The moment Natsuhiko unleashed Wood Release infused with dense Sage Chakra, the outcome of the battle was already decided.
Even though he hadn't used any truly high-level abilities—and had actually restrained himself while casting the technique—it didn't change the fact that he had completely achieved the strategic objective he wanted from this fight.
As Natsuhiko made his move, the earth rumbled violently. A forest erupted from the ground before him in an instant, while countless vines thicker than a human body burst forth like raging serpents.
"Retreat! Fall back immediately!"
The Fourth Raikage was the first to sense the overwhelming danger. Letting out a furious roar, he immediately charged straight toward the spreading branches and vines.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Heavy impacts rang out one after another. Lightning crackled wildly around the Raikage's body as his fists smashed relentlessly into the descending forest.
Every punch shattered a massive branch apart, slowing the advance of the trees in the direction he defended.
But even with Natsuhiko deliberately holding back, the scale of Deep Forest Emergence was never something a single person could completely stop.
In the original timeline, Naruto had once attempted to block Uchiha Madara's forest using Multiple Shadow Clones combined with Rasengan attacks. To be fair, that method had actually worked to some extent.
Unfortunately, that approach only suited Naruto.
The Fourth Raikage possessed monstrous physical strength and immense chakra reserves, but he didn't know the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique. In fact, whether he could even use a standard Shadow Clone was questionable.
More importantly, he lacked a technique like the Rasengan. He could only rely on brute-force taijutsu and Lightning Release-enhanced combat techniques to resist the encroaching forest.
And his condition was steadily worsening.
Blood had already begun to appear on his fists, while the chakra within his body was draining faster and faster.
After all, Deep Forest Emergence could absorb chakra... and even life force itself.
"AAARGH!"
The area the Raikage defended did manage to slow the forest's spread, but the other directions he failed to protect became a living nightmare for the Cloud shinobi.
Many were instantly entangled by the gigantic vines. Others, less fortunate, were crushed beneath the enormous tree trunks, their bodies exploding into clouds of blood.
Screams rose and fell endlessly across the battlefield.
The Cloud shinobi were fast—very fast—but they were packed together too tightly. With Natsuhiko's Wood Release sealing off their escape routes, there was no way they could flee the area quickly enough.
Crack!
The Fourth Raikage continued resisting with everything he had, but the moment a muffled cracking sound came from his arm, his expression changed drastically.
That arm had already been fractured long ago. It was only through chakra reinforcement that he had managed to keep fighting.
But now, it had finally reached its limit.
The damage to his body had become too severe. The already broken arm had suffered another devastating impact, pushing it beyond endurance.
His chakra reserves were still abundant, and his speed had not diminished much, but he understood clearly that he could not continue like this.
"That damned bastard...!"
The Raikage felt utterly stifled.
This feeling was even worse than when he had once faced Namikaze Minato.
Back then, when he and Killer B fought Minato together, what they felt most was frustration.
Minato's unpredictable Flying Thunder God Technique, combined with his terrifying reaction speed, had left the brothers completely helpless.
And Minato's offensive power had never been weak either. That pale blue technique called Rasengan had left an especially deep impression on the Raikage.
But no matter what, Minato had never defeated him through direct overwhelming force.
In the Fourth Raikage's heart, he acknowledged Minato's strength, and he acknowledged his victory.
But he still disliked Minato immensely, because that man had never fought him head-on.
Yet now, facing this brat before him, the frustration he felt was far worse.
Back then, because he had been unable to defend against Minato's attacks, he had devoted years to refining his Lightning Release Chakra Mode.
Now, he had trained that technique to an extremely high level. But the enemy standing before him possessed terrifying offensive power capable of overwhelming even that defense.
This brat named Natsuhiko could not only break through his defenses—he could even threaten his life directly.
And while Natsuhiko's own physical durability might not be particularly exceptional, his techniques perfectly compensated for it.
That cursed Wood Release possessed absurd offensive and defensive capabilities. There was simply no way for the Raikage to break through it alone.
