Chapter 701: The Crisis of Konoha Besieged by Four Nations
Chapter 701: The Crisis of Konoha Besieged by Four Nations
A place like the Land of Waves was a meat grinder. If they continuously sent ninja as reinforcements, both the Hidden Mist and Konoha would expend a massive amount of manpower. They would suffer countless ninja casualties just to achieve their strategic objectives.
In Shikamaru's view, that was a foolish course of action. Compared to defending the Land of Waves, it was better to simply defend the Great Naruto Bridge. This would, at most, turn the natural harbor of the Land of Waves into a forward supply base for the Hidden Mist Village of the Land of Water.
In fact, if the Hidden Mist truly used the Land of Waves as a supply transit station, Konoha would only need to organize one large-scale counterattack. Once the Land of Waves was captured, all of the Land of Water's supplies would fall into Konoha's hands. If they abandoned the Land of Waves as a supply hub, its strategic value would be greatly diminished.
So, it was best to throw this difficult problem directly to the Hidden Mist Village to deal with!
Inside the Hokage's office in Konoha, Shikamaru stared at the map before him. All around, Konoha ninja appeared, received their orders, and vanished. On the desk in front of Shikamaru, the status of the various forces was constantly changing.
At his side, the First and Second Hokage watched the real-time changes on the battlefield. Although the real war had not yet begun, Konoha already had a complete grasp of the enemy's movements in every direction. This sand table simulation was like having a cheat code, allowing them to view the entire battlefield from a god's perspective. Commanding the entire operation this way would be much easier!
"Notify the ninja forces heading towards the Land of Iron. Have them set up camp in the Jihō region!"
"Rely on the terrain of the Jihō region to resist the Hidden Cloud's ninja forces!"
"The war has fully begun."
"Although the only ones currently engaged with Konoha are the Hidden Sand's vanguard," Shikamaru continued, "in a few days, when the ninja from the Hidden Stone, Hidden Mist, and Hidden Cloud arrive, Konoha will face a siege from all four sides."
"The Hidden Mist's primary target should be the Land of Waves, so we'll give it up!"
"Have the ninja guarding the Land of Waves put up some symbolic resistance, then retreat into the Land of Fire."
"At the same time, the thirty-thousand-strong bridge defense force will depart in two days."
Saying this, Shikamaru looked towards the direction of the Hidden Stone Village. Their vanguard alone consisted of a hundred thousand ninja.
"Dispatch thirty thousand of Konoha's elite ninja. They must crush the Hidden Stone's vanguard. At the same time, they need to counterattack into the Land of Earth within a week."
"And establish a defensive line at this position. Hold this line to the death!" Shikamaru pointed to a massive stone forest region on the map.
Hearing Shikamaru's arrangement, the Second Hokage was a little confused and asked directly, "Why defend that line? That shouldn't be the optimal position, should it?"
Hearing this, Shikamaru looked up at the Second Hokage.
"This defensive line is indeed not the optimal position, but counterattacking here serves two purposes. First, it can restrain the Hidden Stone's forces."
"Within the Land of Earth, there are only two paths to reach the Land of Fire."
"Once we block this road, the other path will require a detour of an entire month!"
"If the Hidden Stone ninja are willing to take a month-long detour, then that indirectly buys Konoha a month of time!"
Hearing this, the Second Hokage nodded. It was indeed a good plan, but there was still a problem. What if they really did come after taking the month-long detour?
"If they are willing to take the detour, then during that one month, Konoha's remaining ninja forces will transform into an unstoppable arrow!"
"And pierce straight through the Hidden Sand Village!"
"After dealing with the Hidden Sand, our ninja forces won't even need to return to Konoha. They can cut through the Land of Wind and detour to attack the Hidden Stone from the rear."
"At that point, the Hidden Stone will only have two choices. One is to take a gamble: bet on joining forces with the other two nations to deal with us and defeat us before their own village is captured!"
"The other is to return to the Hidden Stone to defend it!"
"If they choose to continue attacking Konoha, then the army that pierced through the Hidden Sand will become a second sharp sword, thrusting through the Hidden Stone Village."
"As long as that sword can successfully take care of the Hidden Stone, then this Great Ninja War will basically be over!"
If Konoha, by its own power, could defeat two of the great ninja villages in succession, the remaining Hidden Cloud and Hidden Mist would likely grow fearful. They would choose to retreat, or at least cease hostilities for a period.
That would also be Konoha's time to regroup. Of course, if the enemy didn't rest, then Konoha wouldn't need to rest either. The final battle would be fought by this ninja force, converging with Konoha's remaining troops, to jointly confront the Hidden Cloud Village.
Once the Hidden Cloud was defeated, the Great Ninja War could be declared completely over. The Hidden Mist Village would be unable to stand alone.
Shikamaru's plan earned a very satisfied nod from the First Hokage.
"If the Hidden Stone chooses to return to their village to defend, then we can pull back a portion of our forces, while the rest of the ninja troops maintain a standoff with them!"
"The second target will have to change, from the Hidden Stone to the Hidden Cloud."
"Concentrate all our strength and have a decisive battle with the Cloud. As long as we defeat the Cloud, the entire Great Ninja War will be over."
"The Hidden Stone Village will then definitely focus more on defense rather than offense!"
As Shikamaru finished, the Second Hokage sighed. All he could say was that the times were indeed progressing. His own vision could no longer see things so far ahead.
However, what Shikamaru had just described was only Konoha's general policy for this war. Implementing this strategy would not be so simple.
Take the first step, for instance. Blocking the initial siege from the four great nations would not be easy.
The second step: crushing the Hidden Sand Village. This step was also fraught with difficulties. The Hidden Sand Village was not the same as it was in the past.
"As long as we proceed to the second step, I have a ninety percent confidence that I can annihilate the Hidden Sand Village within a month!" Shikamaru suddenly declared.
The First and Second Hokage were both curious. "How do you plan to do it?"
One had to remember that the Hidden Sand Village was presided over by five Kazekage! Even if Hashirama and Tobirama attacked together, they might not necessarily gain an advantage, let alone Shikamaru.
"Our Konoha now possesses two great Dōjutsu clans!"
"And these two Dōjutsu clans are currently brimming with talent!" Shikamaru said with a smile.
At this moment, because of the chaos, past members of Konoha's Uchiha and Hyuga clans had been appearing one after another. And they were the tip of Shikamaru's spear. As long as these two arrows were shot, the Hidden Sand Village wouldn't stand a chance.
What did five Kazekage matter? Whether it was the successive heads of the Hyuga clan or the successive heads of the Uchiha clan, the number of Kage-level ninja between them was definitely not small. A conservative estimate would be around ten.
Ten against five, this was an overwhelming advantage. How could they fail to take down the Hidden Sand Village with this?
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