With the campaign against the Land of Lightning over, Konoha Shinobi Village could finally turn its attention elsewhere. Because Iwagakure had held Kirigakure Ninja Village back, it had caused the Land of Fire little trouble. The priority now was the Land of Wind on the opposite front.
Because Kumogakure and Kirigakure had drawn away most of Konoha Ninja Village's forces, only the Uchiha force led by Kagami Uchiha and the Fourth Division supporting it had gone to the Land of Wind front. Short on troops, Kagami Uchiha could only adopt a defensive formation and was unable to mount an effective counterattack, leaving them somewhat on the back foot in that campaign.
Fortunately, Konoha Ninja Village could finally spare the forces. Tobirama gathered the Jonin present for a strategy meeting on the campaign against the Land of Wind.
"According to the intelligence Kagami sent, Sunagakure has introduced two new things alongside its usual Wind Release ninjutsu." Tobirama showed everyone the Intelligence Scroll and said, "One is a secret technique for manipulating sand. In the Land of Wind's terrain, it makes them even more formidable, to the point that even ordinary counterattacks are difficult. The other is a set of specially made puppets. They contain numerous concealed mechanisms, and all their weapons carry deadly poison. Under the control of Sunagakure's ninja, they've inflicted heavy casualties on us."
Among the Five Great Nations, Sunagakure Ninja Village produced capable ninja, but its geography limited their numbers. Yet with these two trump cards—the sand secret technique and the puppets—it had managed to increase its strength to this degree. The Uchiha Clan was exceptionally powerful, after all, and its fire affinity countered Wind Release. Even if there were few of them, the fact that Sunagakure could suppress them so thoroughly that they could not fight back