Although the Land of Water had fared poorly in the battle for the Capital, Hozuki Lengyue's momentary rage had nearly left the entire army to its fate. Fortunately, he had come to his senses and cut his losses in time, withdrawing his troops and preserving their fighting strength. Even so, the damage to the Land of Water's army remained immense. Repeated defeats had robbed the soldiers of confidence in swiftly destroying the Land of Whirlpools. Outside the ranks of the Kirigakure Ninja, voices had already begun calling for the samurai army to abandon its lightning offensive and prepare for a prolonged war instead.
When Hozuki Lengyue heard the news, he slammed his fist into the ground in fury, heedless of the pain. That little sting was not even a ten-thousandth of the anguish in his heart. Yet no matter how angry he became, he had to admit that swiftly destroying the Land of Whirlpools was now impossible.
Even earlier, when Hiruzen Sarutobi had only that handful of men, the Land of Water's army had failed to achieve its strategic objective. Now that the enemy had received reinforcements from the rear, it was no longer merely a question of destroying the Land of Whirlpools quickly. Whether they could destroy it even in a prolonged war remained uncertain.
Thus, even when voices in the samurai army began blaming him, Hozuki Lengyue could only swallow his resentment and accept it. For one thing, the samurai army was not under his command, so he had no way to interfere. Besides, his own poor performance had been responsible for a substantial portion of their setbacks in this war.
Upon returning to their base, Jing had punched him hard in the face and berated him for letting his blood run hot, ignoring the actual situation, and