Night.
By the time Jiraiya returned to camp with his group, Kakashi and the others had already arrived.
Konoha Main Tent.
"Assemble all jōnin—we're holding a meeting!"
When Kakashi hurried over, his expression was faintly grave.
Jiraiya was drenched in blood, and even Aburame Shiro beside him looked thoroughly battered.
But there was no sign of Hyūga Hizashi.
"Where is Senior Hizashi?"
In the brief moment it took Kakashi to speak, Uchiha Shisui, Might Guy, and the others arrived one after another.
"He took a Tailed Beast Bomb head-on with his Rotation and was gravely injured; the medical team is giving him emergency treatment now."
Jiraiya's face was grim.
This night raid had succeeded—and yet it had failed.
Under Jiraiya's command, they had managed to throw the Kumogakure forces into disarray and inflict casualties, but their own losses were just as heavy.
A planned strike against an unprepared enemy that ended in equal casualties was nothing less than defeat.
"The Eight-Tails, huh…"
Kakashi's expression grew a shade darker.
Jiraiya's next words, however, made him frown.
"It wasn't just the Eight-Tails. The Two-Tails was there too."
Jiraiya brushed at his blood-spattered clothes, his face ashen.
"I never imagined the Two-Tails jinchūriki would be present as well."
"Besides the Raikage himself, both the Two-Tails and the Eight-Tails are with the enemy forces."
"And both can fully control their tailed beasts."
"It's hard to wrap my head around…"
Aburame Shiro stood beside him, sunglasses hiding whatever expression lay beneath, but the set of his shoulders spoke volumes.
"Two tailed beasts…"
Kakashi fell silent for a moment.
"The situation has taken an unexpected turn. It seems Kumogakure didn't commit their full strength this time, but every one of their top-tier fighters is here."
"This battle…"
Uchiha Shisui's face twisted in displeasure.
The tent lapsed into an oppressive hush, broken only by the guttering flame of the oil lamp that painted shifting shadows across everyone's faces.
Kakashi's own expression was somber. This war had to be fought—he had been the one to push for it hardest. If they lost now… The thought alone was enough to spur him. He shattered the silence, dark eyes fixed on Jiraiya.
"Lord Jiraiya, I have a plan that can crush Kumogakure."
"But it will take time."
Jiraiya's troubled look lifted at once; he leaned forward, voice edged with urgency.
"What plan?"
Kakashi tapped the sand table, his finger tracing the blue ribbon that marked the Naka River.
"Build dikes and dams."
?
Not only Jiraiya but even Aburame Shiro looked baffled.
Kakashi didn't give them time to puzzle it out. He pointed to a narrow choke point along the river's course.
"Send Earth Release shinobi to construct a reservoir here. Given the Naka River's volume, it won't take long to store a massive amount of water."
"At the same time, we'll need to build a large number of rafts—or boats."
"When we engage Kumogakure in the decisive battle, we breach the dam, flood their lines, and ride the torrent on our vessels. One overwhelming surge to settle everything."
"Kumogakure's terrain is mountainous; they have almost no Water Release specialists. Trying to redirect a flood of that magnitude would be like an ant shaking a tree."
"Even the Raikage, the Two-Tails, and the Eight-Tails—formidable as they are—would be throwing eggs against a boulder. With the bulk of their shinobi swept away, they'd have no choice but to retreat."
A handful of sentences, and every face in the tent shifted—shock, calculation, unease.
"If we do that, half the Land of Frost will…"
Uchiha Shisui hadn't expected the senior he'd admired earlier that day—out surveying the Naka River—to be nursing a scheme like this.
Half the Land of Frost would become a drowned wasteland.
This strategy treated the lives of the Frost country's people as utterly expendable.
In Senior Kakashi's eyes, what did human life even mean?
"The Land of Frost is vast, sparsely populated, and bitterly cold. Most of it is wilderness; few actually live here."
"We should be grateful the river hasn't frozen yet. In another month, even a water attack would be impossible."
Kakashi glanced at Shisui and spoke with calm detachment.
"A water attack…"
Jiraiya listened in silence.
Waging war with the raw power of nature was unheard of in the shinobi world. That Kakashi had seen the possibility left Jiraiya stunned by the younger man's limitless ingenuity.
Yet the more he turned it over, the more viable it seemed.
Konoha sat upstream—perfect positioning for a deluge down the Naka River.
If they set this precedent, Konoha could wield the same weapon in any future war. Kakashi's plan wasn't just victory for today; it carved out a permanent geographic advantage against Kumogakure.
Still… Shisui's concern echoed in his mind. A flood like that would turn half the Land of Frost into a disaster zone.
"Right now the enemy outmatches us. In my view, the safety of the Land of Fire's people is what matters most."
"Citizens of other nations aren't our responsibility."
Seeing Jiraiya hesitate rather than refuse outright, Kakashi pressed his advantage.
"But—!"
"If we do this, how do we face those people?"
Shisui's voice cracked with urgency.
"Why should we face them?"
"Aren't we the ones—Kumogakure and Konoha both—who turned their country into a battlefield?"
The words cut straight to Shisui's heart. He opened his mouth, found nothing to say, and clenched his fists until the knuckles blanched—betraying the storm inside him.
Kakashi ignored the insistent chakra warnings flaring in the back of his mind and fixed his gaze on Jiraiya.
"Lord Jiraiya, if the water attack succeeds, victory tips decisively to our side."
"With perfect execution, we could annihilate all six thousand Kumogakure shinobi in a single stroke."
"Losing that many elite troops would cripple Kumogakure's ability to wage war for a decade. The Land of Lightning might erupt in unrest; even a Raikage as powerful as theirs could be forced to step down."
Annihilate six thousand shinobi?
Cripple them for ten years?
Jiraiya's pulse quickened.
The temptation was overwhelming.
Kumogakure had always been the most belligerent of the five great villages. If this succeeded, the entire northern border of the Land of Fire would know peace.
Konoha could recover, rebuild, and prepare for whatever came next.
And they would establish the first true precedent for water warfare—future generations would inherit an unbreakable edge against Kumogakure.
"Fine. We'll do it."
Jiraiya gritted his teeth and gave the order.
It might defy the heavens, but for Konoha—for the Land of Fire—Jiraiya would slaughter anyone who stood in their way.
Uchiha Shisui watched the exchange, a chill spreading through his hands and feet, an ache gnawing at his chest.
This one battle would drown countless innocent lives for no reason at all.
Senior Kakashi was simply too radical.
————
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