Despite the Allied Nations Declaration, it was naturally impossible for the northern countries to give up so easily. The Land of Fire had always been the strongest country on the ninja continent. Now that a conflict had erupted between the Daimyo's mansion, the country's center, and the Konoha Ninja Village, its military representative, there had never been a better time.
However, although the civil war had broken out, it didn't mean the Land of Fire was defenseless. According to intelligence gathered by the northern countries, the elite samurai on the border had not joined the civil war. Konoha Ninja Village had only deployed about five thousand troops for this civil war, with the rest remaining on standby within the village.
Although Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo Shimura, Kagami Uchiha, and Torifu Akimichi had left the village, as long as Fumori Masaki remained, it meant that Konoha Ninja Village still had its backbone and strong cohesion. Under these circumstances, a hasty invasion was not a good idea.
Even Onoki, who was eager to strike the Land of Fire, remembered the mistakes of the previous war. He would never issue an invasion order until the situation truly changed. In the last war, he had been too eager, invading the Land of Fire before the Land of Lightning officially declared, which ruined his reputation and left him in a difficult position.
While an immediate invasion was not an option, the northern countries could choose to position their armies first. If the situation within the Land of Fire gradually became critical in the future, they could save time and directly march into the Land of Fire. The northern countries also understood that it was impossible to conquer the Land of Fire all at once. The Land of Fire was a powerful nation that had withstood three great nations multiple times without falling. Even counting the Daimyo's army, it would at most be equivalent to the pressure of one great nation—in reality, it should be less—so as long as they could weaken the forces within the Land of Fire as much as possible under the pretext of helping stabilize the situation, it would be enough.
Because of Fumori Masaki's past propaganda for just wars, the great nations hostile to the Land of Fire naturally scoffed at it, but they had to acknowledge the national reputation in the ninja world. Although powerful nations could disregard it, sometimes it could indeed have an impact, such as domestic public opinion potentially hindering military strikes in a political sense, or a common external threat uniting the domestic populace against the enemy.
No matter what, the current ninja world still needed a legitimate reason for war. If they truly disregarded it, any future problems the country faced could lead to a downfall.
Unfortunately, because the Allied Nations wisely did not directly intervene in the internal affairs of the Land of Fire, even the northern countries, which were not allies, had no excuse to intervene. Otherwise, the distance of their armies could have been closer to the Land of Fire's border, allowing for a quicker advance.
On this point, Fumori Masaki truly had to thank Hanzō and Bunpuku. Their stance prevented the situation from escalating further. Not only did it prevent the northern countries from advancing, but if the Allied Nations had intervened at this point, it might have ended the civil war quickly, but it would have left a loophole allowing the Allied Nations to intervene in other countries' internal affairs without due process, which would be detrimental to the maintenance of the Southern Alliance.
Because of this, the northern countries could only position their armies along their own borders, observing the civil war in the Land of Fire. Once the civil war dragged on for a long time, they could take certain measures.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was furious at the northern countries' opportunistic actions, but there was nothing he could do at the moment. Not to mention he was currently commanding the battle against the Daimyo's army, the northern countries' slogan was to stabilize the situation within the Land of Fire. Aside from the issue of interfering in another country's civil war, there wasn't much to criticize. Moreover, they hadn't interfered yet, merely positioning their armies at the border. No matter how loudly they shouted their slogans, they hadn't taken any concrete action.
Now, Hiruzen Sarutobi had only one choice: to end the civil war as quickly as possible. This way, the northern countries wouldn't even have an excuse. If they didn't want to trigger the Third Great Ninja War, they wouldn't be able to make any further moves.
"Do you think Onoki and the others will take advantage of the brief chaos after the civil war ends to attack the Land of Fire?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked.
"If the civil war can end quickly, the country's losses won't be too great, and the situation should stabilize rapidly. Furthermore, when facing external invasion, the people will undoubtedly be united. I don't think the Third Raikage would do it, but the Third Tsuchikage might. He doesn't value reputation as much and has more ulterior motives," Torifu Akimichi said.
"That's true. Onoki is thick-skinned and opportunistic. Originally, Kumogakure didn't care much about reputation either, but the Third Raikage has recently been learning from Masahiro's approach, becoming less ostentatious and obvious," Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded.
Kumogakure, due to its strong martial tradition, had been very aggressive in the past, always acting self-righteously. After the rebellion of Kinkaku and Ginkaku, this trend began to subside. Subsequently, in the Second Great Ninja War, the Third Raikage made the decision to ally with Konohagakure and, in terms of village institutions, combined Kumogakure's unique characteristics with learning from Konohagakure, gradually becoming more reasonable.