Worse still, he could feel it clearly—he had no confidence in resisting the destructive power of that Wood Release either.
Being completely surpassed and countered in every possible way left him deeply unwilling to accept reality.
Most infuriating of all, he felt that if he could just land a single hit on Natsuhiko, even once, he could turn the battle around instantly.
But he couldn't touch him at all.
"So Flying Thunder God combined with Wood Release... is actually this terrifying?"
Clenching his teeth, the Fourth Raikage leapt backward. He already understood that continuing this battle was impossible.
Retreating immediately was the only correct choice now.
Although this operation could practically be described as a complete failure, at the very least they had still managed to gather some intelligence.
However, the moment he rose into the air and saw the battlefield below, his expression twisted violently.
Countless Cloud shinobi had already been strangled or bound by Natsuhiko's Wood Release. They struggled desperately, yet none of them could break free from its grasp.
At that moment, he finally understood what Natsuhiko had meant earlier.
With a technique like this, perhaps he truly didn't need to fear a force of a hundred men.
Not to mention, he still had countless subordinates under his command. That vanguard force of over a hundred shinobi likely stood no chance of survival against him.
"Lord Raikage... are you planning to leave already?"
Natsuhiko's voice suddenly echoed through the battlefield.
The Raikage turned sharply and saw him standing atop a gigantic tree trunk with his arms crossed over his chest.
A gentle smile rested on Natsuhiko's face, but that very smile made the Raikage grit his teeth in fury.
Beneath that calm expression, he could also feel a suffocating coldness.
The Fourth Raikage forcibly calmed himself. He knew now was not the time to dwell on emotions. There were more important things he needed to do.
He had to leave immediately.
He had to retreat with everyone who could still escape.
"Looks like Lord Raikage really intends to abandon all the people I captured. What a pity."
Seeing that the Raikage remained silent, Natsuhiko spoke again.
This time, the Raikage's heart sank completely.
"In that case—all shinobi capable of using Fire Release, listen carefully!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Prepare Fire Release. Target—my Wood Release."
"Yes, sir!"
—
Inside the Kumogakure camp in the Land of Hot Water, the Fourth Raikage smashed apart everything around him in rage.
His body was wrapped in bandages, especially his right arm, which had been tightly immobilized. Yet even that could not conceal the fury burning inside him.
He had lost.
And not only had he lost—he had been utterly, completely defeated without the slightest shred of dignity.
Failure itself was something he could accept.
What he could not accept was that out of the thousand shinobi who had accompanied him on this mission, more than five hundred had failed to return.
What kind of concept was that?
It practically meant they had been beaten into total collapse.
An army of a thousand shinobi had been stopped almost single-handedly by one man—Senju Natsuhiko.
Yes, they had managed to obtain some intelligence, but the price paid was over five hundred casualties, while Konoha's losses appeared to be only around one or two hundred at most.
The Fourth Raikage simply could not come to terms with such a casualty ratio. It was far too difficult to accept.
He had declared war against Konoha with absolute confidence, yet before the two sides had even entered a truly large-scale, high-intensity conflict, they had already suffered this kind of devastating loss.
The blow to him was enormous.
And the impact on the morale of the Kumogakure army was just as severe.
Morale was something intangible, difficult to grasp, yet undeniably real—especially during war. Once morale collapsed, the likelihood of defeat would rise endlessly.
Even if the current damage to morale had not yet become catastrophic, preventive measures were absolutely necessary. The Fourth Raikage could not afford to ignore such a problem.
After smashing things for a long while, he finally sat down heavily in exhaustion. Though his anger had reached its peak, he had not completely lost his rationality.
He had thoroughly memorized the name Senju Natsuhiko.
And through this battle, he had also gathered quite a bit of information about him.
The Raikage now understood that defeating Natsuhiko alone would be extremely difficult—not because of anything else, but because he simply had no way to touch him.
