The Land of Earth's daimyo was silent for a mont, but in the end, he nodded too.
"One month."
The Wind Daimyo closed his eyes, tapped his fingertips lightly on the table, and finally answered in a low voice as well.
"Fine. One month."
When those words landed, sothing in the tent finally seed to press down the chaos, however barely.
Heidan looked at the map on the table, his voice not loud.
"Since it's decided, stop arguing."
"Who replenishes warehouses, who reallocates troops, who distributes rations—list it all before tonight. Start moving first thing tomorrow morning."
The Lightning Daimyo looked at him with a complicated expression.
"Heidan, if not for you this ti—"
Heidan raised a hand and cut him off, as if he had no interest in polite words.
"I just don't want this crowd starving itself apart before it even enters the Land of Fire."
The Wind Country frontline commander asked quietly, "Then what about Konoha…"
Heidan lifted his eyes, his gaze cold as unlted frost in the night.
"They'll co again."
Everyone in the tent looked at him at the sa ti.
Heidan's voice remained steady.
"Last night's strike wasn't ant to win. It was ant to delay us. If delaying works, they'll keep delaying."
The Lightning Daimyo's brow sank. "Then we—"
"Wait," Heidan said. "Wait for their next move. Or rather, wait for the mont they think we've been forced to stabilize."
The Land of Earth's old minister swallowed. "You're planning an ambush?"
Heidan didn't answer directly. He rely began slowly rolling up the supply map at the edge of the table.
"Scatter the warehouse points. Build fake ones too. Mix real warehouses with false ones. Mix light units with heavy ones. Let the open routes and hidden routes move together. If they want to probe, let them probe. Once they probe their way in, they don't get to retreat intact."
No one in the tent spoke again.
Wind swept in from outside, making the lamplight tremble slightly.
Heidan stood, the hem of his cloak brushing the table corner. He paused for a mont, then added lightly,
"But before that, control your own people first."
"If I hear anyone causing trouble in camp over a few bags of grain again, Konoha won't need to act. I'll deal with them myself."
With that, he turned and left the tent.
The curtain fell, and the sound of wind outside beca much clearer.
The tent remained quiet for a while before the Lightning Daimyo slowly spoke.
"He hasn't changed."
The Wind Daimyo said quietly, "At least right now, he's the only one who can keep the people below under control."
The Earth Daimyo didn't respond. He rely stared darkly at the order paper on the table, where the new schedule had been fixed.
One month.
Last night's fire hadn't burned them apart, but it really had forced them to stop for a full month.
anwhile, on Konoha's side, when night fell again, the lights at the testing ground were still on.
The second round of small-scale test explosions had ended. Several new pits had appeared on the ground, and the stack of record sheets had grown thick. So people were still arguing over wire thickness, so were testing the deformation of different base materials after heating, and others had already begun designing smaller Chain Explosive Tags more suitable for field burial.
Shizune was crouched to the side reading through the records when she suddenly heard soone hurrying over from a distance.
It was soone from the intelligence division.
"Lord Chizumi."
Chizumi was standing at the edge of the testing field, watching the researchers recalibrate the lines. Hearing the voice, he turned.
"Speak."
The man handed over an urgent report that had just been copied, lowering his voice.
"The allied forces have set a new date."
Shikamaru, who had been leaning against a wooden post dozing, imdiately opened his eyes.
"That fast?"
Chizumi took the paper and only glanced over it.
"One month from now."
Shizune straightened at once.
"You really called it."
Kakashi stood beside them and closed his book.
"And they didn't break apart."
"They won't," Chizumi said, passing the paper to another recording ninja sent by Tsunade. "The three daimyo can't bear to disband, and the people below haven't reached their true breaking point yet. Last night only hurt them. It didn't kill them."
Sitting on a wooden crate, Kiba clicked his tongue.
"They got hurt and they're still coming?"
Shikamaru looked at him.
"The more it hurts, the more they'll co. If soone slapped you in front of a crowd, would you just let it go?"
Kiba thought about it.
"No."
"There you go."
Neji looked at the intelligence paper, his brows slightly furrowed.
"Soone stabilized them."
It wasn't a question.
Chizumi nodded.
"Yeah."
"Who?"
"We don't know his full na yet. We only know he's soone all three sides tacitly allow to intervene in overall coordination," Chizumi said. "The report ntions that after last night, the allied forces nearly fell apart internally over resource distribution. He was the one who suppressed it."
Kakashi said slowly, "Soone who can suppress the three nations and those smaller countries at the sa ti… not simple."