"The Third Raikage has grand ambitions. He is the only Kage, besides the Kazekage, to visit our village. While this move deepens the relationship between Konoha and Kumo, in my opinion, he seeks something significant," Torifu Akimichi said.
"The southern part of the ninja continent is maintained by an alliance. Due to the principle of collective defense, it can essentially be seen as one country. If Kumogakure wants to compete with it, it must unite the northern countries. Currently, they are allies on the surface, but Onoki always makes small moves behind the scenes, and their relationship isn't as close as the Southern Alliance," Hiruzen Sarutobi said, looking at the troops in front who were withdrawing.
"Indeed, even if they invade after the civil war ends, they will face the combined resistance of the Southern Alliance. I don't think the Third Raikage would be so short-sighted. He would at least have to achieve the same level of connection among the northern countries as we have," Torifu Akimichi chuckled. "The Third Tsuchikage can be considered a great figure, but he is too stubborn and conservative. For a single nation, the Third Tsuchikage can always maintain it, but for an alliance, the Third Tsuchikage might not be as suitable. The Raikage, however, could be."
If the northern countries could also form an alliance to contend with the southern countries, they would certainly need to unify their voices. With two powerful nations within, a leader would inevitably need to be established. In the eyes of Hiruzen Sarutobi and his companion, the Third Raikage's charisma was more suitable for leading the alliance than Onoki's, but unfortunately, Onoki himself would certainly not see it that way.
"The Raikage definitely plans to unite the northern countries. His ambition is much stronger than Onoki's," Hiruzen Sarutobi seemed to have thought of something. "Do you think the Raikage will take this opportunity to further strengthen the ties between the northern countries?"
"Not very likely. The Land of Earth is an obstacle to strengthening ties among the northern countries—Onoki would never allow the Land of Lightning to increase its influence. And Onoki and the Daimyo of the Land of Earth work together seamlessly, governing the Land of Earth like a bedrock. Perhaps they can't advance further, but no problems will arise either. As long as the Land of Earth doesn't experience internal turmoil, the Raikage probably can't do anything," Torifu Akimichi thought for a moment and replied.
"But there are ideological differences within Iwagakure. Onoki currently has no successor, and the new generation of Iwagakure ninja have different ideological policies from Onoki. Onoki probably won't be able to accept them. Even the most solid bedrock will become vulnerable if internal problems arise," Hiruzen Sarutobi said.
"But there haven't been any events that would cause the internal conflicts within Iwagakure to erupt. It's not like the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning would just start fighting each other, right?" Torifu Akimichi said with a laugh.
"Uh, that's true!" Hiruzen Sarutobi mused, then chuckled. "Even if something really happens, it depends on our situation."
"Exactly. Don't worry about the northern countries for now; they can't do anything anyway. Let's focus on what's in front of us," Torifu Akimichi reminded him.
"The topic got sidetracked by accident," Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head helplessly and said, "After this probing, the Daimyo's army probably won't easily come out and fight us in the open."
"The explosive cannons can adjust their angles for bombardment. At most, the enemy relying on towns can hold out longer, but we have other secret weapons this time," Torifu Akimichi said.
"Heh, it's time for them to make their appearance. During the attack on the Jashin village, they probably couldn't even move their bodies. This time, they can really show what they can do." Hiruzen Sarutobi understood Torifu Akimichi's meaning: he was saying that it was time for the aerial combat unit to be deployed.
That night, after the reconnaissance unit had thoroughly investigated and clarified the deployment of the Daimyo's vanguard, Hiruzen Sarutobi instructed the aerial combat unit: once the official attack began, the aerial combat unit was to take on the responsibility of high-altitude strikes, creating opportunities for the ground troops.
Hattori Heizo, leading the captains of the aerial combat unit, stood before Hiruzen Sarutobi and Torifu Akimichi, declaring their unwavering commitment to give their all. This was the true test for the aerial combat unit.
To participate in this war, in addition to the members of the first aerial combat unit, the subsequently expanded personnel also joined. Although their training level was not as advanced as the first batch, preventing them from performing complex maneuvers, in this operation, the aerial combat unit did not need to perform overly complex strikes.
Although there weren't many good ways to strike enemies at high altitudes, if the chakra samurai in the Daimyo's army used long-range weapons like bows and arrows, the aerial combat unit would also encounter trouble. One or two might not be able to hit them, but there were quite a few chakra samurai.
