The Land of Earth was vast, but much of its soil was barren. Most of the terrain was rocky, and truly fertile farmland was extrely scarce.
The majority of the landscape consisted of cliffs and crags. Under such conditions, if they wanted to fight a prolonged war, they were naturally far inferior to the fertile Land of Fire.
The Land of Fire had nearly 80% of its land suitable for cultivation, and its territory was the largest in the shinobi world. Its grain production was enviably high.
No matter how powerful ninja were—able to summon storms and split mountains—they were still human. And humans needed to eat.
That was where the importance of food beca obvious.
Throughout history, clans and later hidden villages had gravitated toward the Land of Fire because its soil was so fertile. Even without mineral wealth, its agriculture alone could support a massive population.
And when wars broke out in the shinobi world, in the end it often ca down to population.
Top-tier fighters could influence the overall situation, but unless soone reached the Super-Kage tier, numbers still mattered greatly. A larger population ant a higher chance of producing ninja.
Not everyone had ninja talent, but a bigger population base naturally increased the odds—both for ordinary ninja and prodigies. That was simple logic.
That was why, throughout history, so many geniuses ca from the Land of Fire. Its livable land attracted both great clans and civilians to migrate there.
The Land of Earth, by contrast, never held a population advantage. If not for the insider betrayal from Hiruzen Sarutobi, they wouldn't have dared to start this war so rashly.
And with coordination from the Kazekage, they finally found the courage to ignite the Second Shinobi War.
But tis had changed.
Even with Konoha's Hokage and several elite fighters still not deployed, the joint forces of Wind and Earth had failed to take Konoha.
Konoha had even found ti to deal with the Land of Rain on the side. The balance of this war was already tilting toward the Land of Fire.
If Arata appeared on the battlefield at this mont, Iwagakure's rash advance would suffer devastating losses.
At that point, even withdrawing safely from the Land of Rain would be difficult—let alone invading the Land of Fire.
Hearing Ōnoki's words, the Iwagakure leadership grew even more grim. Even the usually hot-headed Four-Tails jinchūriki Rōshi fell silent.
Before hearing Fujisaki's report, he still held a sliver of confidence about challenging Arata. But now he understood—against Arata, he might not even get the chance to attack.
Setting aside Arata's lightning-fast speed, just his peak Super-Kage strength already dwarfed him. Rōshi had assud Arata was rely early Super-Kage; now it was clear he was at the peak.
That wasn't soone he could contend with. In fact, no one in the history of the Land of Earth had ever matched such a level.
Even the First Tsuchikage, who founded Iwagakure during the Warring States, had only reached early Super-Kage. Surpassing even that was a lifelong dream—let alone peak Super-Kage.
Such a level could only be admired from afar.
If even he thought so, the calr Five-Tails jinchūriki Han understood the danger even more clearly. If Iwagakure truly faced Arata, he wasn't sure they could even escape.
Yes—he wasn't thinking about defeating Arata anymore. He was wondering if they could survive and flee the Land of Rain.
Months ago, when the Second Shinobi War began, Arata had already been classified as Super-Kage level. Back then he had defeated an entire army from the Land of Lightning.
He had fought two jinchūriki and the powerful Third Raikage simultaneously, seriously injuring the Raikage and killing an Eight-Tails. Now it seed that intelligence was completely accurate.
Iwagakure, by contrast, only had two jinchūriki and Ōnoki—who was still slightly inferior to the Third Raikage.
Clashing head-on with Arata would be utterly reckless. So the real discussion wasn't how to fight -but how to retreat.
Han even judged that his own strength might match the Eight-Tails, but that jinchūriki had been sickly and could barely use half its power. As for Rōshi, he was probably only comparable to the Two-Tails.
Under those conditions, Iwagakure might not even perform as well as the Land of Lightning had.
And the Land of Lightning had possessed a ten-thousand-man force. Iwagakure had only around eight thousand, already worn down by months of fighting.
Seeing no one speak after a long silence, Han finally stood.
"We should retreat imdiately. Konoha is likely to win this war. Continuing will only increase casualties—and our main force could be wiped out."
Han voiced the worst-case scenario outright. The atmosphere instantly darkened.
Many present didn't truly grasp what "peak Super-Kage" ant. They just thought it ant a very strong shinobi.
Only true Kage-level fighters understood that the gap between Kage and Super-Kage was like heaven and earth.
To elite jōnin, even the gap between Kage and peak Kage was enormous, so they couldn't accurately imagine the difference. Otherwise, in the original tiline, so many jōnin wouldn't have dared provoke Madara during the Fourth Shinobi War.
So Iwagakure leaders were ready to object, but Ōnoki, seated at the head, looked at Han with new appreciation.
Han wasn't his direct subordinate, but he had always been respectful. He was calm, reliable, and strong—far more dependable than Rōshi.
Han's proposal also aligned perfectly with Ōnoki's own thinking. Iwagakure absolutely could not continue fighting.
Since soone had voiced the plan he wanted, Ōnoki stopped pretending to deliberate and spoke imdiately:
"Very well. We follow Han's suggestion. All Iwagakure forces will withdraw at once—return to the Land of Earth!"
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