"Flying Thunder God allows him to escape instantly whenever someone closes in on him, while Wood Release prevents anyone from getting near him in the first place."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"Dealing with him is troublesome... but in the end, all I need is one opportunity. One real chance to land a hit on him."
The Fourth Raikage forced himself to calm down as he carefully replayed every moment of his battle with Natsuhiko in his mind.
The combat power Natsuhiko had displayed was simply too troublesome to deal with, especially that terrifying Wood Release.
The mere thought of such techniques being unleashed upon a large army made the Raikage's expression grow grim.
If that happened, the consequences would be disastrous.
No matter what, he had to come up with a countermeasure.
Otherwise, this war would truly become a nightmare.
"Brother."
At that moment, Killer B entered the room together with several others.
Outside the doorway, a few shinobi from Kumogakure's medical division peeked nervously inside from time to time.
Clearly, they had been summoned here because of the Raikage's earlier outburst. And considering his injuries, it was obvious he was in no condition to move around recklessly.
"Why are you all here?" the Fourth Raikage asked with a frown, though his anger had already subsided somewhat. "Well, since you're here, we might as well discuss a few things."
As he spoke, he lifted his head.
In truth, his current appearance looked rather miserable.
Bandages wrapped around nearly his entire body, while his right arm had been placed in a cast and suspended from his neck with a sling.
There were still several uncovered wounds across his body as well, though thanks to his monstrous physique, many had already begun to scab over.
"How's the morale of the main force?" the Raikage asked directly. That was the issue he cared about most right now.
"I've sealed off part of the information," one of the Cloud shinobi replied immediately. "All returning shinobi were sent straight to the medical division for reporting. For now, the main army still doesn't know what happened, so there shouldn't be any immediate problems."
"But news like this can't be hidden forever," the Fourth Raikage sighed. He understood very well that such information could never remain completely sealed indefinitely.
Then he turned his gaze toward one man in particular.
"Dodai-san, what do you think?"
The respect in the Raikage's tone was unusually obvious, something that differed greatly from his usual image.
The man standing before him appeared to be in his thirties. Unlike most Cloud shinobi, his build was not particularly massive, and his left eye was covered by an eyepatch.
This man was Dodai.
If Natsuhiko had been present, he would have recognized him immediately as the same Dodai who, in the original story, once protected Naruto's shadow clone.
Dodai himself was a rather legendary figure within Kumogakure.
He had once served as a bodyguard to the Third Raikage and had even acted as the chief examiner for the "Lariat" compatibility trials.
The signature Lariat combination technique used by both the Fourth Raikage and the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki, Killer B, had originally been taught and refined under Dodai's guidance.
"As a retainer of the Third Raikage, he is the man who tells the legend of the strongest."
That description suited Dodai perfectly.
During the Fourth Great Ninja War, he would later serve as a member of the Allied Shinobi Forces' communications unit, proving himself to be an exceptionally calm and calculating strategist.
And his personal strength was far from weak as well. He possessed the Lava Release kekkei genkai, making him a formidable shinobi in his own right.
Konoha had Nara Shikaku.
Kumogakure had someone who was no less capable.
That person was Dodai.
"Lord Raikage, since you personally led this operation, you must have gathered quite a bit of information. In that case, let's organize what we know first."
Dodai pondered briefly before speaking in a low, steady voice.
"If I remember correctly, you said that the moment you arrived there, it was obvious Konoha had already prepared an ambush, correct?"
The Raikage nodded silently.
"That means the enemy clearly anticipated our actions. Konoha's current situation is too secretive, so they must have realized we would attempt to gather intelligence and deliberately used that opportunity to lure us in."
Dodai paused slightly before continuing.
"If I had to guess, the one who devised this plan was most likely Nara Shikaku. Intelligence reports stated that he was present as well."
His gaze sharpened.
"And now that Lord Raikage has been injured, I doubt Konoha will let such an opportunity slip away."
"Therefore, we should immediately establish defensive lines. Not only will this help us withstand any attacks from Konoha, but it will also keep the troops occupied so they won't dwell too much on what happened."