Therefore, Hattori Heizo believed that the best method for the aerial combat unit was to drop targeted ninja tools from a safe high altitude. Hiruzen Sarutobi agreed.
Since the primary objective was to drop items from a safe high altitude, there was naturally no need for complex flight maneuvers; they only needed to drop things onto the target.
At this point, the operational plan was finalized. Hiruzen Sarutobi and Torifu Akimichi formally issued the order. The aerial combat unit, led by Hattori Heizo, ascended into the boundless night sky. Under the cover of darkness, flying at high altitudes, they were virtually impossible for those on the ground to detect.
Originally, the aerial combat unit also found it difficult to observe the situation on the ground. However, there were ninja from the Hyuga and Yamanaka clans within the aerial combat unit! By combining the information observed by the Hyuga clan's Byakugan with the Yamanaka clan's mental link, it could be unified within the aerial combat unit, creating the advantage of knowing the enemy's movements while remaining hidden.
Based on the intelligence provided by the Hyuga ninja, the aerial combat unit immediately launched a bombardment on key locations within the town. The sudden explosions startled the city's defenders, causing momentary panic. The chakra samurai, however, remained very calm. After identifying the source of the attack, they launched a counterattack into the high sky.
Even though the chakra samurai had extraordinary combat abilities, their long-range weapons couldn't reach the aerial combat unit. Instead, they were discovered by the aerial combat unit and became targets for concentrated bombardment. The chakra samurai couldn't escape far before being blown to the ground.
The Daimyo's vanguard was quite formidable in terms of combat power, but facing this unprecedented high-altitude strike, they were immediately unable to adapt. The vast majority of the vanguard consisted of local lords' armed forces. While the number of chakra samurai was not small, they were powerless to reverse the situation.
After successive bombardments, the city was in chaos. The defenders on the city walls seemed at a loss as to what to do. Just then, the ground troops' explosive cannons began to bombard, making it even more impossible for the defenders on the city walls to resist.
At the same time, close to mid-range ninja units advanced rapidly under the cover of the explosive cannons. The defenders on the city walls didn't even notice as the ninja quickly scaled the walls, eliminating all the surviving defenders. Subsequently, they signaled to the Konoha combat troops outside.
At this point, the city was in chaos due to the high-altitude strikes, and the defenders on the city walls had been eliminated by small-scale Konoha ninja operations. The combat troops outside could no longer find anyone to block their entry into the city and immediately advanced.
The Konoha ninja who had secured the city walls further eliminated nearby enemy forces and simultaneously opened the city gates, allowing the majority of the troops to enter.
At this time, the Konoha combat troops could no longer use explosive cannons—this was inside the city, where civilians lived! The Konoha ninja had no intention of flattening the entire city. The civilians were their protected targets; the true enemies were only the Daimyo's army who opposed them.
The samurai prepared their samurai swords, explosive tags, and matchlock guns, a series of individual combat weapons. They would enter the battle as the frontal assault force, with the ninja supporting and assisting from the flanks. Compared to the previous bombardment, urban combat would be even more dangerous.
According to Hiruzen Sarutobi's orders, all enemy forces at the city gates were to be eliminated, and the situation within the city was to be stabilized as quickly as possible to protect the safety of the civilians.
The samurai charged into the city, while the ninja protected the flanks of the samurai units, preventing enemy attacks in complex terrain—the samurai weren't good at such combat, but the ninja were!
In less than an hour, Konoha had completely controlled the city. The remaining living enemy forces all abandoned the city and fled. The Konoha combat unit chose not to pursue, but instead focused on stabilizing the situation within the city.
Hiruzen Sarutobi and Torifu Akimichi were very pleased. This operation proved the power of the aerial combat unit. This method of combat greatly shortened the time for siege warfare. In the past, it would not have been so easy to capture.
The vanguard army this time consisted of 10,000 men. Excluding the time spent preparing for battle, it only took three or four hours to completely rout them. The total number of the Daimyo's army this time was only about 60,000 to 70,000 (border troops, local lords close to Konoha, and local lords far from the capital were not included). Although the Konoha combat troops were nearly double in number (3,000 Konoha ninja troops—the other 2,000 went with Kagami Uchiha and Danzo Shimura, and about 28,000 samurai troops, with 8,000 accompanying Kagami Uchiha and Danzo Shimura's units), if calculated carefully, even with chakra samurai, it would still be the same. Victory was within reach.
Hiruzen Sarutobi thought to himself: Good, it seems the day of civil war victory is not far. Kuro Uchiha, come out quickly and face your death!