Naruto: Reshaping the Shinobi World with Sasori

Chapter 134 Stepping onto the battlefield, you're surrounded by pressure monsters (First update)

Once, twice—

Every appearance of the Sand Village forces puts the entire Konoha army into a tense combat state.

Although Hiruzen Sarutobi gave the order to "ignore the main force" and leave the task to other personnel, the Sunagakure people did not linger after harassing the enemy.

Run away quickly; it's psychologically manipulative.

Furthermore, the timing and frequency of their appearances are unpredictable.

After several attempts, just as Hiruzen Sarutobi was preparing to send out a main combat team to eliminate the enemy, this "annoying" Sand Village seemed to suddenly disappear—never to reappear.

However, given the opponent's tactics, the entire Konoha army dared not let their guard down. Even when resting according to the original route plan, they remained highly vigilant.

As time went on, Sarutobi, as the commander, discovered that their marching speed was much slower than expected, which also affected the morale of the troops.

When they were about to reach the border forest that bordered the land of rivers, they were at least half a day late.

This Sand Village unit bought the main force several hours for pre-battle preparations, which might cause Konoha to suffer even greater losses.

Meanwhile, while Konoha was unsure whether they would reappear, Sunagakure Jonin Hideki had already led the remaining troops back to the forest where the Sunagakure army had been stationed in advance.

Of course, some information about the Konoha army was passed on to Arai and the others even earlier than they had.

"Hiruzen Sarutobi!"

In a clearing in the forest, the military leadership, headed by Arai, had solemn expressions after hearing the news brought back by the intelligence ninja.

They were all speculating about who the commander leading the Konoha army in this battle was—which high-ranking official of Konoha. Even though some guessed it was Hiruzen Sarutobi, they weren't certain.

After all, the probability is relatively small.

The two villages haven't really started fighting yet, the situation on the battlefield is unknown, and it's not serious enough to require the Hokage to take over the battlefield—it's undoubtedly more prudent for the Hokage of Konoha to act as a backup plan.

I never expected that the Third Hokage would actually make his way to the battlefield.

That was the shadow of an entire village. The appearance of a shadow-level unit on the battlefield—everyone knew what that meant.

The Sand Village inherently lacks a unit capable of dominating the battlefield—and this is within the Land of Fire, fighting on their territory could make the situation even worse.

Fortunately, Sunagakure caught Konoha off guard, seized the initiative, and gained some advantages.

otherwise--

Soon after Hideki and the others returned to the group, they obtained further information about the Konoha army from him.

"There are quite a few people here—"

Looking at Hideki, who was injured and looked somewhat disheveled, Yubi stroked his chin and fell into deep thought.

"Let's begin analyzing Hiruzen Sarutobi's motives."

Clearly, the Hokage intends to strike swiftly and decisively to quell the unrest created by Sunagakure in a short period of time.

"Pass the word down to all the battalions, tell them to get ready, the enemy is coming!" Arai took a deep breath and said, feeling quite pressured.

To be able to fight alongside the Third Hokage as a commander on the battlefield—this kind of treatment is somewhat excessive for an elite Jonin like him.

Fortunately, Hideki and the others bought some more time, allowing the Sunagakure army to set up more pre-battle traps and make more battle arrangements.

"Yes."

One of the subordinates nodded and quickly left.

"Nearly half were killed or injured—"

Yubi asked Hideki some more questions. Even if it was just harassment rather than a direct confrontation, the survival rate of the troops he led was not high after their contact with Konoha.

At the very least, the losses in troop strength will definitely be greater than those in Konoha.

Fortunately, Hideki's group wasn't very large—Yubi was somewhat prepared for this outcome.

After all, it's Konoha—the overall level of its ninjas is still somewhat higher than that of Sunagakure. Moreover, Konoha has a very rich combat system.

Among them are members of families with bloodline limits and secret techniques.

The Sand Village is at a much weaker position.

"As expected of Konoha—even though we meticulously planned everything and tried our best to gain an advantage on the battlefield beforehand—from the overall perspective, we are still the weaker party."

