Chapter 15: Sakumo Hatake Disagrees with the Third Hokage's Philosophy
Tsukasa Kaede's Chakra was rapidly depleting.
Kaedence the war began, he had already expended six zombies and more than half of his Chakra. Continuing like this would be dangerous.
Tsukasa Kaede had already noticed that more and more enemies were paying attention to him, intentionally or unintentionally looking for an opportunity to break through the Konoha Shinobi's defenses and directly assassinate him.
Medical ninja were already priority targets for Sand Shinobi, and for a medical ninja like Tsukasa Kaede, who possessed a unique skill, the hunting priority was even higher.
When Hidden Sand Village deployed specialized troops and detonated the fourth wave of poison smoke on the battlefield, Tsukasa Kaede finally decided it was time to retreat.
On a battlefield with tens of thousands of combatants, victory couldn't be decided in a single engagement; there would certainly be many battles. Considering the war's start time, the Chakra reserves of the participating Ninja, and the overall intensity of the conflict, Tsukasa Kaede felt that one side would soon have to temporarily retreat.
He deduced that Konoha wouldn't actively retreat. Even though many Ninja were poisoned, struggling desperately, and suffering heavy casualties, they would absolutely not take a single step back voluntarily.
In the war against Hidden Sand Village, Hidden Sand Village was the aggressor. Those sand-eaters coveted the fertile lands of the Land of Fire, possessing the strongest motivation to declare war on Konoha, and thus fought the most ferociously.
Originally, the Land of Rain was sandwiched between the Land of Fire, the Land of Earth, and the Land of Wind, serving as the default battlefield for Konoha, Iwagakure, and Hidden Sand Village. Dragging their forces into the Land of Rain to fight fiercely, even if it meant devastating its economy and environment, was still more cost-effective than waging war within their own borders.
What's more, the Second Great Ninja War was originally instigated by Hanzo the Salamander of Hidden Rain Village.
But since last year, after defeating the Sannin, Hanzo announced his active withdrawal from the war. The three parties grudgingly accepted this, fearing they might push Hanzo too far, as he was, after all, a top Ninja in the Shinobi World, renowned as a Demigod.
Unable to wage large-scale war in the Land of Rain, they had no choice but to engage in close combat. Hidden Sand Village thus deployed its troops to the border of the Land of Fire, engaging the blocking force led by Sakumo Hatake.
"Is that so? In this one day, another forty-seven Ninja died from poisoning?"
In the Main Camp at the rear, Sakumo Hatake sat solemnly, overseeing the situation. He longed to move out, but knew it wasn't time yet; he had to wait for Hidden Sand Village's legion commander to make a move first.
Sakumo Hatake was undoubtedly Konoha's combat power spearhead during the Second Great Ninja War, establishing countless military achievements. The name "Konoha's White Fang" resounded throughout the Shinobi World.
Most importantly, Sakumo Hatake's main military achievements were all earned from Hidden Sand Village.
Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law, two rising top Puppeteers, should have become star Ninja of Hidden Sand Village. Perhaps in a few more years, one of them might even have become the Kazekage of Hidden Sand Village.
Facing such top Puppeteers, Sakumo Hatake personally took action, wielding his short sword, and launched a surprise attack on the battlefield. In just one battle, he killed both of them.
This astonishing military achievement shocked all nations, severely crippled the morale and vital forces of Hidden Sand Village, and even directly altered the war's progress between Konoha and Hidden Sand Village.
This was also another major achievement Konoha made after Konoha's Sannin ended the war between Konoha and Hidden Rain Village.
Now, Sakumo Hatake was actually unhappy. He sat idly in the Main Camp, feeling the thunderous roars of various Ninjutsu clashing from the Front Line and listening to the screams from the casualty camp in the rear, his heart aching as if being cut by a knife.
He did not agree with the philosophy of "Missions above all." He was more willing to exert his utmost effort to help as many comrades as possible.
He was Konoha's strongest, with extremely high killing efficiency. Logically speaking, in a very short time, he could kill a large number of Sand Shinobi, indirectly helping more comrades.