Tenzō asked quietly, "Then what do we do next? Keep hitting their warehouses, or wait until they finish reorganizing?"
Chizumi looked at the newly completed test piece inside the barrier and paused for a mont.
"We won't rush to strike again."
Kiba froze. "Huh?"
Shikamaru caught on first.
"Because now they know we're going to move."
"Correct," Chizumi said. "If we go now, we'll only run into them when they're most alert."
Shizune let out a soft breath.
"At least that ans you're not leaving again imdiately."
Kiba muttered under his breath, "I thought we weren't getting sleep tonight again…"
Chizumi ignored him and continued, "Over the next month, they'll restructure warehouse points, rearrange supply lines, redistribute internal resources, create false warehouses, add sensory lines, and spread tracking teams. Then we'll use this month to prepare everything we need."
Kakashi looked at him. "Including this?"
He pointed toward the new Chain Explosive Tags over there.
"Including this."
Chizumi said, "When they co again in one month, it won't be as simple as just making them stop."
The wind passed through the testing ground at night, carrying a mixed scent of gunpowder and inked sealing lines.
Not far away, a researcher suddenly raised his head and shouted,
"The third version of the mini loop has been modified! Soone co confirm the relay line!"
The old man from the sealing team imdiately answered, "Don't rush, I'm coming!"
Shizune looked at the busy testing ground, then at the intelligence paper in her hand that said "advance again in one month," and murmured,
"Looks like no one is going to have an easy month."
Shikamaru leaned back and let out a long sigh.
"I knew it."
Kiba jumped down from the wooden crate and grinned as he loosened his wrists.
"Then bring it on."
Neji said nothing. His gaze quietly fell on the chakra threads in the middle of the testing ground—so thin they were almost invisible.
Chizumi stood in the night wind, his expression calm, but his eyes gradually cooled.
"Let them co," he said.
The night was already deep.
But the lights in the Hokage building were still on.
When the intelligence division mber pushed the door open, his steps were more urgent than usual, and the doorfra was even bumped lightly. Almost everyone in the room looked up at once. The pen in Tsunade's hand still hung in midair. Shizune was lowering her head to sort out the latest round of experint records. Kakashi leaned by the window, his book half-open. Shikamaru lay sprawled on the other side of the long table, looking as if he had just been dragged in not long ago, the sleepiness under his eyes not yet fully gone.
Chizumi sat near the map, with two border maps and a newly marked supply distribution sheet spread out in front of him. He didn't move, rely lifted his eyes.
"Speak."
The intelligence ninja was still breathing a little fast.
"Northwest border, Bamboo Village."
The room fell silent for an instant.
Shikamaru's eyelids lifted, and a third of his sleepiness disappeared first. "Bamboo Village?"
Tsunade had already reached out and pulled over the general border map, her gaze sweeping rapidly across it.
"Details."
The intelligence ninja imdiately said, "In the allied forces' latest forward-movent discussion, soone proposed not rushing to press the main line directly. Instead, they want to first take several villages slightly inside the border that have suitable positions as footholds. Bamboo Village is ranked first among them."
Shizune paused. "Why Bamboo Village?"
The man handed over another copied brief.
"It isn't at the very front of the border, but the terrain is good. There's a gentle slope to the east, a forest belt to the west, a fairly wide dirt road in front of the village, and two low hills behind it where troops can be hidden. A little farther south is a group of small paths leading toward the interior of the Land of Fire. Soone on the allied side said that as long as they hold Bamboo Village, even if they don't use it as a formal camp, it can serve as a first-layer transit point and temporary foothold."
Tsunade's gaze darkened.
"They want to nail this place in and slowly wedge their way deeper."
"Yes."
Kakashi straightened slightly from the window. "Who suggested it?"
"The intelligence didn't catch the na, but from the tone, it wasn't one of the daimyo. It sounded more like a practical military type. Also," the intelligence ninja paused, "they know internally that Bamboo Village may have problems."
Shikamaru gave a cold laugh. "Of course. Given the current situation, if Konoha had no reaction to a point like that, they'd be the ones who should find it strange."
"Yes," the intelligence ninja continued. "But they still intend to touch that place first. The reason is also very straightforward—even if there's a problem, they can't avoid it. Its position is too suitable."
The room fell silent again.
Shizune subconsciously looked toward Chizumi.
Chizumi's expression didn't change much. His finger rely tapped lightly on the edge of the map.
"How long?"
"If they follow their currently rearranged speed, the advance scouting team may reach the outside of Bamboo Village in about seven to ten days."
Tsunade snapped her head up. "That fast?"
