"The Land of Whirlpools is in a state of panic right now," Ashina said helplessly. "As for the major ninja villages... The Kumo ninjas and Kiri have already joined forces and assembled on an island east of the Land of Whirlpools. They could launch an attack at any mont. The total number of ninjas is about 3,000. Due to geographical distance, the ninjas of Suna and Iwa are still so distance away from the Land of Whirlpools."
"However, because Konoha refused their request to pass through its territory, Suna took a sea route. They've already reached the Land of Tea and are currently preparing."
"Iwa is passing through the Lands of Rain and Rivers and also plans to take the sea route to the Land of Tea to rendezvous with Suna. At that point, the two great villages will et in the Land of Tea, then travel together by sea again to the Land of Whirlpools. They're expected to land at the southwestern port of the Land of Whirlpools, though the exact location is unknown. Their total number is also around 3,000 ninjas."
"What about the other villages?" Shin continued to ask.
"The ninja villages of the Lands of Grass, Rain, Birds, and Waterfall have ford a coalition army, numbering around 2,000 ninjas, intending to take advantage of the chaos. A leads the coalition and contributes half of the troops. However, they don't want to confront the four major villages directly. According to intelligence, the major villages didn't want them involved to reap any benefits, this was entirely their own initiative."
"So they didn't take the direct route to the Land of Tea. Instead, they passed through the Lands of Iron, Sound, and Hot Water, then traveled south by sea. They're currently resting in the Land of Waves."
"Good grief." Shin was stunned by the movents of so many countries. "Aren't they exhausted?"
"Greed moves the heart," Ashina sighed. "The Land of Whirlpools has developed quite well over the years. On top of that, we often assist other countries with sealing techniques and have many cooperative ventures with Konoha, we've made a lot of profit. Konoha, as our closest ally, is already eyeing us hungrily. What about the other ninja villages? Getting stronger while weakening Konoha at the sa ti, this kind of opportunity doesn't co often."
After laying out the situation, Ashina couldn't help but throw so shade at Konoha.
Shin spoke, "But the biggest beneficiary is still Konoha. Being so close to the action, they'll be able to swoop in and snatch the fruits once the war reaches a fever pitch."
"Wishful thinking," Ashina said coldly. "All those countries just allowed passage? Especially the Land of Iron, hasn't it always claid neutrality? Sigh, attacking the Land of Whirlpools has beco a consensus in the shinobi world. Even the various daimyōs secretly support it. Anyone who doesn't cooperate now will beco a target, who dares be the outlier? Consider the countries that only granted passage lucky, they didn't send troops themselves."
Shin spoke, "They probably didn't have the troops to send anyway. All those countries together couldn't muster a few full squads of ninjas. Trying to profit off the war like the others? If they don't gain anything, fine. But if they do get sothing, it'll only bring them disaster. They're not that stupid."
"Hahaha! True!" Ashina laughed. "It's like everyone sees the Land of Whirlpools as a feast, each one wants a bite. None of them seem to have considered that they could lose this war."
"Probably no one has," Shin chuckled. "After all, they outnumber us nearly 3 to 1! And since they've co from afar and supply lines are difficult, they must have sent only their elite, aiming for a swift victory. I have so thoughts on this war."
"Speak freely!"
Over the next few hours, Shin, using the intelligence Ashina provided, proposed many constructive ideas regarding the upcoming war. After repeated discussions, the group settled on the war's tone and determined the final strategic direction.
Following this, as one command after another was issued by Ashina, the entire Uzushio entered a tense state of war preparation.
Three major preparations were made:
First was a scorched-earth policy, to deny the invading countries the ability to live off the land during war.
All citizens of the Land of Whirlpools were notified to imdiately organize their belongings.
They were instructed to deposit all their money in the bank, and then have the funds transported collectively by the Uzushio ninjas.
All other valuables were to be gathered and prepared for imdiate evacuation. Items that couldn't be taken were to be buried in secret locations. Once the order to evacuate was issued, everyone was to carry only light belongings and enough food, and gather at Uzushio under the escort of the ninja.
Temporary camps were already being set up outside Uzushio to accommodate the population during warti.
The Land of Whirlpools wasn't very large. Though such a migration was a massive undertaking, with ninja escorts, it wasn't impossible. As for assets that couldn't be taken, destroy them if they could be destroyed.
Any surplus food that couldn't be moved was to be poisoned and later destroyed after the war.
Secondly, he created many spiritual wood clones, which were so special type of clones, each equipped with sensory amplifiers. These clones were deployed to designated locations marked on the map and carefully concealed. At the sa ti, more scouts were continually dispatched to other countries to gather intelligence on the movents of the other hidden villages.
Third ca the deploynt of ninjas and the laying of traps.
Even before the war officially began, groups of ninjas had already departed, each carrying provisions, healing dicine, and equipnt. They were dispatched to key routes that the enemy villages would have to pass through, where they began laying traps in successive stages.
The ninjas were organized into groups of ten, with each group carrying a wireless communicator. Once the traps were set, they were to rest in place and await further orders.
Once the war broke out, these teams were tasked with using any ans, especially the traps, to delay and disrupt enemy advances, all without engaging in direct confrontation.
The early wave of trap-laying was ant exactly for this purpose.
The next step was to divide and weaken the allied shinobi forces.
The enemy's coalition of 8,000 ninjas, nearly triple the number in Uzushio, sounded intimidating on the surface.
But in Shin's view, it wasn't that big of a deal. This was already evident from the intelligence gathered.
The narrative and atmosphere surrounding the invasion of the Land of Whirlpools had been carefully built up over the years, with public opinion already saturated with the idea.
But the four great ninja villages had spent more than a year arguing, and after repeated communications, none of them was willing to make any concessions.
In reality, all four major villages wanted to act independently, after all, the bigger the prize, the better it would taste if eaten alone.
But they couldn't get past one major obstacle: Konoha.
To intimidate Konoha, they had to promote the idea of a "Shinobi World Coalition," everyone sending troops together. Even if Konoha didn't react, none of the villages would allow one of their own to swallow such a huge benefit alone. But since they decided to form a coalition, another problem erged, how would the spoils be divided after defeating the Land of Whirlpools?
So had suggested splitting the loot evenly. But in war, there are always losses. If one village suffered fewer losses, another would inevitably suffer more.
If the spoils were divided equally, the village with minimal losses would be happy, but the one with heavy casualties would never accept it. Major losses ant a weakened military force. That village would be forced to find ways to compensate and recover. Relations among the ninja villages had always been adversarial, anyone could go to war with another at any ti.
No village wanted to see its own strength diminish or another village grow stronger. After all, life would go on even after the Land of Whirlpools was destroyed. So proposed that the less-damaged villages should compensate those that suffered more.
But this brought another issue: How would losses be asured? And once asured, how should compensation be determined?
What if, after the war, a village hides half of its ninjas and claims massive casualties, demanding compensation? Would you pay it or not?
It could very well be extortion.
And similarly, aside from losses, there was the matter of contribution.
If one village contributed more, others would have contributed less. Why should those who contributed more receive the sa as those who did less?
If rewards were distributed based on rit, how would rit be asured?
Nothing but problems!
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