Even though all the exploding cannons had lost their effectiveness, and the continuous suppressive explosions had vanished, it didn't mean that the situation for the Iwa shinobi had improved. Or rather, while there was some improvement, it wasn't significant. This was because the Iwa shinobi, including Shima, had expended a large amount of chakra to eliminate the exploding cannons on the front lines and would find it difficult to recover in a short time. Meanwhile, the Konoha shinobi, in peak condition, were already closing in.
From the beginning of the battle until now, the Konoha shinobi in the main combat force had experienced almost no physical exertion. They only needed to load the explosive tags into the cannons and then control the tags to fire them. There was no simpler or easier task. It's worth noting that the Konoha shinobi responsible for the two-pronged assault had already suffered considerable casualties, and the remaining ones had also expended a good deal of chakra.
With the participation of these fresh forces, the Iwa shinobi would face a different kind of pressure than the exploding cannons. Against the continuously projected explosive tags, they only needed to focus on building rock walls. However, Konoha shinobi wouldn't employ such a simplistic fighting style. They advanced to the front lines in squads, climbing the collapsed or crumbling rock walls and pouncing on the Iwa shinobi behind them.
Because the Konoha shinobi's actions were more complex, the Iwa shinobi couldn't just repeatedly build walls. However, due to the continuous, monotonous tasks they had performed earlier, the Iwa shinobi's reactions seemed somewhat sluggish, and their physical exhaustion prevented them from executing the tactics they had practiced countless times in the past.
The only thing to be thankful for was that the continuous bombardment from the exploding cannons had left collapsed rock walls everywhere, making the terrain uneven and undulating. This gave the Iwa shinobi a chance to breathe, allowing them to use the terrain and Earth Release to sneak, evade, or engage the enemy. However, the pressure they exerted on the enemy wasn't particularly great.
Shima, snapping out of his joy over destroying the exploding cannons, realized the current situation and hastily issued orders for the Iwa shinobi to once again tighten their defenses, concentrate their forces, and hold their ground based on their positions. At the same time, they were to abandon the fortresses and strongholds established in the wilderness and converge on the renovated town.
Given the current situation, it was impossible for the Iwa shinobi to defeat the enemy in the wilderness. Rather than fighting to the death with the Konoha shinobi here, it was better to retreat to the town as soon as possible. There, they had sufficient material reserves and sufficiently strong defensive barriers, which were far more complex than the simple fortresses built during field operations. Even if they faced the exploding cannons again, they wouldn't be completely defenseless.
Although it still looked like a retreat, Shima felt this was the best way to preserve the vitality of his troops. Coupled with his meritorious act of destroying the exploding cannons, he wouldn't receive an overly severe punishment. At that point, he could atone for his mistakes and challenge Konoha Village again with new troops.
In the ensuing battle, the Iwa shinobi fought and retreated, utilizing the chaotic terrain formed by the collapsed rock walls to greatly reduce their casualties. Before withdrawing, they also used Earth Release to set up numerous obstacles to hinder the Konoha shinobi's pursuit. Given enough time, they could use their pre-determined retreat routes to return to the town stronghold.
By the time the Konoha shinobi cleared the troublesome roadblocks, the Iwa shinobi had long vanished without a trace, and the sensory shinobi had also failed to locate any enemy presence. After confirming that the renovated town stronghold of the Iwa shinobi was not far away, the overall commander decided to halt their advance, focusing primarily on consolidating the territory they had gained. After all, all the exploding cannons were now lost, and without such a convenient siege weapon, the Konoha shinobi were not confident they could easily breach the town. Moreover, headquarters had not ordered them to conquer the town.
In fact, even with the loss of all the exploding cannons, this Konoha shinobi unit could be considered to have fully completed its mission. The Iwa wilderness defensive lines they were responsible for had been almost entirely cleared. While the situation in other areas was unknown, based on the Iwa shinobi's performance today, other areas wouldn't be much better. This meant that the Iwa wilderness defensive line in this particular section had been completely swept away.
What remained was the town stronghold, equivalent to laying siege to the city.
It seemed the Konoha shinobi had a significant advantage and achieved brilliant results, but the faces of every Konoha shinobi were not particularly optimistic. While clearing the battlefield, they specifically tallied their battle losses. Although Konoha's losses were fewer than the enemy's, the Iwa shinobi's casualties were also not very high.