"Besides, our current position is not easy to capture. If we manage things properly, we may even be able to turn the pressure back onto them."
As expected of Dodai, he rapidly formulated a complete countermeasure.
The Fourth Raikage's eyes lit up slightly after hearing his proposal.
What troubled him most right now was the morale of Kumogakure's forces, and if Konoha responded the way Dodai predicted, then this plan would undoubtedly produce excellent results.
Since that was the case, the Raikage no longer hesitated.
He had already asked the medical team about his injuries. Even with his monstrous physique, the fracture in his arm would require nearly half a month to fully recover.
As for the wound through his back—the injury Natsuhiko had pierced straight through—it would take close to a week to heal due to the bizarre chakra lingering within it.
He needed time.
And if Dodai could stabilize the situation during that period, then the Raikage was willing to place complete trust in him.
Once his injuries healed...
The next time they met, he would absolutely take revenge.
"Because next time... this won't be a one-on-one battle anymore."
—
"Commander Natsuhiko, according to our final count, Kumogakure left behind a total of five hundred and sixty-two corpses this time."
"In comparison, our side suffered one hundred and forty-four casualties. Overall, this can be considered a tremendous victory."
Inside Konoha's command headquarters, Nara Shikaku calmly read the compiled report aloud to Natsuhiko.
His expression remained composed, though inwardly he felt rather conflicted.
Yesterday's duel between Natsuhiko and the Fourth Raikage had completely shattered all of his original plans.
At the same time, he had been deeply shocked by the strength of Kumogakure's forces. Even with his preparations and battlefield arrangements in place, those shinobi had still managed to inflict such severe casualties in an incredibly short amount of time.
It was enough to show just how terrifying their combat power truly was.
And it also proved that those troops were very likely among Kumogakure's elite forces.
Yet the one who had shocked everyone the most was Natsuhiko himself.
Everyone knew he was strong.
But almost no one believed he could truly stand against monsters like the Fourth Raikage.
After all, he was simply too young, and the only battle most people knew him for was his involvement during the Nine-Tails incident.
It could be said that Natsuhiko had never truly earned widespread trust from others. That reality was unavoidable.
But this battle...
This battle had utterly destroyed every doubt and suspicion surrounding him.
By himself, he had crushed an entire thousand-man force alongside the Fourth Raikage.
Although in the end, he had ordered the Konoha shinobi to use Fire Release to finish off the trapped Cloud shinobi, the result still left everyone stunned beyond words.
But everyone understood one thing clearly—
Natsuhiko had deliberately given them that opportunity.
Whether it was his Flying Thunder God Technique or his Wood Release, both had already reached a level so overwhelming that it left people speechless.
As a result, the morale of Konoha's shinobi had soared to unprecedented heights, which was unquestionably excellent news for Konoha.
So although Nara Shikaku felt somewhat frustrated that his plans had been disrupted, his overall mood remained quite good.
After all, the results of this battle spoke for themselves.
"I understand. You've worked hard, Shikaku-sama."
After listening to the report, Natsuhiko nodded lightly. Truthfully, even he was somewhat surprised by Konoha's casualties.
Still, hearing that Kumogakure's losses were even greater allowed him to relax slightly.
As long as Konoha hadn't suffered the worse end of the exchange, that was acceptable.
If they had profited from it, even better.
But that matter was already in the past.
What Natsuhiko needed to consider now was what came next.
This battle had effectively been a slap across Kumogakure's face, while also forcing the Fourth Raikage to recognize just how dangerous he truly was.
Even though Natsuhiko had not revealed everything, what he displayed was already more than enough to make the Raikage wary.
After all, he had nearly killed him.
Anyone who still failed to take him seriously after that would have to be brain-dead.
And once the final decisive battle arrived, the most logical choice for Kumogakure would undoubtedly be for the Fourth Raikage and the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki to join forces against him.
That was exactly what Natsuhiko wanted.
