End of War, Results.
The 5th of November marked the fall of Iwagakure, the official removal of an entire hidden village from the official maps, and the rise of the Village Hidden in the Leaf as a superpower that now 'mediated' the peace and conflicts held between the other villages.
With the Godaime Hokage at the lead, there was no friction as the other villages lowered their heads and accepted this as a matter of fact.
The first official move from Konoha, after the fall of Iwagakure, was the declaration of a list of demands towards Kumo and Kiri.
With one of Kumo's last strategic weapons held firmly in the hands of Konoha, and with the chain of leadership cut, leaving no central figure for the people to rally behind, any confidence held at the start of this war was completely gone from Kumo.
Kiri however, was not Kumo, and whatever elders had lowered their heads in front of the Mizukage, had finally shown themselves, riling the shinobi to not waste what they fought and bled for, striving for diplomatic resolution while holding into the advantage they held before the suspension of the war.
With the news of Kumo's retreat, on the 10th of November, Kiri launched a surprise attack on the forces of Uzushiogakure, taking hold of the Chakra Dispersion Cannon, trying to force Konoha to extend the diplomatic process.
This sudden retreat however led them open to an attack on the front lines, something Kiri didn't predict Konoha would initiate in the middle of negotiations, leading to a collapse of the front lines. It started with fire as whole forests burned, leading Kiri to waste their water reserve in an attempt to hold the front lines.
With the rapid depletion of their reserves, followed by the retreat of Kumo's relief forces, on the 13th of November Kiri's shinobi forces were on full retreat as they made for the border.
But Kiri did not surrender yet, opting for a final attempt at regaining dominance at the shores. On the 18th of November, Kiri began its operations, throwing all of its reserves in a fight against Konoha.
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(18th of November, Eastern Shores of Konoha.)
*CLANG*
*GAH*
*BOOM*
Swords, kunai, shuriken, and ninjutsu clashed as bodies filled the shores. Despite the fierce initial assault of Konoha, the Kiri shinobi stood their ground, refusing to be pushed back… but this also took a toll on their casualties.
As the battle ensued, Shikamaru watched calmly, Neji standing not far on his right while Ino and Choji stood on his left.
A few more moments passed before Shikamaru suddenly nodded.
"First Barrage, release!"
Just as the words fell, a torrent of flames could be seen rising from behind the Konoha shinobi, taking an arch as they headed towards the shore.
"Yamanaka clan, go!" – Shikamaru commanded once again as Ino aimed towards the battlefield, other hidden Yamanaka clan members following.
It didn't even take a second for the panicked voices to be heard.
"The bastards are trying to burn us alive, head towards the sea. Hurry!"
"Huh… the water, he's right, heads towards the water if you don't want to burn."
Once the consequences of standing their ground or running to the sea set in, even the words of their superiors could not stop the tide of retreating Kiri shinobi. Though they had no reason to stop them either, as falling back momentarily was the only way to resist the fireballs heading their way, and the small distance wouldn't much in the long run of the battle.
Shikamaru smiled as he observed the movement of the Kiri troops.
"They fell for it. The second barrage, release!" – Shikamaru said as he suddenly turned to Neji and nodded to him.
With the Hyuga clan working together with the Yamanaka clan, it was easy to locate and eliminate the frontline commanders, leaving the army to descend into chaos, becoming easy to manipulate.
Once these remains fell back to the sea, where their auxiliary and long-range troops attacked from, it would allow them to cut all of the remaining commanders down, leaving the army to fend for itself, usually resulting in an instant defeat.
"Hyuga clan, go!"
As water and fire Jutsu clashed, steam rose, filling the entire coast as the Konoha shinobi continued pouring more and more chakra into their attacks.
Using this chance, under the cover of the steam, Hyuga shinobi launched their strike, circling around friendly shinobi to land precise attacks on enemies, using their Byakugan to see through the steam, coordinate, evade traps, and eliminate the enemy commanders, continuing to slaughter their way through until the cover was lifted.
Neji grabbed the head of the enemy commander as his trophy, while the Hyuga clan shinobi corp of 100 shinobi eliminated an approximate of 500 enemy shinobi using CQC or simple kunai and shuriken, thrown at enemy backs amidst the steam, their prime targets being the ones already engaged in combat with other Konoha shinobi.
The battle was set, it was a major victory for Konoha as Kiri's heads fell to the ground, leaving its population and resources ripe for the taking.
Within half a month, 2 great villages had fallen, but unlike Iwa, Kiri's resources, population, and manpower… were Konoha's for the taking. This included their newly acquired weapon of mass destruction.
The 20th of November marked the complete defeat of Kiri and the start of its assimilation.
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(29th of November, Konoha, Kei POV)
The cultivators were an unexpected intrusion. It was fun to play with them, goading them into coming into the open, but in reality, they were not that deadly or troublesome. Their little antics merely pushed my plans slightly out of order, delayed me by a few weeks at least, a few months at most, by starting this little war I had to clean up.
Originally I would only need to take out the heads once Obito declared war, usurping the role of Supreme Commander.
Now, a war had begun a year before the main event, leaving me to deal with the aftermath. Power had to be consolidated, People had to be swayed, the economic situation had to be reviewed and if the new additions to the army were to be of any use in the military, strict changes would need to be made to structure and … 'rehabilitation'. Not to mention the costs for the fallen, the costs for the living themselves would be quite substantial. Heroes had to be rewarded and a plan for expansion of Konoha was in consideration as the previous migration from Iwa had already exceeded the original plan of the village. This further meant reworking the barrier as well as the defensive fortifications… It is going to be a pain.
This was just the beginning though, and speaking of pain, letting 'Pain' flatten the village seemed to not be on the list of options anymore, the costs would simply be outrageous… wait… Pain… Yamato~… yes, with him we can cut back on the costs… BIG time cuts.
"Hehe… Hahaha…" – Laughing could be heard as on the gates of Konoha, the people greeted the returning shinobi, only for one specific shinobi to shiver as he felt danger, his head turning to look rapidly left and right, yet finding nothing as he chugged it up to simple stress.