The reason for this was that the Iwa shinobi, by being flexible in the complex terrain, greatly reduced their own losses. Apart from those initially caught off guard by the exploding cannons, and those who directly confronted the Konoha shinobi, the remaining Iwa shinobi suffered remarkably few losses. Most of the bodies belonged to the samurai army of the Land of Earth.
For the current ninja villages, the threat of samurai armies was far less significant than in the past. Looking at the bodies of these Land of Earth samurai, it only prompted a sigh, a sense that the era of samurai seemed to be quickly passing. Beyond that, there was no other sentiment.
"It's truly brutal," Asuna said, standing by a collapsed rock wall, watching the Konoha shinobi responsible for cleaning up drag out the bodies below. The bodies crushed by rocks were gruesome, and there were also bodies hit by exploding cannons, their bodies incomplete, with blood everywhere.
This was the first time Asuna had seen such horrific bodies. In past battles, the bodies she had seen were basically intact. However, the battle with Iwagakure was a completely different situation; it was a battle on another level, utterly unlike the battlefield in the Land of Rain.
Asuna suddenly felt a bit nauseous. She didn't regret eliminating these enemies, because they had attempted to invade her country and destroy her homeland. For this reason alone, they deserved to die. However, their tragic deaths still caused Asuna psychological discomfort. She forcefully turned her head away, but the images of those people still appeared in her mind.
At this moment, Asuna recalled the Iwa shinobi who could use Earth Spear earlier. His death was equally tragic, but what concerned Asuna more was the obsession he displayed before his death. It was definitely not just a belief in completing a mission. She hadn't understood it before, but now, Asuna vaguely felt that she seemed to have grasped his thoughts.
If her comrades died in such a tragic manner, and it was caused by the enemy on the other side, then she too might act impulsively, rushing to avenge them, even if it might violate the village's orders. Asuna didn't know if this thought was correct, or if it truly was the Iwa shinobi's obsession, but at least that's what she felt in her heart.
Suddenly, someone patted Asuna's shoulder. Asuna's body trembled, and she quickly turned around to see Kakashi Sakumo standing behind her. Her body relaxed slightly, and she said, "Oh, it's Sakumo-niisan."
"Are you alright? You don't look so good," Kakashi Sakumo asked. When Asuna had turned her head just now, her eyes held a certain unusual emotion that gave Kakashi Sakumo a bad feeling.
"It's nothing, I just feel…" Asuna glanced at the collected bodies, which were now wrapped up and no longer visible. "War is truly a hateful thing."
Kakashi Sakumo noticed Asuna's gaze towards the bodies, and his heart sank slightly. His fellow student, Tsunade, was a rising star in the Medical Department, with the potential to become a leading medical ninja. Naturally, he understood the field of ninja psychological health that she focused on. Incidentally, the proponent of this field was Asuna's father, Fumori Masaki.
—Perhaps, Sensei realized a long time ago that for young shinobi, the psychological damage of war, if not properly addressed, could greatly impact their future lives.
Kakashi Sakumo looked at Asuna with a hint of pity. Asuna was only sixteen this year. For the ninja profession, she couldn't be considered young anymore, but in his sensei's eyes, this was still an age group that needed attention. One must know that even Kakashi Sakumo, in his twenties, had experienced discomfort after witnessing the casualties of this battle, let alone the even younger Asuna.
"Sakumo-niisan," Maki walked over at this moment, her expression also somewhat unusual. For young shinobi like them, especially those with more delicate dispositions, such gruesome bodies would cause some psychological discomfort. "They're calling you back to report the situation."
"Ah, I almost forgot," Kakashi Sakumo said upon hearing this, immediately remembering. He patted his head and said to Asuna, "Asuna, don't worry too much. Get a good night's sleep when you get back. You've been fighting for so long, you must all be very tired. Maki and Risa, same for you two, make sure to get some good rest."
Kakashi Sakumo, after all, was not a professional medical ninja, nor did he know how to provide psychological counseling. This was not a skill that everyone in the Medical Department mastered, and he, a combat ninja, naturally knew even less. He could only say so much before hastily taking his leave.
