As Kurama watched his drama, only to have his peace abruptly shattered, Konoha's reinforcement unit had just reached the border between the Hot Water Country and the Land of Lightning.
"Judging from the enemy camp," Jiraiya said after hopping off his toad mount, gazing toward the distant temporary encampment, "they've got quite a large force."
Sakumo also studied the battlefield carefully, beginning his analysis of both sides' military balance. "They seem to have around five thousand troops. Even if we include the Yugakure shinobi, our total barely reaches two thousand. That makes it roughly two-to-one?"
"Uh, Sakumo, you could probably count Yugakure ninja as half a unit… or maybe even 0.3?" Jiraiya smoothly explained how the peaceful-loving shinobi of Yugakure were practically useless in battle.
Let's put it this way—you shouldn't expect any real help from them at all.
"That's strange," Tsunade, standing behind them, whispered suspiciously into Jiraiya's ear. "How come you know so much about Yugakure's combat abilities?"
Jiraiya, already evolved into the Pervy Sage, remained fearless as always. "Lord Third just assigned me lots of missions to the Hot Water Country. Let me tell you secretly—though their skills aren't great, they're actually quite cheerful people."
Like hell I'd believe that! It's only because there are hot springs there that Lord Third forced you onto those missions, isn't it?
"Tsunade," Jiraiya replied, "I told you—I've cleaned up my act already! If you don't believe me, ask Sakumo!"
Forced into the conversation, Sakumo glanced left and right before noticing Orochimaru who was already organizing the construction of a temporary base.
"Sorry guys, I need to go help Orochimaru."
As a sudden gust of wind swept past, Jiraiya and Tsunade exchanged glances before resuming their squabble.
Once he'd assigned everyone their tasks for setting up the camp, Orochimaru started poring over the terrain map.
The Hot Water Country was mostly flat land. No matter how defenses were arranged, enemies would always find gaps to exploit.
But the Land of Lightning was different—it was full of steep mountains and dangerous terrain. The defenders needed only wait calmly for the attackers.
"Orochimaru, what are you thinking about?" Seeing him lost in thought while staring at the map, Sakumo couldn't help but speak up to show he was paying attention.
Still deep in contemplation, Orochimaru turned his head slightly and answered calmly, "Considering how best to defend against Kumogakure's surprise attacks."
Hearing this, Sakumo also fell into thought.
Kumo had the advantage of flexible offense and retreat, while Konoha and Yugakure were limited to passive counterattacks.
He made a bold proposal: "What if we launched lightning-fast raids on the enemy camp and kept harassing them nonstop?"
"That could work. But doing so would turn this into a war of attrition." Orochimaru gave his opinion.
He then speculated on the enemy commander's mindset. "Kumogakure would undoubtedly prefer a swift resolution. That means our harassment units will have to be exceptionally strong."
Come to think of it, Sakumo suddenly remembered. "Didn't Lord Third propose an idea like this several years ago? Remember the special squad we secretly formed?"
This elite team had high-speed mobility, superior sensory skills, and each one could take on a hundred regular ninja on their own.
"Mobility and detection won't be a problem. However, their combat strength…"
"I understand."
Sakumo understood exactly what Orochimaru meant. With their current squad strength, there was absolutely no way they could retreat safely. Sending them out would be like sending them to their deaths.
"What are you two whispering about?" Tsunade walked in and, seeing the gloomy atmosphere between the two men, casually plopped herself onto the table.
Jiraiya followed right behind and, upon seeing her sitting directly on the map's section marking their faction's location, sat down on the area labeled for Kumogakure as well.
Hakuto, puzzled with question marks floating above his head, was just about to tell the two to move when he was startled by Orochimaru's sudden action.
"I've got an idea!" Orochimaru, his eyes gleaming strangely, extended his long tongue to lick his lips.
"We completely abandon our base and disperse all our ninja into small groups, continuously harassing Kumogakure in a sustained campaign!"
Hearing Orochimaru's plan made Sakumo's eyes light up. "So if the enemy commander doesn't send major reinforcements, their smaller units will end up surrounded by us instead? Actually, that's a pretty solid idea."
"Uh, we have cars and walkie-talkies, so passing messages should be faster than Kumogakure," Tsunade added, nearly slipping off the table.
"Hands off!" She smacked Jiraiya's wandering hands away, clearly signaling her disapproval.
Stung by the slap, Jiraiya quickly regained a serious expression. "We four are all commanders; we can also disperse the main force and each lead a small group to harass them."
Orochimaru and Sakumo both nodded in agreement.
Tsunade straightened herself back up, leaning sideways to point at the eastern part of the map. "I'll take this area. If Kumogakure tries to retreat, I can cut off their escape route."
"That jutsu—you've perfected it?" Orochimaru clearly knew exactly what gave her such confidence.
[Strength of a Hundred Technique], originally improved from the Yin Seal, first came into conception when Tsunade thought about how best to strengthen Nawaki.
By mastering finely controlled chakra, it could be stored within a specific area of the body and unleashed when needed—this was the core feature of [Strength of a Hundred Technique].
"Though I'm not entirely proficient yet," Tsunade assured them, "unlike Nawaki's wasteful attacks, my chakra usage is much more refined. With my level of control, there's no way I'd be foolish enough to run out of chakra after just a few attacks."
"Mmmhmm, I believe you," all three said together.
The trio vigorously nodded, inexplicably sensing a slight chill creeping up their spines.
After all, if one punch could send someone flying before, with the enhancement from [Strength of a Hundred Technique], she might kill someone outright.
In any case, Sakumo and Orochimaru exchanged glances filled with subtle sympathy toward Jiraiya.
Meanwhile, Jiraiya, who regarded himself as the Third Hokage's finest pupil, silently vowed never to meet an untimely death—he'd focus on staying alive and productive.
"Well then, I'll go issue some assignments outside." Saying that while walking away, he clearly couldn't wait another second to escape this place.
Orochimaru asked thoughtfully, "Tsunade, don't you think Jiraiya got the wrong idea? Shouldn't you go clear things up with him?"
A bright smile instantly spread across Tsunade's face. "Nope," she said cheerfully. "Actually, I hope he keeps misunderstanding forever."
Then she narrowed her eyes, smiling sweetly at Sakumo. "You won't say anything about this, right?"
"No, I won't—of course I wouldn't tell anyone." Sakumo replied respectfully, standing upright just like he always did at home.
"Don't worry. Whatever messed-up little things you and Jiraiya have going on, I won't tell Shi."
"Thank you for your generosity."
Orochimaru silently watched the domineering Tsunade and the overly-pleasing expression on Sakumo's face. Suddenly, he recalled a saying from Shen:
"All Konoha men become henpecked once married!"
He heartily agreed. He decided it was definitely best to never get married—if he ever did, he'd marry science itself!
Meanwhile, not far away, Jiraiya stared intently at his own hands, still shaken by what had just happened.
"What a close call! If I hadn't booked it outta there fast enough, that hag would've snapped both our arms."
Being true to his instincts, he assured himself it wasn't fear of Tsunade that made him flee—it was concern that if his hands were broken, he'd never finish writing his novels again.
Especially since he planned to turn the prophesied child of the giant toad into the main character of his next story.
"Hmm… What should I name the protagonist?" Gazing toward the distant mountains, Jiraiya grappled with the question.
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