However, things were far from done, a hidden force still lurked, Uzushio's allies seemed still and the three villages had no intention of going back empty handed.
Still, a momentary cessation of the battle arrived, almost as if an unspoken agreement between the two sides had been unknowingly forged.
The forces of the three attacking villages moved only slightly away from the shoreline before beginning to build their forward base.
Iwa's Earth Release specialists took care of the basic structure and dug a moat surrounding the newly constructed square fort which Kiri's Water Release Specialist wasted no time filling up.
Naturally, it was not there to slow their enemy's advance like moats in a world without chakra and shinobi who could leap over it or even just walk and run across the water.
No, the reason it was made was to create an advantage for Kiri shinobi in case of an attack.
As experts of this field, Kiri had numerous secret ways of enhancing their Water Release.
The moat's water was thickly saturated with the Kiri shinobi's chakra, not only would jutsu utilizing this water be significantly more powerful than usual, the water would also resist manipulation from non-Kiri affiliated shinobi.
At the core of this forward base, the Three Kage discussed the situation.
"Our Two Tails is missing. My forces stopped the pursuit to search for her while clearing traps but found nothing. Considering the bizarre circumstances and strategic loss, they retreated and already joined up.
They are still at full strength, no casualties, just some light injuries from traps. I wore down the enemy leader pretty good, he was on his last legs but a skilled enemy genjutsu specialist managed to create an opening and pull him away." The Third Raikage reported his side.
"Our Three Tails is also missing. We should assume they were specifically targeted by the enemy, they are sealing masters after all. As for my forces, they have taken some casualties.
From descriptions, they were assaulted by the same enemy that rescued the Raikage's opponent. By the reports, the enemy is not too strong but they were remarkably elusive."
I fought that sinister child but despite holding the advantage the entire fight actually finishing it was proving impossible until the brat retreated on his own. Shingetsu also claims to have struck down two of the enemy's commanders." The Mizukage followed up with his own report.
"Hmph!" The Tsuchikage snorted.
"In other words, you both managed to lose your jinchuriki, possibly even granting the enemy an opportunity to deploy the Tailed Beasts against us and, despite this, you have no successes to speak of." Onoki harshly criticized.
"You speak as if you did better. Letting your prisoner be rescued right under your nose. Your regular forces were the ones with the largest casualties too." The Raikage immediately fired back.
"Hozuki Shingetsu's so-called achievement of killing two enemy leaders was nothing but shameless opportunism. A theft of our Iwa's glory." The Tsuchikage was not letting it go.
"Now, now Tsuchikage. While Shingetsu's actions might have somewhat been in bad taste, such joint action is precisely what is expected of allies is it not. We have no intention of denying Iwa's meritorious deeds." The Mizukage assuaged.
Onoki internally sneered.
The Raikage and Mizukage had by far taken the greatest strategic loss.
Living weapons of mass destruction like the Tailed Beasts were simply impossible to replace.
Even shinobi powerful enough to defeat them rarely had as much destructive capability. The Raikage could fight the Eight Tails to a draw but when it came to wide area annihilation, he was no match at all.
Having just lost such valuable weapons, the two of them immediately formed a united front to counterbalance Onoki who was not suffering the same ordeal.
"Regardless, our plan to settle this war in days no longer has any hope of success. With Uzushio being so well prepared and us having lost two heavy hitters, they might be able to stall for weeks, maybe even months. We cannot afford such a long period of vulnerability.
If Konoha deploys their forces they will catch us in a pincer attack and crush us if we don't move and abandon the offensive." The Mizukage attempted to move the discussion along in a more productive direction.
"You don't have to worry so much about that. If Konoha planned on getting involved, they would have already deployed. Unless we wear ourselves down to the point they believe they can achieve an easy victory, they will not interfere.
The Land of Fire is surrounded by enemies and, while we have committed many of our forces here, Sunagakure is still at full strength, waiting for the core of Konoha's forces to leave the nest." Onoki evaluated.
"Hmph!" Ay Senior snorted.
"Are you sure Suna won't just attack the Land of Earth, they're just as close and currently far more vulnerable." He pointed out.
"The Land of Fire is the cake everyone wants a piece of. With such a prime opportunity to take a bite, they will not waste their time with my country. At most a few border skirmishes." The Tsuchikage dismissed the Raikage's "warning".
A few minutes of silence passed as each Kage mulled over the situation they found themselves in, within their heads.
"Hmm . . . I just thought of an excellent idea as to how we can salvage this operation based on current circumstances." The Mizukage suddenly spoke up.
The Raikage and Tsuchikage focused their attention on him.
"Here's how we'll play it . . .
. . .
"What do you both think? Especially if our allie fulfills his end of the bargain, this is more than possible." The Mizukage concluded the explanation of his proposal.
His fellow Kage fell into thought.
'This can work and considering we haven't lost a jinchuriki to the enemy, Iwa might just benefit the most out of this plan.' Onoki internally reasoned.
'Hmm . . . This goes against our original goals but since they seem more and more unlikely to be achieved, it is a tempting alternative . . . If all goes to plan . . .' The Raikage carefully went over the entire situation in his head.
He was far from the simple muscle bound brute he appeared to be and his fellow Kage were well aware of that.
"Very well. We'll go with the Mizukage's plan." Ay Senior finally spoke.
"No objections." Onoki also agreed.
"Excellent." The Mizukage responded.
"Let us make our preparations and resume the offensive as soon as they are done."
*
"Poor souls." A rather young but insidious voice sounded out, full of reveling in the misfortune of others.
Far beyond the range of any possible sensory ability, far outside the bounds of any spying jutsu, within the comfort of a chair in Uzushio's secondary defensive line . . .
There was Ryumon Shiki, his Ryugan fully opened with his Zenchi ocular jutsu capturing every last detail of the three Kages' discussion.
'Now then . . . how exactly do we approach this . . .' The boy thought to himself.
Based on the enemy's intentions, there were several ways the situation could be handled, especially their mysterious ally.
'Fools playing with forces they do not understand.' Shiki thought to himself.
He needed to report to Mito right away and decide on a course of action.
"Immediately tear it down, play along, set a trap . . . Decision, decisions . . ."
+++++
Hey, Author here!
To promote the novel I will be releasing BONUS CHAPTERS on SUNDAYS based on the previous week's power stone count.
100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
500 Power Stones = 2 Bonus Chapters
1000 Power Stones = 3 Bonus Chapters
Every earned BONUS CHAPTER on Webnovel will also be posted on Scribble.
Just a reminder that you can read up to a FULL MONTH ahead of this site on pa-treon.
I'm trying to become a full time Author now and I'm not going to be starting any new novels just so I can make sure this one is properly completed.
Find those sweet advanced chapters on pa-treon.com/lusoba without the -