บท 128: The Iwagakure Movement
Pakura led her troops to retreat, and the great show ended. Shintaro placed the unfinished watermelon in his hand, jumped straight from the towering watchtower, and then landed on the ground.
This was the last show he watched on this battlefield.
What followed was an eight-month war.
The four villages of Sunagakure, Iwagakure, Konoha, and Amegakure sent troops, but they couldn't start a fight.
During this period, the situation in the ninja world was changing, but it didn't affect the Land of Rain at all.
Sunagakure was still fighting life and death with Konoha in the Land of Fire, Iwagakure was constantly at odds with Kumogakure, Konoha was still fighting on both the eastern and western fronts, and the Land of Rain barely managed to maintain peace among these major powers.
Hanzo had never been so grateful for the alliance he achieved with Konoha.
At this point, the momentum of the Ninja World War seemed to be coming to an end.
All the countries seemed no longer capable of continuing the war.
Sunagakure had almost exhausted all its soldiers in search of a decisive battle with Konoha. Iwagakure and Kumogakure were at a stalemate, and Konoha was very passive while fighting on both sides.
In response to the Land of Rain, Sunagakure withdrew a large number of troops, and Pakura was transferred to compete with the Kirigakure ninja.
Iwagakure seemed to be thinking of retreating recently.
Although Shintaro stood still, he wasn't sitting in the camp eating and waiting for death.
"Captain Shintaro, the information is here."
Shintaro put down his pen and looked ahead.
He had just replied to Kurenai. They hadn't met for a long time, so they usually communicated by letter.
But the letter could be written later, as information was certainly more important right now.
"Bring it here."
Shintaro took the information.
Even though he didn't send troops to attack, he still dispatched reconnaissance teams.
Whether it was Sunagakure or Iwagakure, even his ally village Amegakure was within the scope of investigation.
The information was updated daily, allowing him to strategize and win battles from thousands of miles away.
Shintaro opened the information and quickly scanned it.
There wasn't much action in Sunagakure Village. Since Pakura was transferred, Sunagakure left only a small force of 300 people stationed in the fortress. Puppet Masters are special ninjas who use chakra threads to control puppets to fight.
The best of these puppet masters are in the transformation project. They can turn a pile of scattered materials into puppet weapons. Naturally, they can also build fortresses into indestructible and dangerous artificial chasms.
Although such a defense line couldn't threaten Shintaro, it was enough to scare Iwagakure and other ninjas in Konoha. If they wanted to attack, it would essentially be more trouble than it's worth.
The Sunagakure ninja were inside the fortress, so today's intelligence only reported where the Sunagakure ninja were strengthening their defenses.
The situation in Iwagakure seemed different.
Iwagakure initially had over a thousand people. After all, Iwagakure's troop reserves were more sufficient than Sunagakure's.
However, during this time, Iwagakure seemed to start gradually withdrawing its troops.
But the way Iwagakure was retreating was very strange. They all retreated in small groups.
The number of people retreating each time was only in double digits.
If the reconnaissance troops sent by Shintaro weren't strong enough, it would be difficult to detect that Iwagakure was gradually withdrawing its troops.
It seemed that Iwagakure planned to retreat slowly and gradually.
But this was very strange. After all, Iwagakure was fighting fiercely with Kumogakure, so a few dozen reinforcements every day were actually unnecessary.
Unless these Iwagakure ninjas weren't moving to Kumogakure's side.
Shintaro stood up and turned to look at the large map hanging on the wall and thought.
At present, Iwagakure and Kumogakure weren't fighting on their own territories but had chosen the Land of Grass as their battlefield.
Shintaro took out a pen and drew a line on the map, from the Land of Rain to the Land of Grass.
It passed through the Land of Grass, the Land of Waterfalls, and the Land of Iron in the middle.
According to intelligence, the direction of Iwagakure's troop movement should be along this line.
However, the reconnaissance troops sent by Shintaro didn't leave the Land of Rain, so it was impossible to confirm if the Iwagakure troops had reached the final destination, the Land of Grass.
There was a possibility that the Iwagakure ninjas were indeed moving along this route but would stop in the middle to station troops and plan to attack the Land of Fire itself.
The Land of Grass, the Land of Waterfalls, and the Land of Iron were all possible.
Shintaro circled these three countries, and after thinking for a moment, he marked a cross over the Land of Iron.
The Land of Iron didn't border the Land of Earth. If Iwagakure attacked from this direction, logistics would be a huge problem.
Moreover, the Land of Iron wasn't an ordinary small country. The Land of Iron was a warrior country, didn't interfere in ninja world affairs, and always supplied high-quality weapons to various countries unaffected by the two ninja wars.
Therefore, the possibility of Iwagakure attacking from this direction this time was very small.
Among the two remaining countries, the Land of Waterfalls was relatively strong. During the first Five Kage Summit, it was even given the Seven-Tails.
In comparison, the Land of Grass was much weaker.
Moreover, the terrain of the Land of Grass was mostly grasslands and forests, making it more suitable for transporting troops compared to the mountainous and waterfall-filled terrain of the Land of Waterfalls.
So Shintaro crossed out the Land of Waterfalls again.
"The Land of Grass..."
He had a vague premonition.
He immediately called people into the camp and ordered, "Go, send people to the Land of Grass to investigate the information, and pay attention to the movements of the Iwagakure ninjas."
While the Konoha troops were stationed in the Land of Rain, Shintaro couldn't leave his post without permission, so he could only send more troops to the Land of Grass to investigate intelligence.
❀❀❀
Land of Grass.
The temporary camp of Iwagakure ninjas.
"Shibito, why haven't you sent troops to attack? We've been in the Land of Grass for a few months..."
An Iwagakure ninja with a ponytail at the front and back of his head complained.
"Don't be anxious, Mahiru. This is Tsuchikage-sama's order and also Tsuchikage-sama's wisdom."
This Iwagakure ninja named Azuma Shibito wore a blue turban and looked young. He seemed to be the commander of this Iwagakure troop.
"The Konoha troops have deployed troops from the northwestern defense line to fill the Sunagakure battlefield on the western front, while our troops in the Land of Grass increase every day, and now the number has reached a thousand. This gap will widen more and more until we can easily break through Konoha's defense and attack the heart of the Land of Fire."
Shibito showed a confident smile.
Mahiru nodded when he heard these words and then showed a greedy expression, "The land in the Land of Fire is really fascinating..."
He seemed to imagine the scene of Konoha handing over a large part of the Land of Fire to Iwagakure after its defeat.
Suddenly there was a commotion outside the camp, and then an Iwagakure ninja broke in.
"Report! Shibito-sama, some Konoha ninjas just sneaked in."
"What? Did anyone see you?!"
Shibito suddenly lost his composure. He slammed the table and stood up, asking loudly.
"The Konoha ninjas escaped..."
The Iwagakure ninja replied obediently.
"Then hurry and chase them!"
"Yes!"
The Iwagakure ninja was so frightened that he immediately ran out of the camp.
Shibito paced back and forth in the camp with his hands behind his back, frowning while thinking.
Mahiru crossed his arms and waited for Shibito's decision.
"No, we can't take risks. If Konoha reacts, all our advantages will be lost. The troops move out and get ready to attack!"
Azuma Shibito laughed; this was the moment he had been waiting for.
"Konoha... I'm coming!"
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