Otherwise, while he was occupied fighting one of them, the other might target Konoha's core forces instead. If that happened, the losses would be disastrous for him.
Konoha already had far fewer shinobi than Kumogakure to begin with.
No matter how wide the range of his attacks was, and no matter how confident he felt in handling the battlefield, he still had to remain cautious.
War was filled with uncertainty.
And above all else, war was cruel.
"So, what's the next plan?" Natsuhiko asked after a brief moment of thought. "Shikaku-sama, you should already understand what I'm aiming for."
"Don't worry, Commander Natsuhiko."
Hearing those words, Shikaku gathered his thoughts before calmly explaining.
"I actually considered this possibility long ago. If I'm not mistaken, Dodai should also be with them."
"If he truly is there, then after you injured the Raikage so badly, their next move will definitely be to establish defensive measures."
"That way, they can both prevent us from taking advantage of the situation and also reduce the blow to morale caused by the Raikage's defeat."
"To be honest, if not for the strategy you proposed, I would never choose to attack at a time like this. I'd rather let them wear themselves out."
Shikaku's gaze sharpened slightly.
"But since Commander Natsuhiko already has a strategic objective in mind, we can use this opportunity to launch operations that force their defensive lines to shift."
"And in the end, we'll guide them exactly where we want them to appear."
Shikaku spoke slowly and methodically, but his intentions were perfectly clear.
Natsuhiko listened quietly.
While he wasn't entirely certain whether Dodai was truly present within Kumogakure's forces, he was familiar enough with the man's capabilities.
And after hearing Shikaku's plan, Natsuhiko felt much more at ease.
Nara Shikaku truly was reliable.
With him handling these matters, Natsuhiko could relax considerably.
More importantly, Shikaku already knew about his ambitions and had chosen to support him with substantial effort and investment.
That made Natsuhiko start considering something else—
Once he became Hokage in the future, what kind of return should he give Shikaku?
Still, he only let that thought linger briefly before pushing it aside.
Right now, the most important matter was dealing with Kumogakure.
"Commander!"
At that moment, a shinobi suddenly rushed into the command room.
He looked visibly anxious, and in his hand was a document.
"Commander, this is an urgent report from the ANBU."
"Oh?"
Natsuhiko immediately stepped forward and took the report. He opened it without hesitation.
His reading speed was extremely fast. In only a short time, he had finished scanning the entire report. And as he reached the end, a faint smile slowly formed on his face.
This intelligence report was about one thing and one thing only—the Iwagakure.
It seemed Iwagakure had learned about the clash between Konoha and Kumogakure, and after discovering that Konoha had gained the upper hand, they had finally begun to move as well.
Even though Natsuhiko knew they probably wouldn't do much beyond stationing troops at the border, that alone was already enough for his plans. More importantly, the report confirmed that Ōnoki himself had set out personally, and that piece of news delighted him far more than anything else.
His stage was finally beginning to take shape.
...
"I never expected that Senju Natsuhiko would possess such strength."
Along a narrow road leading from the Land of Earth toward the Land of Hot Water, Ōnoki traveled swiftly alongside several ANBU operatives. Yet despite maintaining his usual composure on the surface, his thoughts were far from calm.
After accepting Rokushiro's suggestion, he had immediately ordered people to closely monitor every movement between Konoha and Kumogakure in order to determine whether Iwagakure should take further action.
Truthfully, Ōnoki already knew he would eventually have to make a decision.
Those newspapers had successfully ignited the fighting spirit and ambitions of nearly everyone in Iwagakure.
Admittedly, cooperating with Konoha to attack Kumogakure offered nowhere near the benefits of joining Kumogakure in attacking Konoha.
However, Kumogakure and Iwagakure were sworn enemies.
On top of that, the two villages had fierce conflicts of interest throughout various smaller nations.
If they could use this opportunity to uproot Kumogakure's influence within those nations, then even if the profits were not as massive as attacking Konoha directly, the gains would still be considerable.
