Before Sakumo Hatake and the others could rest for long, new intelligence arrived. This time, thankfully, they didn't need to launch an attack; a simple deployment would solve the problem.
Sakumo, having fought on the front lines for so long, had extensive experience. After a brief consideration, he wrote down the orders and had them delivered.
"The pressure isn't too great right now, but that might not be true over time," Mizuki said. "The Sand shinobi clearly see that Sakumo-niisan wants to relieve pressure on others, so they keep harassing us. If this continues, our energy will eventually be drained."
Although Konoha shinobi have chakra storage blocks that can quickly restore chakra, chakra cannot be entirely converted into physical stamina. While it offers some recovery, rest is still necessary. After three fierce battles, chakra levels weren't a major concern, but physical and mental fatigue were subtly starting to appear.
"It can't be helped, I'm an eyesore to them," Sakumo Hatake said self-deprecatingly. "We already had a grudge during the Joint Chunin Exam (Joint Chunin Exams), and while that wasn't much, I 'killed' their wife not long ago."
"They weren't really dead, though. Speaking of which, when can we release the news that these captured Sand shinobi are still alive?" Mizuki asked.
As members of Sakumo Hatake's squad, the three knew the higher-ups' plans. Their ninja professionalism naturally ensured secrecy. As they discussed in Sakumo's tent, there were no other people outside, and a sound-proof barrier was in place. Risa Yamanaka even constantly sensed chakra to prevent eavesdropping.
They already knew that the village was transferring the captured Sand shinobi to the front lines, clearly preparing to utilize their value. They just didn't know the exact timing. While they had this information, the specifics were only known to Sakumo, as a squad leader.
"Releasing it now would be too soon. Even if it could shake the Sand shinobi, Chiyo and the others would surely control the situation, which would then affect the grand plan for a counterattack," Sakumo said. "So, the higher-ups' idea is to release this news after the final major battle, taking advantage of the panic caused by the Sand's fresh defeat, and then have Heizo and others, who are lurking in the Land of Wind, fan the flames in the capital to completely ignite a civil war in the Land of Wind."
Currently, Heizo Hattori has been engaged in espionage in the Land of Wind. If Sakumo and his team were to solve problems militarily, then Heizo and his team were to solve them politically. Of course, the specific work content was reported to the Hokage, and Sakumo did not know the details.
Risa Yamanaka had never met Heizo Hattori and naturally didn't know how formidable he was. But from what Sakumo, Asuna, and Mizuki said, Heizo Hattori's abilities must be outstanding, and he was also a disciple of the Hokage. Presumably, he was also the "Sakumo Hatake" of the Anbu.
"So when will the Sand shinobi launch their large-scale general offensive?" Risa Yamanaka asked.
"This is just my personal intuition, but I think it's coming soon," Sakumo Hatake's eyes sharpened slightly. "Their disturbances have become increasingly frequent these days. I believe this is a sign of their internal balance gradually being lost. Although we've been running around and are a bit tired, we have indeed lulled the enemy into a false sense of security."
The three girls nodded. They also saw some signs. The enemy was definitely taking the bait, but how impulsive they would become was uncertain. Risa Yamanaka, who served as the intelligence officer in the squad, had no accurate information, but with Sakumo saying this, the enemy might really be about to launch a general offensive—Sakumo's battlefield intuition was usually very accurate. Sometimes, when everyone thought it wouldn't work, it was later proven that Sakumo was correct.
Sakumo didn't possess any miraculous abilities; it was simply years of combat experience and an understanding of the enemy that allowed him to predict their movements. Sakumo was naturally someone who could easily empathize with others. In this regard, he could accurately grasp the enemy's psychological state and use his experience to make judgments.
"Once the Sand shinobi launch a full-scale offensive, it will undoubtedly be with all their might, because, in their view, they might not have such an opportunity again," Sakumo Hatake analyzed. "Therefore, the Sand shinobi's battle plan will be comprehensive, and the future might be a tough fight, but this is precisely a good opportunity."
"Why?" The others were somewhat puzzled. If the opponent was going all out and their battle plan had few flaws, how could that be a good opportunity?
"Because that would mean the Sand shinobi's mobilization has reached its limit. Any slight new factor introduced would completely throw them off balance," Sakumo Hatake smiled. "What do you think is the village's purpose in concealing those 'dealt-with personnel'? It's to add this extra variable."
