[Western Front]
The western front was chaotic. Relentless battles and explosions had shaped the landscapes into a charred area unwelcoming humans. Craters, shurikens drenched in blood, kunai that had rusted from the passage of time...All of these depicted the very notion of hell.
This was a battlefield, and an intense one at that.
Iwagakure battalions pressed like a tide, relentless, unyielding and more importantly, seemingly limitless. Their numbers seemed inexhaustible, whereas Konoha had known little reinforcement since the start.
I had made it clear to Hiruzen that the Shimura operation was to be strictly confidential, even to the allied troops that had gone to the front. Otherwise, the information risked being leaked. Be it the Nara, the Aburame or the Kiba clans, all were surrounded by shinobi of diverse backgrounds. Some of them were untrustworthy.
I remembered the discussion:
"Can we at least transmit the information to the Nara patriarch? With his intellect, he will naturally understand the risks it entails, and he will not despair at the thought of no reinforcement from our end", Hiruzen had said
"Even if he does not speak of it, his actions will. Such is the reality of the human mind. The Nara clan may be smart, but they are too smart for their own good. Faced with the choice of an optimal solution, the Nara patriarch will choose the best one for the battlefield ten times out of ten. However, the Iwagakure men are not stupid, and once we lose the effects of surprise, we will lose our edge. Looking at the bigger picture, please let me handle it my way. After all, I have staked it all: my clan, my family, my blood...I would hate to lose it all because of someone else's incompetence"
"Fine, Danzo. I will give you two weeks to stabilize the battlefied. I trust you, my friend"
The debate had thoroughly convinced Hiruzen. Although he was pretty strong, he was no strategist.
'For a man called the professor, he sure is disappointing...', I could not help but observe
More importantly, I had given my support to his position as a Hokage, and because of that, he owed me a debt, even if we never spoke of it. Anything I said would always attract his goodwill, and the support I was giving in times of need was of utmost importance. Naturally, he supported my decision.
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Meanwhile, in the Konoha settlement, a debate broke out.
"They're adapting," growled the Nara commander, his arm bandaged where rock shrapnel had torn through flesh. "Every assault, they cycle fresh troops. Like they've got a damn fountain of supplies. At this rate, we will not survive much longer. It's a wonder how we managed to survive their last attack..."
His counterpart, a grizzled sensor-nin, squinted at the horizon. Bearer of good news, he read the report: "Scouts report their caravans are thinning. Delays. Gaps in their logistics. Something's… bleeding them. But still, even if their reinforcements are thinning, we are not getting any at all"
"Pray it bleeds them faster than they're bleeding us", the Akimichi patriarch spoke, his left arm broken from an earlier battle
"We need to relocate. A little bit further to the North", a Nara clansmen analysed, "At this rate, the foundations will not survive the next assault. Additionally, we don't want the Rikura Mountain Settlement's defeat to repeat again"
"The Rikura incident, huh...", the Nara patriarch thought before pointing at the map, "Indeed, if they deployed the subterranean division, they might be digging below us as we speak, and take us by surprise. Heed my command, we are to travel North tonight, to these coordinates"