It wasn't just Shikaku Nara who felt apprehensive; even Tsunade herself felt a bit unsteady.
After a moment of thought, Tsunade decided to place her trust in Rong Lin. "Since he said so, go ahead and carry it out. I believe he can do it. In all these years, I've never seen that kid talk big without backing it up."
"Believe that he won't lie to us. The rest will be hard on you, Shikaku. Our situation is far from optimistic."
"I know," Shikaku Nara replied with a bitter smile. "I'll make the arrangements. I just don't know if the village can hold out if this drags on. The burden on the Hokage's shoulders must be immense."
"A three-front war... the weight is certainly heavy. I only hope that no major disasters occur on the front lines."
Tsunade felt a mounting headache. Her only hope was that none of the various battlefronts would suffer a complete collapse.
"Whether it's Lord Jiraiya, Lord White Fang, or Lord Danzo, none of them are simple men. I believe they can keep things stable."
Shikaku Nara wasn't actually worried about the front lines failing. His real concern was how Konoha would maintain itself once the lines stabilized. A three-front war was a massive drain on Konoha's resources.
"Let's hope so."
The worry on Tsunade's face didn't fade. She merely nodded at Shikaku's attempt at comfort.
If possible, Tsunade truly hoped that this battlefield would be the first to break the deadlock so they could move to support the other fronts. But defeating Kirigakure? That was easier said than done.
Worried and restless, Tsunade dumped the remaining tasks onto Shikaku, her strategist, and let him handle the arrangements while she went out for a walk.
Currently, Kirigakure had begun to change its combat style, yet Konoha could only slowly adapt and respond to their maneuvers.
Konoha's biggest disadvantage was their inability to take the initiative. They were forced to react to the enemy's every move, while the initiative remained firmly with Kirigakure. On the other two fronts, they could technically go on the offensive, but without absolute certainty of victory, those battles had devolved into long-term wars of attrition.
The feeling of having power but no way to use it was stifling. Damn Kirigakure, and damn their Secret Technique!
Tsunade absolutely loathed the Hidden Mist Village's damned techniques. They kept the entire area shrouded in a thick fog. It was impossible to blow the mist away with Wind Release Ninjutsu or evaporate it with Fire Release Ninjutsu. Even if you managed to clear it temporarily using those methods, the fog would recover in the shortest possible time.
Fighting in the Hidden Mist was extremely detrimental to Konoha. To make matters worse, the Kirigakure ninja could rely on the mist to hide their tracks, launch ambushes, and observe their enemies with ease.
"Huh? What is that brat doing?" Seeing Rong Lin sitting high up in a large tree, Tsunade leaped up. When she saw what he was doing, her face instantly darkened.
He was actually drinking alcohol!
"It's one thing for you to be eating barbecue in the middle of camp, but you're drinking too?!"
"Want some?" Rong Lin asked nonchalantly, holding up the bottle.
Tsunade's lip twitched. "Are you kidding me?! I'm the frontline Commander-in-Chief! How could I possibly join you in acting recklessly and drink in the middle of camp?!"
She shouted with exaggerated indignation, but her eyes were constantly darting around, checking the surroundings. Rong Lin let out a snicker.
"Relax. There's no one around. Why else would I come here to drink? You can rest easy."
"Hmph."
With her little thoughts exposed, Tsunade let out a dissatisfied huff, a faint blush creeping onto her cheeks as she finally sat down.
She grabbed the bottle and started taking huge gulps, not even bothering with a cup. Watching her, Rong Lin felt a pang of "heartache" for his stash.
"I said slow down, okay? Leave some for me. It wasn't easy for me to blackmail this out of someone else's hands. Do you think getting a drink here is that simple?"
"Burp—"
After finishing half the bottle in one breath, Tsunade finally set it down with a satisfied sigh. She let out a small burp and arched an eyebrow. "So, what you're saying is, there are a lot of people in camp drinking?"
Trying to bait me?
"Give it a rest," Rong Lin laughed, choosing not to answer.
If he got caught drinking, no one would dare say anything to him. But the "old foxes" in the camp didn't have that luxury. Since he had blackmailed the wine from them, he certainly couldn't turn around and sell them out. That would be a huge blow to his reputation.
"Fine, I get it. You won't say. I didn't expect you to tell me anyway."
Grabbing a piece of barbecue, Tsunade took a bite and then another swig of wine. She felt the suppression that had been building in her heart over the past few days begin to dissipate. Sometimes, alcohol really was a good thing, especially for someone like her who enjoyed a good drink.
Fortunately, Rong Lin had extra stock. Seeing that the bottle in Tsunade's hand was almost empty, he shook his head with a wry smile and pulled out another one. He poured himself a small cup; unlike Tsunade,
he didn't like drinking from the bottle, nor did he drink in large quantities. He preferred to sip slowly to pass the time. Getting dead drunk was out of the question; the world had enough drunks as it was.
"Uchiha Rong Lin!"
Tsunade rarely called him by his full name. Most of the time it was "kid," or "little brat" when she was angry. "Tell me... can we win this?"
Before setting out, despite knowing it would be difficult, Tsunade had always believed Konoha could emerge victorious. But now that the war had turned into a muddy quagmire, even she couldn't help but feel a bit discouraged.
"Of course we will win!"
Rong Lin answered without a second thought. "I firmly believe that we will be the victors."
"Hearing you say that makes me feel a lot more at ease."
Whether Tsunade was truly encouraged by his words or if it was just the alcohol talking was unclear. She smiled and shook the bottle. "Uchiha Rong Lin! Why didn't you call me when you were drinking?! Don't you know I've been feeling miserable?"
"Didn't you say you were the dignified frontline Commander-in-Chief? Did you really need me to invite you for a drink? I thought you were a teetotaler."
Rong Lin threw her own words back at her with a grin.
"Bullshit!"
Tsunade cursed directly. Rong Lin could only shake his head with a bitter smile. A queen was a queen; even when she cursed, she did it with style.
"This Commander-in-Chief position... if I could, I'd really just dump it all on you. I'd rather be a common soldier charging the front lines for you. This is too exhausting."
Leaning back against the tree trunk, Tsunade held the bottle in one hand while waving the other around. With her flushed face, she looked completely intoxicated. Rong Lin was speechless. She couldn't be drunk already, could she? Her tolerance shouldn't be this low.
He remembered clearly that she could usually drink quite a lot!
Tsunade could indeed drink, but Rong Lin had forgotten one thing...
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