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(Remember that the Sannin here are young, so they don't have the personality showed in the cannon yet)
"Kotarou-sama, that's not right. It was clearly our lack of foresight that led to this situation."
Orochimaru shook his head.
"Strategy is your responsibility. Leading the troops is ours. As generals, it's on us to anticipate every possible development, not to blame the commander. So this failure is ours."
Jiraiya nodded.
"That's right, Commander. Our units saw that the city gates were practically about to fall, and we got carried away. We forgot to guard our rear, and that's why we suffered such a defeat. So please don't blame yourself. Keep commanding us and keep winning the best possible outcome for Konoha!"
Kotarou's eyes trembled.
That was it. Right now, Konoha truly was united as one. They weren't interested in throwing blame at each other. Everyone only looked for their own shortcomings.
This was the Konoha he loved.
Tsunade smiled, walked over, and stood shoulder to shoulder with the other two.
"Commander, please make your decision quickly and bring us the greatest possible victory."
Kotarou drew in a deep breath. A glint flashed in his eyes and he smiled.
"I will."
He helped the three of them up, then sank into thought.
"Right now, we have about sixteen hundred shinobi. At the northern gate, Onoki commands a thousand. At the southern gate, Chiyo commands five hundred."
"With our current strength, we can't take them on head-on. Onoki and Chiyo are both true Kage-level. No matter which side we pick to fight, the odds are bad."
"Tsunade-sama, Orochimaru-sama, Jiraiya-sama. The three of you together might be able to hold one Kage-level opponent. But the other two Kage-level forces aren't fools. The moment they see us locked in a stalemate, they'll move in as well."
As Kotarou laid out the situation, all three nodded.
Right now, Tsunade and the others were close to Kage in strength, but they were still classified as jōnin.
Looking at Chiyo in her prime and a young Onoki, it honestly felt like the three of them would probably lose in a straight fight. Kotarou was already putting it politely when he said they could "deal with" one Kage. By "deal with," he meant delay, not win.
"Which is why the key to this war lies at the southern gate."
Kotarou's eyes lit up, and the three Sannin nodded again.
"So you're saying we should attack the southern gate?" Jiraiya couldn't help asking.
He hated that old hag Chiyo so much his teeth hurt. They had been on the verge of taking the city, and then she'd swooped in with a sneak attack and ruined everything, handing the city another sliver of hope.
Orochimaru laughed. His good friend really hadn't been wronged by that loss.
Tsunade, on the other hand, took no position. She put on a look of deep contemplation. That way she wouldn't look stupid.
Kotarou shook his head.
"Put yourself in Hanzo's place for a moment. With the situation as it is, would you march your forces against Chiyo's five hundred, Onoki's thousand, or our sixteen hundred?"
"Chiyo, obviously!"
Jiraiya answered without even thinking. He could follow that much basic logic.
"It's not just a matter of strength. Right now, we and Iwa are at odds. Neither side dares to act rashly. So Hanzo will choose to strike at the southern gate."
Kotarou's tone was calm.
"But then how do we deal with Iwa? If we clash with them directly, we're going to take heavy losses no matter what." Tsunade asked.
Orochimaru was also looking at Kotarou now, waiting to hear what he had in mind.
Kotarou stretched lazily, then smiled.
"Drive the tiger to devour the wolf."
"Drive the tiger to devour the wolf?" Tsunade blinked.
Orochimaru's eyes suddenly lit up, as if he'd understood.
"Kotarou-kun, are you talking about Kumogakure?"
Kotarou nodded.
"That's right. Kumogakure. Since the Tsuchikage, Onoki, has appeared here in the Land of Rain, that means there's no Kage-level powerhouse sitting in Iwa at the moment."
"Knowing the personality of the Third Raikage, A, he won't just sit back and ignore that."
A small smile curled Kotarou's lips.
He had no idea if Kumogakure and Iwa were cursed by fate, but every great war seemed to end with the two of them at each other's throats. Once Kumo learned that Iwa was without its Kage, given their bandit-like temperament, they would absolutely launch a raid on Iwa.
At that point…
Orochimaru also smiled.
"What a brilliant way to drive the tiger to devour the wolf. Commander's strategy truly is unmatched. I am impressed."
He was already thinking that once this war was over, he absolutely had to spend more time with Kotarou.
Tsunade and Jiraiya looked at each other, as if to say, "So we're the only ones who didn't get it?"
But Tsunade quickly drew her gaze back to Kotarou.
This man… was surprisingly attractive when he was scheming like this.
Kotarou didn't notice at all. Instead, he turned to Jiraiya.
"Jiraiya-sama, your information network should be pretty strong, right?"
In the original timeline, Jiraiya was Konoha's man on the outside, the one who brought in most of the intel from beyond the village's borders. He knew about almost everything that happened.
Jiraiya nodded.
"I do have a lot of people scattered around collecting… material. If you want to call it an intel network, that's not wrong."
In his mind, these people were just friends who helped him gather inspiration. He hadn't really thought in terms of intelligence gathering and transmission.
Kotarou smiled.
"If you mobilized your contacts, how long would it take to get a piece of information to Kumogakure?"
"Half a day at most!"
Jiraiya thumped his chest.
He trusted his friends.
"Good. Jiraiya-sama, I'll trouble you to send out the word immediately. All the message needs to say is this: 'Tsuchikage Onoki has appeared in the Land of Rain.' Nothing more."
Kotarou's smile deepened.
"Yes, sir!"
Jiraiya headed off at once to see it done.
Kotarou allowed himself a small grin.
If this worked, then the city would definitely be his.
Orochimaru chuckled as well.
"Then allow me to congratulate you in advance on taking the city, Commander-sama."
"Congratulate Tsunade-sama instead. This was her idea. I'm only her trusted aide."
Kotarou shook his head.
Orochimaru stared for a moment, then remembered Kotarou's family name and sighed inwardly.
The old men back in the village were still far too wary of the Uchiha.
Tsunade's brows drew together briefly, but she understood the reason too. In the end, their final war council ended in silence, and they each returned to their own tasks.
The next day, in Kumogakure.
A gripped a kunai, eyes flashing as he burst into loud laughter. Soon after, he gathered the village leadership. The final decision:
"Mobilize three thousand troops. March on Iwa!"
Back on the Land of Rain battlefield, Hanzo and Chiyo had already clashed at the southern gate.
One fought with kugutsu (Puppet Technique), controlling the Chikamatsu Jūnin Shū (Chikamatsu's Ten Puppets) to unleash relentless offense and airtight defense.
Hanzo roared, slapped his right hand on the ground, and summoned his salamander with Kuchiyose (Summoning Technique). The beast gulped down three or four dozen Sand ninja in one bite, then lunged toward Chiyo. Hanzo released a cloud of purple poison gas, spreading across the battlefield.
Chiyo snapped, "Everyone, take your antidote pills!"
As the Sand's foremost poison specialist, Chiyo's research into toxins ran deep. Her antidote pills could temporarily neutralize even Hanzo's poison.
Hanzo drew two katana and rushed Chiyo. The Chikamatsu Jūnin Shū (Chikamatsu's Ten Puppets) immediately shifted under her control to intercept him. The two of them fought with no clear winner in sight.
At the eastern and northern gates, nothing moved.
Both sides stared each other down, waiting for the other to act.
At that moment, Konoha's scouts spotted a group approaching from the north, from the direction of Iwa, heading straight toward Onoki's encampment.
They quickly reported this to Kotarou, Tsunade, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and the others…
(End of Chapter)
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