- Ryo-kun, you got here quickly," a familiar shinobi said, smiling as he broke away from his work when we arrived. "We've only recently received word from Konoha via scroll of your imminent arrival, and I have to admit, it was very welcome news.
- Greetings, Orochimaru-san, everyone," I bowed politely to everyone in the room. Among the six people in the room, I knew only one of them personally, not counting the snake sannin, Tagari Nara, who, like most of the clan's active shinobi, had been in my arms more than once after a serious injury. Hyuga's eyes were easy to recognize, and as if this rather elderly jonin in his forties from a side branch had been in my shop more than once, Yamanaka was a must-have for any main headquarters due to their special consciousness technique, I had no clue about the last two jonins, due to their lack of clan stripes. I think we'll be able to fight together more than once, judging by the intelligence reports.
- Yes, it would be interesting to study specimens like Kingin Kyodai," the scientist licked his lips dreamily, "their bodies must be very different from standard ninja if they could survive even in Kyuubi's stomach.
- Hyuga snorted, not the least bit embarrassed by the presence of the two S-ranks, "which will be a challenge, given the pseudo-jinchuriki's advantages, the pair's perfect teamwork, and Kumogakure's army as support.
- Oh, Kishiro-san, jinchuriki die only slightly harder than regular ninja," the sannin turned to the veteran with a chuckle, "it's just a matter of the right approach and choosing the right weapon.
At that, Orochimaru cast a quick glance at the hilt of the Samehada behind my shoulder and squinted his eyes. Unlike the vast majority of Konoha's armed forces, he was well aware of the properties of this great Kirigakure sword, which was best suited for fighting biju and jinchuriki. One could say it was because of its presence that Mist never had much trouble controlling his living tools, as well as catching biju if the past bearer died.
- It's up to you, as the brothers' most likely opponents," Hyuga simply shrugged.
- What do we know about the time of the attack? - I asked, looking at the map with the flagged locations of our forces and the many traps set for the enemy along the border.
Despite the large concentration of fighters on one side or the other, ninjas never fight wall-to-wall, preferring to disperse their forces and use relatively small strike teams like the one that recently tried to break into our territory.
The reason for this is quite simple - with jinchuriki and S-ranked fighters, there's always the chance that an assembled army will be swatted down in a single surprise strike, and friendly fire can't be avoided when there's a large concentration of ninja in one place, so small group tactics are the most effective, even when fighting wars between great villages where thousands of fighters can be involved on one side or the other.
And it's also the most effective way to throw saboteurs into the rear - someone the defending side will let through, endangering supplies. True, Konoha has a huge advantage over the other great villages in this regard, with entire clans of sensor and search-oriented enemies.
- Kumogakure is already moving his forces into the Frost Country and a small one to the Hot Springs, so the estimated time of the start of hostilities is tomorrow or the day after," the unfamiliar jonin answered me, "most likely the main offensive will go in the direction of Takahama City with a few secondary targets to stretch our forces.
He demonstrated his words with indications on a detailed map of the surrounding area.
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