"Although they fixed the overall advance ti at one month from now, preliminary probing of bridgehead points will happen earlier," the intelligence ninja said quietly. "Probe first, observe first, plant a stake first. The real main force follows in one month."
Shikamaru pulled the map closer, his gaze landing on that tiny village na.
"Now that sounds more like it."
Shizune frowned. "What sounds more like it?"
"It ans they're not just stacking people mindlessly anymore. Their brains are starting to turn," Shikamaru said. "A place like Bamboo Village is annoying if they take it, even if they can't hold it for long. It isn't as conspicuous as a large town, and it isn't as easy to take back as a border outpost. If their advance troops get in, the lines behind them can slowly start leaning toward it."
Kakashi looked at the map, his voice lowering too.
"And once the village falls into the allied forces' hands, in na it becos an 'occupied point inside the Land of Fire.' For their morale and for outside opinion, that becos a layer of buffer."
Tsunade's expression grew colder.
"So they really are treating the Land of Fire like their own backyard."
Chizumi finally spoke. "How many people are in Bamboo Village right now?"
Shizune flipped through the materials.
"Over a hundred permanent households, fewer than five hundred people. Most are villagers who grow dicinal herbs, grain, and provide rest stops for passing rchant caravans. There are also so woodcutters and people who make rough dicinal powders. The village isn't large, but the houses are densely packed."
As she said that, she suddenly realized sothing and looked up at Chizumi.
"You're not going to—"
Chizumi had already stood.
"Get Bamboo Village's household registers from the last three years, trade routes, granaries, wells, foundation distribution, and building structure diagrams."
Shizune opened her mouth. "Now?"
"Now."
Tsunade stared at him. "What are you planning?"
Chizumi lifted his eyes to her, his tone so calm it almost sounded like a matter of course.
"Move the villagers out first."
When Shikamaru heard that, his brow shifted slightly.
"And then?"
"Then leave the village to them."
Shizune's heart jumped. "Leave it to them?"
Chizumi walked over to the large map and placed his fingertip on Bamboo Village's location.
"They want to use Bamboo Village as a bridgehead, don't they? Then let them enter."
Tsunade narrowed her eyes. "An empty village?"
"An empty village."
"They'll see through it."
"They will," Chizumi said. "But even if they see through it, they'll still have to go in."
Kakashi's eye curved slightly, as if he understood a step ahead.
"An open sche."
Chizumi gave a quiet hum.
Almost everyone in the room fell silent for a mont at the sa ti.
Shikamaru leaned back in his chair and slowly exhaled.
"That's troubleso."
Shizune instinctively asked, "Why is it called an open sche?"
Shikamaru glanced at her and, unusually, didn't act too lazy to explain.
"Because even if the other side knows it's a trap, they still can't avoid it."
He reached out and tapped the map.
"Bamboo Village's position is too convenient for them. Forward supply teams, scouting teams, temporary garrisons, wounded withdrawal, supply movent—it can serve all of that. If they leave it alone, they know advancing later will be uncomfortable. But if they go in… then they have to gamble on just how much Konoha buried there."
Shizune's expression shifted. "Then could they simply burn the village down?"
"They won't burn it first," Chizumi said.
"Why?"
"Because they still want to use it."
Chizumi's finger moved, tracing the small paths south of Bamboo Village. "The aning of a bridgehead isn't just occupying land. They also need existing houses, wells, walls, roads, and cover. If they burn it right away, they destroy half of what they could use. Unless they're certain the village is completely unusable, they won't start by burning it."
Kakashi added, "And even if they really do burn it, that doesn't stop a vanguard team from entering first."
Shikamaru nodded. "Exactly. Pathfinder teams, well inspectors, house search teams, point-occupying teams, trap-clearing teams—so part of them has to go in no matter what."
Tsunade crossed her arms, staring at Chizumi.
"What do you intend to bury?"
Chizumi was silent for half a second.
"Remote-detonation talismans and explosives."
Shizune imdiately looked up. "Explosives?"
It wasn't that the ninja world lacked such things, but compared to the commonly used explosive tags, explosives were bulkier and easier to lose control of. They were usually used in mines, rock collapses, tunnel sealing, or a few rare large-scale demolitions. Konoha did have stockpiles, but they rarely used them to set up places like villages.
Tsunade's expression darkened. "You're not talking about ordinary stacked explosive tags."
"No."
"What kind of power?"
"Greater than explosive tags."
The clipboard in Shizune's hands almost slipped. "Chizumi, you—"
"Let him finish," Tsunade said heavily.
Chizumi tapped around Bamboo Village.
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