Night fell.
After a full day of intense fighting, casualties were indeed heavy, and even those who made it through unscathed were exhausted.
It's said in the original story that the Fourth Shinobi World War only lasted three days. That really feels like child's play, but in reality it shouldn't be counted like that.
It should start from when Obito declared war. After that came the alliance of the Five Great Nations plus the Land of Iron, with shinobi and samurai forming the Allied Forces. All the preparations before open conflict should also be counted as part of the war.
After all, the preparation of troops and supplies is one of the most important aspects of warfare and cannot be ignored.
Besides, compared to ordinary people, shinobi are basically superhumans.
When they travel, their speed far outstrips normal humans. And while it looks like they fight with cold weapons, their various ninjutsu are in no way weaker than modern firearms, and some can even destroy the heavens and the earth.
Many battles look like they drag on for a long time, but in fact they end very quickly.
So with sufficient preparations early on, followed by a swift and decisive campaign, having the war "only" last three days is actually not a problem.
The only thing worth criticizing is that a shinobi's stamina and chakra are not that monstrous. Just one day of fighting leaves the vast majority of shinobi completely worn out. The idea of fighting at high intensity for three days straight doesn't feel very realistic.
The most ridiculous case is Kakashi. His Sharingan is supposed to constantly consume his chakra, yet his Kamui gets used casually again and again. Even villains would cry seeing that.
The topic is drifting. Let's pull it back.
After returning, Tenten, pale-faced, burrowed into Natsuki's arms and immediately fell sound asleep.
Continuous use of the Six Paths ninja tools, even with the help of chakra batteries, had taken a serious toll on her.
It wasn't just chakra consumption either. The mental strain was even greater. Fortunately, she had swept away a large number of Edo Tensei bodies without incident, greatly boosting the Alliance's morale.
By now, Tenten's name was already known throughout all three divisions of the army, and even all the way to the Land of Rice Fields.
Even though Natsuki was stationed in the far rear, he had still heard many people praising Tenten, which naturally filled him with pride.
But seeing Tenten this exhausted in front of him, he couldn't help but feel distressed. All he could do was hold her gently in his arms, softly patting her back and coaxing her into a peaceful sleep.
Raikage A, Tsunade, and the various strategists saw this and all instinctively lowered their voices.
But when they spoke, there were smiles on their faces.
Raikage A said, "We really do have this girl to thank. If not for her, we'd probably have taken a huge loss on the first day alone. Edo Tensei is way too troublesome. In the end, that guy Kabuto really does need to be taken out."
"That's right. If Kabuto isn't killed, Edo Tensei will just keep adding more and more enemies," Tsunade said, her expression solemn. "Even with Tenten able to provide support, frequent use of the Six Paths ninja tools and Hiraishin (Flying Thunder God) is a huge burden on her. Just look at how much Natsuki is worrying over her."
Mabui asked, "Should we send another strike team to assassinate Kabuto? He should still be in the Land of Rice Fields. It might not be that hard to locate him. Once we get our hands on the Rinnegan and transplant it into one of our own, then summon the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and seal it, wouldn't everything be wrapped up neatly?"
Shikaku cut in immediately. "The idea is good, but not realistic."
Raikage A was just as clear-headed. "Kabuto might not be that hard to kill, but he's probably together with Madara right now. That 'Shinobi Shura' is extremely dangerous. I'm afraid not only would the strike team never come back, even a path-clearing vanguard squad wouldn't return from the first contact."
Raikage A would never underestimate someone like Madara in the slightest.
Because of that, many decisions had to be made with extreme caution.
One misstep and a huge number of people really would die, and no one wanted to see that result.
Tsunade, however, was in no rush. "The White Zetsu assault is just an appetizer. The real main course is still to come. We can't be impatient. Once Madara sees the battle turning against him, he'll definitely step onto the field himself. We should conserve our strength and wait for him, then defeat him in one decisive strike. That's the best course of action. And once Madara appears, we can send people after Kabuto then. Let that snake jump around for a couple more days."
Everyone nodded.
It was only the first day of the war. There really was no need to rush.
If they treated today like the final decisive battle right from the start, then all their prior preparation would have been wasted and failure would become very likely.
Dragging things out and letting the enemy grow anxious first was a favorable strategic choice.
At that moment, an intel officer hurried in and delivered a report.
Raikage A read it and almost slammed the table, but he was afraid of waking Tenten, so he only suppressed his anger and handed the report to Tsunade.
Tsunade read it and almost burst into profanity on the spot.
The report stated that several batches of supplies in the rear logistics lines had suddenly gone up in flames, and a number of people had inexplicably died. For the moment, panic had spread through the logistics corps, and if not for a few experienced jōnin keeping the situation under control, chaos would have already broken out.
The problem was that the logistics corps' commander was Shizune.
It was not that Shizune had failed in her duties. She had been busy performing surgery on the wounded, which created a gap in logistics that White Zetsu had slipped through.
In fact, before starting surgery, Shizune had repeatedly warned everyone to be careful, and the operational plans also emphasized vigilance against White Zetsu infiltrators. However, some people in the logistics corps had become careless because the front-line battles were going so smoothly. That was the main reason White Zetsu found an opening, and exactly why Raikage A and Tsunade were so angry.
Yet at the same time, they could not really blame anyone directly, because White Zetsu's impersonations were nearly impossible to detect. Even the Byakugan could not see through them, and the Inuzuka clan could not pick up any discrepancies in scent.
That was a bit of a bug in the system and gave everyone a headache.
Fortunately, Tsunade quickly came up with an idea. "Send the Torture and Interrogation Division. They specialize in reading people and are extremely sharp. No matter how skilled White Zetsu is at transformation and disguise, fooling the Interrogation Division won't be easy."
"You're right. Then let the Interrogation Division handle it," Raikage A agreed, finding the idea excellent.
Soon after, Ibiki made his return to the stage. Leading the Interrogation Division to the logistics sector, he ferreted out a number of hidden White Zetsu in short order, which calmed the logistics corps considerably.
For the Interrogation Division, front-line combat was not necessarily their strong suit. Rooting out spies and eliminating them was what they did best.
Even if the infiltrators became White Zetsu, there was no way they would escape the Division's eyes.
The following day, after a night's rest, the shinobi were all refreshed and once more headed for the battlefield.
Tenten scarfed down three big bowls of rice, then dragged Natsuki off to a quiet corner for a quick "recharge" session, which brought her back to full power. For the moment, however, she did not have to deploy, because so many Edo Tensei bodies had been dealt with the previous day that there probably would not be many today, or maybe none at all.
That suited her fine. She could take the opportunity to top up the chakra batteries and study the newly acquired ninja blades.
As for Natsuki, a mission quickly came down for him: escort a team to the daimyō.
"What's going on? The daimyō have been attacked?"
Natsuki was very curious who would dare lay hands on the daimyō.
If, just like in the original story, it turned out to be Black Zetsu, that would be perfect. He could just take Black Zetsu out, and the plot to come would be completely turned on its head.
After all, for Lady Kaguya to resurrect, she still needed Black Zetsu to pull the strings.
(End of Chapter)
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