"This letter is a classified message from Kakuzu, the commander of the Yuexi Peninsula, to Wind Shadow Jinghang, mainly reporting on the coastal defense situation of the Yuexi Peninsula."
"A report? Then why take the sea route?"
Goji Yagura rhythmically tapped the table with his index finger and asked in a deep voice.
"Taking the sea route from the Yuexi Peninsula is faster and safer than the land route. If it were me, I'd choose this route too."
Ao replied.
"Has this Dōhei Saburō's identity been verified?"
"Our sleeper agents planted in the Yuexi Peninsula have already verified it. This person is the third young master of the Dōhei family, the youngest son. He serves as a combat staff officer in the Fourth Division of the standing army and was transferred from Sand Village's command headquarters half a year before the war. At the memorial service on the Yuexi Peninsula, the Dōhei family head Dōhei Ita attended in person and wept his heart out."
"The eldest inherits the family business, parents dote on the youngest—it's always been this way."
Goji Yagura smiled.
"Do any of you have other questions?"
Koharu Utatane looked at Jiraiya and Uchiha Fugaku—both shook their heads slightly.
Naturally, a performance had to be complete. Ever since Jinghang and Kakuzu devised the Meat Bun Plan, Tetsu Yamashita from Sand Village's Intelligence Department had painstakingly crafted a complete background for this non-existent Dōhei Saburō.
For his family background, they shrewdly selected the Dōhei family—an ancient, wealthy "noble house" that had long distanced itself from the center of power. Moreover, he was the youngest son, a typical "half-dandy" and "bachelor."
His records included graduation photos from Moon Lake New District's ninja school, chūnin exam transcripts, military service records... all stuffed into his personal file.
His military identity was particularly ingenious—the Fourth Division of the standing army. What kind of unit was that? It was a division heavily purged during the anti-corruption storm. Officers above company commander level had been completely replaced, and even now many lower-ranking ninja hadn't recognized their new senior officers, let alone a combat staff officer stuck in the operations room.
Other personal relationships were thoroughly researched too. Not only was he "equipped" with military comrades and romantic interests, but even the Dōhei family head was invited to guest-star in a heart-wrenching performance of an old man mourning his young son at this non-existent son's memorial service.
For "his" sake, the Intelligence Department's action group had even deliberately left discovered Hidden Mist sleeper agents untouched, just to pass along information.
As Tetsu Yamashita himself put it: even a real person would only amount to this much.
"No questions."
"Good. Then I confirm this coastal defense intelligence is credible. Moreover, based on information from other channels, cross-referencing the data, we've completely grasped the specific coastal defense situation of the Yuexi Peninsula."
Ao excitedly snapped his fingers as two Hidden Mist ninja pushed forward a brand-new tactical model.
"This is the Yuexi Peninsula coastal defense model I had people work through the night to create."
Hearing this, both the Hidden Mist group and the three from Konoha gathered around.
"According to Kakuzu's description in the letter, Sand Village's deployment along the Yuexi Peninsula coast is a vicious trap!"
Ao pointed to two ports on the coastline.
"As everyone knows, the Yuexi Peninsula's coastline isn't long, and the hydrography is quite complex. The entire coastal area is either sheer cliffs or reefs—completely unsuitable for amphibious assault conditions. There are only two ports of real strategic value: Sun Port and Coin Port.
These two ports have been developed for years—they're spacious with deep water, so even the largest warships won't run aground. Both ports have strict coastal defense fortifications. According to intelligence, just the giant crossbows deployed at the ports have a range of twelve nautical miles. Any ship hit can be pierced straight through, and the entire Yuexi Peninsula has deployed 240 such crossbows."
"Alright, tell us about Sand Village's defensive deployment."
Goji Yagura said.
"Currently, the Yuexi Peninsula has mobilized 10,000 ninja total—roughly equal to our numbers. Among them, the more combat-capable newly formed Coastal Defense Army numbers about 7,000, all stationed at Sun Port. Additionally, there are 3,000 weaker garrison troops stationed at Coin Port.
Everyone knows that as soon as Kakuzu took office, he used massive iron spikes to blockade Coin Port..."
"So Sun Port is the only viable landing point."
Jiraiya said.
Ao sneered coldly.
"You could think that way, but if you actually do it, you'll die without a complete corpse."
"What do you mean?!"
Jiraiya was somewhat confused.
"Kakuzu's move is vicious—he removed all coastal defense fortifications from Sun Port, cleared all obstacles, and even specially renovated the port."
"He wants us to come ashore."
Koharu Utatane said gravely.
"Exactly!"
Ao nodded approvingly, then pointed to a small hill not far behind the port.
"Now Sand Village's Coastal Defense Army is here, and Kakuzu used Earth Release to extend this small hill, building a wall that encircles the entire Sun Port from behind."
"How high?"
Uchiha Fugaku asked.
"Not high—35 meters. But as soon as you show your head, you'll face full assault from 7,000 ninja. Moreover, all those coastal defense crossbows have been moved here. I believe that once we land, these crossbows will begin bombardment. In less than two rounds, our ships will be completely destroyed, meaning our retreat will be cut off."
Ao explained.
Goji Yagura stared intently at the model.
"Ten thousand ninja definitely can't deploy fully. Climbing up in sequence becomes a whack-a-mole attrition tactic. Attacking from high ground, striking the enemy mid-crossing, and cutting off the return route—this Kakuzu is truly vicious. He wants to swallow my entire 10,000 ninja whole."
Goji Yagura's expression relaxed somewhat.
"Heaven blesses Hidden Mist—we've discovered this conspiracy in advance. Ao, whatever ideas you have, speak freely!"
Ao smiled sinisterly.
"Since Kakuzu thinks we're going to attack Sun Port, we'll deliberately not attack Sun Port!"
"But isn't Coin Port sealed off?"
Jiraiya asked.
"Yes, and Kakuzu thinks so too."
Ao pushed a warship model near Coin Port.
"When our fleet sails near the iron spike blockade line, we'll all drop anchor and stop. All ninja will cross the sea on foot for a surprise attack on Coin Port!
Coin Port's 3,000 garrison troops are just second-rate soft targets. We can break through in one strike, then..."
Ao made a half-circle on the model.
"Our main force will circle around to attack Kakuzu's Coastal Defense Army from behind. Not only do we avoid the coastal defenses, but we also have numerical superiority—we can completely crush them!"
"Excellent!" "Brilliant strategy!"
The Hidden Mist group cheered upon hearing this.
Koharu Utatane, however, frowned deeply.
"Department Chief Ao, how far is this blockade line from the coastline?"
Ao sighed.
"This is the most difficult part of the entire plan—the distance is also 12 nautical miles!"
"What! We have to run 12 nautical miles on the sea!"
Twelve nautical miles equals 22.22 kilometers.
Half a marathon.
Running on water is different from running on land—it requires constantly consuming chakra.
After finishing the run, would there still be chakra left for battle?
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