"So, our biggest problem now is how to end the war in the Land of Rain within two months and achieve a good result?"
Seeing Shin'un and Orochimaru exchange a smile, seemingly reaching some kind of agreement, Shiina Kō, who had been listening in, frowned and said:
"But that's not easy either. The war has lasted for four years. How can we achieve victory in just two months?"
"Furthermore, even if our Sand Ninja front wins, there's still the Stone Ninja front on the other side of the Land of Rain, isn't there?"
Shiina Kō looked at Shin'un beside him, then at Orochimaru across the table, and frowned as he voiced his doubts.
"No, that's only on the surface. In fact, we have a chance to end the battle within two months."
Seeing Orochimaru sitting comfortably in a chair, sipping tea and glancing at him, Shin'un, after some thought, began to answer Shiina Kō's question.
"First, there's the battlefield of Stone Ninja on the other side of the Land of Rain. Tsunade and Hatake are there, but the Stone Ninja side doesn't have any strong fighters whose names we can recall."
"Although Iwagakure deployed the most ninjas among all the ninja villages involved in the war, Konoha also dispatched most of its ninjas to that village."
"Besides, although the land of the Land of Earth is better than that of the Land of Wind, the countless towering mountains that crisscross its territory greatly restrict agriculture and economic development, making it far inferior to the Land of Fire."
"Furthermore, as a ninja village, Iwagakure has far fewer medical-nin than Konoha, and the same goes for the number of bloodline limit ninjas. The biggest highlights are probably the Tsuchikage's Kekkei Tōta and the largest number of ninjas in the Shinobi World."
"But unless the Tsuchikage has gone mad, he can't possibly ignore the threat posed by the Kirigakure and the Cloud Ninja surrounding the Land of Earth and directly step onto the battlefield."
"To be honest, considering all the advantages, I believe it's only a matter of time before the Stone Ninja front wins."
At this point, Shin'un glanced at Orochimaru, and only after seeing him nod in agreement did he continue:
" The Lord Hokage has now ordered Danzo to lead the Root forces to Stone Ninja, his intention being clear: to gather all available ninja and prioritize eliminating the Stone Ninja front."
"As for our Sand Ninja front here, to put it bluntly, if it weren't for the giant puppet that suddenly appeared, we should have won long ago."
Hearing this, Orochimaru nodded in agreement and said:
"That's right, the situation in Sunagakure is even worse than in Iwagakure."
"The entire country is desert, with only scattered oases suitable for habitation. Their only specialty is the abundant mineral resources buried underground, which has hindered their economic development and made them heavily reliant on food imports."
"Under these circumstances, Sunagakure should have already succumbed to the war's attrition."
"But because of the Third Kazekage..."
At this point, Orochimaru's expression turned strange, as if he was unsure whether he should continue.
At this moment, Shiina Kō, who was standing to the side, saw Orochimaru suddenly stop halfway through his sentence and, out of curiosity, asked directly:
What happened to the Third Kazekage?
"Cough cough~"
When Shiina Kō asked, Orochimaru coughed twice, looked down at the teacup in his hand, and said:
"It's intelligence sent by the Anbu earlier."
"It's said that the Sunagakure, which has always been short of funds, has been able to survive this war until now because the Third Kazekage has been using Magnet Release to pan for gold in the desert for the past two years..."
"Ah!"
"Real?"
"Wow, that's amazing!"
Ignoring the astonishment of Shiina Kō and Yūichi beside him upon hearing that the Third Kazekage, the Kage of the village, was personally going to the gold rush, Shin'un stood aside, finding it noisy and inwardly complaining.
Perhaps in the eyes of most people in the Shinobi World, including the Third Kazekage himself, the Kage of a village personally going out to mine gold was merely a last resort to maintain the war effort.
Shin'un knew that after the Third Kazekage stepped down and the Fourth Kazekage took over, the financial difficulties of Sunagakure would not be alleviated at all, but would instead worsen.
For a period of time, gold mining became the Fourth Kazekage's main business, and it even became the main source of income for Sunagakure, one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages in the Shinobi World.
"How tragic..."
Shin'un stood there, silently mourning the arduous fate of the next Fourth Kazekage.
"Alright, alright! Let's get back to our original topic."
When Orochimaru saw Shiina Kō and Yūichi getting increasingly excited after hearing the news that the Third Kazekage was personally going gold mining, he quickly spoke up to bring the atmosphere back from its escalating slump.
"I'll skip the tedious details and start by talking about what I believe is the biggest challenge to achieving victory right now."
After speaking, Orochimaru looked up at Shin'un and the other two in front of him. Only after they quieted down and looked at him did he continue:
"First of all, before receiving the teacher's letter, my plan was simply to procrastinate."
"After all, the costs of war are enormous. I don't think the Third Kazekage's gold-digging efficiency can match the speed at which the Land of Rain battlefield consumes gold."
"This can be seen from the increasingly aggressive fighting style of the Sand Ninja recently."
"Their supplies will likely run out soon."
"If ninja tools cannot be replaced, medical supplies are cut off, all puppets cannot be repaired or have parts replaced, and even daily food supplies may be reduced, I am confident that I can quickly resolve the battle even if the Sand Ninja do not surrender and insist on continuing the war."
At this point, Orochimaru let out a deflated sigh, shook his head, and chuckled:
"But unexpectedly, Konoha reached its limit first, forcing even the Hokage's teacher to go to the battlefield."
"That's true. The war has lasted for four years. Rain Ninja fought us, Sand Ninja fought us, Stone Ninja fought us, Sand Ninja and Stone Ninja joined forces to fight us, and Kirigakure Cloud Ninja would occasionally send people to harass us at the border..."
"Even though Konoha occupies the most fertile land and has the most prosperous economy in the entire Shinobi World, it's normal that some of us can't hold on when attacked by other ninja villages in turn."
"..."
After a two-second silence, Orochimaru raised his head and spoke again:
"Of course, I knew from the beginning that Konoha's resources were also scarce, so there was a reason why I chose to use delaying tactics to achieve victory."
Seeing Orochimaru looking at them, Shin'un, the leader, said uncertainly:
"Is it because of the giant puppet that suddenly appeared from the Sand Ninja?"
"That's right." Orochimaru nodded in agreement. "But not entirely."
"Incomplete?" Shin'un frowned, puzzled by Orochimaru's words. "How is it incomplete?"
Seeing Shin'un's inquiry, Orochimaru pondered for a moment before replying:
"I'm right because I did indeed modify the plan for the giant golem."
"The reason it's incomplete is because the plan was modified specifically for one thing... to be precise, it was a plan specifically modified for a giant puppet."
"A giant puppet!" Shin'un was surprised, not understanding why a single giant puppet could affect the outcome of a war.
Seeing Shin'un's surprise, Orochimaru smiled and kept him in suspense.
"So far, only three types of giant golems have been discovered: beast-type, humanoid, and the final fortress-type."
"You've already seen and even fought the beast and humanoid forms, but you probably haven't seen the final fortress-shaped giant golem yet."