Chapter 67 – Konoha's Response
Upon hearing the report, the Third Hokage quickly summoned the senior council and several high-ranking Konoha officials for an emergency meeting, hoping to devise a plan to address the situation.
The Third recounted Orochimaru's intelligence: Sunagakure had dispatched numerous reconnaissance shinobi to survey Konoha's encampments, presumably preparing for a final decisive battle.
The room buzzed with conflicting opinions.
Some of the more aggressive voices, like Danzo, argued that if Sunagakure wanted a final battle, Konoha should meet them head-on. We are a wealthy and powerful village—why fear that impoverished Sand? They proposed sending reinforcements to the Wind Country front immediately, overwhelming Sunagakure with sheer force to secure a quick victory without jeopardizing other battlefronts.
The Third Hokage, however, disagreed. Sunagakure's foothold in the shinobi world meant they were not a force to be underestimated. If Konoha failed to secure victory quickly, committing too many troops to Wind Country could leave other fronts dangerously exposed.
Meanwhile, many of the more cautious elders suggested accelerating diplomatic efforts, perhaps forging an alliance with Sunagakure to ensure mutual cooperation against other nations.
But the room erupted in dissent. These seasoned veterans knew the fragile reality behind such alliances. Even if a treaty were signed, it would hold little sway if Sunagakure were not thoroughly subdued. Any weakness on Konoha's part could lead to breaches of the pact, with ambushes striking at the village when least expected. The resulting vulnerability could prove catastrophic.
In the end, it was Nara Shikaku—father of the strategic mind of the Nine—who proposed a sound course of action.
At this time, Shikaku was barely in his early twenties, long before the middle-aged figure familiar from later days, yet he already bore a striking resemblance to his son: hair tied back neatly and two faint scars etched across his face, remnants of some unknown encounter.
Shikaku's plan was clear: concentrate Konoha's most skilled intelligence-gathering shinobi on the Wind Country front to locate and eliminate the Sunagakure squads lurking near the encampments.
By neutralizing a significant number of enemy reconnaissance teams, Sunagakure would be unable to accurately gauge the state of Konoha's forces and would hesitate to act rashly.
At the same time, Konoha had to deploy these elite forces without significantly weakening other battlefronts. Given Sunagakure's desperation to engage in a decisive conflict, the likelihood was high that they would launch an all-out final assault, meaning Konoha needed to be fully prepared.
Despite his youth, Shikaku had already demonstrated remarkable strategic insight, earning the respect of Konoha's elders. Coupled with the soundness of his plan, the Third Hokage readily gave it his approval.
Seeing that no one else had any objections, the Third Hokage decisively adopted Shikaku's plan.
"Very well, Shikaku," he said. "You will draft a detailed plan. From here on, we will act according to it."
Shikaku responded immediately, "Understood, Third Hokage-sama."
He quickly devised a comprehensive plan and submitted it to the Third Hokage, who promptly forwarded it to Orochimaru to coordinate with the village's operations.
Orochimaru had already begun eliminating Sunagakure's reconnaissance teams, but manpower on the Wind Country front alone was insufficient. Additional intelligence ninja from Konoha helped relieve some of the pressure.
Amid the sounds of crackling lightning and a bird-like clap, a Sunagakure ninja screamed in terror as a bolt pierced his chest, killing him instantly. When his body fell, Nan emerged.
Before reinforcements from Konoha could arrive, Nan's team located several more Sunagakure shinobi.
With his sensory abilities and Sharingan, Nan's efficiency in locating enemies was exceptional. Coupled with the team's combat strength, neutralizing any enemy was straightforward.
However, other fronts were not as simple. Sunagakure's operatives were highly trained, specializing in stealth, tracking, and countertracking. Few Konoha ninja could detect chakra as Nan could. Most relied on Byakugan insight or the tracking abilities of their clan's ninja beasts to locate these enemy units.
After years of skirmishes, Sunagakure's operatives were well aware of Konoha's abilities and had prepared countermeasures, making them difficult to detect. Even when located, other Konoha teams lacked Nan's skill, making it hard to eliminate these operatives efficiently.
Combining tracking and combat into a single eight-person squad was impractical. Groups of four operated optimally; larger squads might increase strength but also generate more noise, risking detection by alert enemies.
Nan's team, however, was unique. With two Jonin-level fighters—Nan and Kosuke—they required no additional support. Nan's exceptional sensory perception allowed him to anticipate enemy movements and set ambushes along their predictable paths, eliminating the need for tracking teams and minimizing exposure.
Nan had briefly considered deploying multiple Shadow Clones for reconnaissance, protecting them with the combat team while they searched for enemy shinobi. This could have reduced exposure risks and provided additional fighting strength.
However, he rejected the idea. Unlike his previous mission where he had carefully allocated chakra across clones to maintain coordinated healing, these Sunagakure operatives were completely unknown in location. Sending clones on aimless searches could deplete chakra mid-mission, leaving the team blind and vulnerable to traps.
The safer approach was to wait for Konoha reinforcements and conduct a systematic search with superior numbers, ensuring all enemy operatives could be effectively neutralized.
At this point, Nan had nearly mastered all elemental transformations and possessed numerous high-level ninjutsu and secret techniques. Especially once he could fully utilize the Flying Thunder God Technique in combat, he would be on par with an Anbu-level ninja.
Currently, the greatest limitation was his undeveloped body restricting his chakra reserves. Were he to possess the chakra of a shinobi like Naruto or the First Hokage, he could single-handedly eliminate all the Sunagakure operatives without any support.