Mist Village was indeed too cunning. There hadn't been a proper battle yet, but many areas were already suffering from Mist Village's sneak attacks.
There were even signs of Mist Village ninja activity near the Land of Rivers.
With Mist Village holding the initiative, Konoha was struggling to respond.
They had to find a way to destroy Mist Village's warships. Even if they couldn't destroy them all, they needed to take out at least some of them.
Relying solely on the village to build warships wouldn't be enough.
And commandeering merchant ships wasn't a wise option either-Mist Village would love nothing more than for Konoha's ninja to head out onto the open sea to fight them.
If Konoha fell for that trap, Mist Village would be laughing in their sleep.
Sitting back and taking the hits wasn't Orochimaru's style either.
They needed to force Yagura into a direct battle. Konoha had no fear of a head-on clash with Mist Village.
Even if the sea was Mist Village's home turf.
What Konoha feared was Mist Village launching random attacks here and there, with the initiative in Mist's hands. This would keep Konoha on the defensive.
Forcing Mist Village into a large-scale battle wasn't difficult-if Mist Village wanted to hide, Konoha could just push forward.
Or they could find a way to destroy some of Mist Village's warships.
If their warships were destroyed, Mist Village wouldn't be able to build replacements quickly, leaving them no choice but to engage Konoha directly.
"Seems like everything has gone beyond my expectations."
Suddenly, Orochimaru let out an inexplicable chuckle.
"???"
Shikaku, his assistant, was utterly confused. What had gone beyond his expectations?
Orochimaru-sama, could you please not talk to yourself like that?
It's really hard for me, as your subordinate, to follow!
Even with my high IQ, it's difficult to guess what your self-mutterings mean.
Working for Orochimaru was truly exhausting.
"Shikaku."
"Orochimaru-sama!"
Nara Shikaku straightened up and stepped forward in response.
"Send a message to the village. Tell the third batch of ninja reinforcements to depart as soon as possible. Also, inform the old man to send Xin's squad over. I need their support."
"Yes, sir!!!"
Shikaku opened a blank scroll and began writing while keeping an eye on Orochimaru.
He wondered whether Orochimaru would choose to have Sakumo Hatake sent over.
To be blunt, if anyone could deal with the Mist Village ninja, Sakumo Hatake would be the one to give them a hard time.
But unfortunately, Orochimaru had no intention of calling on Sakumo.
He only needed Xin's squad to assist him, along with the third batch of reinforcements from Konoha.
On Konoha's side, Orochimaru was feeling troubled, but things weren't much better on Mist Village's end.