By the time Kyuushin pushed open the doors of the medical camp, night had already fallen.
Kyuushin touched his rumbling stomach and thought of the sliced lamb hotpot Jiraiya had mentioned that morning, which made his mouth water. After asking several shinobi, Kyuushin finally found Jiraiya by a campfire.
However, when he got closer, he saw not only Jiraiya but also Orochimaru and two other shinobi he didn't recognize sitting together.
Just as he was considering whether to approach and disturb them, Orochimaru noticed him first and said,
"Kyuushin, come here."
Since he had been discovered, Kyuushin sat down openly beside Jiraiya. Jiraiya directly handed him a lamb leg and said,
"Sliced lamb hotpot is too much trouble. Roasting it like this is much more convenient."
Kyuushin took it, but his gaze turned to the other two shinobi. One had a full head of silver hair; despite not being very old, his face showed a sense of vicissitude.
The other, from his hairstyle to his demeanor, reminded him of a larger version of Shikaku.
Kyuushin's heart stirred, and he roughly knew their identities.
Orochimaru, seeing Kyuushin's gaze, smiled and introduced them:
"I presume you've already guessed the identities of these two. This is Lord Sakumo Hatake, the overall commander of this war, and this is Lord Shikaku Nara, our strategist and advisor."
"Greetings, Lord Sakumo, greetings, Lord Shikaku!"
It was just as he expected. However, he was still holding a lamb leg, so he could only offer an awkward bow to them.
Sakumo Hatake nodded at him without speaking, while Shikaku Nara said,
"My son has mentioned you many times before, saying that you are not only comparable to him in wisdom but far surpass him in strength. I've always been curious, and seeing you today, you are indeed a young prodigy."
"I don't dare accept Lord Shikaku's praise. Shikaku was just joking; please don't take it to heart."
Kyuushin humbly declined. This Shikaku was somewhat different from his son; he seemed very smooth in his dealings, and his words were very endearing. Perhaps this was also a form of wisdom.
After some pleasantries, Orochimaru said,
"We were just discussing how to deal with the current Sunagakure attacks. Kyuushin, what are your thoughts?"
As soon as Orochimaru said this, Sakumo Hatake immediately looked at him with a strange expression, and Shikaku also glanced at him. In response, Orochimaru smiled and said,
"Don't mind that Kyuushin is relatively young, but in terms of strategy, he doesn't act his age. Previously in the Land of Rain, he was the first to see through Hanzo's plan, which allowed us to gain an advantage."
Shikaku was truly surprised at this point. Most of what he had said about Kyuushin earlier was merely praise. Although Shikaku had told him that Kyuushin was no less wise than him, he had only taken it as an exaggeration.
But he didn't expect even someone as proud as Orochimaru to say so. He naturally knew about what happened in the Land of Rain previously. If he were in that situation, he might not have been able to make such precise judgments immediately.
He had previously assumed it was Orochimaru's strategy, unaware that Kyuushin was the first to see through Hanzo's scheme.
"Sensei Orochimaru, you flatter me too much. That time was just good luck; it's really not to be taken seriously."
Kyuushin hadn't expected Orochimaru to say that. Seeing Sakumo Hatake and Shikaku Nara both looking at him, he could only humbly repeat his words.
Unexpectedly, Jiraiya clapped him heavily on the shoulder, startling Kyuushin, who then heard him say,
"Stop dawdling, kid. If you keep being humble, the sun will rise."
Seeing everyone's eyes on him, Kyuushin couldn't help but feel a bit helpless. The previous incident in the Land of Rain was purely him deducing the conclusion based on the original storyline.
Now that he had just arrived at the camp, he was completely in the dark, knowing no intelligence. How was he supposed to speak?
"Alright, Sensei Orochimaru, can you tell me the current specific situation?"
Seeing that he couldn't refuse, Kyuushin decided to first understand the specific situation. Orochimaru nodded and then explained the current specific circumstances of both sides.
As Orochimaru spoke, Kyuushin understood the current situation, which was largely similar to what Jiraiya had told him before.
Sunagakure was sending a large number of small squads into Konoha's territory, constantly intercepting Konoha's reinforcements, patrol personnel, and those venturing out.
This guerrilla tactic of breaking down into small, dispersed units was indeed difficult for Konoha to defend against, as Konoha's forces were generally at a disadvantage.
Konoha's only advantage lay in large-scale army operations; their overall numbers were fewer, but their combat strength was stronger. Sunagakure, on the other hand, was the opposite: a large overall population, but their combined combat strength was not higher than Konoha's.
Instead, these small squad attacks were quite effective. Although Konoha's individual shinobi capabilities were strong, they had not undergone a qualitative change. The Sunagakure shinobi, relying on poison, could also make Konoha shinobi hesitant to act.
After understanding the general situation, Kyuushin fell into contemplation and then asked,
"Since they are breaking into smaller units, their main camp must be empty. Can't we directly launch a full-scale attack and break through their camp?"
But Shikaku shook his head at this and said,
"Both sides have not yet officially declared war. Initiating a large-scale attack would be giving the other side an excuse to start a war. The village wants Sunagakure to attack first so that Konoha can have the advantage in public opinion.
Secondly, even if we could break through the Sunagakure camp, it would be useless if we couldn't inflict significant casualties on the enemy's main force. If we were to invade the Land of Wind, the terrain there would also be quite disadvantageous for us."
Kyuushin scoffed at the first reason. It was war now; what did public opinion matter? This war was originally provoked by Sunagakure.
However, the second reason was very valid. As long as Konoha shinobi did not invade Sunagakure, it was acceptable for Sunagakure even if Konoha entered the Land of Wind.
And with Konoha's current frontline forces, directly invading Sunagakure was highly unlikely; they might even fall into Sunagakure's heavy encirclement.
Konoha was currently like a large turtle facing numerous ants. These ants would bite it daily, accumulating small injuries until they eventually killed it.
When the turtle tried to retaliate, they would immediately scatter. Even if they suffered some losses, it wouldn't matter. When the turtle stopped moving, they would come to bite it again.
This cycle continued, constantly weakening Konoha. This was the predicament Konoha currently faced.
***