Sometimes, the most streamlined method or 100% efficiency isn't always the best, because the more streamlined it is, the less spare capacity there is to deal with unexpected situations. Leaving some leeway might play a crucial role at certain times. Therefore, balancing the two is the most important thing.
Konoha shinobi were fully capable of engaging the Sand shinobi head-on, but the village did not consider those individuals as part of the expected combat strength. Instead, they were counted as additional combat strength, both to further create the illusion that Konoha shinobi had become vulnerable due to internal cleansing, and to allow the combat strengths of both sides to reach a balance, further luring the opponent into the trap.
Truth and falsehood, how to adjust the proportion between them, is also a kind of wisdom. Nine parts truth and one part falsehood is the most effective way to deceive the opponent.
In this way, with the combat strength balanced, both sides could be pushed to their limits. At that moment, when the new variable entered, it would trigger a colossal, cascading change. This was the situation that Mirror Uchiha and others had envisioned.
The moment a rope is pulled tautest is when it is most likely to break. Mirror Uchiha and the others planned to completely crush the Sand shinobi's active forces in this operation. Even if the war couldn't be ended, the Sand shinobi would have no morale left, and the end would only be a matter of time.
After Sakumo Hatake's explanation, Asuna and the others understood the village's intentions. However, if that was the case, then this surprise force had to be well hidden. In conventional warfare, they couldn't be considered in calculations, which was not an easy task. Furthermore, how to quickly deploy them in battle was also a problem.
"The higher-ups are still discussing this, but I have an idea," Sakumo Hatake said to Asuna. "Asuna, do you remember how we quickly went to help the medical camp last time?"
"Sakumo-niisan, do you mean using summoning beasts' spatial movement to rapidly deploy troops?" Asuna immediately understood Sakumo Hatake's meaning.
"Can it be done? If so, I'll try to push this plan in the war council," Sakumo Hatake sought Asuna's opinion.
"I think it can. Besides, the medical camp has also moved near the Land of Rivers. With Tsunade-neechan assisting, achieving this shouldn't be a problem," Asuna said.
One reason Tsunade was called here was to deal with Chiyo's increasingly varied poisons. As if in a competition, Chiyo kept introducing new poisons, but each time, before they could cause any real trouble, Tsunade would neutralize them. After comparing data over this period, Tsunade had begun to import similar medicinal substitutes from the Land of Fire. Chiyo's poisons were becoming effective for shorter and shorter periods, yet Chiyo still didn't give up.
And another reason, just like Sakumo Hatake, was to act as bait. Chiyo was the commander of the Sand shinobi, and if the two of them were in a rivalry, the likelihood of her taking the bait would increase. However, bringing the medical camp here put a lot of pressure on Mirror Uchiha. Even Fumori Masaki knew about it. After some consideration, and with Tsunade volunteering, the matter was approved. Of course, Tsunade only brought a few people over; the main medical ninja corps remained in the Land of Rain, in a more rearward position.
Anyway, Tsunade had already figured out the pattern of Chiyo's poisons; they all followed a similar principle. As long as it wasn't a particularly rare poison, she could quickly decipher it. Rare poisons had very low yields, many of which couldn't be produced in a short time—let alone a short time, some might not even be produced in ten years—and thus couldn't be used for poison gas warfare, only posing a serious threat to individuals. This kind of threat was always present and wasn't a big deal.
"Good." Upon Asuna's assurance, Sakumo Hatake nodded and said, "Then I'll propose this suggestion in the war council. But when the operation begins, they will all be enveloped within Katsuyu's body, and then rapidly transferred to the battlefield via summoning jutsu, achieving high-speed troop deployment."
Asuna nodded slightly. When she went to Shikkotsu Forest, she could bring up this matter. These days, whenever she had free time, Asuna would run to Shikkotsu Forest to train in Sage Mode and consume the spring water found only there.
The spring water of Shikkotsu Forest could draw natural energy into the body. After Fumori Masaki learned about Asuna's previous accident, he gave her this method, allowing her body to gradually adapt to higher intensity natural energy. In this way, her mastery of Sage Mode would become even greater.Fumori Masaki also learned this way back then.
UnlikeFumori Masaki, who was in Sage Mode as a normal state, Asuna, despite her talent, wasn't a true Sage body. When she was younger, she didn't have such a method. But now, Asuna's training in Sage Mode had long since crossed the threshold, and she had achieved considerable success. Furthermore, because she had the bloodline of a Sage body, after adopting this method, her cultivation of Sage Mode progressed by leaps and bounds.
