In Konoha's camp, an atmosphere of celebration filled the air.
"This is fantastic! According to Mochizuki Hui-sama's message, he'll arrive in the Land of Rain in just three and a half days. With him here, our defensive line will finally be secured!" one elite ninja said excitedly.
The disparity between Konoha's forces and the Iwa-Suna Alliance was vast, and the Land of Rain, unlike the strategic Moonfall Mountains, stretched the battle line dangerously thin.
The Alliance had gathered most of their forces here, deploying smaller squads to infiltrate from both flanks, attempting to overwhelm Konoha's defenses inch by inch.
A three-pronged assault could easily encircle Konoha's forces, yet Mu and Shamon hesitated, wary of pressing Tobirama Senju too far and forcing him to summon the likes of Hashirama Senju or Madara Uchiha.
"With the addition of these two thousand fresh reinforcements, the Land of Rain battlefield won't necessarily shift in our favor, but it will at least bring about balance," said another elite ninja, exhaling in relief.
In truth, everyone here was under immense pressure; they faced an overwhelming enemy force, relying heavily on Tobirama's Edo Tensei jutsu to hold the line. If anything happened to Tobirama, the consequences would be catastrophic.
"Let's hope Commander Mochizuki arrives soon. He'll undoubtedly bring some miracle to this battlefield," someone said hopefully, recalling Hui's achievements.
"Absolutely. Lord Hui practically embodies miracles. It's a pity… If he only had a few more years, we wouldn't be facing these wars at all," one sighed regretfully.
Hui was still just sixteen; if he were twenty, he'd likely already be the next God of Shinobi. With him at that level, wars like these would cease even to exist.
"This time, perhaps we've got an opportunity," said the Nara Clan head amid the cheer and lament.
"This message Lord Hui sent isn't like the one about the Moonfall incident. That one was intended to boost morale, but this one… this one could give us the upper hand in battle." The Nara head's eyes gleamed.
"Iwagakure and Sunagakure have no idea about this! Imagine—right in the heat of battle, when the fighting is most intense, Lord Hui's forces suddenly appear from somewhere along the Iwa-Suna lines. For the Alliance, it would be a disaster. I believe this is exactly why Lord Hui had his summon bring us this information early."
The group's eyes brightened at his words. If they could exploit this, it would deal a devastating blow to the Iwa-Suna Alliance.
Hearing this, Tobirama Senju took the message scroll from the Nara Clan head, placed it face down on the table, and began forming hand signs. Under everyone's curious gaze, lines of words appeared on the previously blank side of the scroll.
When they read it, they found it was exactly the plan the Nara head had just described.
"Amazing… this is why Mochizuki Hui-sama is so highly regarded!" one of the ninja marveled.
"He thought of the plan already—he just hid it in case this scroll was intercepted."
"This is why he's the Light of Konoha; he always brings us hope and miracles!" The group was once again struck by the thoughtfulness of Mochizuki Hui's every move.
"With this plan of Hui's, let's coordinate carefully and make the Alliance pay dearly for their overconfidence," Tobirama declared, his eyes flashing with determination.
Because of this plan, the news was kept under strict confidentiality. None of Konoha's other ninja knew about the Kumogakure's surrender or that Mochizuki Hui was swiftly approaching the Land of Rain.
Likewise, Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and even the nearby Kirigakure remained unaware of the Kumogakure's surrender.
Thus, the Iwa-Suna Alliance was headed for a nasty surprise.
As dawn broke, the sun rose once more. In the Land of Rain, however, there was no sun—only an unending veil of dense clouds and a relentless drizzle.
At the Iwa-Suna Alliance's main camp, Mu and Shamon stood before a map, discussing their next move.
"Now that we know our caution was misplaced, we can proceed with this war without holding back," Shamon began.
Their last battle hadn't been aimed at seizing Konoha's encampment; their goal had simply been to confirm whether Tobirama could summon Hashirama Senju or Madara Uchiha—and, if he could, to assess their strength.
Though Tobirama hadn't admitted it outright, their exchanges had revealed enough for them to glean the truth.
"With our sixteen thousand ninja here and Konoha down to about five thousand, we have the advantage," Mu said, tracing his finger over several routes on the map.
"However, accounting for the strength of Konoha's ninja and Tobirama's Edo Tensei jutsu, we'll need at least ten thousand stationed here."
"That means we could split the remaining six thousand, sending them around to launch surprise attacks on the Konoha camp from the flanks or even from behind," Shamon added, nodding in agreement.
"Yes, six thousand should be divided into two or even three squads for an all-encompassing assault on Konoha's camp," Mu said. "Tobirama uses Edo Tensei to form a single defense line, but he certainly can't manage four at once!"
"Let's put the plan into motion today," Shamon replied.
"But the forces advancing from the flanks must avoid detection. If Tobirama finds out, he'll certainly find a way to take them out single-handedly."
They'd been fortunate that the terrain had prevented large-scale deployments so far. Otherwise, dividing forces would have exposed their strategy.
A battlefield could only accommodate so many, and Konoha could defend key positions well enough that only around ten thousand from the Alliance could actively engage in battle at any given time—just twice the number Konoha could field.
"This time, we'll wipe out Konoha's forces in the Land of Rain once and for all!" Mu proclaimed confidently.
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