That was why, after the battle of Rinkai City, Village Hidden in the Mist had fought desperately to recover the Three-Tails' Jinchuriki's corpse, and it was also the true reason the Village Hidden in the Stones had insisted on obtaining the Seven-Tails' Jinchuriki's body after everything was completed.
During those three years of transition, the Village Hidden in the Stones would have ample time to search for a suitable candidate and cultivate a new Seven-Tails' Jinchuriki. When the revived Seven-Tails finally returned, they would seal it immediately, allowing the Village Hidden in the Stones to officially possess a third tailed beast.
The third factor, and this third factor was by far the most important. It could even be said to be the true reason Onoki had personally approved this entire plan.
The reason was to kill Shinichi Higashino!
Last month, the Village Hidden in the Stones convened a lengthy meeting to discuss the question of how Konoha would respond after the Village Hidden in the Waterfall was attacked.
The village's council argued endlessly, with opinions sharply divided.
However, at that moment, a young strategist casually remarked, "Since the outbreak of this Shinobi World War, every strategic deployment Konoha has made has followed Shinichi Higashino's arrangements. Rather than discussing whether the third Hokage will send troops, we should discuss whether Shinichi Higashino will."
The moment those words were spoken, the entire council fell silent.
Soon afterward, a consensus was quickly reached.
Given Shinichi Higashino's forceful style, Konoha would certainly dispatch troops, and there was an extremely high probability that he would personally lead them.
Thus, beginning from the very moment they agreed to Village Hidden in the Grass' request, the Village Hidden in the Stones conducted nearly an entire month of war simulations.
They calculated Konoha's response, the scale of its mobilization, which personnel and units would be dispatched, marked every possible troop movement route around Konoha on their maps for comparison and analysis, and even precisely estimated the exact time at which Shinichi Higashino could arrive in Village Hidden in the Waterfall.
They repeatedly broke down, weighed, and calculated every possible variable, ultimately arriving at what they believed was the optimal prediction.
Once Village Hidden in the Waterfall requested aid, Konoha would certainly dispatch troops, Shinichi Higashino would certainly lead them personally, and given his speed, he should be able to reach Village Hidden in the Waterfall within a single day.
The temporary force he could bring with him would number no more than one thousand men, whose speed was far inferior to Shinichi Higashino's.
By the time they arrived, the combined forces of the Village Hidden in the Stones and Village Hidden in the Grass would already have completed their objective and withdrawn at their leisure.
Given Shinichi Higashino's sharp, decisive, and uncompromising style, there was a ninety percent chance he would choose to pursue them, while the rest of Konoha's forces would be unable to keep pace with him.
That was why they had deliberately chosen Gray Mist Valley as the site of the sacrificial ritual.
Violent air currents raged above the gorge, birds themselves could scarcely cross it, and the thick fog blocked out the sun, reducing the advantages of flight to an absolute minimum.
The combined force of more than three thousand ninja from the Village Hidden in the Stones and Village Hidden in the Grass had already been deployed throughout every strategic pass and bottleneck within Gray Mist Valley, laying an inescapable net.
Even for Shinichi Higashino, in such terrain, it would be difficult to fully utilize either his aerial superiority or his speed.
Even if Shinichi Higashino eventually gathered Konoha's thousand-plus reinforcements, he would still face a force three times larger than his own that had long since prepared itself and was waiting in ambush.
At that time, with more than three thousand against one thousand, launching a coordinated assault with over a threefold numerical advantage, they would have the opportunity to wipe out this Konoha scourge, whom the third Tsuchikage, Onoki, regarded as his greatest threat, in Gray Mist Valley once and for all.
Not to mention that if he ventured deep alone…
As for the sacrificial ritual, the Box of Ultimate Bliss, and the Seven-Tails' chakra, they were nothing more than bait hanging from the hook.
The thing that the Village Hidden in the Stones truly wished to take had always been Shinichi Higashino's life.
Of course, if Konoha sent someone else, the Village Hidden in the Stones had other contingency plans.
But if Shinichi Higashino truly came… then the Gray Mist Valley would become the perfect coffin for him.
(A/N: the Village Hidden in the Stones's war simulation is just like certain real-world countries' simulations, based entirely on wishful thinking, so don't take it seriously.)
"Withdraw from Village Hidden in the Waterfall. Our destination is Gray Mist Valley."
Without wasting another word, Gari decisively issued the order.
At his command, the combined forces of the Village Hidden in the Stones and Village Hidden in the Grass swiftly regrouped like the receding tide, taking the unconscious Seven-Tails Jinchuriki with them as they withdrew toward the border along their predetermined route.
A short while later, the once deafening and brutal battlefield was left with nothing but smoke-shrouded wreckage and flames that still burned fiercely. The village Hidden in the Waterfall, once peaceful and tranquil, was now covered in devastation.
"Leader! Hang in there! Konoha has already responded to us! They're on their way, and Shinichi-sama is leading them personally! As long as Shinichi-sama reaches the village, everything will get better!"
A young Medical Ninja's hands trembled as he desperately used Medical Ninjutsu to treat Shibito while shouting at the top of his lungs.
"I... Cough, cough, cough..."
Shibito tried to say something, but only coughed up several mouthfuls of blood, feeling his eyelids growing heavier and heavier.
After drinking the Hero Water, his body had already begun collapsing at an alarming rate, and afterward he had taken Gari's overwhelmingly tyrannical counterattack head-on, leaving him grievously injured.
He wanted to say that he couldn't hold on any longer. He wanted to tell the young man, still desperately trying to save him, not to waste his strength on him, but to save it for those fellow villagers who still had hope. Yet by now, he no longer had the strength to speak those words.
Perhaps it was sheer willpower, or perhaps he simply wanted to see Konoha's reinforcements arrive with his own eyes before he could close them in peace.
Shibito, who had thought he absolutely could not survive, somehow managed to stubbornly hold on for several more hours.
Time passed bit by bit, and the gray daylight gradually faded into dusk, and just as Shibito's consciousness was about to sink completely into darkness, a figure broke through the clouds above, slowly descending from the dim sky.
It was a young monk clad in white kasaya robes, holding a string of dark brown prayer beads. His features were refined and serene, while a faint, gentle aura seemed to flow around his entire body.
When his feet touched the ground, not a single speck of dust was stirred. His robes fluttered gently in the evening breeze, and though he stood amidst this scorched wasteland of ruins, he seemed utterly untouched by the filth of the world.
"Monk Genjo? Cough, cough... I didn't expect even you to come..."
At the sight of the newcomer, it was as though a faint surge of strength had once more been infused into Shibito's body, and his previously vacant eyes regained a trace of focus.
His lips trembled as he opened his mouth again, his gaze instinctively drifting behind Genjo, wanting to ask where Shinichi was.