Konoha had established two positions along the Kusunami Coast.
Aside from the medical camp where the Medical Unit was stationed, the largest and most vital camp was situated right behind the landing point of the Land of Waves' shipping route. This served as the primary base for Konoha to distribute supplies, deploy personnel, and manage communications.
Under wartime conditions, approximately five hundred shinobi were permanently stationed here, consisting primarily of members from the Uchiha and Hyūga clans.
At that moment, Furofuki walked briskly toward the main tent of the Great Camp. She lifted the curtain and stepped inside, immediately greeted by the sight before her.
A square cloth emblazoned with the Uchiha and Hyūga clan crests hung at the center of the main tent. Beneath it sat two rows of shinobi in different uniforms, kneeling in formal seiza.
Looking at the seating arrangement, aside from the Chief Commander and leader of the First Unit, Fugaku Uchiha, and the Vice-Commander and leader of the Second Unit, Hizashi Hyūga, who sat side-by-side, the tent was filled with the heads of various divisions. From top to bottom sat the leaders of the Surprise Attack Unit, the Mid-to-Short Range Support Unit, the Special Operations Unit, and the Reconnaissance Unit. There was one conspicuously empty seat—the spot reserved for the head of the Medical and Logistics Unit, which Furofuki oversaw.
There were seven seats in total, corresponding to the seven primary units Konoha had deployed on the Eastern Front. This represented the entirety of Konoha's strength in the eastern part of the Land of Fire, gathered to repel the Hidden Mist's invasion—a total of roughly 2,000 shinobi.
According to intelligence reports, the estimated number of Kirigakure shinobi was four times that figure.
"Everyone is here."
Fugaku Uchiha, sitting in the seat of honor, furrowed his brow as he scanned the room. Once Furofuki had taken her seat, he spoke immediately.
"Then, I'll keep this brief."
"The Land of Whirlpools and the Land of Waves have fallen in succession. Our maritime routes have been essentially severed, and our shipyards have suffered multiple attacks. At this stage, we have lost the capability to engage the Hidden Mist at sea."
Setting the grim tone for the emergency meeting, Fugaku turned his gaze toward Furofuki. "Captain Furofuki, regarding that surviving shinobi—have you or the Intelligence Division gathered any new information?"
The atmosphere was heavy. Furofuki did not dare dally and replied in a low, somber voice.
"Based on the memories extracted from that shinobi's mind—"
"The shipping routes toward the Land of Waves are now entirely under Kirigakure's control. This sudden assault on the Land of Waves was clearly a premeditated operation."
"The Mist deployed approximately 1,000 men to conduct a comprehensive siege of our outposts, camps, and rear ports. Leading them were the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist."
Nearby, a Hyūga branch house Jonin serving as the head of the Reconnaissance Unit clenched his fist, unable to suppress a bitter whisper. "Those seven monsters again... We spot them ahead of time every single time, yet we can never seem to catch them!"
The situation was far from optimistic.
A flash of gravity crossed Fugaku Uchiha's eyes before he spoke sternly. "We will not discuss other issues for now!"
"The enemy has occupied nearly all maritime routes. Their next objective will undoubtedly be to establish a supply line running from the Land of Water to the Land of Whirlpools, then to the Land of Waves, and finally to the Land of Fire. This is their final preparation for a large-scale invasion into the heart of our country."
"Which means, the enemy's next target is—"
"The Kusunami Coast right beneath our feet."
"This will be different from the previous skirmishes involving small squads or medium-sized platoons," Fugaku analyzed with a heavy expression. "This operation will inevitably erupt as a large-scale landing battle!"
Upon hearing this, the expressions of everyone present became incredibly grim.
Prior to this, Konoha's engagements with the Hidden Mist had followed a fairly traditional shinobi combat model. They would dispatch numerous small squads deep behind enemy lines to sabotage transport routes and vital facilities, burn granaries, and destroy traffic hubs or supply depots. They conducted surveillance and assassinations of high-ranking enemy officials and pressured neutral or enemy leaders to force a change in political stance. Using the Hyūga clan's reconnaissance advantage to gather intel, they would organize surprise attack units to create local numerical advantages, striking the enemy in medium-sized raids.
Under this traditional model, Konoha—with its closely coordinated departments—held a considerable advantage. That was why they had been able to maintain a stalemate for so long, even when facing the entirety of the Hidden Mist Village, which possessed several times their numbers.
However, if the conflict escalated into a massive confrontation like a beachhead landing, Konoha's numerical disadvantage would be immediately exposed.
Fugaku Uchiha could no longer remain seated. He stood up and asked Furofuki solemnly, "Captain Furofuki, you manage logistics and medical affairs."
"I only have one question—"
"When will the village's reinforcements, or rather, the next shipment of supplies from the village, arrive?"
At this point, Fugaku no longer expected the depleted Konoha to provide any significant reinforcements in terms of manpower. However, he at least hoped the village would deliver the rations and ninja tools they were owed—at the very least, the Uchiha's share!
The shinobi of the Uchiha clan formed the primary fighting force of the Eastern Front. Aside from Ninjutsu, which could not be used indefinitely, they required a massive amount of ninja tools. They relied on the Uchiha's unique shurikenjutsu and tool-throwing capabilities to generate large-scale combat effectiveness.
Setting aside his personal interests as the Clan Head, the more realistic problem was this: if the Uchiha clan fell, the situation across the entire Eastern Front would collapse instantly.
Other than that, Fugaku truly didn't know what else he could count on. Was he supposed to rely on this group of Hyūga branch members beside him to charge in and engage in hand-to-hand combat with a Mist army that held the geographical advantage?
Hearing Fugaku's question, Furofuki's expression darkened further. She remained silent for a long time before finally squeezing out a single sentence.
"It's best if you don't hold out much hope for that."
"Compared to the landing battle about to break out on the front lines, the transport lines behind our camp will likely face even more severe strikes from the Hidden Mist!"
Fugaku Uchiha took a deep breath, feeling a slight wave of dizziness.
Elsewhere, at the Medical Unit camp, in the Corpse Processing Unit:
"Master Duy, what did you say?"
Seeing the urgent transfer order Might Duy had delivered, Hyuga Yu's gaze suddenly sharpened. He took the scroll from Duy's hand and unrolled it. The contents written inside were exactly as Duy had described.
Hyuga Yu, who had been living a more than comfortable life in the Corpse Processing Unit, was now being reassigned by the village to the rear of the battlefield. He was to join Team 10 and form a transport unit alongside Might Guy's squad.
Looking at the transfer order, Yu couldn't help but take a deep breath.
On the surface, being transferred to a rear-line transport unit seemed like the village's way of recognizing his abilities or perhaps offering him protection. Generally, transport missions were carried out by Genin or Chunin and weren't considered difficult.
However, one thing had to be made clear—it was wartime, the eve of a massive, imminent battle. Furthermore, this was a war between shinobi.
What did a war between shinobi look like?
It was like being in a vast, dark forest where countless ninja hid themselves in dark, imperceptible corners. In such an environment, the moment a shinobi was exposed to the light, countless bloodthirsty figures would swarm out like a pack of wolves to ruthlessly bite and tear them apart!
And now, on an Eastern Front where intelligence leaked like a sieve, the well-known roads Konoha used to transport supplies to the eastern coast of the Land of Fire were exactly that—bait exposed in the sunshine!
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