The plan . . . Was to take a page out of good 'ole Madara's playbook.
*
The next day . . .
The day of decisive battle.
Both sides were prepared, even if one was unaware that all of their plans were exposed.
A single day to settle the conflict.
The Three Village Coalition organized a mighty offensive to push the enemy all the way to the gates of Uzushio and force an advantageous ceasefire deal through one thunderous strike.
As for the Uzumak, their plan was to goad the Coalition Forces in, let themselves be pushed to their village gates as per the enemy's plan but, just as their foes launched their final strike, they would mount an all or nothing counterattack.
If successful, the ceasefire would still come, only with far better terms for Uzushio and the Land of Uzu in general.
*
"Just as we discussed, we'll preserve our troops for the last push at their gates. With the circumstances being what they are, I'll not let Han out of my sight, we cannot afford another lost Jinchuriki.
So he will restrain himself to long range fire support using the Tailed Beast Bomb." Onoki reiterated for the Nth time.
'Easy to say for the only one not to lose a Jinchuriki.' That was the thought in the minds of his two fellow Kage.
That said, it was not like they could resent the caution and if they lost another Tailed Beast, it would be far harder to demand the two lost ones back without a complete and utter victory which they already calculated could not be afforded for the time being.
"The Uzumaki showed no interest in attacking our position, they have realized we don't want to drag things out but I doubt they expect us to commit all of our resources into a single offensive, even after the loss of our Tailed Beasts.
We cannot, however, afford to let up or stall anywhere." The Mizukage declared.
"Iwa will open the offensive from range, Kiri will surge behind them to carry it forward and our Kumo will be the finishers." The Raikage laid it out in simple terms and, with a nod of acknowledgement, each Kage went to join and organize their individual forces.
*
"Why are we giving Kumo the honor of the killing blow without any resistance?" Hozuki Shingetsu complained to his Kage after the latter returned.
"Because, Shingetsu, unlike for those musclebound freaks from Kumo, we taking that role would result in unacceptable casualties." The Third Mizukage patiently explained to his overeager subordinate.
"Your stunt of stealing those two kills from Iwa has already exacerbated tensions, let's not make things worse." He further admonished.
In actuality, the value of those two corpses far exceeded the risk caused by provoking Iwa a little but he was not going to give the Hozuki the satisfaction of hearing it from his mouth.
"Even then! What do a few casualties mat-"
"Enough!" The Mizukage cut Shingetsu's continuing complaint off.
"We'll be invading the Land of Fire directly after this. Now is not the time to be taking heavy casualties or we won't get anything but scraps later. Have some forethought!" The man scolded and outright stopped paying the Hozuki clansman any more attention.
*
"Do you honestly think I would be taken out so easily like the other two?" Han, the Five Tailed Jinchuriki, complained to Onoki.
"Have some respect for your Tsuchikage in the way you address me." The old man replied.
Alas, it did not have any effect as the red armored Han just kept staring at him for an answer.
Sighing, Onoki gave it to him.
"The Three Tails' disappearance does not alarm me much but the circumstances in which the Two Tails vanished do. A Nigh-Perfect Jinchuriki disappearing from the middle of an army without raising any alarms? If you are not worried then THAT is the problem."
Han grumbled but had little choice other than to agree.
What Maiko pulled off was just that abnormal, even if a great part of it was due to the fact that her enemies fundamentally did not understand how her abilities worked.
If they did, it would severely limit the girl's options and make her a much less threatening foe.
Truly, the old adage that a battle between shinobi was a battle of information proved itself correct yet again.
*
"Raikage-sama, is the plan unchanged?" Dodai inquired.
"Yes. I'll take the role of the speartip for the final assault, you stay in the middle of our formation with our strongest elites and focus on your singular task." Ay Senior replied.
"Capturing Ryumon Shiki . . . I doubt that'll be feasible, Raikage-sama." The Kumo shinobi, after being schooled multiple times by the insidious white haired boy, lacked his Kage's confidence in the operation.
Still, even the Raikage had to admit . . .
"Indeed, everything that goes wrong with our plans and ambitions in the past few years seem to trace back to that odious brat. Targeting his newly graduated squad is shaping up to become the worst mistake of my reign as Kumo's Raikage.
However, even if there are risks, we must still move forward without fear or hesitation. That brat might be a source of endless problems but, if we manage to capture him, my intuition tells me that it will all be worth it." Ay Senior expounded.
Honestly, Dodai internally doubted it but outwardly, he responded with nothing other than affirmation.
In regards to Shiki, the man simply did not trust anything anymore and perhaps, he was not wrong to do so.
If Shiki was indeed captured, sure there would be a lot to gain . . . If Mito did not suddenly decide to flip the board.
Should the Uzumaki matriarch ignore the "big picture" to go to the boy's rescue, considering her current level of power, woe to his captors.
*
Meanwhile, basking in the fear and uncertainty he inflicted on the enemy, Shiki used his Ryugan: Zenchi to observe all of their preparations and listen to their "private" discussions.
'Our three trump cards for the counterattack are ready, we just have to sell our "desperate" fighting retreat well and everything will be solid.' The boy thought to himself.
"Shiki, go coordinate with the Fourth Elder to set up our defenses and retreat. Since you can literally "see" all of the enemy's movements, your assistance in that area is a must." The First Elder commanded.
"Yes sir. Who will be responsible for deploying the trump cards?" Shiki inquired before he left.
"You and the Second and Sixth Elders will coordinate. You're responsible for the timing." The First Elder replied.
"Like before, The Fourth Elder will be commanding our forces while my role this time around, will be covering our "desperate" retreat." The old man added.
"According to what I've seen you'll be facing Tailed Beast Bombs and, if that proves insufficient, the Tsuchikage might target blasting from a distance using his Dust Release. Sure you can handle all that by yourself, First Elder?" The boy questioned,
"You underestimate me too much you little brat. Compared to a powerful duelist type like the Raikage, that kind of high power, high scale attack is actually easier to deal with for me. Now go, the enemy offensive should start soon." The Elder replied.
*
And so, the decisive battle for the Land of Uzu began . . .
+++++
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 -