Now, the battles in other areas had already concluded. As everyone had anticipated, facing the sudden exploding cannons, the Iwa shinobi were clearly unprepared, and their wilderness defensive lines were almost entirely eliminated by the Konoha shinobi, who now directly confronted the towns held by the Iwa shinobi. The subsequent battles would require a new plan, starting with a clear identification of the mistakes made in this battle. The high-ranking Konoha shinobi in charge of on-site command all had to go and report, and participate in discussions. This was Fumori Masaki's requirement: to discuss among themselves, identify their shortcomings, and prevent repeating mistakes in the future.
As the captain of the First Ninja Squad, Kakashi Sakumo also had to participate in this discussion. From his own perspective, he elaborated on the Iwa shinobi's defensive measures and suggested methods to resolve them. After he finished reporting, it was the turn of others to speak.
Broadly speaking, the mistakes made by the Konoha shinobi were not major. Most of them stemmed from issues encountered during the initial use of the new ninja tool, the exploding cannon. Firstly, due to the immense destructive power and ease of operation of the exploding cannon, it was easy for people to become complacent, forgetting to coordinate with it to maximize its effectiveness. Secondly, the exploding cannon consumed a great deal of resources, and the supply of explosive tags almost faced shortages. These were the main problems that arose during the application of the exploding cannon.
"Ultimately, the exploding cannon is just a weapon. We need to use it to amplify our own strength, not let it replace us," Commander Inuzuka Shigeru said, his expression serious, tapping the table after everyone had reported. "If we rely on it too much, it's easy for weaknesses to appear. One careless mistake and someone will exploit it, just like a certain unit that lost all its exploding cannons."
Although Inuzuka Shigeru didn't name names, everyone knew who he was referring to. This matter was no longer a secret, as it was the only unit that had lost all its exploding cannons. The commander immediately broke out in a cold sweat, his expression awkward, yet he couldn't argue, as Inuzuka Shigeru's words were reasonable and logical.
"When you return, think carefully about how to achieve good coordination between your squad and the use of exploding cannons. Don't let the two become disconnected again. It might not seem like a big problem, at most just an inability to exert full power, but for experienced shinobi, this disconnection will become a huge vulnerability, understand?" Inuzuka Shigeru said.
"Yes," the Konoha shinobi present immediately responded loudly, indicating their understanding.
Inuzuka Shigeru nodded and said, "As for the issue of explosive tags, I will write to the village and have new explosive tags transported here. During this time, do not launch any attacks on the town. The main tasks will be to consolidate the existing defensive lines, monitor the movements of the Iwa shinobi, and gather intelligence to provide a basis for formulating battle plans."
Everyone understood this point. Although they had long heard of the Iwa shinobi's reputation for being skilled in defense, they were still shocked when they first encountered it. This time, thanks to the surprise attack of the exploding cannons, they achieved significant results, but the next battle would not be so smooth. They had already experienced the difficulties of fighting in person. The enemy was like a turtle retracted into its shell; no matter how much you knocked and hit the outer shell, it wouldn't break easily. And when you felt tired and wanted to rest, the opponent would suddenly stick its head out and bite you. If they had exploding cannons, the situation would be much better, but unfortunately, the reserves of explosive tags were far from sufficient. Even if they did bombard, it wouldn't last long, and it would be impossible to chew through that indestructible town fortress in a short time.
"Shigeru-sama, I have a request," Kakashi Sakumo said. "I hope that the Medical Department can send people skilled in psychological counseling to the front lines to ensure the mental health of our comrades. The battle with the Iwa shinobi has been too brutal, causing many comrades to experience psychological discomfort."
As Kakashi Sakumo spoke, others also nodded, indicating that similar phenomena had appeared among their troops. Seeing this, Inuzuka Shigeru couldn't help but ponder. As an old ninja like him, he actually couldn't quite understand this new concept. During the Warring States period, there were countless things far more brutal than this, and he had long adapted, or rather, become numb. At that time, he and his comrades simply licked their wounds together and survived. It was just that Fumori Masaki was personally pushing this matter, with Koharu Utatane in charge, so he just let it be. He hadn't expected it to actually be useful.
"I will apply to the village for this, if the village agrees," Inuzuka Shigeru considered it carefully and decided to give it a try. Incidentally, he had heard that Tsunade had specifically studied this subject, and now Tsunade was on the Eastern Front. In that case, he couldn't guarantee how many psychologically skilled counselors the Medical Department would have with sufficient expertise.