"Get the lumber over there moving!"
Yoru and Tsunade were leading the thousand shinobi assigned to the left wing of the three-pronged army.
After the scout ninjas finished investigating the enemy's movements, they chose the most suitable location to establish camp.
"Lord Yoru! Lady Tsunade!"
A Jonin stepped forward and bowed respectfully before the two of them.
"The command post has been set up. Lord Yoru, Lady Tsunade, this way please."
Yoru and Tsunade followed him into the newly built operations headquarters.
Inside the command post, Yoru sat in the main seat, while Tsunade took the secondary seat beside him.
The key commanders sat below them in order.
Among the Senju clan's representatives, aside from Tsunade, there was a man named Senju Genra. He was Senju Senra's cousin, a powerful shinobi who excelled in Water Release and was regarded as the most outstanding user of water-style techniques in the Senju clan since the Second Hokage.
Unlike Senju Senra, who was calm and cold, Senju Genra was far more straightforward.
Or rather—
A bit simple-minded.
"Lord Yoru, just give the order!" Senju Genra bared his teeth and laughed loudly. "I, Senju Genra, will make those Rain brats see just how powerful I am!"
Yoru smiled faintly.
He had a pretty good impression of Senju Genra, so he praised him openly. "Genra, I have no doubt about your strength. Dealing with the Rain shinobi will definitely require your Water Release. When the time comes, I'll be relying on you."
Hearing Yoru praise him, Senju Genra burst into loud laughter and thumped his chest, promising to massacre the Rain shinobi until none remained.
"Lord Yoru, we will follow all of your commands."
At that moment, a shinobi with the Uchiha clan crest on his back spoke.
For this war council, Uchiha Lingkong, under pressure, had once again committed more forces to the Rain Country battlefield: one Elite Jonin, ten Jonin, and thirty Special Jonin.
But with Uchiha Lingkong's temperament, those Uchiha he had sent were naturally from the same faction as Uchiha Han.
And Yoru was very satisfied with that arrangement.
If they had been from the clan head's faction instead, Yoru would have had to seriously consider how to get rid of them.
After all, even the best temper would eventually snap when faced with subordinates who were constantly arrogant and troublesome.
And Yoru's temper was not exactly good.
He offered a few words of encouragement to the Uchiha, then turned to look at the group of shinobi whose eyes were entirely white.
"Have you finished gathering intel on the Rain shinobi's situation?" Yoru asked them.
"Yes, Lord Yoru," said the leading shinobi respectfully. His name was Hyuga Shizai, one of the main combat strengths of the Hyuga clan head's faction. He was highly skilled with the Byakugan and Gentle Fist, and in taijutsu alone, very few shinobi could match him.
Before setting out, the Hyuga clan head had spoken to him personally.
Do your best to ease the tension between the Hyuga clan and Yoru.
After all, that idiot Second Elder had already offended Yoru before.
"We have finished investigating. Ahead of us, there are nearly three thousand Rain shinobi. But among them, more than five hundred only possess the strength of Genin."
Yoru's eyes flickered.
It looked like the Rain Village was truly going all in.
Genin.
What were Genin used for in war?
To block kunai. To block explosive tags.
In other words—
Cannon fodder.
Unlike Konoha, not a single Genin had been sent to this battlefield.
And no, the future Konoha rookies led by elite Jonin didn't count.
Those were the core children of major clans, all geniuses with extraordinary talent who were practically guaranteed to become Jonin in the future.
Ordinary Genin?
Most of them could barely even throw a kunai properly. A Genin capable of using the basic Three Techniques reliably on the battlefield was already rare.
"Genra," Yoru said after a moment of thought, turning to Senju Genra, "go select fifty shinobi who specialize in Water Release. Then choose another twenty who are skilled with senbon. I have a major use for them."
Senju Genra looked completely confused. With his brain already overloaded, there was no way he could understand what these people were for. But since the commander had spoken, he could only follow the order.
"Everyone, return and stay alert," Yoru said firmly. "The Hyuga and the sensory ninja should work together and figure out their route of movement and their likely engagement positions as soon as possible."
Then he added in a deep voice, "Everyone! The key to victory in this war… will definitely lie on our left wing!"
A trace of excitement flashed across the faces of those present.
"Yes! Lord Yoru!"
They accepted the order and withdrew.
"Yoru, why do you need Water Release shinobi? And why senbon users?"
After the others left, Tsunade's beautiful voice filled the room.
Hearing her speak always put Yoru in a good mood. A spark of calculation flashed through his eyes as he smiled.
"Tsunade, what do Rain Country shinobi usually fight with?"
"Of course Water Release and senbon," Tsunade replied without hesitation. Then her beautiful eyes flickered as she sank into thought.
Yes.
The Rain Country was a poor little nation. There was no way they could afford to equip every shinobi with huge amounts of kunai and shuriken.
So instead—
They used senbon.
The metal cost for senbon was barely a tenth of what was needed for kunai.
"But the Rain Village still has to guard against Sunagakure and Iwagakure," Tsunade said slowly. "Would Hanzo really dare empty out his rear like this?"
"Even if they've reached an agreement, do you think Hanzo would really trust them that easily?" Yoru said with a faint smile.
Of course not.
Hanzo, the man called a demigod, was deeply suspicious by nature. He would never trust the verbal promises of two great nations so easily.
So the only explanation was that the other two villages had already withdrawn most of their main forces from the Rain Country.
And among the three Konoha wings, Yoru's left wing was the one closest to the Sunagakure camp.
By Yoru's estimate—
That place was now an empty shell.
These seventy selected shinobi would launch a surprise attack on the Sunagakure camp shortly after Konoha and the Rain shinobi began clashing.
Afterward, they would leave behind some senbon and Rain shinobi forehead protectors.
At that point, even if Sunagakure wanted to avoid suspicion—
It would be impossible.
"The highest form of war is to break the enemy's strategy. Only second to that is to attack their army," Yoru said calmly.
He was certain that once Sunagakure was attacked, they would immediately explode in rage and retaliate against the Rain shinobi.
As for why Yoru was so confident—
Frankly speaking, the strategic ability of the shinobi in this world was really awful.
After Yoru explained the full plan, Tsunade's eyes lit up. There was even a trace of admiration in the way she looked at him.
Seeing that expression on her face, Yoru couldn't resist pulling her into his arms and whispering softly, "I'll end this war as quickly as possible. I'll reduce Konoha's losses… and the Senju clan's losses… to the lowest possible level."
So…
He really does want to help me shoulder this burden.
Tsunade closed her eyes and quietly leaned against Yoru's chest, listening to the steady heartbeat that made her feel unexpectedly at ease.
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