaken the village's reserves. In my opinion, our priority now should be keeping these ninja alive.
As long as these ninja survive, Kumogakure will remain Kumogakure. Without them, the village's defenses probably couldn't withstand an all-out attack from any other ninja village.
Then Kumogakure would be a completely unguarded prize, and every other great ninja village could come along and take a bite."
"If we retreat to the Land of Lightning with our current forces, we can still preserve the village's strength. Konoha and Iwagakure may appear united.
But if they try to invade the Land of Lightning together, their alliance will probably fall apart immediately. Now is the best time to retreat."
"I disagree with retreating now," someone said, stepping forward. "Lord Raikage is still surrounded. I think we should launch another large-scale attack instead.
If we can rescue Lord Raikage, it'll be worth taking some losses. If we can't, at least we can retreat with a clear conscience and have something to tell the village