"If the commander weren't Sarutobi, things would be a little better—"

"But now, the size of Konoha's army and the Hokage's personal involvement are enough to show that the other side is going to strike hard."

"This is even with a certain advantage; without the benefits of this blitzkrieg—in a one-on-one fight, the village would be completely undefendable."

Yubi also felt the pressure. He tried his best to analyze and compare the advantages and disadvantages of the two armies, and various thoughts were churning in his mind.

After a moment, he looked up at Hideki: "What's the enemy's troop deployment? Which of the Konoha clans have been mobilized? Have the Uchiha and Hyuga clans also joined the battle?"

"We didn't engage their main force—however, during the final wave of attacks and harassment, members of the Aburame, Yamanaka, Inu, Shimura, and Shiranui clans all appeared. Whether the Uchiha clan was present is unclear. But it's almost certain—the Hyuga clan didn't participate in the battle; otherwise, given their bloodline limit techniques, our casualties would likely have been much higher—"

Hideki thought for a moment and then answered.

"Neither the Uchiha nor the Hyuga are here? It shouldn't be that they didn't participate—Does Sarutobi have any other battle plans or arrangements for the current situation?"

"And the Sarutobi clan—"

Yubi remembered the two Konoha Jonin who had been killed by Sasori.

This should be the configuration of the main force of the Konoha army.

Among them are some high-ranking military personnel.

These families all have distinctive clan emblems—some of them share similar clothing styles and ninjutsu techniques, making them relatively easy to identify.

It was precisely because the Konoha army had deployed the fighting forces of the aforementioned clans that Hideki was able to retreat quickly, as Yubi had instructed him beforehand.

Because this means that the Konoha army is ready to get serious with them.

"Oh, right—there's another family."

Suddenly, Hideki remembered something and said, "Among the Konoha army, there is the Kurama clan who lead genjutsu units in battle."

"

Yubi remained silent.

He had almost forgotten about this clan.

The Kurama clan played a crucial strategic support role on the battlefield against Konoha during the last Shinobi World War.

Family members also took the lead in compiling the "Basic Tutorial on Illusion" for Konoha.

It can be said that the Kurama clan was a very impressive fighting force in Konoha during the Second Shinobi World War.

Of course, the reason for its fame is the extraordinary level of illusion magic possessed by its family members.

The Sand Village has some knowledge of Konoha's situation.

However, if Yubi remembers correctly, the Kurama clan began its complete decline after the Fourth Shinobi World War. Due to the clan members' inability to continue the awakening of their bloodline limit and their weak physical constitution, they eventually lost their prestigious status in Konoha, and only a few bloodlines survived in later generations.

It seems that the lack of bloodline limit awakeners for three consecutive generations has led to a gap in core combat power—along with an over-reliance on genjutsu, which has caused a continuous decline in taijutsu skills, and ultimately resulted in his withdrawal from the decision-making circle of Konoha's high-level officials.

During the height of the Kurama clan's power, each generation could produce at least three Jonin.

The difference before and after is quite obvious.

Even now, although the Kurama clan is showing signs of weakening, they can still contribute to the battlefield, and they have not yet reached the point where the entire clan has fewer than ten members.

"understood."

Yubi nodded.

Look at Konoha's combat strength and the abundance of talent they have.

Let's take a look at Sunagakure—

When a real war breaks out, the village's lack of talent and inadequate combat capabilities will become increasingly apparent.

"It's going to be a fierce battle—"

On the Sunagakure side, one of them spoke in a heavy tone.

"Judging from their speed, they will arrive here around nighttime."

"Yubi, do you think they'll attack directly? Or will they set up camp outside the forest, make some tactical arrangements, and launch their attack during the day—"

Arai looked over.

"Judging from the fact that the Third Hokage personally took to the battlefield, what they want is to stabilize the situation on this side as quickly as possible, so the Konoha army will not hesitate."

"They will definitely take action directly—they are going all out to counterattack."

Yubi's eyes turned cold, and he spoke with a firm and resolute tone.

"Get ready—let's fight at night."