After all, Wind Breathing and Thunder Breathing share the same origin, and now with Sun Breathing as a reference, the difficulty of fusing them is much lower.
"If there's something wrong with your body, you have to obediently let me examine you, Hardy-kun."
Shinobu Kocho smiled sweetly as she bent over him, speaking while unceremoniously brushing aside his arm and placing a stethoscope on him.
"By the way, what's the name of the new breathing technique?"
"The principle of the new breathing technique was inspired by the natural phenomenon of ion winds, so let's call it Breath of Separation," Hardy replied casually.
…
…
Naruto World.
Torrential rain poured from the sky onto the desolate, muddy plains. Rivers of blood flowed as the sounds of slaughter and the wind and rain became the main theme of the world.
After a long while, the Konoha ninja withdrew from the battlefield, leaving behind hundreds of corpses.
With a mechanical whir, Hardy stepped out of the Dai Ivan, his hands glowing faintly green as he used healing techniques to treat Pakura and Baki's injuries.
Their squad's overall combat strength was now considerable, and they had begun to take on important tasks in local skirmishes, with the accompanying increase in pressure.
Fortunately, they could still handle it. Baki and Pakura only suffered minor injuries.
The outcome of this battle could truly be called a decisive victory.
After the battle, Chiyo summoned all special jōnin and higher-ranked ninja in the camp for a meeting.
"Excellent. Konoha's main force has been repelled, and Hanzo is surrounded by Iwagakure, isolated and without support. Even if he manages to break out with the Amegakure ninja, after this battle, Amegakure will be severely weakened and will no longer have the strength to launch attacks," Chiyo said, pointing at the map on the wall as she explained the current situation.
Since Orochimaru had been transferred to another front, the advance of the Third Kazekage had been interrupted by him leading Konoha ninja, which naturally weakened Konoha's forces in the Land of Rain.
Especially since Shimura Danzo's command ability was only average.
In terms of overall strategy, planning, and tactics, he was far inferior to Orochimaru. With Tsunade incapacitated, Danzo and Jiraiya could only hold the line and hope for some unexpected turn.
Danzo's little tricks, like assassination attempts, failed after the first time, and once the Sunagakure ninja became vigilant, these schemes no longer worked. In fact, they even backfired, wasting resources that had been set as traps.
"On the eastern front, because of Orochimaru, the Third Kazekage's advance has been temporarily halted. But the entire Land of Rivers has been completely taken by us, and we've fortified our defenses. Konoha's counterattack has been repelled, and now both sides are locked in a stalemate in the Land of Rivers and the Land of Valleys."
"As for us, we've reached our limit. It's not a matter of logistics. With our strategy of fighting to support the war, our material reserves are even greater than when we first entered the Land of Rain. We've even sent back large quantities of precious supplies to the village. The problem is manpower."
Chiyo removed some red flags representing Konoha and Amegakure from the sand table on the desk, replacing them with green (Sunagakure) and yellow (Iwagakure) flags.
Through the sand table, the internal situation of the Land of Rain was clearly visible.
The south and west were basically occupied by the Sunagakure-Iwagakure alliance.
The largest central area, previously held by Amegakure and Konoha, was now divided between Sunagakure and Iwagakure.
Amegakure had retreated to the north, Hanzo's stronghold, while Konoha had withdrawn to the east, backed by the border of the Land of Fire.
Now, over fifty percent of the Land of Rain's territory was occupied by Sunagakure and Iwagakure.
With their territory suddenly increased by more than half, both villages had reached their manpower limits even after basic garrisoning of the occupied areas.
"In other words, we now have enough strength to defend, but not enough to attack. Although Konoha suffered a defeat, their main force remains largely intact. It would still be extremely difficult to defeat them. If we continue to press the attack, it would leave our own lines dangerously thin, and a desperate counterattack from Konoha could cause us losses instead," Chiyo summarized.
In short, as long as Hanzo is alive and Konoha's main force remains, Sunagakure alone cannot conquer the Land of Rain. Even occupying nearly a third of its territory is already the limit.
"Can the village send more reinforcements?" a Sunagakure ninja asked.
"I'm afraid not. Senior students from the ninja academy are already helping transport supplies at the border. Every registered active ninja, even freshly graduated genin, is already deployed. Even with retired and recalled ninja, there's no one left to send.
Besides, where's the logic in calling for reinforcements after winning?" Chiyo shook her head.
"What about Takigakure in the north? They may not be one of the Five Great Ninja Villages, but they have a tailed beast and are among the strongest of the smaller countries. They're not weaker than the Land of Rain. If we could form an alliance with them…" Rasa asked.
"I've already sent someone to the Land of Waterfall to negotiate, but it seems they only want to guard their own territory and have no desire to get involved in other countries' wars," Chiyo shook her head again.
Takigakure…
Of course we don't dare to make a move.
Hardy thought to himself.
Ever since Kakuzu defected, killed all the former high-ranking officials of Takigakure, and stole the secret Earth Grudge Fear technique, the village's legacy was almost severed, and it never produced any noteworthy masters again.
It's only by relying on the prestige of having the Seven-Tails that other ninja villages even give them a second glance. But if they were to actually send troops out, their true strength would be exposed.
But no one knows where Kakuzu is now.
He's an old-school Kage-level powerhouse. If they could find a way to contact him and offer enough money, he probably wouldn't refuse a war-time mercenary contract from Sunagakure.
The Sunagakure jonin all voiced their opinions. Although there were some good suggestions, none could really influence the overall situation.
"Hardy, what about you? Do you have any thoughts?"
Near the end, Chiyo suddenly turned to Hardy and asked.
She believed her disciple had a certain quick wit.
"I'm thinking, if we don't have the strength to defeat Konoha head-on, is there a way to make Konoha withdraw on their own?"
Hardy rubbed his chin as he spoke.
"Explain in detail," Chiyo said with interest.
"We could attack Konoha's rear bases like we did last time. Even though we don't have the same intelligence advantage as before, if the Land of Fire suffers damage, Konoha will have to respond. Even if their ninja in the Land of Rain don't necessarily withdraw, we could at least test how many troops Konoha can still spare, and whether they have the capacity to send reinforcements to the Land of Rain."
Chiyo's mind turned, considering the feasibility.