"...Konoha has already taken action."

In the conference room, Shiraishi casually pulled out a fortress belonging to his side in the eastern region of the Bear Country on the military sand table.

There are a total of 1,400 ninjas stationed in the Bear Country, stationed in five militarized fortresses.

One in the southwest, two in the east, one in the north, and one in the northeast.

This time Konoha attacked the most peripheral military fortress in the east. In other words, there was only one military fortress placed in the east.

But the military fortress in the northeast is very close to the east and has sufficient troops. If Konoha wants to continue to penetrate deeper into the country of bears, it must consider uprooting this fortress in the northeast. Otherwise, at a critical moment, this will become

A sharp thorn that pierced the rear of Konoha's troops.

Therefore, if Konoha wants to take action next, it will most likely be to attack the military fortress in the northeast, forming a horn with each other, and by the way opening up the connection with the Iwagakure troops, so that the areas where the two ninja troops are located will form a joint trend.

"Next, it was Iwagakure and Sunagakure's turn. According to reports from the security forces of Langye City in the Country of Bears, multiple sections of the railway track located on the outskirts of their city were blown up in the morning, causing extensive damage.

The rails may have been damaged to some extent...it will take some time to completely repair them."

Liuli crossed her hands on her chest and stared at the military sand table with black and white pupils indifferently.

Langye City is an important resource city in the Bear Country. It has rich mountains and forests and a large amount of mineral resources. It is located in the north of the central part of the Bear Country. It has always been an important hub connecting the four sides of the Bear Country.

"Iwagakure's demolition force? A little more capable than expected. But it doesn't matter, Ayane has passed, and Iwagakure won't have much time to deal with Konoha. Sunagakure also has arrangements, so Konoha

... Just let the 'Thorns' team become an obstacle on their way forward. Speaking of which, they should be halfway there by now, right?"

Shiraishi held a model flag with asters printed on it and played with it with an interesting look on his face.

"Hmph, is that the vanguard unit you formed that imitated the White Fang team we used to belong to?"

Liuli snorted softly, then leaned against the wall, closed her eyes, and pulled a smile from the corner of her mouth.

"There is nothing wrong with this. After spending so much energy, I also want to see if the actual combat effectiveness of this unit is worthy of our investment over the years. But I think that the ninjas from the military of the Kingdom of Ghosts have gathered together

The jounin elite, led by our daughter, will definitely be able to overcome all obstacles on the battlefield this time and overcome all difficulties!"

After saying that, a sharp light flashed in Bai Shi's eyes.

He threw the model flag in his hand onto the sandy terrain in the eastern part of the Bear Country without hesitation, and stuck it in the center of the Konoha camp, like a sharp blade about to pierce into the heart of Konoha.

The word "Thorn" is clearly engraved on the model flag.

"Before ringing the death knell of Mt. Myouki, let's use this to warm up the atmosphere."

◎

Konoha, one o'clock in the afternoon.

In the lounge of the Hokage Building, there were only Tsunade, Koharu and Mito Monobu who were transferred to the advisory board.

Compared to the sitting postures of the two consultants, Tsunade's sitting posture seemed a bit casual. She was holding a bottle of wine in her hand and looking at the gray sky outside the window, not knowing what she was thinking.

.

The war has begun.

No matter how reluctant he is, this matter is already an indisputable fact.

However, Tsunade has no idea how big this war will be and how it will end.

"Judging from the current situation, it should be considered smooth. The vanguard has successfully broken through a stronghold in the Kingdom of Demons. Next, we only need to open up the fortress stronghold in the northeast to connect with Iwagakure."

Over there, consultant Xiaochun was expressing his opinions.

"No, I think there's a big problem here."

Tsunade turned her gaze back and glanced at the information on the battle situation on the front line that she had read countless times on the table, her brows furrowed.

"Break a fortress with less than 300 ninja troops, and invested more than 1,500 ninja troops. It was difficult to conquer with one-third of the casualties, and in the end, people were able to successfully retreat... Regardless of both sides.

There is a world of difference in their fighting will, just their combat effectiveness and equipment, and their ability to act during wartime."

Tsunade bit her finger. Even though she knew that the strength of the Demon Country was not simple, but after a real fight, she realized that some things were even more exaggerated in actual operation than the data compared on paper.

"However, we Konoha, as the attacking party, can fully bear this loss."

Xiaochun replied after going to bed.

"So, what are the casualties of the defending side, Demon Country?"

Tsunade asked this question.

After going to bed, Xiaochun was speechless.

Because the report stated that no corpses of Oni Country ninjas were found on the battlefield.