Not to mention, the moment war broke out between Konoha and Kumogakure, an enormous number of missions had already begun flowing into Iwagakure.
No matter how one looked at it, Iwagakure stood to profit greatly.
"We can strike our enemies, raise morale, secure benefits in smaller nations, and gain a large number of missions."
Ōnoki snorted softly.
"The only unpleasant part is that Konoha maneuvered us into this situation."
He saw the situation very clearly.
Yes, deploying troops would bring benefits, but they were ultimately acting according to Konoha's design.
That irritated him immensely.
No one enjoyed being manipulated and led around by the nose.
But at this point, Ōnoki had little choice except to accept it.
Besides, whether it was Uesugi Rokushiro or Rokushiro's father, both had provided him with a rather interesting line of thought.
Since that was the case, why not take the opportunity to test it out properly?
What he had not expected, however, was that shortly after sending his people out, Konoha and Kumogakure would erupt into such a fierce clash.
The Fourth Raikage had personally led over a thousand Cloud shinobi in a direct assault against Konoha's stronghold.
Though somewhat reckless, the move was understandable. After all, the Raikage lacked accurate intelligence regarding Konoha's situation.
But then Senju Natsuhiko revealed strength that bordered on the inhuman.
According to the reports, that brat had used Wood Release to hold off the Fourth Raikage himself while simultaneously wiping out nearly half of Kumogakure's forces.
There were not many detailed descriptions in the intelligence reports, but even vague information like that was more than enough.
Long ago, Ōnoki had already considered the possibility that Natsuhiko's appearance might allow Konoha to "rewind" forty or fifty years back to its former glory.
Still, he had believed the boy was not quite there yet.
After all, Natsuhiko was simply too young.
But now it seemed everyone had underestimated him.
A single Fourth Raikage truly was not enough to deal with that monster.
Such terrifying growth speed was exactly why Ōnoki had decided not only to deploy troops to the border, but also to come personally.
He was someone who had witnessed the power of both the First Hokage and the Second Hokage with his own eyes.
So how could he not be interested in a youngster like this?
He wanted to see for himself just how far this brat had grown.
Only by observing him up close could Ōnoki make more accurate judgments.
After all, there was no such thing as eternal hatred between villages.
If the other side proved overwhelmingly powerful, then for the sake of future generations, showing some goodwill—as long as it did not violate core interests—was not entirely unacceptable.
"Tsuchikage-sama."
Just as Ōnoki and the others continued their journey, several Iwagakure ANBU suddenly appeared before them.
Ōnoki didn't show the slightest surprise at their arrival. He merely glanced at them calmly before speaking.
"Report. How is the situation?"
Several days had already passed since they set out. Although they had not been traveling at full speed, their pace had still been extremely fast.
Even so, no matter how quickly they moved, it was impossible to guarantee they could keep up with the rapidly changing battlefield.
After all, during wartime, situations could shift in an instant.
Maintaining constant awareness of the battlefield was absolutely necessary for Ōnoki, and these ANBU were the scouts he had dispatched specifically to monitor the war.
"Tsuchikage-sama, Kumogakure has remained in a defensive posture during this period. The Fourth Raikage has not appeared once, and command has been handled by Dodai alongside the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki."
"Based on our observations, it's likely the Fourth Raikage suffered serious injuries and is currently recovering."
"As for Konoha, they've been taking advantage of the opportunity to continuously launch attacks. However, Kumogakure's defenses have been extremely firm, and the one known as Konoha's Nightingale has not made any moves either."
"Because of that, Konoha hasn't managed to gain any major advantages so far. At the moment, they've been constantly shifting the direction of their assaults, while Kumogakure keeps adjusting its defenses accordingly."
"The two sides are currently locked in a stalemate without any substantial results."
The ANBU paused briefly before continuing.
"However, due to our movements, Kumogakure has already begun withdrawing part of their forces."
After hearing the report, Ōnoki fell into deep thought.
