"Sigh, I was careless."
Jinghang crouched down to carefully examine the footprints on the ground, shaking his head helplessly.
"Godfather, no need to sigh and lament. We can just keep chasing them," Sasori consoled him from the side.
"We won't catch up."
Jinghang grabbed a handful of sand, letting the fine grains slowly slip through his palm. He glanced at the sky, which was already showing the pale light of dawn. In the desert, daybreak comes quickly—soon it would be fully bright.
"Opportunities in war are fleeting. The desert before Lishi Fortress is completely flat and open. At the speed of Konoha ninja, they've already reached the Land of Rivers by now. The Land of Rivers has a Konoha supply station where they can take chakra enhancement drugs and continue retreating toward the Land of Fire. Even if we catch the tail end of Konoha's remnants, we won't be able to annihilate them completely."
Without complete annihilation, pursuit wouldn't mean much.
"Godfather, in this battle we eliminated over eight thousand Konoha ninja. The Eastern Army's main force has been basically destroyed. Combined with the Northern Army's results, we've taken out roughly half of Konoha's ninja. We can say we've completely pulled Konoha down from their position as hegemon."
Sasori said excitedly.
Hearing Sasori's words, Jinghang finally smiled, standing up and brushing the sand from his hands.
"All right, nothing in this world goes perfectly according to plan. These results are already praiseworthy enough. Reorganize the troops, break camp—we're heading east!"
"Good! While Konoha's footing is still unstable, let's catch them off guard!"
"No, no need to be so hasty."
Jinghang smiled slightly.
Sasori looked puzzled.
"Kid, we need to step outside of war to understand war."
"Godfather, what do you mean?"
Sasori still looked completely confused.
Jinghang thought for a moment. This kid Sasori was quite perceptive and had the makings of a leader. It was time to give him a strategic lesson, so he decided to break it down thoroughly.
"What you said just now was correct. With our victories at Moon Lake and Lishi Fortress, we've indeed pulled Konoha down from the top position. The power structure of the ninja world has changed accordingly. So who's the new number one?"
Jinghang asked.
"That would naturally be us."
Sasori said confidently.
"But are we and Konoha the only ones in the ninja world?"
Jinghang laughed.
Sasori quickly grasped Jinghang's meaning and continued analyzing along his line of thought.
"Iwagakure isn't worth worrying about. We've been cutting them down hard over the years. Now not only is the Fourth Tsuchikage dead, but even their tailed beast has fled. Their strength is greatly diminished—they're not a concern for now."
Hearing Sasori's analysis, Jinghang nodded with satisfaction.
"Kirigakure is isolated overseas. For all these years, they've barely participated in any continental conflicts. Yagura Karatachi has a patient and resilient character, focusing on developing the village's strength. Moreover, Kirigakure has many bloodline limit users—their power can't be underestimated. If they stand against us now, they'll definitely be our formidable opponents."
"Mm."
Jinghang's expression grew even more satisfied.
"Then there's Kumogakure. Their strength goes without saying. Even after the Gyūki Incident, they can still match us blow for blow. Although they have a good relationship with us, Godfather, you've said that any problem must be examined through its surface to see its essence. In the face of absolute interests, so-called alliances are unreliable."
"Well said!"
Jinghang was extremely gratified. This was indeed Lord Liedou's seed—such rational thinking. Many things didn't need to be taught; one hint was enough.
"Godfather, I understand now. This position of ninja world hegemon is just an empty title. It can't feed you or make you money, and it's easy to become everyone's target. As long as you have absolutely overwhelming strength, you're the boss even if you're not officially the boss!"
"Hahaha!"
Jinghang threw back his head and laughed. Sunagakure would have nothing to worry about for at least three generations!
"Sasori, you missed one place."
Jinghang added.
"Where? Getsugakure?"
"Sigh, that old sixth wheel—all their experts were killed by our accountant. What future could they have? I'm talking about—Konoha."
"Ah?"
Sasori was extremely surprised. Hadn't Konoha been crippled by their attacks?
"A centipede doesn't die easily even when cut in half. After all, they've been hegemon for so many years—they won't fall that easily."
Jinghang carefully analyzed for Sasori.
"In terms of military strength, although Konoha has lost half their forces, the other half is still there. About three thousand escaped and returned, plus five thousand defending against Kumogakure on the southern route, and four thousand with Danzō at Amegakure on the northern route. That adds up to twelve thousand. If they really squeeze their war potential hard, gathering fifteen thousand ninja wouldn't be difficult.
"In terms of individual strength, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzō Shimura, Minato Namikaze, and other experts are still alive. If they marshal their full lineup for a death match with us, we might not have the advantage.
"And there's the most important point..."
"What?"
Sasori asked.
"Tailed beasts."
Jinghang said with a cold expression.
"Konoha currently possesses two tailed beasts—the Three-Tails and Nine-Tails. Setting aside the Three-Tails, just the Nine-Tails alone is enough to reverse the tide of battle."
There was no helping it—Kishimoto had designed the Nine-Tails to be too overpowered. It was like two people playing chess where you could rack your brains to checkmate your opponent, but they could just flip the board over.
"We have tailed beasts too—Master Fenpuku and Brother Hōichi..."
Hōichi was the dharma name of Han, the Five-Tails jinchūriki.
Jinghang waved his hand dismissively.
"Can't win, can't win. Besides, before I set out, I spoke with Master Fenpuku. He'll only act if Konoha uses tailed beasts to invade our village.
"Moreover, even setting aside the tailed beast issue, if we want to take down Konoha, we'll inevitably pay an enormous price. At that point, the ninja world won't be ours to command anymore."
Sasori fell into deep thought.
"So we... give up?"
"How could we!"
Jinghang sprang to his feet.
"After this great battle, how many of our people died! How much money did we spend! Who's going to reimburse these losses? We must pursue the fleeing enemy with our remaining courage!"
"Then..."
Sasori was completely confused.
"Fight, we definitely have to fight, but we need to master the right timing and rhythm."
"Timing? Rhythm?"
Sasori looked puzzled.
Jinghang smiled as he explained.
"I can only give you the general idea—the rest you'll have to understand yourself. Let me ask you: is Konoha's leadership a unified bloc?"
The Battle of Lishi Fortress was absolutely the turning point of the Third Great Ninja War. As the ninja world's number one village, Konoha not only lost eight thousand troops but also sacrificed veteran generals like Chikaze Akimichi, Shōchō Aburame, and Hinata Rōji. If this had happened to any other ninja village, they would have collapsed completely.
This war caused tremendous upheaval among all factions.
In the second week after the war ended, Iwagakure elder Kurotsuchi announced her succession as the Fifth Tsuchikage and issued a general mobilization order, though her specific intentions remained unclear.
Kirigakure, which had been quiet for a long time, also assembled large numbers of ninja and dispatched many to gather intelligence from all sides of the ninja world.
The most obvious movement came from Kumogakure—their forces at the Lightning-Fire border increased to ten thousand, and the Third Raikage himself arrived at the front lines.
"Kid, get ready for battle. If we're late, it'll all be Jinghang's glory! Hahaha!"
The Third Raikage A slapped Tsukigami Kōichi's shoulder and laughed wildly.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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