Chapter 418: Expedition to the Mist
The two sides had been fighting for over a month, and neither held a small number of prisoners.
Tsunade and Ino had previously advocated that Konoha ninja could be captured when they were at their wit's end and completely surrounded, without needing to fight to the death. It was normal to reveal the village's intelligence under severe torture. It was the incompetence of commanders like them that led to their capture, and the village would find a way to rescue them later.
The Cloud ninja were more rigid, preferring to break rather than bend. The number of captured ninja was relatively small. But this time, several hundred of Gonbee's Mist ninja had been captured. All in all, the number of prisoners was about the same.
Danzo also sent a message from the rear, saying that some of his Root ninja had also been captured, and he hoped the village would step in to bring them back.
Jiraiya had used the Crimson Gourd. Whatever the initial reason, the Root ninja were part of the Konoha ninja. Being captured while on a mission, it was not right to turn a blind eye, for both sentimental and logical reasons.
Finally, the two sides agreed to an exchange of prisoners.
All three parties were very careful, and there were no mishaps during the exchange.
The Mist got back Gonbee and Chuyoshi's body. The Cloud got back their captured ninja. Konoha also welcomed back a group of ninja, including Sai.
Sai was secretly taken away by Yamanaka Fū. This was done through Ino's connections. She turned a blind eye, and let Fū take away Sai and the other Root ninja. Jiraiya and Tsunade both knew about this and also tacitly approved of this handling.
Root was a pile of stinking dung; it was not suitable to let too many Konoha ninja know about it.
The Fourth Raikage went to the Mist camp alone to apologize, stating that he had released all their old, young, women, and children. If they were worried about the situation at home, they could withdraw from the war now.
Through his mediation, the Land of Lightning and the Land of Water also ceased hostilities. The Land of Lightning, which had the upper hand, symbolically ceded an island at the northern end of the East Sea to the Land of Water, and the two countries formally formed an alliance.
Mei Terumi was so angry she could have coughed up blood. Forced into a corner, what else could she do? Go back to Konoha and form another alliance? She could only walk this path to the end.
She wanted to continue fighting. No matter what, there had to be a result.
But the Mist ninja were all worried about their wives and children at home. Even the murderous Zabuza was very worried about Haku's safety and was unwilling to continue fighting the Konoha ninja in the Land of Hot Water.
The ninja village system was a military mercenary organization; there was no sense of patriotism. You couldn't expect an ordinary Mist ninja to have a high strategic vision.
If they could win, they would fight. If they couldn't, they would run. Defectors were everywhere. The proportion of defectors from the Mist Village was second only to Konoha; it had almost become a tradition.
If Mei Terumi forced the issue, a few would immediately defect. Insubordination, you know?
Their wives and children at home were more important than anything. Mei Terumi was helpless. She wanted to continue fighting, but the will of the majority was against her. She could only withdraw her troops.
The Konoha ninja withdrew from the Land of Frost. After regrouping, they immediately decided to open a third front.
Fight the Mist! This time, not only the consistently hawkish Danzo, but even Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado chose to support it. Fight, we must fight!
Jiraiya quickly made adjustments. He and Tsunade would resist the Cloud Village's attack.
The remaining forces would go to fight the Mist. It was unrealistic to wipe out the Mist Village, but they had to make them pay a heavy price.
The Mist had too many Water Release users, and Ino had a great advantage in this area. Moreover, she was particularly good at demolition and was already a renowned demolition expert in the ninja world.
As long as Ino went over and used a couple of jutsu in the center of the Mist Village, it would take at least ten years for the Mist to recover its vitality. The Sand Village had a lot to say on this matter.
Two thousand people were drawn from the eastern front, one thousand from the western front, and another thousand were mobilized from the village. All the ninja from the two fronts who were not seriously injured were included. A total of five thousand ninja were handed over to Ino, for her to lead the army in pursuit of the Mist ninja.
The Ino-Shika-Cho and a large number of other clan ninja were all taken with her.
Special jonin like Raido Namiashi and Muta Aburame also set off together.
The great ninja war was not something you could just quit. Whether in terms of morality or popular sentiment, the Mist's betrayal had greatly harmed Konoha. Kakashi on the western front had rejected the Sand ninja's request to join the war. No need, the greatest help you can be is to just stay put.
The public was enraged. Ino led a large army to the seaport.
When the Mist ninja retreated, they had gathered all the ships in the coastal areas.
Trying to run to the Mist Village by walking on water? That was unrealistic.
Ships were still needed.
There was nothing to say. Build ships! And launch an expedition to the Mist Village!
Both the Land of Fire and Konoha sent large sums of money. Ino spent other people's money without a second thought and even called in her own Cross Guild to build ships together.
Anyway, the technology of ships in this era was not high. Carpenters who could build houses could also help build ships.
Merchants and guilds from some surrounding small countries, hearing the news, all flocked to join this feast.
Even Tazuna and Inari from the Land of Waves brought their villagers to take on work.
Ino made a "small" profit from it. She had only one requirement: speed!
The ninja under her command were also searching for ships everywhere.
Using the ruins of the former Land of Whirlpools as a base, Ino built ships on a large scale.
Her military strength was slightly insufficient, so she hired pirates, wandering ninja, samurai, and warrior monks to join the battle.
Referring to Foxconn's method, money was given out upon arrival. There was a base salary, bonuses, commissions, and subsidies at the end of the month. The only thing that stood out was how rich she was.
Two months later, a thousand sails set forth. Ino left a thousand ninja to guard the port and led four thousand Konoha ninja and over seven thousand miscellaneous troops on an expedition. It was said to be an army of thirty thousand, crossing the sea to conquer the Mist Village.
The Mist Village.
Mei Terumi had eagerly led her ninja to help in the war, hoping to get a share of the spoils after the war. In the end, she was forced to switch sides. After switching sides, the Cloud had released the hostages with a very high-handed attitude. The Mist ninja clamored to go home. When they got home, the crisis was resolved, and some people felt that this trip had been too aggravating, and began to shift the blame, all sorts of big pots being thrown on her, the Mizukage.
She was the one who wanted to form the alliance, and she was the one who betrayed it. She was the one who actively participated in the war, and it seemed she was also the one who actively retreated.
The subordinates were not at fault; all the blame was concentrated on her.
Some people thought she had brought shame to the Mist Village and wanted her to step down and elect a new Mizukage. Mei Terumi was tougher than imagined. Step down? I can, but absolutely not now.
Ino is over there frantically building ships, preparing to attack the Mist. If I step down, can you lot stop her?
In any case, her reputation was already in the gutter; it couldn't get any worse.
Mei Terumi changed her previous gentle way of doing things. In the name of the Fifth Mizukage, she appointed Zabuza Momochi as the leader of the Anbu squads.
Ao and Gonbee, the two confidants of Genpaku, were appointed as advisors. It wasn't exactly a promotion in name but a demotion in reality, but they didn't have much actual power.
Chojuro, Haku, and Suigetsu Hozuki were all promoted to jonin and each formed their own teams.
At the same time, she sent people to find the Six-Tails Jinchuriki, Utakata, who had been away from the village for many years. She even sent people to contact Kisame Hoshigaki. If you are willing to come back, all previous crimes will be wiped clean.
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