But as the supreme commander, he couldn't do that. He had to execute the Third Hokage's safe and conservative grand strategy, only able to watch countless comrades die while waiting for Chiyo to make her move.
"It's already the fourth wave of poison smoke. However, we've prepared plenty of gas masks, and we've also organized Wind Release Ninja to perform 'Wind Release: Great Breakthrough,' which can minimize the harm of the poison smoke to us in the shortest time. The Medical Unit has also delivered a newly manufactured batch of antidotes into the hands of the Front Line Ninja, which should be somewhat effective."
Sakumo Hatake listened to various reports and processed the large amount of Intel in his hands. He couldn't even create a few Shadow Clone Jutsu to help him share the workload; everything was done solely to conserve Chakra, ensuring he remained in peak condition, ready to strike at any moment.
But Chiyo still made no move.
"That woman Chiyo has gone mad, she won't be able to endure much longer," Sakumo Hatake said. He actually didn't quite agree with the Third Hokage's orders; his strategy was too conservative.
According to the Third Hokage's thinking, even if the casualty ratio with the enemy reached 1:1, or even 1.5:1, Konoha would still win.
Kaedemply because Konoha controlled the largest number of Ninja, possessed the most top Bloodline Limit Clans and Secret Technique Clans, and the Land of Fire's finances were the strongest, there was no need to take risks at all.
Furthermore, Konoha had no interest in the barren or desolate lands of other countries; there was no need to expand its territory. Especially in the War against Hidden Sand Village, expansion was utterly meaningless. Other than seizing a pile of sand where no grain or medicinal herbs could be grown, what was the point?
Did they need to specially train a batch of Magnet Release Ninja to squat in the desert all day prospecting for gold? They only needed to wear down the enemy. With Konoha's inherent strength, its recovery ability was the fastest; not losing meant winning. Even taking some losses would still be a complete victory, giving them even less reason to take risks.
To the east, Hidden Cloud Village and Hidden Mist Village had not yet dispatched large legions to participate in the Second Great Ninja War. To the west, the War with Hidden Rain Village ended last year, leaving only Hidden Sand Village and Hidden Stone Village. Furthermore, Hidden Sand Village and Hidden Stone Village were also at War; the Third Kazekage had even led a legion deep into the Land of Earth.
They only needed to continue dragging it out; victory could be achieved without taking any risks. The Third Hokage liked this kind of War the most; preferring to actively concede some minor losses, he would find ways to drag the enemy into this War rhythm.
Sakumo Hatake knew, even with his eyes closed, how the Third Hokage would extract benefits from other nations after the War's victory—demanding reparations was one aspect, but more importantly, it was demanding more Mission allocations.
That is to say, Villages that couldn't win on the battlefield would have to sign a contract with Konoha, ceding a certain percentage of their domestic Mission quota for Konoha to complete.
During Peace time, the main way for Ninja Villages to earn money was by completing Missions issued by clients to obtain funds and train new Ninja.
A large volume of Missions meant the Ninja within the Village would get more training opportunities, and their strength would grow faster. The Village would also become wealthier, and with money came the ability to develop new Ninjutsu, more quickly popularize compulsory education, mass-produce more Ninja, and ultimately solidify this situation with stronger military force, forming an unbreakable virtuous cycle.
Once Konoha won the Second Great Ninja War, its reputation would skyrocket. Wealthy individuals from all over the world would definitely be more willing to issue Missions to Konoha, which inherently meant that the number of Missions other Ninja Villages could receive would sharply decrease.
On top of this, each Ninja Village would also have to sign humiliating treaties that surrendered sovereignty, ceding a portion of their already dwindling Mission numbers to Konoha.
It can only be said that the outbreak of the Third Great Ninja War was inevitable. Konoha fighting all four other Great Ninja Villages during the Third Great Ninja War, even when under the least pressure fighting two at once, was not without reason.
No Great Ninja Village could tolerate this situation existing permanently. Once they had recovered a little, they would definitely launch War against Konoha again to seize more Mission allocations and, at the same time, resolve the accumulated hatred from the Second Great Ninja War.
Sakumo Hatake suppressed the stifling feeling within his heart, reviewing the various Intel coming from the front.
(end of chapter)