The fact that Senju Natsuhiko had not taken action puzzled him greatly.
But after considering it carefully, he could only think of two possible explanations.
The first was that Natsuhiko was wary of the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki going berserk—or perhaps cautious of the Fourth Raikage suddenly rejoining the battlefield.
The second possibility was that the brat himself had consumed a great deal of power and was currently recovering as well.
But regardless of which reason it was, Ōnoki didn't particularly care.
Strictly speaking, he disliked both sides anyway.
If they fought each other to the death, that would be ideal.
And if they somehow managed to destroy each other completely, Ōnoki might laugh himself insane from joy.
Still, the current stalemate was not a bad thing either.
At the very least, it proved he had not arrived too late.
"I understand," Ōnoki said indifferently. "Looks like we'll have to wait until that brat, the Fourth Raikage, fully recovers before anything major happens."
His judgment remained exceptionally clear.
As long as the Fourth Raikage had not recovered, Kumogakure would likely continue maintaining a defensive stance.
Ōnoki could not determine Natsuhiko's current condition, and Kumogakure probably had even less confidence in judging it.
Besides, Wood Release naturally restrained Tailed Beasts.
If they acted carelessly, who knew whether Natsuhiko was actually in perfect condition and merely waiting for an opportunity to target the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki?
"Let's move. The sooner we arrive, the sooner we can fully understand the situation."
With that, Ōnoki immediately urged the group forward.
At this point, he truly could not wait to reach the battlefield.
After all, the clash between Konoha and Kumogakure this time was simply too interesting.
—
"That damned Ōnoki!"
Inside Kumogakure's camp, the Fourth Raikage slammed his fist violently against the table.
The other Cloud shinobi standing before him wore equally furious expressions.
None of them had expected Iwagakure to actually begin making moves while Kumogakure was at war with Konoha.
And what angered them even more was that Iwagakure had concealed their intentions perfectly at first.
They had only started acting after the Fourth Raikage was injured.
This was practically extortion against Kumogakure.
No—more accurately, it was outright military intimidation.
Yet despite their fury, there was very little Kumogakure could actually do about it.
Their war with Konoha had already reached a deadlock, leaving them with no room to divert attention elsewhere.
Because of that, they could only redeploy some troops back as a show of force. Beyond that, they were incapable of taking any real action.
"Lord Raikage, I believe we should remain calm," Dodai suddenly said at that moment.
"Ōnoki has only mobilized troops so far. He hasn't actually attacked, which means he's still waiting."
A cold glint flashed through Dodai's eye.
"That old man would never take unnecessary risks. If Kumogakure falls into a disadvantageous position, he won't hesitate to act. But if Konoha begins losing ground instead, he absolutely won't move."
"So right now, our top priority is strengthening the defenses near the Land of Iron while simultaneously ending this war with Konoha as quickly as possible. Only then can we resolve all these problems."
"And what exactly is your plan?" the Fourth Raikage asked with a sigh.
His gaze lowered toward the map spread across the table.
"Oh, right. Has Senju Natsuhiko made any moves during this time?"
"No," Dodai answered in a low voice. "Perhaps he's preparing something."
"But regardless, he can't continue much longer, because Konoha is gradually advancing in the wrong direction."
As he spoke, Dodai pointed toward a specific location on the map.
The moment the surrounding Cloud shinobi saw it, their eyes lit up slightly.
"They've been constantly changing the direction of their attacks in order to pressure us," Dodai explained calmly. "But it's obvious they've become somewhat impatient."
"Perhaps they don't want to face Lord Raikage and Killer B fighting together. After all, Konoha is still the side at a disadvantage overall."
A faint sneer appeared on his face.
"But if they continue advancing like this, they'll eventually back themselves against an open plain."
"And that plain…"
His finger tapped lightly against the map.
"…is perfect terrain for Kumogakure's assault forces."
"As long as they reach the designated position…"
Dodai slowly raised his head, his voice turning ice-cold.
"…that place will become their graveyard."
...
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