"Hanzo-sama, the food in the city is no longer enough to feed both the civilians and the army. At the latest, we'll be out by tomorrow!"
A Rain ninja reported to Hanzo of the Salamander.
Hanzo sat in the leader's seat, silent.
He had grown taciturn. From the moment he declared war on the three great nations of Fire, Wind, and Earth, four months had gone by.
In the first two months, he had caught all three sides completely off guard and pushed his forces into their territory. But the three great nations hadn't cared in the slightest. It had only taken them a single day to rally their ninja, wipe out his invading forces, and then march straight toward the city.
Only then did he realize that the great nations were not weak at all.
They had simply been waiting for the chance to counterattack and seize even greater benefits.
Hanzo's own strength reached Kage-level, but compared to Hiruzen, Onoki, and the Third Kazekage, the gap was too large.
And as for how watered-down the quality of his own jōnin was, he knew that better than anyone. All he had wanted was to prove to the other nations that the Land of Rain was not some soft persimmon they could squeeze at will.
It was only now that he truly understood how vast the gap between small nations and great nations really was… and how humiliating it was to be born in a weak country.
He should have been in his prime, brimming with ambition. Yet now, there were visible strands of white in his hair.
Hanzo let out a sigh and waved his subordinate away.
He walked out of his residence and looked up at the sky.
"Capital… The Capital…"
The name was meant to evoke "rain clearing, sky brightening." He had chosen this place as his capital precisely because he wanted the Land of Rain to leave its days of humiliation behind and welcome its own clear skies.
But the drizzle above him still fell without end, and his heart felt unbearably heavy.
Just then, the armies surrounding the three city gates began to sing the folk songs of the Land of Rain.
Hanzo's expression changed, then his anger flared. What was Konoha playing at?
He climbed the eastern gate and looked down at Tsunade's forces, only to find that they were still standing just outside striking range, infusing chakra into their voices so the song carried farther, all the way into the city.
However, after only two or three minutes, Hanzo understood exactly what Konoha was doing.
He watched his Rain ninja put down their blades, eyes reddening, their fighting spirit drained away as they began to weep.
Hanzo drew in a sharp breath.
Good. Very good. Konoha's commander was something else.
Just a few songs from their homeland were enough to make his soldiers homesick and break most of their will to fight. And this was on top of looming starvation and morale already scraping the bottom.
At that moment, he saw two messengers heading toward Tsunade.
Looking at the state of his own army, he had already been on the verge of surrender.
But he still stubbornly clung to the feeling that some kind of turnaround might appear.
On Tsunade's side.
"Report! Reporting to Tsunade-sama, Commander-sama!"
The one who came was a Uchiha scout from Jiraiya's forces. He was covered in wounds, face dark with exhaustion.
Kotarou didn't say a word. His face went pale, as if he had already guessed what this was about.
"Our encirclement at the city gate was going smoothly, but then the Sand's Kage-level powerhouse Chiyo led five hundred Sand ninja in a surprise attack on our forces. Our casualties are severe. We are currently falling back and moving to rendezvous with Tsunade-sama!"
As soon as he finished, the scout collapsed unconscious.
Kotarou's face went completely white. He clenched his teeth, eyes blazing with fury.
Damn Sunagakure.
Tsunade sighed. She knew this wasn't Kotarou's fault. His strategy for the Land of Rain had no flaws. Being ambushed by another nation was an unforeseen variable.
She had just opened her mouth to comfort Kotarou when a second scout arrived, this one from the Yamanaka clan. His clothing was still largely intact, and he didn't seem badly hurt.
"Reporting to Tsunade-sama, Kotarou-sama. Onoki personally led a thousand ninja in a surprise attack on our rear lines. Orochimaru-sama made his deployments on the spot. So far, we've taken two hundred casualties. Orochimaru-sama is now leading six hundred ninja to converge on Tsunade-sama's position."
His eyes burned with anger, his voice trembling.
His ire was not directed at Kotarou, but at Onoki and the Iwa ninja. Those bastards hadn't shown themselves at all before. Yet right when they were about to take Yujicheng, they popped up to stab them in the back.
Kotarou's expression grew dark.
Vermin.
Tsunade took a deep breath and nodded.
"I understand."
She sent people to take the scouts away for treatment and rest. Kotarou sucked in a breath and dropped to his knees.
"Tsunade-sama. I failed in my command."
Ryuichi and Ryuji exchanged a look and opened their mouths, wanting to speak up, but a middle-aged Senju stepped in to stop them.
Everyone knew this wasn't Kotarou's fault, but they were not in a position to say it out loud.
Tsunade walked over and helped Kotarou to his feet.
"No one knows better than me, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya how brilliant your strategy is, Kotarou-kun."
"You nearly took the city using only the vanguard forces and completely restricted Hanzo of the Salamander's movements. That level of planning is unmatched."
"Our goal was to intimidate the Land of Rain and make Konoha's name ring out. You've already accomplished that. Not even our teacher could have devised a plan like this."
"So, Kotarou-kun, don't blame yourself. Everyone can see how strong your strategic mind is, how capable you are.
Chin up. What we need to do now is link up with Jiraiya and Orochimaru and think about how we're going to fight from here."
With that, Tsunade gave Kotarou a small smile.
Kotarou slowly rose to his feet.
He had underestimated the heroes of this world. He had forgotten that a man should always leave himself some leeway.
He had only thought about capturing Yujicheng and ending the war in the Land of Rain, but never considered that the other two nations' aims went beyond ending the war. They also wanted to weaken Konoha.
"Yes, Tsunade-sama."
Kotarou bowed, then stepped to the side, closing his eyes to think through their options.
It wasn't long before Jiraiya returned with three hundred ninja, and Orochimaru with five hundred. As soon as they reunited, the first thing they did was ask where the commander was.
Kotarou let out a quiet sigh. They were probably here to hold him accountable.
Fine.
He opened his eyes and walked toward them. To his utter surprise, both Jiraiya and Orochimaru dropped to their knees the instant they saw him.
Kotarou: "???"
"What are you two doing?"
He was completely baffled. Weren't they supposed to be here to blame him?
He hurriedly tried to haul them back up.
"We led our forces poorly. We got complacent when we were just about to take city and forgot to guard against other nations' ninja!"
Their voices rang out forcefully, so much so that Kotarou was genuinely moved.
Strictly speaking, in a normal war, the commander only needed to set the overall direction. Execution on the battlefield was the responsibility of the field generals.
Kotarou's sense of responsibility was simply too strong, which was why he had tried to shoulder everything himself.
He froze for a moment, then quickly helped the two of them back to their feet.
(End of Chapter)
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