Amegakure's troops began advancing toward Great Love City.
Leading them was Hao Yuan, a Special Jōnin of Amegakure.
He was over forty, with an old scar running across his forehead-a mark left by years of war.
Three elite companies followed behind him.
The marching orders in his hand were blunt and left no room for interpretation:
Completely destroy the Great Love Society's base. Leave not a single house, patch of farmland, or flag standing.
Hao Yuan had expected fierce resistance.
The intelligence clearly stated that the Great Love Society had taken in hundreds of people, including ninja deserters with extensive battlefield experience.
With weapons and combat experience, they should at least have been able to establish a decent defensive line and hold their ground.
Yet when he stood at the village entrance, there was none of the bloody confrontation he had imagined.
All that greeted him were neat rows of farmland.
Brimming with life.
Several rows of crude wooden houses stood along the field ridges.
At the entrance stood a flag pieced together from old cloth, its black lettering on white clearly spelling out: Great Love Society.
The entire village was quiet. No one fled.
It was not that they did not want to run. In this war-torn world, vast as it was, there was nowhere they could go to survive.
Wherever they fled, death awaited them.
"Captain, these damned peasants have some nerve. Our troops are at their doorstep, and they're still calmly tending their fields."
The adjutant stepped forward and kicked apart a sweet potato vine by his feet, his voice dripping with mockery.
"Our soldiers are fighting to the death on the front lines, while they hide here enjoying peace. No wonder so many deserters risk their lives to get here."
"Trample it all."
Hao Yuan gave