Konoha Notes

Chapter 239 The Battle Temporarily Ended
Onoki was unsure whether he should be happy or not.

Rasa finally took action. He immediately placed both Jinchūriki at the border, especially Rōshi, to stop him from arguing with him all the time.

The Tsuchikage had originally planned that as long as Tsuchikage and his Jinchuriki made a show of themselves at the border, Konoha wouldn't dare to send a large force to the Land of Rivers. And that's exactly what happened. First, the retired Hiruzen Sarutobi personally took charge, and then even Jiraiya appeared. With that, how many top-tier fighters could Konoha still commit to the front lines in the Land of Rivers?
Even if the Hidden Cloud Village remains peaceful, Tsunade wouldn't dare to make any rash moves at this point; she has to stay in Konoha to oversee things.

Logically speaking, with Rasa having the help of the Sky Ninja and Konoha's main force being tied down, the war in the Land of Rivers should have been a protracted war of attrition, lasting for a year or two without being surprising.

I don't even have to lift a finger here. The Western Ninja Tournament is still going on, making money and watching my neighbors fight to the death. It's such a wonderful thing.

But he didn't quite understand how Luo Sha could be so abstract.

In less than half a month, how could Sunagakure, with its formidable Sky Ninja, have been defeated so quickly and so thoroughly? The first line of defense collapsed rapidly, and now even the second line of defense is on the verge of collapse. It looks like Konoha is about to push them back to their homeland, the Land of Wind.

Rasa, how did you lead Sunagakure to defeat that brute Third Raikage back then?

However, regardless of the circumstances, the war had begun, and Konoha's rapid development had indeed been interrupted. In retrospect, Rasa... could be considered to have played a role to some extent.

“Shuji…” Onoki murmured the name, but involuntarily another blond boy he had thrown out of the village to reflect on his actions came to mind.

"Bring Deidara back," he ordered.

Another yellow flash appeared, Konoha.
-
In the central part of the land of rivers, in the valley of rivers.

When Xiu Si last came, this area was still in the wild; now it's a military zone.

The Sand Village insignia that once fluttered above the camp now belonged to a different person. Konoha ninjas moved about, clearing away traces of the battle, rearranging the camp layout, and constructing a defensive system for Konoha.

Nara Shikaku stood on the newly built observation platform, looking down at the bustling scene below.

"The retreat was quite decisive, Lord Kazekage."

"The Sand Village is collecting grain very quickly. Teams of ninja are going down to the villages with gold to collect it." Shuji finished his reconnaissance of the area around the camp, "completely disregarding the exhaustion and the risk of being intercepted by our team."

“After all,” Shikaku pointed to the sky, “their eyes are back.”

As if to confirm his words, a familiar voice came from the horizon.

Several black dots appeared in the sky, gradually growing larger. They were still standard-issue aircraft of the air ninja, but upon closer inspection, some differences could be observed.

The paint scheme of these aircraft has been slightly modified, and the pilots' movements are somewhat stiff, not as agile and free as the original group of air ninjas.

Both people in the observation tower knew the reason.

These are no longer the original Sky Ninjas, but Sand Ninjas who have changed into Sky Ninja equipment.

A few days ago, a Sunagakure pilot with inadequate skills flew too low and was shot down by Konoha ninjas. From the prisoners' intelligence, it was learned that Sunagakure was urgently training its aerial forces, attempting to assimilate the aerial ninja's techniques.

These Sand Village ninjas, now equipped with aerial ninja gear, didn't intend to do anything particularly difficult. They simply observed the situation from the air, occasionally dropping a bomb wherever it landed, without considering the potential impact. Their aim was simply to disrupt Konoha's operations and disrupt the rhythm of the Konoha ninjas.

"It seems the Sky Ninja have been completely outmaneuvered by the Sand Village. Hopefully, the village can achieve its research results soon and produce a similar product, otherwise it will be quite a hassle." Nara Shikaku had a headache. Faced with this tactic of seeking no merit but avoiding mistakes, even he, as the strategist, found it difficult to find an effective countermeasure.

Konoha lacks a mature air force. Although Shuji has powerful wind-style ninjutsu that can counter aerial units, it is impossible for him to maintain a state of alert at all times to deal with these sporadic harassments.

Shuji's gaze swept across the canyon, landing in the direction where the main force of Sunagakure was retreating.

“Continue to advance and solidify the front line completely on the border of the Land of Wind.” He stated his point of view, “As long as we can completely control the land routes and coastline of the Land of Rivers and compress the range of these people’s activities, their harassment effect will be greatly reduced.”

Upon hearing this, the leader of the Konoha Jonin team reminded him, "Shuji, pushing the battle line to the border of the Land of Wind is a feasible goal. But remember, we must not go any further. The Sand Village in the Land of Rivers is a completely different concept from the Sand Village on the mainland of the Land of Wind."

"The desert environment of the Land of Wind is their home ground. Our ninjas will be severely limited there, and our supply lines will be stretched and made vulnerable. Going deep into the desert rashly is too risky."

Shuji nodded: "I understand, Mr. Shikaku. However... how to deal with Sunagakure afterward is still a problem."

"Up until now, we have only seen the power of the Sky Ninja. What Rasa is waiting for, we still do not know."

Nara Shikaku stroked his chin and said, "The power of the Sky Ninja is actually not weak. If your technique hadn't perfectly countered them, we would have paid a much higher price in the early stages, and our advance would not have been so smooth."

"Perhaps it's not that Luo Sha's decision was so bizarre, but rather that the strength you displayed exceeded everyone's expectations."

“Including ourselves,” Shikaku let out a soft breath, “aren’t we also surprised by the course of this war?”

Shuji remained silent, offering no reply, but instead looked up again at the black dots still circling high in the sky.

There are still problems that haven't been resolved.

He then brought up another matter: "Mr. Shikaku, actually, when I was first sent to the Land of Rivers, it was not to deal with Sunagakure, but to investigate the unusual movement of supplies at the border outposts."

"Although Sunagakure's current actions, to some extent, confirm what Danzo said."

"But I always felt that there might be something else behind this."

"That batch of supplies is still missing."

"Now that the situation is temporarily stable, it may be the right time to restart the investigation into this matter."

Nara Shikaku nodded: "Hmm... This task was assigned to you, Shuji, right?"

"Yes."

"So what you're referring to now is..." Shikaku seemed to have guessed something.

Shuji said frankly, "Someone needs to be stationed at the front to deal with possible counterattacks. I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you, Mr. Shikaku, to investigate the whereabouts of the supplies."

(End of this chapter)