Kaede Tsukasa's chakra was draining rapidly.
Since the start of the battle, he had already used six zombies, consuming more than half of his chakra. Continuing like this would be dangerous.
Kaede Tsukasa noticed that more and more enemies were focusing on him, consciously or not, seeking a chance to breach the Leaf ninja defenses and strike him directly.
Medical-nin were already a top priority target for Sand ninja attacks. And Kaede Tsukasa, a medic with a unique skill set, ranked even higher on their hunting list.
When the Sand Village deployed a special unit to detonate the fourth wave of poison smoke on the battlefield, Kaede Tsukasa finally decided it was time to fall back.
On a battlefield with tens of thousands of combatants, a single battle couldn't decide the outcome. There would be many engagements. Considering the start time, the chakra reserves of participating ninja, and the intensity of the war around him, Kaede Tsukasa predicted that one side would soon have to retreat temporarily.
He reasoned that Konoha would not retreat voluntarily. Even with many ninjas poisoned and struggling, suffering heavy casualties, they would never willingly take a step back.
In the war against the Sand, the Sand Village were the invaders. These desert-dwellers coveted the fertile land of the Land of Fire, their motive for fighting Konoha was the strongest, and they fought the fiercest.
Originally, the Land of Rain, situated between the Land of Fire, Earth, and Wind, had been the de facto battlefield agreed upon by Konoha, Iwagakure, and Sunagakure. Dragging troops there to fight—even at the cost of devastating Rain's economy and environment—was more practical than fighting within the three nations' borders.
Moreover, the Second Great War had been instigated by Hanzo of the Salamander from Rain Village.
But since last year, after Hanzo defeated the Sannin and declared Rain's withdrawal from the war, the three nations reluctantly accepted it, wary of pushing the half-god-level ninja too far.
Unable to wage large-scale war in Rain, the Sand simply moved their forces to the Land of Fire's border, clashing with the interception unit led by Sakumo Hatake.
"Really? Forty-seven ninjas have died from poisoning today alone?"
At the rear command camp, Sakumo Hatake sat solemnly. He wanted to move his forces, but knew it wasn't the right moment. He would wait until the Sand legion advanced first.
Sakumo Hatake was undoubtedly Konoha's main combat force during the Second Great War, earning countless battle achievements. The name "White Fang of Konoha" resonated throughout the ninja world.
Most importantly, his major victories had been achieved against Sand Village.
Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law, two top-ranking puppet masters at the peak of their careers, were supposed to be Sunagakure's star ninjas. Perhaps in a few years, one of them might become the Kazekage.
Faced with such elite puppet masters, Sakumo Hatake personally went into battle, wielding his short blade, and in a single engagement, eliminated both of them.
This astonishing feat shocked the nations and dealt a heavy blow to Sand Village's morale and active forces, even directly altering the progression of the war between Konoha and Sunagakure.
It was also another major achievement for Konoha following the Sannin's conclusion of the war with Rain Village.
Yet now, Sakumo Hatake was not happy. Sitting in the command camp, he felt the deafening clashes of ninjutsu from the frontlines and listened to the screams of the wounded in the rear, his heart aching.
He did not subscribe to a philosophy of prioritizing missions above all. He preferred to give his utmost effort to help as many comrades as possible.
He was Konoha's strongest, with a terrifying killing efficiency. Logically, he could eliminate large numbers of Sand ninja in a short time, indirectly aiding more of his allies.
But as the supreme commander, he couldn't act on his own. To execute the Third Hokage's cautious, conservative grand strategy, he had to watch countless comrades die while waiting for Chiyo to make a move.
"It's already the fourth wave of poison smoke, but we prepared enough gas masks and deployed Wind Release ninja to perform 'Great Breakthrough,' minimizing the smoke's harm in the shortest time. The medical team has also delivered a fresh batch of antidotes to the frontline ninjas—they'll help to some extent."
Sakumo Hatake listened to the various reports while processing the massive amount of intelligence in front of him. He couldn't even create a few Shadow Clones to share the workload, all to conserve chakra and remain at peak condition, ready to strike at any moment.
Yet Chiyo still hadn't acted.
"That woman Chiyo has lost her mind. She won't be able to hold out much longer," Sakumo Hatake muttered. In truth, he didn't fully agree with the Third Hokage's orders; the strategy was far too conservative.
According to the Third Hokage's thinking, even if the casualty ratio against the enemy reached 1:1 or even 1.5:1, Konoha would still be winning.
The reasoning was simple: Konoha controlled the largest number of ninja, had the most elite bloodline and secret-jutsu families, and the Land of Fire's finances were the strongest. There was no need to take risks.
Moreover, Konoha had no interest in the barren or broken lands of other nations. Expansion was unnecessary, especially in the war against Sunagakure. Taking over more desert sand that couldn't produce food or medicinal herbs was pointless.
Was it worth training a squad of Magnet Release ninja to dig through the desert all day? Not at all. All that was needed was attrition. With Konoha's foundation, healing was fastest; surviving meant winning. Even taking some losses would still result in an overall decisive victory—there was no reason to gamble.
To the east, Kumogakure and Kirigakure had yet to send major armies to the Second Great War. To the west, last year's conflict with Amegakure had ended, leaving only Sunagakure and Iwagakure, who were now at war themselves. The Third Kazekage had even led a legion into Iwa territory.
All Konoha needed was to drag the war on. Victory could be achieved without taking risks. The Third Hokage favored this style of warfare, willingly absorbing minor losses to force the enemy into a drawn-out rhythm.
Even with his eyes closed, Sakumo Hatake knew how the Third Hokage would leverage victory for Konoha's benefit—claiming reparations was one part, but more importantly, demanding a larger share of missions.
Any village that failed to achieve battlefield success would have to sign a contract with Konoha, ceding a percentage of their domestic missions to Konoha for completion.
During peacetime, ninja villages earned most of their funds by completing employer-issued missions, which supported training new ninja.
A larger volume of missions meant more opportunities for ninja to grow stronger, making the village wealthier. Wealth enabled new jutsu development, faster spread of compulsory education, mass production of more ninja, and ultimately the consolidation of power—a self-reinforcing cycle.
If Konoha won the Second Great Ninja War, its prestige would skyrocket, and wealthy clients worldwide would favor issuing missions to Konoha. This would sharply reduce the missions available to other villages.
On top of that, other ninja villages would be forced to sign humiliating contracts, surrendering even their remaining missions to Konoha.
It was inevitable that the Third Great Ninja War would erupt. During that conflict, Konoha fought against all four of the other great ninja villages. Even at its least pressured moments, Konoha often faced two villages at once—there was a reason for that.
No major ninja village could tolerate such a situation indefinitely. Any recovery in strength would inevitably spark another war with Konoha, to seize more mission quotas and settle old scores from the Second War.
Sakumo Hatake suppressed his inner frustration, processing all the incoming intelligence from the frontlines.