"Salt?" Ruri Fūma asked as her brows furrowed as she looked at Kaien which said how would it even help clear the opaque fog blanketing the coastline.
"Salt naturally absorbs water and moisture," Kaien explained. "The fog itself is composed entirely of water droplets. Introduce enough salt, and those molecules will bind, grow too heavy to remain airborne, and rain down onto the terrain below. Within an hour, the entire battlefield should be soaked in salt water."
He paused, letting the implications he made were understood before continuing. "And there's a second, far more critical advantage. A fog made of pure freshwater is actually a poor conductor of electricity because it lacks free electrical charges or ions."
Kaien drew a deep breath, his eyes glinting with intent. "When salt dissolves into that pure freshwater fog, it dissociates into free-floating sodium and chloride ions. Those dissolved ions carry an electric charge through the water, transforming an obstructive fog into a high-conductivity electrolyte solution. For our Kumogakure shinobi who specialize in Lightning Release that turns their terrain advantage into an absolute killing ground for us."
Itachi Uchiha listened intently, as his eyes narrowing as his mind processed the physical scale of the task. "By your account, we are roughly twelve kilometers from the coastline," Itachi said softly, as he continued to point his analytical outputs. "Assuming the fog bank spans twelve kilometers in length, twelve in width, and holds a vertical height of fifty meters, we are dealing with a massive volume of moisture. A zero-visibility fog of this scale carries a Liquid Water Content of approximately 0.0005 kilograms per cubic meter."
He paused, mentally running the numbers through a series of equations. "To use edible salt particles as hygroscopic condensation nuclei... effectively forcing the mist to collapse into heavy drizzle... standard seeding procedures require roughly three kilograms of salt for every one million cubic meters of mist."
Itachi looked upto Kaien with a serious gaze. "To dissipate a single wave of this fog, we would need roughly 21,600 kilograms of salt. And that estimate fails to account for the Kirigakure continuously supplying fresh fog back into the battlefield. To offset their reserves, we would need at least double that amount... well over forty-three metric tons, just to be safe. And if not taken care, the salt water could make the land barren."
A stunned silence fell over Yugito, Jugo, Guren and Ruri as they opened their mouths in awe. Most of the squad stared between Itachi and Kaien in total bewilderment, the complex weight calculations drifting far over their heads. They didn't grasp the physics, but they understood the grim reality: every grain of salt in the Kumo was about to be used for this mission, leaving them with bland tasteless meals for the foreseeable future.
"Your calculations are correct, Itachi-san," Kaien conceded, rubbing his temples as he pointed out the flaw in his own concept. "We shall have our earth and water style-nin clear out the left over salt water. And there is an even greater logistical barrier. Even if we split the load across an army of five thousand shinobi, every individual soldier would have to haul at least eight kilograms of salt and throw them into the air hindering the combat. Carrying that extra burden across miles of rough terrain would sap their stamina long before they ever reached the coastline. The physical toll could cost us the battle before it even begins."
Itachi gave a nod, agreeing with the sheer infeasibility of relying on foot shinobi for transport.
"And that," Kaien continued, turning his gaze toward the back of the group, "is precisely where you and Jūgo come in. Itachi-san, how many crow summons can you call up?"
"Crows?" Itachi replied thoughtfully. "Perhaps a hundred at a time."
"That will be enough to start," Kaien said, turning to Jugo standing beside them. "Jūgo-san, I need you to reach out to the local wildlife. Speak to every wild bird in the surrounding forest. Command them, plead with them, or offer them sanctuary... whatever it takes to bring their flocks to us, even if they're hesitant out of fear."
Kaien then turned back to the Itachi. "Itachi-san, if the birds are not willing to help, I need you to put them in a wide-scale Genjutsu. We aren't here to harm them. The illusion will simply coordinate their flight patterns and keep them calm while they carry the load. Once the mist is cleared and the visibility is back, we release them unscathed."
He looked out toward the distant hills, outlining the final steps of the logistical chain. "Once we make our way back in Kumo territory, securing that quantity of salt will take at least a full week. We'll likely need authorization from the Daimyō to pull those reserves from the commercial supply lines. While the diplomats handle the paperwork, I'll begin scribing the large-scale storage scrolls necessary to seal and transport the salt for the birds to carry over."
Everyone nodded one by one. The plan was absurdly ambitious, bordering on mad, but as the logistics fell into place, the impossible began to look like a viable strategy.
~~
A/N: Thanks for pointing out @FTR2017
[QUOTE="FTR2017, post: 13575580, member: 60676"]
Well, salt of calcium hydroxide could work for removing the humidity out of the mist--thus clearing it out.
That said, they better have earth-focused nin to do cleanup if they use salt, as it can render fertile land barren.
[/QUOTE]
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