With its powerful medical system, Konoha feared no village in a war of attrition. Some injuries were untreatable elsewhere but could be healed in Konoha. Others took months to treat in other villages, while Konoha might need only a month or two. Over time, that difference naturally revealed Konoha's strength.
That was the advantage of a powerful medical system.
Konoha understood this, and so did Sunagakure and the others. It was only natural that those villages wanted a decisive battle with Konoha as soon as possible.
Of course, continuing to wear Konoha down and deplete its fighting forces until it could no longer dominate alone was another path they could take.
The key lay in which course they chose. Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and Kirigakure all had their own ulterior motives. Each hoped the other villages would draw more hostility and fight Konoha to the death. At the same time, they remained wary of Kumogakure. After all, while the other villages were practically beating one another's brains out, Kumogakure still watched hungrily from the sidelines.
Not only had it swallowed up the other major villages' share of missions, but the missions available to its younger generation were steadily increasing as well. They absolutely could not let Kumogakure continue developing in peace like this. In fact, Ōnoki was already debating whether to wage an outright war against Kumogakure first to deplete its fighting forces. After all, Kumogakure's relationship with Iwagakure was far from friendly.
Clashes between them were frequent even in ordinary times.
Before that, however, they first had to wear Konoha down.
"Forget it. Uchiha Yi can handle his own affairs. All I need to do is watch his back." Tsunade paused before continuing, "If they really push him too far, only a handful of people will be able to calm him