Moreover, the spring water of Shikkotsu Forest had a developmental effect, leading Asuna to her second physical growth spurt, which made Mizuki and Risa Yamanaka incredibly envious.
With the examples of Fumori Masaki and Asuna ,Fumori Masaki had an idea: if they could develop something similar in effect to the spring water of Shikkotsu Forest and the toad oil of Mount Myōboku, but with a much weaker effect, allowing ordinary people to slowly adapt to natural energy and achieve a balance between their bodies and natural energy, perhaps it could accelerate the training of Sage Mode.
However, because the spring water of Shikkotsu Forest rapidly loses its effectiveness once it leaves the Sage realm, and the summoning contract of Shikkotsu Forest cannot be passed down casually, this research is currently solely overseen by Tsunade.
If there were breakthroughs in this area of research, the Sage Secret Arts, which are legendary and mastered by only a few, would become more widespread, once again increasing the strength of Konoha Village. At the same time, the advanced utilization of natural energy would inevitably lead to changes in traditional secret techniques.
InFumori Masaki's vision, he already had ideas on how to improve the secret techniques of Konoha's traditional ninja clans by utilizing natural energy. With this technology in hand, the village would have better leverage for exchange with the ninja clans, allowing the clans to integrate better into the village.
Natural energy is a higher level of energy; once harnessed by humans, it will transcend the phenomena brought about by traditional chakra. Of course, due to the ethereal and powerful nature of natural energy, there are currently no significant research results, but a certain plan has already been formulated.
Once the problem in the Land of Wind is completely resolved, and the Dragon Veins, which exist between natural energy and chakra, are relocated, Konoha Village can openly conduct research, which will certainly promote the advancement of related technologies.
However, there's no time to consider too much now; everyone's energy is still focused on the battle with the Sand Village. While Sakumo Hatake and the others were discussing, the surprise attack force, considered a variable, was also being assembled.
The surprise attack unit, composed of "dealt-with personnel," was managed by the Anbu. The Anbu's confidentiality was extremely high, and without going through the regular chain of command, it could ensure the lowest possible chance of the surprise attack unit being leaked. Each of these so-called "dealt-with personnel" was an elite ninja. Although their numbers were not very large, certainly not enough to form a ninja squad, they were more than sufficient to establish a company or a small team.
After Ken Uchiha left the psychological medical camp, he was assigned there. It is estimated that Yuuki Fujimura and Kanami Kurihara would be disappointed when they found out. During this time, he and Lisa had a very comfortable time—in his later recollections, he described it as "the first time I felt so relaxed since my father's death"—Lisa had greatly bridged the gap in their relationship with Ken Uchiha, moving from initial reticence to gradually revealing his inner thoughts. Even Ken Uchiha was surprised that he would open up so quickly.
However, every time he saw Lisa's face and heard her gentle voice, Ken Uchiha could feel an inner peace. He experienced a maternal tenderness he had long forgotten, something he never had in his childhood. This made him increasingly let go of his inner restraints and began to confide in Lisa.
Lisa made Ken Uchiha understand that he was merely tricked by a cunning old man; this was not his fault at all, but the wrongdoing of others. In that situation, let alone him, anyone else would have been the same, due to the vast difference in experience.
There are people like Setsuna Uchiha in the world, and there are also good people like Lisa. Ken Uchiha truly realized that this world is not black and white. In this ambiguous boundary, the most important thing is what kind of perspective one uses to observe it, and what kind of face one uses to confront it.
It must be said that after his conversations with Lisa, Ken Uchiha gained a deeper understanding of the world. And he was surprised to find that the malicious thoughts that used to crop up from time to time seemed to have been curbed, which made him feel even more at ease.
Ken Uchiha was truly grateful to Lisa, who was patient, always gentle, and treated him as an equal. And for him, being in the prime of his youth, an indescribable affection inevitably arose, especially for someone who had experienced multiple psychological shocks, this feeling was even more pronounced.
However, Lisa wasn't as young as she appeared. Of course, in reality, she could also be considered quite young; she was only in her thirties, and due to a secret technique, her cellular vitality and appearance showed no difference. If one disregarded the exact age factor, she was indeed a young woman. However, between a teenage boy and a woman in her thirties, there would still be some issues.
When Ken Uchiha learned of Lisa's true situation, he couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed. This was probably the only uncomfortable part of his psychological treatment.