Having prepared for war in advance, Sunagakure's movements were remarkably swift.
That said, in the early stages of the war, Suna and Konoha fought quite conservatively on the Country of Rivers battlefield.
Although on the surface they were competing for mission contracts and weakening Konoha's influence, Suna's true mission had always been to disrupt the situation, creating free development time for the Country of Wind's native land.
Theoretically, for Suna, the longer this war dragged on, the better.
Moreover, from the beginning, Suna never thought it could take down Konoha single-handedly. If they had that kind of ability, they would have long since spammed troops and shoved them up the entire ninja world's ass.
The whole world looked down on the Country of Wind's crappy land,did the Country of Wind itself think it was any better?
Unfortunately, just like mathematics, if you can't do it, you can't do it.
As the "vanguard," Suna's "lackadaisical" fighting style was clearly waiting for Iwa to enter the fray.
Hey, what a coincidence! Konoha was also waiting for Iwa to enter the fray.
Rather, if any one of Suna, Iwa, or Kumo made a move, Konoha had to guard against the other two. After all, invading the Country of Fire could be considered the whole world's common desire.
If it weren't for the fact that Kumo was already in the wrong and had also lost their Kage, with various unresolved messy issues in the village preventing them from causing trouble for the time being, Hiruzen Sarutobi—who succeeded as the Third Hokage—would have had to worry about Konoha fighting one against three again.
Having followed Tobirama Senju for over thirty years, he was already all too familiar with Kumo and Iwa's modus operandi.
The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki—mainly an abundantly martial artist. Although the Iwa he led would definitely not be the first to start a war, once fighting broke out, it was only a matter of time before this little short guy stuck his foot in.
Even if, compared to Konoha, Iwa might also take this opportunity to go after Kumo, which also had some internal issues, Hiruzen still couldn't avoid preparing for a two-front war.
So when Iwa also declared war on Konoha a month after Suna and Konoha started fighting, even though it was anticipated, Hiruzen's hanging heart still died.
Konoha's location was slightly southwest of the center of the Country of Fire.
It was hard to say whether Hashirama Senju had considered similar issues when choosing this land back then, but this geographical location was indeed quite favorable for Konoha ninja to conduct troop deployment.
Although the distances from any of the Wind, Earth, or Lightning countries to Konoha varied, judging by marching speed, the time needed to reinforce the front lines was roughly similar.
The isolated overseas Country of Water was an exception, but Kiri's offensive against the mainland was ultimately limited by the seasons. If the ocean currents were unfavorable, troops simply couldn't be transported out.
Moreover, in that direction, Konoha's ally, Uzushiogakure in the Country of Whirlpools, stood blocking Kiri's must route.
Relying on their favorable geographical location and strongest military force, ever since Hashirama Senju died, Konoha had maintained a military strategy of closely watching the other three major nations on the continent.
Therefore, even after Iwa joined the war, Konoha—having long prepared for being outnumbered—still withstood the pressure. Under the tacit understanding of the three parties, the battlefields in two separate locations gradually converged into the Country of Rain—a small nation located between Fire, Wind, and Earth.
Suna and Iwa operated on the notion that fighting on the same battlefield would allow them to support each other, while Konoha no longer needed to disperse their forces.
As for what would become of the Country of Rain, serving as the battlefield—that was beyond the consideration of the great nation ninja.
If it were an allied nation, the great power ninja might have some scruples, but without such a relationship, the ninja had no scruples whatsoever.
In the shinobi world wars, those who died most were never ninja, let alone civilians of the great nations.
This was the cruelest reality of the current era.
But although the Country of Rain was a small nation, Amegakure was renowned in the ninja world, even sitting firmly on the top spot beneath the Five Great Hidden Villages.
And the man responsible for all this was the one now leading Amegakure—Hanzō of the Salamander.
Relying on cautious and meticulous strategy, and with strength such that in the current era after Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha's deaths, no one in the entire ninja world would dare claim they could hold him in One-on-one combat, Hanzō maneuvered between the great villages and was even regarded by ninja of the great nations as the pinnacle of shinobi, called the "Demigod."
Also because of Hanzō's existence and the Amegakure he commanded, the originally united Suna-Iwa front against Konoha was divided into three parts.
Konoha vs. Suna, Konoha vs. Amegakure, and Suna vs. Amegakure.
As for Iwa, which had already taken advantage of others' intentions, although they hadn't withdrawn from the battlefield, they shifted to edge observation mode.
"So this is how the situation evolved into."
Sitting on a small stool at the tent entrance, Hii Kōri cast his gaze through a narrow slit in the curtain, looking out at the leaden sky filled with rain clouds.
The sky over the Country of Rain was always gloomy, as if the entire nation were shrouded in a sad atmosphere.
The entire territory was almost perpetually in rainy season; simply overcast weather like this could already be considered good.
When Suna ninja first arrived here, many were somewhat unaccustomed to it. Quite a few fell ill due to the suddenly multiplied humidity.
The damp environment not only caused preserved dried food to easily mold but also soaked the sand, making it difficult for Sand Manipulation Technique users to exert their full strength.
But compared to puppeteers, Sand Manipulation users were relatively better off. Wooden structures Swelling and molding, metal parts rusting, chakra threads becoming heavy from adhering moisture—such problems were common.
After all, Sunagakure was located in the Country of Wind's desert. Even if they waterproofed puppets for outing missions, it was hard to cope with an environment like the Country of Rain's, where average humidity never dropped below 95%.
When first arriving in the Country of Rain, due to various adverse factors, Suna suffered quite miserably.
However, as corresponding medicinal herbs, drying devices, and further waterproofing kits arrived, these issues were relatively well resolved.
As for the sand, users had to overcome that themselves. Even if dried in advance, it would still become damp after a short while on the battlefield.
But even so, facing the Rain army—especially skilled in Water Release techniques—both Puppet Technique and Sand Manipulation remained relatively difficult to apply.
Under these circumstances, Suna's choice was to first engage in small-scale skirmishes for temptation and attrition.
Even if regarded as the top beneath the Five Great Villages, Amegakure's forces couldn't compare with the Five Great Ninja Villages.
A war of attrition favored Suna and would also facilitate a subsequent transition to piecemeal commitment tactics.
Although this fighting style would inevitably result in many deaths, consuming surplus population was itself one of Suna's objectives in this war.
One's nature could be moderate, one's views could be moderate, but in actual action, one absolutely could not be indecisive.
This was a necessary condition for a Kage, as the leader of a military organization like a ninja village.
***
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