Of course, the probability of zero death is a bit nonsense. After sleeping, Koharu believed that the bodies of those dead ninjas from the Demon Country were conveniently taken away by their companions, so it seemed to create the illusion of zero death.

After all, according to feedback from many Jounin of Konoha, when they successfully scaled the high wall of the fortress and fought against the Jonin of the Kingdom of Demons, they broke the chakra armors of many Jonin of the Kingdom of Demons, and even captured their weapons.

Weapons inside, and severely damaged these Jōnin from the Kingdom of Demons.

Logically speaking, it is difficult to predict the death toll in the Kingdom of Demons, but based on the oral accounts of the Konoha Jonin, there are probably quite a few people with minor injuries and serious injuries.

Just because no body was found does not mean that the Kingdom of Ghosts has no losses.

"The problem arises here. As the defender of the Ghost Country, even if there are not zero deaths, the number of fatalities must be pitifully low... And the casualties of our assault troops are close to one-third. If the opponent is defending

If we fight to the death without retreating, although we can achieve total annihilation, the assault force will most likely suffer heavy casualties. There are only four such strongholds left in the Bear Country."

Tsunade's voice was low.

When they went to bed, Koharu and Mito Kabuto looked at each other in confusion.

Apparently they also noticed this problem.

"Konoha, no, today's great ninja village, attaches too much importance to the number of ninjas. It is true that the number of ninjas in Konoha now exceeds 20,000, and the overall strength has surpassed Konoha in the Third Ninja War.

, but in terms of elites, the work arrangements are very poor. The more powerful the ninjas are, they can basically ignore the numerical gap until the opponent's strength has not reached a certain level."

In other words, Konoha's current ninja army has the inherent disadvantage of being bloated.

These shortcomings can be changed, given time.

But time is now being used to invest in war. Although war will quickly make ninjas stronger, when the number of sacrifices exceeds what Konoha can bear, then the idea of ​​relying on war for training will ultimately be counterproductive.

Because the opponent is very cruel and powerful, once they fight, after seeing the weakness of Konoha, they will not give Konoha enough room to develop, but will quickly annihilate Konoha's vitality.

The Kingdom of Ghosts has the strong confidence to do so.

This is also one of the main reasons why Tsunade does not want to fight this war. Not only does she approve of Shiraishi's approach... but also because once the two sides fight, Konoha's current shortcomings will be infinitely magnified.

The performance in the assault battle made Tsunade even more certain of this.

Today's Konoha ninjas are organizationally bloated and have no time to accumulate their own strength.

In Tsunade's view, what Konoha needs most now is not war, but to stop expanding the scale of ninjas, change from quantity to quality, and fundamentally strengthen Konoha.

After all, the military expenses to maintain 20,000 ninjas are already very heavy for Konoha.

"How long has it been since you two went out to see the outside world?"

Tsunade looked sharply at Koharu and Mito Monobu who were sleeping.

These words left the two consultants speechless. They wanted to open their mouths to explain something, but found that nothing could be said.

How long has it been since you took a look at the outside world?

This question, combined with the current information, instantly put a layer of shame on their faces.

Data cannot fool anyone.

As Tsunade said, Konoha's ninja troops have serious problems now.

"So, how will the next battle proceed? Do we need to change our strategy?"

Mito Monoyan sighed.

Wandering in the beautiful fantasy of Konoha in this era, the results shown by the assault force now, after Tsunade said this, made him feel uncomfortable.

But the war has begun, and even if we know these shortcomings, it will be difficult to escape.

"Right now, we can only try our best and adjust our strategies in time by observing the actions of the Kingdom of Ghosts. Other than that, there is no better way." Tsunade put down the wine bottle in her hand, stood up from the sofa, and walked away

He went to the window and looked at the heavy snowflakes falling outside, "But that's not what I'm most worried about right now."

The two advisors looked around, confused as to what Tsunade meant.

"After reading this information, what worries me the most now is that it is not one of the three of them who is responsible for attacking Jiraiya in the Kingdom of Demons. In other words, the three of them do not need to personally deal with Jiraiya.

The extent of the attack. If this is the case, the situation on our side will be very passive."

After Tsunade finished speaking, she remained silent.

"How is it possible? Jiraiya is also one of the three ninjas of Konoha, and he is a ninja who has learned the magic of Mt. Myoboku!"

After turning to bed, Koharu looked at Tsunade in disbelief.

"Who knows about this kind of thing? After all, we have no idea what kind of strategy the Kingdom of Ghosts will adopt in response to this assault..."

Tsunade took a deep breath, and the worried look on her face was reflected on the glass of the window.

◎
To be continued...